It Won't Last, I Tell You.

From time to time my pincushion ends up looking like this.....

And when it does, I seem to waste an awful lot of

time trying to locate the right needle for a particular task. Rummaging around in the tangle, trying to get at my applique pins which seem to bury themselves deep in the nest of mess.......it all takes up valuable bearmaking time.

The last straw came recently, when I was in Victoria at Bear Essence teaching some workshops. My dear friend and owner of the shop (Kim) had a dig at me and my pincushion! Then this morning when the dog swept it to the floor with her over enthusiastic tail wagging, and sent a miscellany of bits and pieces flying, I decided it was time for a pincushion clean-up!

And this is the result..........

                    ...........but It won't last, I tell you!

Baby It's Cold Outside

The weather has certainly turned and we are heading into Winter after a rather disappointing Summer. Though, of course, I can look at it in a positive way and say that we never had that feeling of imminent danger this past Summer. No scanning the skies for puffs of smoke hoping that they weren't in our neck of the woods. The countryside has stayed remarkably green and now, with the Autumn colour in the deciduous trees, it's looking very pretty.

Nanou will be my next workshop at Bear Essence

I have just returned home after spending a few days teaching a couple of workshops at Bear Essence in Victoria. These were mixed classes of Teo the sunbear and a large polar/grizzly bear from a few years back. I must say that the girls all did beautiful work and some lovely bears were birthed. I'll be heading back over at the end of April for two one day classes, making Nanou in beautiful Japanese alpaca fur. Followed by a bear fair in Berwick which has been organised by Melissa Kemp, on 1st of May.

Just some of the girls and their bears

I managed to complete all my entries for the ACDAs before I left for Victoria. When Sandi told us that the challenge was for critters inspired by Beatrix Potter, I thought that it would be a breeze. However, this didn't prove to be the case! It was HARD! I can't go into what I made, but I can say that it was difficult not to end up making Jeremy Fisher, Jemima Puddleduck, Hunca Munca, Peter Rabbit, Tom Kitten, Mrs Tiggywinkle etc,etc....... Remember we had to find ispiration from her work, not recreate her characters which are protected by copyright. I leave you with these tantalisng thoughts, you can ponder what inspired me and where it took me. On June 1st all will be revealed! So be sure to note that date in your diary, and head over to the ACDA site where you will be able to view all the entrants in this year's challenge.