And sew, it begins......

After many years of not making any bears (or dolls either for that matter) ... and sort of letting this blog become a lot more about birds than bears..... I have begun a bear head.  Woohooo... the "Bearister" lives again!

My eyes have gotten a lot worse, but I can still manage to do a bit of stitching.  Alright!  So, Maggi, my bear making buddy, and I, decided on a short project.  Only a head really.

It is a freebie Andrea Brewer design for a Christmas ornament from an ancient bear making magazine.  A bear head with a ruffle.  So, it shouldn't take too long and maybe even a second one could be done before the big day.  I want to put them on the tree...and, it isn't that far off now is it?

I also have a wonky elbow and man, pinching the pieces together with fingers and also gripping my needle in the usual.... " grip of death"... neck and elbow were pretty sore after my first hour working on it.

Somehow, I need to give up worrying about every stitch being perfect and trying so hard to make sure every hair is tucked into the seams, etc... but, it's tough to do when you are totally anal.   Yeh....I know myself well.......

Click on any pic to see even larger...

Anyway... here is the pic of the pattern and also of the head I have begun..

The fur used on the pattern is mini bear fabric and although it looks very furry... that fabric is pretty flat unless photographed right up close.  And, I don't have a colour I like in that fabric anyway right now..so I chose this curly oatmeal coloured rayon instead.  It will be cute I'm sure even though it looks more like an Alpaca or a sheepdog at the moment...





It is now stuffed and ready for nose plucking before I embroider a nose.  She made a clay nose....but, eh...I still like to embroider them...so will do that.

Watch this space as they say...whoever 'they' is......

Best laid plans....

"I don't think we are supposed to be playing with it"...
                                                                                 











"Don't worry....  I won't get my wet nose on it or nuthin' "......

"Okay, ..well, maybe I could touch the lacy bit just once too"...

"Oooooh... yeh...feels nice".....

"Uh, oh..............busted" .........

Wheeeeeee !!

Yesterday I put on surgical scrubs, got out my various haemostats and surgical threads... laid out the patient's arms and ... er ...wings..... and got bloody...... on the first stitch actually.  Then, had to stop, lick the wool  (to get the blood off ) ..your own spit is the best way ...and almost the only thing that works really well.... but, your tongue gets kinda fuzzy.... plah... pluh.....

No wonder I hold my embroidery threads in a vice like death grip .... that's how I have to hold down a patient every time I attempt to stitch on arms, legs, heads, wings.. you name it.  I have to totally change tactics for embroidery stitches... learned that already.  Gentle pressure is all that is needed to make the various stitches look so much better.

With mohair and animals (and goosies) .... almost every stitch in tight or hard to get to areas takes pulling through with a needle grabbing hemostat.... oh, and a bit of cursing and occasional finger stabbing.

Finally... just as I was about to tie things off .... there was a flurry of wings and somehow she got airborne...

Wooohoooooooo ...........

Look at me! ................ I'm flying ..... and I can even see myself in that spoon.....

Watchout.!!!

Luckily she landed safely.... I tidied up my mess and she went over to talk to the DTBs  (dining table birds) ... they were still at it over an hour later.... I'm not even going to tell her when I paint her feet.  i'll just do it and then poke them in where they belong...I hope...

Housebound birds.....  they get a little stir crazy......

Yo- yo season..

..and I don't mean playing with them because it is spring.  I mean it is the season when the weather yo-yos....  long before it is time to be out there playing at all.

This is actually a time when we can get a lot of snow...

Two days ago it soared up to +15C; snow melting like crazy and little rivers running down the alleyways as thick ice was melting there too... sunny and warm and easily warm enough for a great golf day if the ground wasn't frozen and covered with snow and ice....

Yesterday?     it plummeted once again and today it is -12C and snowing ....  it's a winter wonderland once again outside .......  sigh......and, so......we wait.... for real yo-yo weather.

Meantime.... seeing as I am out of flour....I know... "GASP" !!  how can that be?  My second hobby is baking and I ran out of THE staple....flour.   Sigh....I am so fired.

Okay then.... I'll play with my feet instead.   My goose feet that is.  They have been sitting around ...getting moved from hobby room to coffee table..to kitchen table over the past few weeks.  Once I actually worked on them.
Yesterday I added some Apoxy Sculpt and got them about the right size and shape that I was trying for.
And, may I just remind everybody that Apoxy Sculpt can adhere to just about anything, so don't forget to put it back onto the tin foil while letting it dry.  Here I moved the feet to a place mat for a photo and forgot them for quite a while ... later I picked one up and the placement lifted off the table attached to it.  Luckily it had not finished setting or Ms Goosie might be permanently attached to a placemat.
If ever you try glue on something and it does't work?.... buy a couple little pots of Apoxy Sculpt.

The next thing I knew, little Ms Goosie was examining things herself and wondering if they would eventually be the right size and shape for her body type.

Soon, I will have to poke some holes in her undercarriage and decide exactly where to position them so she will be balanced enough to stand on her own.

Maybe later today ....seeing as no baking will be happening... actually it could happen right after breakfast... my neighbour is out there snow blowing our sidewalk for some unknown reason...so I got lucky and don't have to shovel...wheeee....... thanks TOM! you crazy old guy......

The new little goosie ..

The only other one I made was my copycat version of Gretel's needle felted Snowdrop.  But, Maggi found this cute pattern and we are using a fluffy feathery looking mohair for this little gal.

I got her beak on....for which we are using some lovely dark rust felt.  The instructions say to glue it on.  Pagh..... it was a bit of fiddling...but mine is stitched.  Not having glue on my mohair.  Besides... stitched will stay firmly in position.

She is a perky looking little thing isn't she?  That is a test eye..but, looks about right for size.

I managed to find some scraps of boiled wool I used eons ago for a bear I made in a class that was more to do with embroidered flowers on the bear than the bear itself.... just enough to make the wing pieces ... they look like gloves with fur around the wrists ..hahahha... well, they do right now.  Wait ..... it'll look much better when they are actually attached, I'm sure ...well, I hope they do !

Some days I love to work in chaos it seems.  It almost feels "cosy" if you know what I mean.  On others...I must tidy, tidy, tidy, before even beginning to look at a project.  Yeh, I know...oddball.  That's me.

I had boxes of ribbons and piles of fabric all over the place trying to choose a tiny bit for her cape and for a big ribbon on the neck/collar of her cape.  I always find pinks look almost red to the camera lens.  This one looks so much nicer in person.  A beautiful piece.  In person, this ribbon is a bright fuschia pink and lovely soft greens...with some threads of brighter greens ..... to go with the soft green of her cape.  It is part of a huge 2 metre chunk of lovely satin-one-side fabric I found in an Indian shop years ago... used on Madame Pompadour for ribbons and trim on her gown.

Share a smile Friday...

... hahahha.... this is great.... don't even have to dream up a catchy title for this posting... although, I'm not usually at a loss for that ....
Take a look at Annie's site for the Smiles that are being shared ....... Who can't use another smile?  If you have some fun thing to share ... why not join in ?  Let's get it growing....

Twiglet's post today has the same guy as I'm going to show you ..... ....but, I think he's worth a second glance, and no, I'm not talking nekkid 'boy toy' or anything like that ....

although, having said that he is naked save for his little ribbon tie.....

Please meet Tanner.

Needle felted for a swap in which he went to live in England... a long trip for such a little guy, but I think he was almost glad to be away from this bird.

"Should I move a bit further from this bluebird guy?"

"How can I look cute if he is always there behind me?"

"Listen up ya silly bird...... get lost!"  "This is my 15 minutes".

"Brother...... can't a guy get even one single minute of personal space?"  ... pout.................................

WOYWW

....ahhhh...finally I can reveal the rest of the secret to those WOYWWers that stopped by during the "unavailability" days  ..... the secret that Olaf was guarding so zealously several Wednesdays ago.

If you want to know what WOYWW is all about ...check it out sometime over at Julia's .  The list is long and the ATC exchange is about to happen too....excitement all 'round.

So ...anyway...back to the story.  Sorry... longer than most people like to look at or read...but, it is mostly photos anyway.... please scroll on.... and on..... you'll love their little faces, I promise.

The last two little bears have found their forever homes....

This little guy is the only one who stayed in Canada...and he found his way to Dolores...who was one of my 4 Pay It Forward recipients.  (from over 2 years ago if you know the story.. and it is only supposed to be one year..so they were definitely all surprised!)
Now ... she will find some who want to play Pay It Forward and they will do the same and on it goes.... little gifties winging their way around the world.

She has named him Rusty..and blogged about his arrival here.... True Blue Canadian...

He had a lot of fun playing in his papers....

choosing just the right ones.... getting all comfy and making sure he could streeetttchh... right out...all 2 inches of him... if that.......

And, this little girl, all by herself ... found her way to Anne in Scotland... and for some reason I never did a pic of her playing in the papers... but, I got one of her before she was complete....

sorry little girl... almost like showing you nekkid....

your little arms were teeensy....and it was dangerous work..... for me!

Here they are just before getting on planes.... wondering how far they would be flying and how it would all work out.  They were pretty nervous ... but, they got all comfy in their little tissue-for-blankies and off they went...so brave.

Group hug.

Awwww... what fun it was making them and for me...the best part is...my arm/hand/elbow is once again finally able to do some needle felting!  I'm a happy felter!.  It's not perfect..but, if I work at it a bit at a time...I can still make some little guys.  Boy, does that feel great.

Another little bear...

who successfully found his way across the ocean...  and through a mail slot...hahahha.... what fun!  The second  of 4 Pay It Forwards that I've owed for over two years now.

Shashi is a dollmaker and artist who volunteered all that time ago to play the game.  And, now... is offering to Pay It Forward from her blog as well...so if you want to play along...please visit her to let her know.  You will receive a little gift from her and in return pay it forward yourself with another little gift. It is supposed to take place within one year from the original date... but, as you know...I'm late.  But, what fun it is ...seeing little gifts flying all over the world...connecting us all with some love and fun.

This little guy is needle felted from Canadian wool raised and carded right here in Alberta.  It is a warm, natural, white Romney wool.  His little eyes are black onyx beads and his nose embroidered.  I plucked some tufts from a natural white chunk of mohair and needled them into his head along with some softly needled bits of the longer Romney for 'hair' as well as a bit on his body for that fluffy look that I like for my little guys. .... he has a little tie of silk.

Peek a boo.  Is this my paper? I want something comfy to travel in....

Feels reeeelly soft.....

... and I love the colour....yep....it's comfy alright.... this is the one.......

Definitely...this is the one.

Pay It Forward

Finally, I can tell you!!

Well, I can tell you about something.  One thing. Because it was delivered.

Olaf was helping me guard the completion, wrapping and sending of this little gal.

She went to live in England.... with Dilly St. George ..her brother Bob The Bear, Esq....and, all the other bears ... there are lots...window-sill bears and cupboard bears and all sorts ... you must go see some day.... .. and of course, their Mom... who makes lovely cards.

Two years ago, she and Dilly... who is a green Dragon, offered to play my Pay It Forward game.  I can't believe it took me that long to get around to making and sending.  I do have excuses ...honest I do.... including surgeries and injuries to arms, hands and elbows...which did interfere....but, really!.... I feel bad.  And...I'm so happy to note that all 4 of my ladies that offered to play actually still visit my blog regularly and still are blog buddies.  Thank you ladies!  I love you all!

I was giggling away thinking how much fun it would be to see the looks on their faces when something arrived and they were not expecting any mail or hadn't ordered anything ...and then...huh?  Who the heck is this from?  ... and, what is it? ...... oh, drat...how I wish I had a transporter or blast pack or ..something...  just so I could be there on the porch when they get their mail !

On to the reason behind a pink bear.  Dilly loves pink.  Anything pink  She reeeellly loves pink.  So, I decided to try to mimic a little pink bear I had made for myself years ago.  I still have her.

She is made from tufts plucked from a chunk of rayon fabric... this fabric.  It is total silliness.

Back when I began making little wool tufts into bears ... I wondered if anything other than wool could be needle felted ...and so I plucked out some tufts with tweezers...

mixed and fluffed them between my fingers

 ...and .... started stabbing.  Yes,  It could be felted!  Now I was doing crazy things.... even tried what is known as "throwster's waste" ... I hadn't heard the term til then...but, it is the bits of thread hanging off the edges of fraying fabric..ahhaha...I'm a total nut job.  Yes...I am and I know it.  It's okay.

I made this little guy with that stuff...

Back to this bear.... ..soon I had a head almost the shape I was looking for ...then embroidered a nose... and stuck in some cute little test eyes....  awwww......
I'm a sap.  How I love a cute little face.  I didn't want to name her ..just kept referring to her as little pink girl... and telling her I knew her Mom would name her .... as soon as she got there...

Then I had to give her a little bit of something pretty for her 'hair' didn't I ? .... some ribbons and a few stamens did the trick... (she is still just pinned together here...see the pin sticking out of her arm) .... I knew Dilly would be thrilled with pink ribbons.

All done.   Now, where the heck is a photo of her little white toesies..so I can show you ....hmmmm....

Aha...there it is .... big feet....little white toesies...done from plucked tufts of white rayon.

this is the fabric I used to make my poodles.... remember those?  naaaw...the new viewers won't.... here is one of those....

What fun it's been to hear how Dilly loves her little girl bear .. and she's named her Lavender Lily Lilac.... LA-LI-LA for short...hahhah..... oh, boy.... I always have the most fun knowing people enjoy these little creatures.....

I need to get busy and make some more....