Cross Over

In bear making as in a lot of things, there are the "given" ways of doing things. The pattern we first use will determine pretty much how we approach our bears. For years I have been unhappy with the way the fur sat over the toes on my bears. The traditional pattern for a bear's leg is made in two pieces plus a foot pad, and therein lies the problem, that seam over the centre of the toe area. I have been dabbling a little in dolls over the last few years and have found that there are techniques which definitely cross over between dolls and bears, and in dolls is where I found an answer to a couple of bear design problems.
I wanted to get a flatter looking foot for my bears and looked at doll patterns for a solution. So now for a number of years I have been making bears with a two piece leg like a doll's leg with the toe sewn flat (but with no footpad). I then hand appliqued leather pads to the feet, which were stuffed and sculpted to get toes like this. This achieved the flatter foot I was after, but I still had problems with how the fur was sitting over the toe end of the foot because of the seam running down the centre of the foot.
Just recently I have sloved this annoying problem by again looking at doll patterns. I now I have a three piece leg with no seam over the toe, plus a foot pad. I can then use different techniques for the pads, including sculpting the pad after the legs have been stuffed, or using a combination of trapunto and needle sculpting  to get some very nice feet. The bear I have just completed has given me alot of joy, I have managed to get some great articulation in him using Loc-line in both his body and his limbs, and I have spent hours playing with him enjoying the realistic movement in him. I feel I'm getting closer to what I'm after in my bears and that is what is so rewarding about all that I do, the evolution of design, the solution of problems and the joy of achievement!

This bear has the "new" feet, but isn't my latest.You can see how nicely the fur is sitting over the ends of his toes.

RSI And A Bear Named Mon

There were alot of names to write out, then cut into individual slips and then screw up into little balls and now my hand is suffering a little RSI! We need a DRUM ROLL please! The name drawn from the basket is Linda Down (Lombard Bears)! Congratulations Linda, and many thanks to all who entered into the spirit of the game and left name suggestions, I'm going to file some of them away for future reference.

Soon Mon will be on her way to a new home.

The Best Laid Plans.......

Well now, after a perfect alignment the other day, the stars must have jumbled themselves up again! So much for yesterday's plans! In the morning the car had a flat, Chris changed it and on inspection noticed that two other tyres had worrisome splits in them! (We have a very bumpy drive into our place which can be very hard on our tyres but to get three splits all at once was just plain unlucky, I think some track maintainance has become rather higher on the "to do" list!) So yesterday was spent replacing the tyres and wandering around Launceston while waiting for the task to be done. We looked at vacuum cleaners, as the one we have is barely functional. Don't get me wrong, it still sucks.........but it sucks........it is held together with gaffer tape and now the head has lost a spring and I can no longer lower the brushes for hard floors, so I guess we need a new one. I could go for one of those little cheapies, but I do like the Dysons! And of course, depending on who you're talking to, things get confusing. I'll just have to struggle on with my geriatric Phillips for a while, but will have to decide something soon.
So........because of yesterday's dramas I didn't get around to photographing my giveaway bear, let alone getting him in here!
I can say our shortest day was cold, wet and windy. Today is looking decidedly better with a frost this morning, and the sun shining through the bay window is managing to warm me a little. I have just popped outside and taken this photo. This is my next giveaway! ( Thankyou Sandi for making such a cute button for this one)

If you want to be in with a chance to win this bear, leave your comment below with a suggested name for him/her. If you want some extra chances repost this photo on your own blog with a link back here and I'll add your name an additional two times to the hat/bowl/basket. I think that will do, I don't want to inundate you with rules! I'll look forward to your name suggestions, the draw will take place in two weeks and the bear will be given the name that comes out of the hat. Good Luck!

I Always Get It In The End (and you might too)

It seems that I can puzzle over things for years, trying various methods of approach that don't work and then all of a sudden all falls into place and the solution to a particular problem presents itself when I wasn't even trying (perhaps the phase of the moon or the alignment of the stars were perfect)! This happened today. Over the years I have tried and tried to sculpt a leather nose for my pandas which has the distinctive shape of a real panda's nose.  Many times I have tossed the resulting misshapen mess into the bin and reverted to my more typically beary nose. Today it's a different story, I wasn't even putting serious thought into it just fiddling about with a piece of green felt, trying out different shapes, "et voila" there it was in my hands, a panda nose! I'm so happy about this, but you are going to have to wait to see it, as this head is barely recognisable as the beginnings of a panda! (Does have a cute nose though)
My real reason for posting today is to let you know I'm having another giveaway. I see that I am inching my way to 300 followers (thanks y'all), good enough reason to celebrate along with midwinter I'd say ;o)
Tomorrow, on the shortest day of the year here for us down under, I will post a photo of the giveaway bear. So stay tuned, there will be some rules!

Meanwhile here's a little shot of Funi from our trip to the Adelaide zoo in January.......just to give you an idea of what I'm on about when it comes to noses and pandas :o)

A Magical Time Of Year

Even though the days are short and cold, there is a magical quality about late Autumn and Early Winter here in Tasmania. On Saturday evening, just after sunset we were treated to a display of southern lights, we don't often see them and when we do it always feels special. Then on Sunday morning this is what we awoke to in the garden! It must have got down very cold in the night and this ice sculpture is the result of a leak in one of our water pipes which had sent a fine water spray out over a patch of long grass and bracken. In each of these structures, if you look closely, you will see a grass stem or other vegetation on which the ice has formed. Now readers in some of the colder areas of Europe and America probably won't think much of this, but for us it was a real treat. I think we have had snow fall here where we live just three times in thirty odd years, and only once did it settle long enough to scrape together enough to make a small snowman, it just doesn't get all that cold, really.

I'm working on pieces to bring away with me to the Gold Coast International Teddy Bear Fair which is being held over the Queen's Birthday long weekend (11th and 12th June) The little guy I'm making now has such a sweet face, I'm not sure I want to take him along! I might want to keep him. This doesn't often happen to me, but occasionally one little face will talk to me and I'll hang on to the bear........ for a while at least.

Last week I received my trophy from the Sydney Teddy Bear Fair people's choice competition, a lovely crystal piece to add to my cabinet :) This was for Fynn, and he won the Modern Bear category.

Lastly, don't forget to cast your vote in the Australasian Creative Design Awards, voting is open for just a few more days. On Wednesday morning all the entries will be available for adoption, I hope to "see" you there!

Ginger's Giveaway!

Ginger Brame over at Bear Bits is having a giveaway, in celebration of her 500th blog post! WOW! And just look at this gorgeous little bear she has up for grabs! Isn't he just the cutest little thing ever? His name is May-bee and you have a whole month in which to get your entry in, I've already done mine :o)

Keeping The Home Fires Burning

This is how I've spent some of this mother's day, stacking firewood into the "woodshed". This little structure was one of our first building attempts out here. It was intended as a "temporary" solution to our firewood storage needs and is built with bush poles, scrap timber and old roofing iron. It has stood nigh on thirty years! Not so bad for a temporary building. It is a little swaybacked and it has a definite lean in a south~easterly direction and quite frankly I'm surprised it's still standing! We keep thinking it will do for another winter....and another....and another and still it stands! Being "off the grid" for everything this is a vital part of keeping things going out here, a good wood supply. Our kitchen wood~fired stove also heats our water.......so no wood, no fire, no hot water. We like it that way, being totally in control of things, but it can get very wearying at times, and as we get older it's getting harder. I guess the time will come when we will really need to re-think things and find some "simpler" solutions. Meantime, our little shed serves our needs.





The other thing I've been doing today is playing with paperclay. I've been sculpting this doll's head, it started out as a styrofoam egg over which the clay has been added. I have been following a guided tutorial by Sue McFadden (Blueprints in Felt Doll Making), and I have been enjoying it immensely. I have dabbled in dolls from time to time and played in my sister Susie's studio, but I always come unstuck when it comes time to paint! If I fiddle about long enough I can get a reasonable looking sculpt, but me and paint? Ugh! When I saw this tutorial I thought it was much more manageable for me as there is minimal painting involved! I love the tactile look of the wool felt over the paperclay sculpt, it somehow feels closer to bearmaking for me. (Now getting the felt to sit nicely over the sculpt might prove to be too much of a challenge for me, so stay tuned for an update!) I still have quite a way to go with the sculpting but it's getting there. I suppose I should really put it aside and get some bears made, it's only a few short weeks until the Gold Coast International Teddy Bear Fair! You might like to take a look at Sue's work, her dolls have such gentle souls, and are quite whimsicle, you'll find them here

In Case You Haven't Heard....

I have been honoured with two nominations in this year's Australasian Creative Design Awards! Now that the hands on judges have completed their task, we are allowed to brag a little. All the entries in this year's competition can now be viewed here please take a few minutes to have a look and vote for your favourite critter. (If you find the photos a bit small to make a decision, you can wait unti June1 when the show opens and cast your vote then, they will be displayed much bigger then)
This year we had to find inspiration in the works of Beatrix Potter, a theme I had surprising difficulty with! It was hard for me not to just reproduce her characters, as I find them all so endearing! In the end I was pretty pleased with my efforts and these two have been in the hands of the three judges this past week. I'm looking forward to reading the critiques when I get them back. I always find "in the fur" judging very beneficial, it can bring attention to any aspects of your work that can be improved upon which would never be picked up from a photograph, and I certainly take the judges' advice to heart.
Squirrel Nutkin and his friends were the inspiration for "Nuss". I know the red squirrel is now rare in the British Isles but I do get excited when I see the little grey squirrels who seem to inhabit every garden and park, when I visit the UK. (Maybe I'll be lucky and see a red squirrel too, sometime)

Nuss

As for "Missy" my little mouse. It seems I have inspiration for her all over the house at the moment, as they always invade when the weather starts to get cool. But in truth back when I was making her, the weather was warm and the mice were happy to be outside in the bush, so Appley Dappley's old woman who lived in a little shoe-house was my inspiration. Though I didn't give Missy nearly as fancy a shoe as Beatrix painted for her mouse, (it is a genuine antique button-up boot though).
I hope you enjoy seeing all the pieces in the show, there certainly are some wonderful works and some very interesting interpretations of the theme! 

Missy

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.