Birthday give-away

If you need to smile visit jennylovesbenny.blogspot.com

It's 6th birthday celebration with a delightful give-away. I'm saying no more ... just look!

Wendy's birthday give-away

This gorgeous little girl is Amelia - Wendy's birthday give-away. Please visit her blog for updates on her wonderful creations and adventures. wendy-essentialbears.blogspot.com

The Essential Bears website was my introduction to the magical world of bear artists and ignited my passion for bears and bear making. How naive I was to think that I could create these tiny little masterpieces. I tried the miniatures but I don't seem to have the skill to make them so I'll adopt them and treasure them and admire their artists but stick to the larger bears. Perhaps some time down the line, when I have mastered the big ones, I'll try the minis again.

I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend.

Sunday afternoon

I completed another bear last night but the weather is dull and it's raining, so the photographic session has to wait until the weather clears.

In the meantime here's a picture of the cutest bear family. I found this small packet of old potpourri at a junk sale, cut it up, smoothed out the picture and framed it for my workroom.

Aren't they delightful?

Good golly Miss Molly

Molly was completed some time ago but I have been having problems with my hand again and have been quite "out out of things" for a while. It's all very frustrating - no crafting, no bears. Oh dear! Even this photograph is insipid ... but I had to give her her moment of glory. She is 13" when standing and her coat is Alpaca - a very cuddly teddy indeed. And a very friendly and happy little girl.

Heritage Day

Today was Heritage Day in South Africa as well as National "Braai" Day. "Braai" is South African for barbeque. And there was no work today! I went for breakfast with my husband, my friend Elena and her little son Christopher and the breakfast went on for almost 4 hours. What a lovely, lovely morning. The cherry on the top was that Elena brought me the latest copy of Where Women Create. Oh what joy!! Elena left to go and curl up with her copy and the hubby and I joined friends of ours for the "braai'. The weather was gorgeous and it was just such a feel good day.

Well back to work tomorrow, so to all of you, have a fabulous Friday.

Madame Fluff

" So what if I don't have a body, I have a gorgeous hat!"

Poor Madam Fluff ... this mohair is absolutely dreadful and she ended up with a hole in her snout and the rest of limbs seem to be falling apart too. I cannot decide whether I should complete the body or not. This mohair was certainly not inexpensive and I am having such a tough time with it. The pile is very long and fluffy and not stable at all - I have been sneezing my way through the making of this bear and every time a limb is complete I see a hole in the seam! If I do decide to carry on, she will definitely not be able to be a gift or be adopted. It's such a pity because she has such a strong personality. What to do?? I simply cannot abandon her, but with my very limited time, I try to make quality bears and to spend so much time and effort, knowing that she will be defective .... what would you do? Let her be born and keep her as a very special child or bury her in the back of the cupboard? Problem is - these bears have voices and won't allow you to forget them. To all the experienced bear makers - please advise!!

Sugar Plum

I adore Jenny Lee's creations - I almost drool when I see them on her blog and they always make me smile. I would never be so presumptious as to try and make up any of her bear patterns ... they are JennylovesBenny! However, I did buy the elephant pattern and although I do battle with these little tykes every time I make them, I cannot resist them. When I saw this beautiful pink mohair, I knew that another little elephant was coming! This is the third baby I have made, the other two are now living with my friends, Karen and Elena. The bears have informed me that Sugar Plum (above) has to stay with them and I totally agree. She is such a cute little girl.