Better pictures

 It wasn't sunny this morning but it snowed last night and was still snowing lightly this morning...which made my "photography studio" bright enough for picture taking. This is Leon... a little 4.5 inch bear made from a scrap of dense, long, hand-dyed mohair.....
Leon has been posted on BearPile 
( headed off to Texas!)




And here is Poppi again. But with much more accurate coloring!!
I have updated Poppi's listing on BearPile

Poppi Revamped

I wanted to post a picture of the "revamped" Poppi on BearPile and etsy but our weather has been so rainy/foggy/thundery today I couldn't take pictures! Too bad I didn't finish her outfit yesterday because it was gorgeous... 74* and sunny. Today is cold - 46* and tomorrow will be even colder - but then it goes back up for a weekend in the 60's...  weird , right?!
So here she is.. on my desk... using a flash.  She is wearing a pale yellow cotton pinafore with little red flowers, She's carrying a crocheted red strawberry bag.  Tomorrow, if it sunny enough not to need the flash, I'll be taking her picture again and getting the colors right!!  And no shadows behind her!!

Tampa Postcard

My bear picture was chosen for the Tampa "postcard". Valerie, the show promoter, sends out postcards announcing an upcoming show.. Bringing it to a show  gives the attendee a discount.  Anyway here is the postcard!

If anyone wants a postcard for the Tampa Show ( you get $1 off on admission)...either leave me a comment or hit the contact me lower right hand side...

working hard...

I am slowly getting enough "secret" bears ready for the Teddies Worldwide show in March! Plus some new ones for the Tampa show in February....
I'm also working on ME... we always rent bicycles for our time on Sanibel Island, FL (  a 2 week vacation after the Tampa show) so I thought that I really needed some time at the gym to prepare.  So off we went this morning and I can really tell that we haven't been in awhile!! Oh-h groan !  Better now then when on a bike trek on Sanibel.
  The rental bikes are big tired 1 speeds ... just like when I was a kid back in the '50's.  But Sanibel is almost flat... the center of the island is higher and there are bridges over the canals to manage.  Sanibel  gives bikes and pedestrians the right of way and there are bike trails/sidewalks all over. The bikes have baskets for stuff on our treks to the beach or for bringing back groceries or books from the library. "Visitors" can get short term library cards ! Can you tell that I'm looking forward to our stay!?

Here is Madeline....made for the Tampa show. She's wearing a dress made from a Florida souvenir hankie  with a vintage porcelain vase of sea shell flowers ( which I learned to make at the Community Center on Sanibel Island).

Revamping

I have been revamping some of my Christmas bears and friends.... Plus thinking about Valentine's Day. Plus working on a bear for the competition during the Tampa show...I guess I am keeping myself busy.

Here are two ...

As for accessories for Valentine's Day bears?  I needle felted  a beaded heart for the two mice. I also covered display blocks and boxes with Valentine paper. More things are on their way

Here's another... Brewster!

Busy busy time....

We have been organizing the calendar....I have a bear show in Tampa on February 24th and an online show the weekend of March 22-24.... and Bob has reserved a place on Sanibel island, Fl for two weeks starting  February 23rd....... So I have to get to work!!
The Bright Star Tampa show has a competition... pattern provided and finished size set.  So I have to work on that plus some bears for the sales table.
 The Teddies Worldwide on-line show has to have at least 5 all new bears including a preview bear.The preview bear has to be uploaded and the show page created while we are GONE. So finish new bears and take pictures and write copy and store all that in the laptop so I can create the show page etc.while in Florida!! Thank goodness our place has WIFI ! ( I'll be doing this at night because who wants to miss out on shelling, swimming, bike riding etc. on wonderful Sanibel!?)
So... looks like I won't be headed to Omaha for the doll and bear show this March !
Currently the gadget about the Teddies Worldwide show doesn't have an active link...but that will be changed when we get closer to march!