The Weekend

We had a pretty big weekend... so not much bear related got done!



Saturday morning was quite hot so we let Chels have some fun under the hose. She looks so much like a little girl in her swimmers... my tiny baby is definitely gone now!





Then we had my brother's wedding. I did a reading and was a little nervous about it - but I survived. In my infinite wisdom I decided to wear the highest pair of stilettos I've ever worn in my life - to a garden wedding. So I had to quickly learn how to manage the whole 'sinking into the ground as I walked' problem. The shoes were off by the reception though! And pretty much stayed off for the rest of the night! :P


Then Sunday morning, in another incredibly foolish move, we decided to walk Brisbane's new Gateway bridge (one of the main bridges that joins the northside to the southside over the brisbane river. We took Oliver too. He took one look at the bridge and decided to hitch a ride in the carrier basket under Chelsea's pram! After a little bit of walking I think it got a bit boring under there for him though and he came out again. He did really well - and so did Chels. As you can see she did quite a bit of the walking herself!

So a big weekend, but lots of fun! More bears to come this week though ;).

Lambs!

I was feeling like a bit of a break from sewing bears yesterday. I don't know if other bear makers get that way as well, but when I've managed to pop out 3 bears in a week, I get a little restless.

I'd purchased an awesome big plush blanket in my travels that I had intended to turn into something... and decided now was as good a time as any to chop it up and see what happened.


Firstly I made a sheep. I didn't really think through the design very well though - I just did a quick sketch and went from there.


It was a bit of a disaster. It looked more like a blimp with ears than a sheep! (So Chelsea has adopted him!)

Later in the day I decided to try a little harder at the design aspect. And drew up what looked like a cute, and slightly different way to make a lamb. I think I underestimated how long it would take to cut out all the little bits and assemble the lamb though. Even though it really is the simplest of designs! I started at about 8pm, and wasn't finished till 11pm! (and I've got my brother's wedding today where I'm doing a reading, so hopefully I can stay awake for it!)


They are pretty sweet though, but did end up a little more like my SPuNGieS than I thought they would. I'm going to pop them in my etsy and MadeIt stores when I get back from getting my hair done for the wedding. This will be my first trip to a hairdresser in about 11months! I am SOOOO looking forward to it!

Brinjal

Brinjal is another word/name for eggplant according to wikipedia. Seemed like a good name to give this latest bear of mine...

... meet Brinjal the Bear. He is made out of a stunning, and very OOAK piece of hand-dyed mohair from Debs Bears. I've matched the purple mohair with a piece I hand-dyed myself back in May during some experiments with using foodstuffs as dye. (this bit was dyed with tea - so not terribly exotic!)

I made Brinjal in the opposite order to my normal bears as well - finishing his head before I'd even sewn his body and limbs (the was simply due to chelsea sleep time restrictions, not by choice). And so because of this I think I got a little excited trying some new things for his face. I wanted to give the embroidered effect of a highlight on his nose. Then decided the nose needed to be edged - but not fully. Then decided that this same thread needed to be continued onto his pulled toes... anyway the end result is a very unique big bear. But quite a stunning one too. His serious look and big size make him quite imposing in person!

Chelsea's Room

I think I might have posted some photos a while back, just after we moved into our new home, of Chelsea's room. Very conveniently painted in a stunning shade of lavender with a darker purple feature wall.

I'd been searching around for something complementary, feminine, and not too babyish to decorate the feature wall with. I wanted it to be something she could grow with without being too embarrassed to have friends around when she's older.

I discovered some wall sticker designs and decided that was the way to go. After quite a few weeks of short listing designs, I ended up going with these guys from etsy - Surface Inspired.
I chose a design that started from the top of the wall and cascaded down, as I know how 'busy' Chelsea's little fingers can get when she's curious and didn't want the sticker picked off as soon as I stuck it on.


This was the stickers as they arrived. The instructions said to lay them flat for a few hours before applying. I had no surface that was safe from being trampled on by Chelsea's busy feet either - so decided they could flatten out while blue tacked to the wall.


This morning I got to work sticking them up. First the branches. I will admit I underestimated how tricky it would be - but still managed to do it! And I did it all by myself, while keeping an eye on a destructive 15month old!

Then Chels needed a sleep, so after that we cut all the flowers and birds into their individual components and started applying them. Once I got the hang of it it wasn't too bad. Just incredibly time consuming. I think the whole application probably took about 4 hours.


But how awesome does that look!!!!




...and this was the free 'tester' sticker - I think it looks pretty sweet in the entrance to the bear studio too. :)

Oliver

Some of you might remember this bear... Acorn. I made her while experimenting with different shapes to get different looks a while back. Anyway, I mention this particular bear, as she was part of something very new for me - a swap! I was contacted by a lovely collector who was already looking after another of my bears, who asked if I would be happy to swap Acorn for a sketch of Oliver. After seeing her work I was very excited to have a piece of her art in exchange for a piece of mine.

The sketch arrived this morning. I'd only just woken up (the postman was very early today!), and Mark hadn't yet left for work, so he got to check it out when I opened it. I think it is fair to say that we are both blown away by it! It's stunning!



I am sure that Janie would be happy to take any commissioned orders as well if you have a beloved doggy you'd like immortalised!

Simon

I never thought I'd use this name on a bear. Mainly because it's my dad's name, and it is always odd to name a bear you've made after a family member without good reason. And I don't have a good reason in this situation. Simon named himself! And besides, I think he just 'looks like' a Simon!

He is my latest Panda. A little bigger than Li Mei, and with a different design. He has definitely come out more manly than she did which is good, as that was what I was hoping for! (Isn't it nice when things just work out!?).

So he is currently on bearpile if anyone wanted to check him out there too.

I think I have a crush on the postman!

Well... maybe I shouldn't go so far as to call it a 'crush' - but I like him. A lot! He brings me goodies in the mail nearly every week. Mind you, the goodies are only arriving because I purchased them on etsy first! :P

Today we had THREE parcels arrive. I would love to show you photos of the actual items, but most of them are christmas gifts (and some of the people for whom the gifts are intended might read this blog!).


Instead I'll give you the links to these amazing etsy stores so you can check them out yourself. For my fellow Australian's, I have THE MOST INCREDIBLE jewellery you will ever find! Check out this store - Unique Dichroic Glass Creations. My pendants arrived this morning and they are all stunning! They come in little printed paper packets, with little organza bags inside, with the pendant inside that! Beautifully presented for gift giving. They are so much more stunning in person that the pictures show. And they are good pictures!



Next arrived a big box full of these gorgeous handmade pocked mirrors. They are again stunningly presented and just perfect for popping in a handbag. I have a lot of ladies in my life - so I got a LOT of these! The etsy store is called Kailo Chic and she sells a lot of other gorgeous things as well.



And lastly - a bit of a surprise package from Israel. I had completely forgotten this one was coming. I purchased this pendant to wear to my brother's wedding - this weekend! So I'm glad it made it in time. I actually bought it before I found a dress to wear too. Luckily the dress I purchased has some blue on it as well. I think even if the colours had clashed I still would have worn it anyway! It is just gorgeous. I must say though, I LOVE big chunky jewellery. And I LOVE real stones even more! So this was the best of both worlds! There are some other pretty lovely pieces in Mara Joyce Designs store if you wanted to check them out too.