Amelie ...really the end!

Finding a piece of pink mohair in my stash I just couldn't resist  making a NewYear's Eve pink elephant... Amelie ! She is truly the last for 2012.  I have her posted on both BearPile and Etsy.

I decided to put my etsy shop on sale this year. I've done it before,  few years ago, without much result. But this year has been different ( hooray!). 6 bears/bear friends have left for new homes! They went all over ... a nice thing!  When the ball drops tonight here in Kansas City, the sale will be over...

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all....hope your day was as wonderful and crazy and hectic and loud as ours!!!

"The End"

Here's "TheEnd" .... the last bear of 2012. He's  #6178 so that means I made 208 bears and friends this year  ( including Sammi #6000) . Pretty busy year!!
I have shows planned for 2013 starting with the Bright StarTampa show in February!  This show is a good excuse for a Sanibel Island, FL vacation ... bike riding, beach walking, shelling, swimming in a heated pool and so on!!  Just writing about it makes me start planning!!!

It's white outside!!

It's white outside!! We woke on Thursday morning to a white world with lots of school closings , airport delays and cancellations and lo-o-ong commutes for those trying to get to work. There really wasn't a lot of snow but it had rained on Wednesday so maybe there was ice under the snow.... maybe it was the wind. Who knows! It took my son 30 minutes to get to work... it usually takes 7 !  My son-in-law was on the road for over two hours before getting to his work... it usually takes 45!
As for those kids with closed schools? My grandchildren and their Mother ( a high school teacher) had a fun day. The kids went sledding... my daughter cleaned and organized cupboards and didn't grade papers! They all watched Selena the cat go bunny hopping across the lawn stopping every so often to shake of that weird white stuff!
The snow didn't change my day much... other than seeing the neighborhood covered in white from the windows. The "plague" still has me housebound.
Today my husband heard the sounds of a stuck car and found our neighbors really didn't know how to "rock" the car and get loose... so off he went to give a hand. With him at the wheel, the car was out in no time! Guess it pays to have grown up in upper NY State and lived in an area of lake affect snow in Michigan.
We're due for another batch of snow in the next few days! The kids will love it.... and considering how dry ( we're in an extreme drought area) we are who can complain about water whether it be snow or rain? Ice storms I will complain about!! Those are nasty!!

Christmas is getting closer

The "Plague" is hanging on!! My husband is getting solicitous so I must be sounding worse.... LOL  :)

I decided that one thing I could do is put my ETSY shop on sale.... If you use the code  SANTAANNEX when checking out, you will receive a 10% discount!!   I use USPS Priority Mail so your US mailing address purchase should arrive in time for Christmas ( if you make a purchase in the next day or so!)

If you're not worried about a Christmas arrival, the sale goes on until December 31,2012 !

Busy while sick!!

Guess I could blame my grandchildren... or maybe is was the  grandchildren's schoolmates  during their Christmas program... Who knows! Somehow I have caught something ( and my granddaughter has it too!). So it means cookies are on hiatus for now.. I made this Frosty while settled in the recliner with tissues and lots of liquids.....  I will post him on BearPile and then retreat back to the recliner and another small bag of bear parts!
Frosty was made from alpaca blend....

cookies cookies cookies..... instead of bears

I have been making my Christmas cookies for the last few days to send off to our families. It seemed like the amount was getting close to what I needed when the local hungry hoard waltzed in the door. And like magic the amount of cookies dwindled!  Now who would tell their favorite grandchildren "NO!" Well... not me.  So more cookie dough is chilling....

support handmade

  

Facebook people have been posting various versions of this idea.... and I support the idea !  I enjoy going to craft shows and seeing what others are creating and I enjoy creating things myself.  I also enjoy "cruising" through the etsy site..... there are some amazing items for sale! Go take a look....etsy.com    and while you're there take a look at my shop...

GIVEAWAY!!!

I have only one more follower to reach 100... so let's celebrate early.   My giveaway is the little Frosty ornament. It's made from mohair with a felt hat,German glass eyes, polymer resin sew-in nose, wool plaid scarf... all on a Christmas bell.  He has pink cheeks and is 4 inches long from the top of his hat to the bottom of the bell!
I'd really like that 100th follower... but it's not required!  I will mail WORLDWIDE.  It would also be nice if you took a look at my etsy shop and my BearPile gallery.

I will close the giveaway on December 5th in the hopes that it will arrive to you for Christmas!

Entry is simple... leave a comment on this blog
Please make sure I can email you for your shipping address.... and will be using random.org to pick a winner.

I  I can't figure out how to get the random.org thingy into my blog but I did use it to pick the winner!  It chose #2 !!  I'll be contacting #2 ... but if I don't get a response by Friday I will choose another winner.

Baby Bear

I am going to post this little ( about 5 inches tall) bear on BearPile shortly.... Actually he is one of the leftovers ( don't tell him!) from the Christmas Treasures online show!  The show was a true learning experience.... we had to work our way through a PayPal tutorial so that we could have buttons on my page! Thank goodness my husband is MORE computer savvy than I am.  The promoters website provider crashed before the show while all the artists were setting up their show pages and then when the show opened. Too much traffic! The show sold over 300 bears from artists all over the world!!
If anyone would like to give BabyBear a new home for Christmas... just contact me. He is $70.00 shipping included to US mailing addresses.

I removed to Teddies Worldwide gadget on the right since the links no longer work! If I am accepted into the March show there will be a new one!

Another fish story!!!

"It was this b-i-i-g!  I almost had him in my creel!"   Sure Bertie... we believe you!!!

Mail Lady !!

This weekend is the Teddies Worldwide Christmas Treasures online bear show ( link is to the upper right). Bob , my DH, insisted on taking a picture as I headed out to the Post Office with the first batch!!
  Friday night, when the show opened, the server based in New Hampshire bombed. Lots of frustrated collectors! One even called me twice to make sure it wasn't her computer or her server!!  Things finally settled down about 4 hours late!
  Bob and I had worked our way through a tutorial to add PayPal buttons to my show page... but until the first sale we didn't really know for sure that they worked!
  The show goes on until Sunday night.... for those who collect bears or just like to look, there are loads of wonderful bears!!

At work before the DesMoines show!

This Saturday is the DesMoines, IA Doll and Bear Show!!  Bob and I will head out early so that we can unload before 8am ( yuck!) . The show is held in the Iowa State Fairgrounds... a huge complex at 30th and University!  I am almost finished with those in the top photo!  The bear head ornament is now waiting to be packed!!
Hope to see some of you then!!

Update: it was a great show! All these and many other stayed in Iowa!!  Don't forget the CHRISTMAS TREASURES SHOW next weekend.... link to the right side bar!

Moving across town

Mack the Mouse is sitting in my mailbox waiting for my wonderful mailman to start him on his journey.... a really long one. Mack's moving from one side of the state line between Missouri and Kansas to the other!!
His new owner struggled with the ins and outs of PayPal to pay for him!  She's a retired PHD educator but still had to call her daughter for help!  I wrote and told her about our voyage through PayPal's button-adding tutorial for the Christmas Treasures online sale! Misery loves company!!
After the Christmas Treasures sale is over  Bob ( my DH) and I are going to try and add Paypal buttons to my website....  ( groan).

What's next

Here's Larkin.... I was lucky  to find this wrought iron screw on holder! I made a pincushion from embossed cashmere upholstery fabric with vintage rayon plush  leaves and a wool felt flower and have attached it using  jewelry glue. The second picture shows Larkin and the screwed on pincushion in front of my  $10.00 ( with table and stool) 1950's green Singer sewing machine which works like a charm! The picture in front of the machine's colors are off due to the flash. The top one is much more accurate. 
The bear and her pincushion are listed on etsy.com and bearpile.com   and will be going with me to my next show.... DesMoines, IA on  Saturday Nov 10th at the State Fairgrounds!

THE WORLDWIDE CHRISTMAS TREASURES PREVIEW STARTS TODAY AT 4PM   NEW YORK TIME  .... CLICK ON THE SIDEBAR LINK ( upper right)

Grapevine TX Bear Show trip

Doing the Grapevine Show was fun!  I saw my Texas friends ( all the TBAGgers!) , did a walk around town the afternoon we arrived - about 2 miles round trip, met new collectors and makers at the show ( enough of my little guys are not coming back home) and then visited a friend and her husband on our way back home. Bob and I got to ooh and aah over the trains, the bears and their, new to us,home!! And they took us out for a great dinner! Thank you!!
We made it to Durant, OK last night and will head home to KC shortly!! I think we may "antique" on  our way!
Next is the doll and bear show up in DesMoines, IA  Nov. 10th (?)  ... Saturday at the Iowa State  Fairgrounds!

Thanks to Bob and the Teddies Worldwide PayPal tutorial I now have a button on each of my items for the online show.  Bob has two monitors on his computer and I sit with my back to him on mine....not sure how we would have done it otherwise!! What a learning experience for both of us!!
I have had such fun making things for the show.... and am having a terrible time not showing them off.  All , except for the competition bear, are a scret until November 16th!!

Forsaken bat...

I made a bat for someone... it was to be a swap. But it seems to have fallen through. Here he is!
 Getting wool roving to dye a deep true black is much easier said than done. His wing span is 10 inches from tip to tip! The ears are Unltrasuede and the eyes  are black onyx  beads.

Fixated on Halloween?

Some of these have already left for new homes or have been spoken for! The pumpkin heads were made from vintage rayon plush ( very short nap) with German glass eyes! The spider was made from hand-dyed vintage mohair with off-set glass eyes... the legs have large wire pipe cleaners so the legs are posable!

Timmy the Sailor won a ribbon

Timmy the sailor bear with his little boat won a ribbon at the Kansas City Bill Boyd Teddy Bear Jubilee competition this weekend!!  He won 2nd place in the 5 and under "in the fur" category!!  The ribbon is bigger than he is!!

another steal from facebook

Setting out for the KC Teddy Bear Jubilee

Boxes are packed with bears ... the car is loaded... I am heading out to the KCI Expo Center  ( out near Kansas City's airport on Ambassador Dr) to set up my table. Bob's not going today.... he's babysitting the grandkids since our daughter is helping out at her high school's homecoming and our son-in-law will be at work! But he'll be there tomorrow!
Hope to see some of you there too!

how about a spider?

Spidey has eight pipe cleaner filled legs just right for posing and an elastic if  one should choose to let him hang instead of sit on his box! Spidey's head is about 2.5 inches in diameter. His large off set glass eyes are from England.... and his fangs are perle cotton ( Bob insisted that he HAD to have them!).
By the way his black mohair is hand dyed vintage upholstery mohair.... very dense but with a little wear and tear from over the years.
I am taking Spidey to the Kansas City Teddy Bear Jubilee this weekend... out at the KCI  Expo Center.

Teddy tag

This tag was sent to me in a gif file... the eyes opened and closed but I can't figure out how to import it in that format. So I made a copy as a jpeg.  Sandie... the tag is great!

Packing up for a show

I have been packing up bears and bear friends for a short trip up to Omaha, NE. this Sunday.  Elaine's Dolls is sponsoring a doll, bear and toy show in the Fireman's Union Hall, 6005 Grover St., Omaha. The show is 9 am to 3 pm and the Union Hall is just a few blocks North of I-80... really easy to find.
Do hope to see some of my fellow bear people.. do say "hello"!

Halloween's invading me!

This is "Spooky"... when I purchased a bunch of mohair scraps on eBay there was a little piece of tie dyed lo-o-ng mohair done in oranges and yellow.  Too small for a bigger bear!  "Spooky" is the result...and with those colors, Halloween came to mind.  Poking through my Halloween accessories I came across a vintage candy container, some polymer resin Halloween candy, a Halloween bracelet ( Spooky's turned it into a necklace) with a ghost charm and a a black cat done in matboard. I'll be posting him on BearPle and in my stsy shop shortly!
ps. He is 5 inches tall!

Spooky has found a new home in Texas with some other Glass Dragon Bears!

Mishka the Mouse

I just posted Mishka on BearPile.... he's a little 5.25 inch tall anime style mouse... with horsetail whiskers and a cute little tail!!

I have just about finished the Christmas Treasures bears and friends. Some need a few more accessories and one isn't completed!  But I hink I'm doing ok in getting prepared for the online show ( November 16 -18th).

It's currently raining with some thunder rumbles. The temperature has dropped.... no way will you hear any complaints here for A LONG time !  My DH is even thinking he may have to mow tomorrow... it's been almost 3 months since the last time!

Rain Rain glorious rain!

I know Hurricane Isaac did havoc to Louisiana and Mississippi... but at the the end it went North andWest and delivered 6 plus inches of  much needed rain to our area... Hooray!! Everything looks a little better already. Here's hoping all those trees and shrubs with brown leaves will be able to come back next Spring!

New Bears and Friends

If I could figure out a way to post my newest without breaking the Teddies Worldwide rules I would!  I have made quite few ( bears, bunnies, mice.. you name it!) since I was accepted.  It is a Christmas themed show so a lot are Christmas accessorized.  I've been having fun with polymer clay, scrapbooking supplies, ribbons, bells... you name it! ... making the accessories.
The show is November 16 -18 th!

Kansas City Jubilee... September 28 - 29, 2012

A usual (!!!) I'll be attending and showing at  GBW's Teddy Bear Jubilee. It will be held in the KCI Expo Center September 28 - 29th, 2012.

I am adding this year's postcard for people wishing to attend and receive $1.00 off the adult admission.... all you have to do it print it and present it!! I'd love to see loads of people attend... please come and say "hello"!

still working ...

I'm still working on my things for the Teddies Treasures in November... but snuck a new little anime panda onto BearPile today!

difficult? Yes!!

I've been working on my stuff for the online bear show... Teddies Worldwide... Christmas Treasures. I know it's early  but I have to have 5 to 10 new never shown bears and bear friends ready by the end of October.
So I won't be posting pictures .
Yesterday I starting writing down all the ideas that came to me.... and looking for the things I would need to make them. I've never done things this way before. Usually I make the bear and then find what goes with it.
Christmas is the theme... so it will be fun!
I have four  bear shows before the online one... Omaha, NE, Kansas City, MO, Grapevine, TX  and DesMoines, IA.  I think I have enough critters made or in the works for them. But this will be a busy time!!

Show acceptance!! Hip hip hooray!

I have been accepted ! Hip hip hooray!  This was a juried show... and everything for sale must be just for the show! Will have to get going and design some new bears and bear friends... and then make them!!

Here's Penny

Penny is my newest little 5 incher! She was made from very dense hand dyed mohair!  I am not a crocheter that can follow a pattern but I love making an outfit for a bear without one! In other words... I wing it! Penny's shrug/jacket and tam hat were made using a variegated perle cotton thread.  I have posted her on BearPile.

We are heading out for a weekend on Pomme de Terre Lake ( yes, Potato Lake)  with bags of bear parts to sew in the evenings. The grandchildren are eager to go swimming in the lake and we ( DH and I) are too!

Some new ones....

Scooter's in a treasury!!!

Scooter is in a great etsy treasury !  Wonderful bears and bear friends!!

New little girl bear

This is turning out to be a REALLY REALLY hot and dry summer...! The grass is crispy brown. Lots of trees are loosing their leaves and my plants are dead!! We've given up on lots of things and are watering the big trees to help them through this...

But bearmaking is still going on!  This is the newest little one... hand-dyed mohair and a crocheted hat and scarf.

My son has been on vacation this week and has pushed me into canning. He wanted to try more things. We went to the Kansas City Market on Saturday and bought fruit for jams and canned peaches. Cucumbers and peppers and onions for pickles. Yesterday we went to a roadside stand and bought over 25 pounds of canning tomatoes for spaghetti sauce. I didn't realize how many tomatoes 25 lbs were  and how long it would take to peel them!!  The rest we roasted  a la Alton Brown  and froze. I'm headed back to his house on Thursday to finish up with more jam!  There are times ( like last night after making sauce all day) when I am glad to only have to drive to the grocery store when we want pasta!!

After a day's rest (LOL) we made two batches of jam!  One a peach, strawberry and jalapeno pepper combo ( Yummy) and the other a strawberry, peach, blackberry and blueberry combo which reminds me of my Grandmother's blackberry pie !
We decided to go on hiatus till this fall  (maybe)  .... and then make apple butter and applesauce.

Hucklebeary

This is Hucklebeary... my newest hand sewn/ handmade little bear. He is 4.75 inches tall.... admittedly I didn't make the vintage bark canoe  but someone did!  I made the stand , paddle and knapsack !  Hucklebeary is ready to paddle or float down the Little Blue River here in Blue Springs. The Little Blue flows into the Missouri River and then into the Mississippi ( at St. Louis) and then south to the Gulf of Mexico!
Hucklebeary has been posted on BearPile

Handmade.... what it means to me

"Mama and Baby Bear"  from Leeds, England  posted this on Facebook..... I spend a lot of time hand sewing bears and their friends so this hit home.  I copied it into "my documents", posted it here and will "pin it"  . All to spread the word!!

Mr. Picky!

Every once in awhile I play around with scrapbooking using digital files. The inspiration, this time, was Dominic's trip to the local Chinese buffet restaurant where he fell in love with pickled octopus ! He ate the whole thing! And this is my super picky eater who won't eat casseroles, most sandwiches, potato salad and so on!  I do wish my son-in-law had gotten a better picture... only much fiddling and making it black and white let me make it usable for scrapping!
I have eaten octopus... tiny ones in paella (sp?) and I do like raw squid.... but can't imagine eating that THING! His Mother had to cover her eyes!!!

"Sea Life" trip

Our grandchildren's report cards warranted a reward ( all A's and the kindergarten version of all A's - all 3's). We aren't ones for rewarding with money so we took them and their Mother to Kansas City's newly opened Sea Life. It's a small aquarium ( and there is a Legoland place next door) that has been fitted into the Hall's Department space in Crown Center.  It's pricey... but the kids really enjoyed it!  The "hands on area" went over especially well!  I think my grand daughter could have stayed much longer than her super active little brother was ready for!
We bought tickets online and were early so the kids had fun running through the fountains in the courtyard ... the water sprays high and low... and  off... so they had fun not getting wet!

Entrance

 

 

 

 

Fountain Fun

Hands on area... star fish, shrimp, horseshoe crab, sea urchins, lobsters

                        Camera flashes aren't allowed.... so pictures turned out blurry!

The kids are rooting for Legoland as a reward for next year's reports cards....  but will we all be able to wait?

Mosaic Stepping Stones

My daughter, granddaughter and I took a mosaic stepping stone class yesterday at Daft Crafts which is on the Independence ( Missouri) Square... just down the street from the old Independence Courthouse with its statue of President Harry Truman ( Independence's most famous  native son!)

My daughter and the "always making faces" Lili

Lili designing her stone

Lili's designed glued and ready for grouting

Lili and I cleaning off  the excess grout

All three stones grouted, cleaned and drying. After they've dried for several days, more excess grout can be removed

Moving right along...

The "studio" is just about empty...except for the industrial sewing machine  and a large drop leaf table that is folded up. It's amazing how big the room looks now and I am beginning to think about how I will arrange things when I start putting things back. I want to keep that open look.
We took a car load of "stuff" to the local Goodwill!  Hopefully there will be more as I sort again before putting things back! I must admit that it feels funny seeing my "donations" on the Goodwill store shelves!

Part of downsizing is using bits  from my stash of mohair scraps.... and  Sammy is the latest result. He is 4.75 inches tall and has been posted on BearPile.