Sunday 12 October 2008

Pierre and Billy Boo.




























































I had a photo session this lovely sunny afternoon with the bears in the garden . A random frog hopped in to say hello and I ran in the house until he'd hopped off. Silly I know but they're so erratic the way they jump that I find them unpredictable and worry that they might jump on me! Anyway I got some nice shots , I find natural light is so much better for taking photos and getting true colours, I was glad it was sunny.











My new bear is wearing his hat with pride and I've decided to call him Pierre, I think it suits him. Let me know what you think. I'm going to put his friend Billy Boo on eBay.com tonight for a three day auction . Ta ta for now x

Saturday 11 October 2008

Friday 10 October 2008

Time For Change.

Hello, thought I'd better check in and let you know that I'm still blogging. After a nasty cold that kept me in bed for a few days I have been taking it easy, but not too easy! I find it hard to do nothing at all and I've been putting some ideas down on paper - new designs for bears and generally organising myself and my sewing room. I've also been thinking about which direction I'm heading in, with the change of season so definately here now I'm getting a bit restless , I feel it's time for something new and even though I'm still a bit unsure of what exactly that may be , I'm excited! I hope that I'm making sense, please let me know if you think I'm going mad. With so much doom and gloom in the media maybe we all need something to look forward to ......


I've been putting the finishing touches to a new bear today , he's bigger than my usual and I've had great fun making him and seeing his personality emerging as I go . I gave him a growler and I'm sure he must be dizzy since I can't resist getting him to make some noise every time I pick him up. He's based on a gorgeous old bear that I saw at an antique fair in the summer. Unfortunately I didn't buy him (my funds wouldn't allow) but I did have a hug and he did inspire me to make this fellow. Haven't given him a name yet but hey look what happened to Billy. He's now Billy Boo! I wasn't entirely happy with Billy's features so I set about improving them and then I went ahead and made a new outfit and a pumpkin and I love him.

Tuesday 23 September 2008

Back in a jiffy.







My apologies for being gone so long without even saying farewell, the truth is that I never intended to have a break it just kind of happened. I've been busy helping my sister with her wedding and now that she's wed normality can once again take over. It's been a wonderful time of socialising and creativity with lots of effort put in by many clever people. I love weddings but I really don't agree with spending { or borrowing } obscene amounts of money for the big day. This was one of the best that I've been to and it cost a third of the average wedding in the UK. I made the dress together with my girlfriend Corinne. I had the difficult task of making a boned strapless beaded lace and silk bodice to fit my sister's ample bosom and I'm relieved to say that I fulfilled my duty and the bodice was a perfect fit! We had lots of girly nights which were thinly disguised as dress fittings where we'd spend 30 mins on the dress and the rest of the evening eating nibbles and drinking wine { no wonder it took so long to complete }.



Well I must say I missed the bear world and now is about the right time to begin making another bear as it's my grandsons first birthday next week ! Better get my skates on ! Ta ta for now.

Monday 7 July 2008

Gone in a flash.






















This past week has gone in a flash and tomorrow I will be back at work :-( . I had a great time doing just what I wanted to do rather than what I had to do. I went to Janine's birthday party and decorated some cakes. I went for a refreshing walk and gathered some elder flowers to make elder flower champagne, the results of which I can't wait to try! I made hats, hats ,hats. I went for Sunday curry at Martin and Bina's and drank Pimms for the first time in ages. I made a little bear called Billy who really makes me smile. I had a great week and feel well rested and stress free. Hope all is well with you too x

Tuesday 1 July 2008

Good Morning Mr Sunshine.

Hooray ! At last there is some decent weather here in the north west of England , the sun is shining and I feel energised and eager to get on with some serious crafting so I'm gonna keep this early morning post short and sweet and I'll return later today hopefully with some pics of the fruits of my crafting..........
Oh I've gone and done it now , I'd better have something to show.........

Monday 30 June 2008

Flowers for me!


I always love to receive flowers and these were given to me by my sweet little flower of a daughter Freya as a thankyou for her prom dress. They smell as good as they look. I've almost finished the new bear I've been making and will show some pics tomorrow , I have got a week off work to catch up with jobs that I have to do. Hooray for a break from my day job and Yay to making loads of mess in my craft room WOO HOO x

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Prom Queen.
















Pics of my baby girl in her prom outfit that I made , tiara , earrings ,bag and necklace included! So as you can see I've been v busy lately and can't wait to get some bear time . I do have something on the back burner tho..... you can have a sneak peek and there will be more pics following later in the week... ta ta for now x

Thursday 19 June 2008

Pretty in Pink!











Hello there, just wanted to show you some pics of Rosie now she's dressed! It's been a struggle for me to blog lately as I have been busy making my daughter's prom dress. I can't believe it's my baby's very last day in school , she sits her final exam this afternoon and then we have the long wait for the GCSE results.....Anyway I finally put some clothes on Rosie and gave her a little tweak here and there. I just love the Liberty Kinnear fabric that I made her skirt from, I think it really suits her as she has very subtle blush tones in her fur. Hope you like her , she's on eBay now , have a great weekend ! xxx

Thursday 5 June 2008

Shy.







Good morning folks. Sorry about the whingey post yesterday , I've been thinking about the situation and maybe the problem is with me really. Cris feels indifferent about the bears , he neither loves them or hates them and he has the right to think whatever he wants about them . I guess it's hard when someone close doesn't share your passion . I also think that I'm a little embarrassed about it because I'm a grown woman who loves teddy bears but I've gotta get over it!
I showed this little nameless bear to Cris last night and he was surprised cos seemingly to him the little cutie had appeared from nowhere! I'm not gonna be so secretive about my craft any more . Anyway I'm pleased with my new creation , I love the blue eyes and rosy cheeks ( which don't show up too well on the pic) . I tried out a new technique for the nose . I think it's my best bear yet ! There's still some tweaking to be done but there's a certain shyness about this one that I really like. Will show the finished bear next week . x

Wednesday 4 June 2008

Hats versus bears.

Hello, it's been ages since my last post and that's because I've been busy with the hats again. Those damn hats ! I love them and so do other people, I just sold some more today and I know that's good but they're getting in the way of the bears ! Something else that's sabotaging my bear making is my husband! Now I don't mean that literally but I know he doesn't like bears and I'm sure he thinks I've gone quite mad. I can't explain to him how wonderful it is to take a piece of mohair and see it transform in your hands into a bear , he just doesn't get it! I'm embarrassed to admit that I hide any signs of bear making from him . Pathetic I know but it's just easier , I'm really sensitive and can't cope with the fact that he dislikes them , anyway he's gone out so I'm gonna finish the bear that's been a wip for weeks. I'll post the pics later tonight, sorry for moaning on x

Friday 16 May 2008

Fun football and bears.


Hooray for summer ! The sunshine has given me a real boost and I've been spending a lot of time outdoors tidying the garden and sowing seeds , even hand sewing bears ! There's a delicious breeze that blows over from the pennines so that even when the sun is blazing there's usually a little cooling relief . I've had a busy week and Friday has come around very quickly. I went to Manchester on Wednesday ( day of the UEFA cup final ). My sisters were singing with a band in a Albert square where the council had put up a big screen for the fans. They were the pre match entertainment . We took the train into town and from the moment we got into Piccadilly station I wanted to go home! I hate crowds and this was the biggest I'd ever seen , there were 100,000 Rangers fans in M/CR that day , the roads were grid locked but not with traffic , with people! The police had relaxed the law on alcohol consumption in the street and the fans made easy work of drinking the city dry! I have to say that the atmosphere in Albert Square was amazing and the fans were all in good spirit. The band went down well and I eventually relaxed enough to enjoy myself but things soon turned sour when one of the big screens wouldn't work! As you can imagine there were some very angry people ! We made a quick dash to the station and got there just in time for the train to take us home to our peacefully quiet village. I know it's easy for me to say but there was lot of mistakes made that day and a lot of people out to make a quick buck selling alcohol and all because a few men are kicking a bit of leather around on some grass. Sorry I just don't get football! Anyway on a lighter note I've a new bear coming together nicely and should have some pics on Monday. Hope all is well , enjoy the sun and have a great weekend!! xx

Friday 2 May 2008

Back with the bears.







Thank goodness ! Things have been busy around here lately and bear making was put on the back burner for a while but I'm back in production now and having fun with new patterns! I love the way that even a small pattern alteration can make a HUGE difference. Betty and Flo are my latest bears and I'm so pleased with them, they're a more sophisticated version of my very first bears. Flo is already for sale on eBay and Betty goes on at 9pm tonight . I'm in work today and so looking forward to the bank holiday weekend when I'll be spending time with family and friends . I hope you all have a great weekend - the sun is shining right now , hope it lasts! Hugs Ginie-Lee xx

Thursday 10 April 2008


Hello it seems a long time since my last post but I've been v busy getting a little hat collection together for a new shop that has opened in Stockport. For anyone that doesn't know Stockport, it's main industry used to be hatting and it now boasts the countrys only Hat Museum which is housed in one of the original mills from the turn of the century, I just love that place! but then I just love hats! On the bear front, Amy has gone to her new Mum and I'm working on some new head patterns which are quite similar to my very first bear heads only with a higher forehead , I'm eager to see the results. Cris has taken a week off work to give the front garden a makeover . Yesterday I had a quagmire instead of a drive but today and four tonnes of gravel later I have a nice new drive! Just need a nice new car to put on it now!!

Wednesday 2 April 2008

Amy
















Here she is finished at last! she will be on eBay tonight at 10pm GMT . Hope you like her , if you've been reading my blog you'll know that I took inspiration from a pink vintage Chad Valley bear. She's a little chubby baby bear so nothing like the old bear really but I just love the pink mohair with the biscuit colour backing and I managed to get a similar colour by dyeing it myself. She's a 7 inch bundle of pink joy! edit .Amy's natural colour is the one you see in the outdoor pics not the indoors where she looks a tad orange (too much fake tan ???? maybe........)

Tuesday 1 April 2008

Hi ho hi ho.


Yes I'm off to work. Oh how I wish that I could stay at home and just surround myself with mountains of mohair , and make bears until I was dizzy!! But it's off to work I go and very reluctantly too because I really need to finish my pink bear in order to start my next! I don't know about anyone else but I'm beginning to feel that I can't work on more than one bear at a time. I feel that the rhythm is broken if I start another project and then the spark is lost and it's so hard to go back to. Maybe it's because I'm so new to this and still developing my techniques , I have a hilarious reminder of just how much I've learnt when I look at the first bear/"thing" that I made. It was made out of wool boucle with quite a lot of stretch to it so when I stuffed the head it just kept getting bigger and bigger and BIGGER!! Does anyone else have any pics of the first bear or softie that they made??????????? Please share ;-) . Hugs Ginie-Lee xx

Friday 28 March 2008

Special Delivery!!

Hurray my bear making supplies have arrived from Susan at Bear Basics !!! So it's straight back to work on my new creation . I am trying out wood wool for the first time and already I'm loving the texture and fresh smell of it. I can honestly say that I was as excited about opening the parcel as I would be about opening a birthday pressie (even tho I knew what was inside ). Speaking of birthdays it's Matthew's birthday today , why not pop over and send him some birthday greetings ! Anyway I'm itching to make some progress on my bear so no time for pics now , but maybe later..... Have a great weekend , hugs Ginie-Lee x

Wednesday 26 March 2008

Pink to make the bears wink!!











Think I must be going thru a bit of a pink phase at the mo. I found a picture of the most darling old Chad Valley bear and it's given me inspiration to make something with a vintage air about it. I dyed some mohair and to my utter astonishment it's turned out better than I expected and looks v similar to the old bears mohair . Although the pic may not show the true colour , it is a lovely shade of soft faded pink. I've started my pink bear today and am pleased with the results so far!!! The other pics are of some scrummy pink earrings that I made and a photo from my wedding last July .As you can see my husband and I are surrounded by a sea of pink! Pink to make the bears/boys wink ;-)

Saturday 22 March 2008

Happy Easter Monday!































This blogging business is taking a bit of getting used to , I mean don't get me wrong , I love it, it's just that as with all text sometimes things can be read in a totally different light/context! The other day I left a comment on paula's blog allbear.blogspot.com that made it sound like I was facing imminent death when all I was doing was dyeing some mohair ( well actually I did spell dyeing incorrectly ) cringe. Anyway I just want to wish you a Happy Easter Monday and I have some more pics of Millie who I have decided to put in my newly opened Etsy shop, do stop by and say hello to her! I plan to put Storm up for auction on eBay tonight , many Easter hugs Ginie-Lee x