My tears for Candy Floss

Well not quite tears, the Candy Floss in the title is a bear I made just under a year ago, gosh that long. When I had finished her I was so so proud, why cos she was had a unique nose and it was the first time I felt I could do this craft, no I mean really really crack this wonderful, fantastic huggable world of bears.
Anyway she went to her new home yesterday.................to Joan, she is a great woman, real and like me has a bit of life thrown at her sometimes. I am not sure why I decided to part with her having made the decision to keep Candy all that long ago, I suppose I felt Candy deserved better than being on my shelf, looking after all the new bears that came along and went, seemed a bit unfair to her in the end. I know Joan will love her to bits, so Candy is finally where she belongs, to be hugged and loved by a lady who was the first to meet her, can't get better than that, can you? It would have been cruel to have kept her.
This morning, I am reminded of a friends (I would like to think she is, cos she is a fantastic artist and has my utmost respect) plight to find a bear from her early days, having sold all the bears she made, she dearly wishes that she had kept a bear from those days.................................I wonder how many other artists wish they had kept a bear. You see you never end up making a bear for yourself, I am not sure why that is. Maybe like me, bringing pleasure to others is more important than anything else. Not a bad thing.
Anyway thanks Joan for giving Candy Floss the love she deserves.

Other news um!!!! No fabric yet???? Two weeks now, so hopefully they will arrive today from the US. I can't wait, I just hope Mr Customs man hasn't decided that my parcel is suspect and is holding said parcel for ransom. The other thing I have been looking into for awhile now is hand dyeing, so I was really really bad and ordered some ivory sparse from Susan at Bear Basics . I then went in search of some Kool aid, its an American drink that dyes natural fibres in soft colours. I liked the idea of these as you can control the amount of drink you use and therefore control the colour outcome, no doubt the fabric will arrive today and the drink will arrive next week, just so I can't play this weekend!!!!

I am also finally an artist bear collector. I took part in a bear swop....................................more about that next week, when my bear arrives in the US, wouldn't be right to show you a piccie when she hasn't arrived at her new moms yet :)

Well Huggies for now
Sue xx

PS damned headache is still with me !!!!!!

A week of !!!!!????

It was half term week here last week, not that it affects me any more as Catherine is old enough to be left at home. Boy is that a tough one, when they get old enough, are they responsible, will they be ok. I have to say I still worry and we text each other on and off all day, so far she has been fine, thank god, strange you may think considering she is 18 in June but at the age of 4 she was diagnosed with epilepsy, so for me leaving her at home 20 miles from where I work was difficult but we have always tried to encourage her to not let this condition hinder her, after all there is alot worse things that she could have. Anyway back to my week, it started really bad as last sunday I came down with another bad head, sunday was a write off and so was monday, which was very annoying as I had a bear to finish for a swop (more of that next week) Well this damned headache didn't go til Thursday afternoon.
I have suffered bad heads for the last 4 years, in the begining it was every weekend, now they appear every 4 to 6 weeks depending on how stressed I am. Bear making has really helped, it can be very therapeutic sewing. I didn't understand why it had lasted so long this time, the first 2 days I couldn't function but luckily it subside enough for me to go to work on tuesday, ther is a moment when I wake that I am completely headache free, its bliss but then by the time I get up and have a shower the old pounding starts, very annoying. I have sinus problems as well and that I am sure doesn't help and the other major thing is blood pressure, this issue has finally come to ahead this week. I visited the nurse last friday for my usual 12 week injection and the nurse said enough was enough that I had raised blood pressure for too long (the past 14 years) It has constantly gone up and then down but now it is permenantly high, so off I trotts to the docs. And there I have my answer to my headache my BP was 170/100 oops, I am to have tests on wednesday, as they can test your blood to determine which tablets are best, neat no trial and error. A few years ago I would have been disappointed that I needed tablets but if it helps this constant fuzzy tight horrible heads then hoorah!!!! I will let you know how I get on next week as I have to wait for a week for the results......................and of course they are testing diabetes, colesterol etc......................so crossed fingers the rest is ok, she did test my heart and that is fine, thank god.

As for bear making I finally finished my swop bear with Sheryl but you will have to wait for piccies (just until my little bear arrives at Sheryls) I can show you a bear that I have just finished for the Nottingham Bear Fair in April, she is a little sweetie and is called Daisy May, she is made from long white mohair and has a really sweet face.
As you can see the epitome of spring

Periwinkle

Hi there, this is Periwinkle, cute eh?? I think so, he is a little smidgen of a fella at 4 inches and I have just listed him for sale on my website. I actually made him a few weeks ago but he was missing something..........................................his scarf. YES I hand knitted that using 2mm cable needles, for those who like old money(me)..................size 14's !!!!!!Flippin tiny is all I can say but it actually was a joy to make, once I got used to it. I used Rowan's Kidsilk Haze, gogeous stuff, it reminds me of the high quality mohair you used to be able to buy in the '80s. The pompoms are made using a template from a penny, hehe! If you would like to take a peak at my website, you will find all the details on the Bears needing a home page.

Sorry I couldn't resist another piccie, here he is lounging between takes, very laid back, George Clooney eat your heart out. I have made him from smokey long pile, such fabulous stuff, in a teal colour and shush! I have just placed another order for some more in other colours, naughty aren't I?????
Hope you like him
Beary Hugs, Sue xx

Crumble

Well here is Crumble, my latest commission bear. He is about 6 inches tall and gorgeous, if you don't mind me saying, hehe! I just fell in love with him but he was not mine for long as his new mom was waiting to cuddle him. He has gone to a good home and has friends to play with, Cookie and Muffin. I delivered him yesterday dinnertime to Tracey and she was delighted, which was a relief, its such a scary time. Will they, won't they is upper most in your mind. Have I interpreted what she wanted, correctly, I needn't have worried, she really loved him.
He is made from 9mm sparse mohair in a lovely warm creamy beige and has a plucked muzzle. I have extensively hand painted/aged him with a warm brown.
I will definately be making some more of this style, its were my heart is.
I hope you agree :)

Snow Days!!!!

Well I am on my fourth Snow day. I did manage to get to work on Wednesday but the lovely fluffy white stuff reappeared yesterday morning, so no go again. This piccie was taken on Monday, mid afternoon and it doesn't look too bad, except it's 2 1/2 miles to the main road, has big dykes either side and four 90 degree bends on it!!!! By Tuesday it was the same but solid ice had formed on the partially melted bits. Thursday saw us awake to a blizzard and a bigger covering than Monday. This morning we have had our first snow fall of the day, its very very cold and the road is worse than Tuesday, so bear making here I come :)
My bosses are fantastic and take the view its not worth the risk and as most of us do live some distance from the town, the office has been shut for most of the week, thank god it was not last week (tax return deadline week) or we would have had a problem.
Last night I happened to catch a bit of Question Time, not my usual programme but as the weather had just been on and they announced that Will Young was on the programme, I left it on. Not that I am a huge fan of Will but wondered what on earth a singer/pop star was doing on that kind of programme. Well the first topic for discussion was the SNOW, surprise surprise. Did the government feel they had failed us by the country grinding to a halt? or something like that and How did they feel now the UK was a laughing stock?
Laughing stock!!!!! by whom, apparently we are expected to be organised like Russia and Canada, why!!!! The Labour politician, Geoff Hoon, gave a very good reply............................................................now don't think I am getting all political on you all, he just happened to point out that did we really want an army of snow ploughs on standby for the next major snow fall, say in another 10 to 15 years, our taxpayers money via council tax would have to pay for this????? NO I flipping well don't want my council to waste money that way, the last time I had to have a day off was about 5 years ago and it was 1 day, so it's not worth the expense in my opinion. Well back to Will Young, they went all around the table and each politician used the opportunity to slap the government over its handling of the situation!!!!Typical. The subject of what we teaching our children by this disgusting display of mass "stay at home" came up, shock horror, all our kids will grow up to give up at the slightest little thing. Well tell that to those kids that have mum's and dad's who have been in bad accidents these last few days, its ok son at least you now know that you have to try to get to work, even if it kills you. Finally the popstar was asked for his opinion................................For goodness sake he said, its snow, whats the problem, so the kids are off a few days, most have never seen that much snow, let alone build a snowman and had snowball fights with their parents or gone sledging. He remembered fond memories of when he was little.
So I say, memories thats what life is about. What kind of country have we become that a few innocent days playing in the snow should be marred by do-gooders saying "Thouht shall go to school" and Question Time have Will Young on again, he spoke more sense than the rest of them put together

Teddy Bear Club International changes

Well important news came through my email box today. Teddy Bear Club International has become Teddy Bear Times, I say "becomes" but really it was that many moons ago.
Not that exciting on its own but it will now be bi-monthly, a sign of the times, well maybe.
As a collector I am horrified, we lost Teddy Bear Scene last year and now this, I understand the issues will be a lot bigger and a whole new layout.................glossier, for that I do think this maybe this is a good thing, to have more artists in each issue will be a bonus. More articles and interesting stories, can only be good. I will miss my trek to W H Smiths every month, it will seem an eternity till the next issue and for that I am very sad.
As an advertiser and supporter I am happy, the advertising fees are planning on remaining the same and due to there being 2 months between issues, surely it is easier for us artists to support them and advertise.
I hope that this is not the calm before the storm and we, in the UK, do not loose our last bear magazine. With this in mind, we should support them, when we can. I do hope that Kirste and her team can steer this change over successfully and deliver a truly awesome new format. I am sure she will do her very best, she is after all a dedicated archtoplie first before she is an editor.
Good luck Kirste, Krystyna and all the girls xxx

The next issue will be in the shops 16th March

New Valentine's Bears

This is Peony, a winged fairy bear, who is named after the flower of love in feng shui. She is holding hand embroidered hearts, which look really sweet. She is about 5 inches tall and I am listing her on ebay tonight at a 99p start, I plan to remove her reserve when she gets to £30.
They will finish on Sunday teatime

This is Loveheart and I am really thrilled with her design, she is totally new and has a really sweet face. I named her after those sweets, Lovehearts, I couldn't resist. She just reminds me of them, so much, you know the ones, with little sayings in red on them.
They do still make them, I think.
She is also listed at 99p with a reserve that I will remove at £30. Oh and she is a little bigger at about 6 inches and is made from a very long swirly pink mohair
I will add a link later, when they are finally on ebay

My bears on ebay

Bear of the month

This is Cherry Taffy, each month I choose a bear and put him up for sale at half price. Cherry Taffy is now available for a bargain price of £30 plus p&p. He is only available to members of my website til the 6th February, so if you are interested then please sign up to my website (for free) and he can be yours. After the 6th he will be available to everyone.
He is about 12 inches tall and made from a lovely honey brown Hembold mohair, more details can be found on my website page "Bear of the month"
Beary Hugs
Sue xxxx