These 2 bears have been made for Handmade Happiness, a lovely shop packed with beautiful handmade
gifts for all. Check out Jenny's blogspot jenny-handmadehappiness.blogspot.com for a look, you won't be disappointed.

Posting two new 7" bears. Both made from plush fur

Luis

Homer

I would like to introduce you to Chesney. He's a 7" bear made from a lovely golden plush, very reminiscent of the old vintage bears. He also has soft leather pads. I have also finished two bears for jenny-handmadehappinees.blogspot.com Just have to photograph them & run them past her, & then I can show them to you all.

Chesney

It's been very quiet on the bear front lately. I have been giving bear making a bit of a rest!!!!
Well sort of, I've been making a couple for a shop in Petersfield, Hampshire, jenny-handmadehappiness.blogspot.com This lovely lady has the most beautiful shop full of handmade
stock. Check out her blog.
I, on the other hand, have been enjoying my new "art". A bit of decoupage, a bit of mixed media collage
& generally spending too much time on Pinterest, it really is quite addictive.
Will eventually get round to posting pics of Jenny's bears when they are finished.

Posting 3 new bears this morning. The little white bear, I made for a photographic competition, which has now been cancelled due to illness. (theirs not mine!!)
The other 2 bears, I finished a couple of weeks ago & they have been sitting on an armchair waiting patiently to be named. Which I have finally got round to, so here they are.

Pearl  4" plush (non-competiton bear)

Popcorn 15" plush 

Jerome 12" mohair

Well I did the Findon Sheep Fair yesterday & apart from a short sharp shower 
first thing it was a lovely day, sun shining & lots of people.
10 bears found their new forever homes, 5 of which went to the lady who I mentioned
the other day, always come's in near the end of the show & really loves her bears.
Another older lady came & visited during the morning, & was telling me how she had 
bought fur, joints etc, to make a bear but never got round to doing anything with it all. 
She came back later in the afternoon with 2 bags of the bear making bits for me.
Wouldn't take money for any of it, so I offered her a bear, but because the one 
she liked most was mohair, she insisted on paying for it, although I did knock of some
money as I couldn't let her pay full price after having given me all the bear bits.
Oh & I also sold quite a few of my painted pieces as well.
So all in all I had a lovely day.

I've had quite a busy week, since last weekend I've painted the fronts to 9 diaries,
6 of which are a commision, 3 for tomorrow's show. I've also decorated 2 jugs, 
a lovely tin bag, 2 galvanized hearts & 5 birthday/anniversary spoons.
Luckily most of these I had painted the base coats on, before, so it was mainly just 
decorating, but, as usual I left it all until the last minute.
Oh & I finished a bear!!!

Logi

Tin bag

Little dumpy cow jug

Tall sheep jug

Galvanized hearts

Birthday/Anniversary Spoons

Two, week to view & one, day to view diaries

In the last few days I have discovered Pinterest.....I have made 4 boards, the bears & other peoples!! one for my painted items, another for shabby chic & one for blue/white. I'm hooked!!!

I have a large country show coming up. This is Findon Sheep Fair. The event goes back as far as 1261, when it was a 3 day event. How do they find these things out???
Anyway over the years there have been a few changes (obviously), I have been doing it since 1999 & I've noticed a few more modern day one's!!!
It is a lovely event where, I think the world & his wife attends, the organizers are absolutely brilliant & make it a good day, not just for the visitors but for us stall holders as well.
I am busily painting away with my country style crafts, I think I probably have enough bears, although every year a lady comes in towards the end of the show (she doesn't like crowds) & last year she bought 4 of my little bears, & in other years she has always gone home with at least one. So here's hoping!!!
I shall post some pics of my painted pieces as the week goes on.
Have a lovely Sunday, the weather here is nice & sunny, although a little cold, autumnal I think the word is!!!

Last week I had the urge to make a more traditional type of bear & bigger (15"/38cm) than my usual one's.
I have to say I enjoyed making Linus very much, he won't be on the website just yet, as I am planning on making him a waistcoat. Well actually I have made him one but it is too big, so will have to go back to the drawing board for that one!!! Linus pictured below, I hope you like.

Well I've managed to finish 4 bears & have listed them below. Timmy is a very portly little bear!!!! due to his fur being so dense. All these can be found on the lanesendbears.com website

Timmy 6" plush

Chloe 6" plush

Sam 6" viscose

Micky 5" crushed mohair

I have had 5 bears, in various stages of being made!!! for sometime now, 3 of which have now been finished. Sadly the weather is so horrendous here that photographs are nigh on impossible, due to the bad light. As soon as the sun shines I will get some pics done & who knows maybe another bear maybe finished by then.
Talking of the weather as we Brits do, quite often, it is more like October here, than August!!!

I'm having a bit of a creative crisis at the moment!!!!
I absolutely love making my bears, but, although my website
lanesendbears.com receives a fair amount of hits per day, if the stats 
are to be believed, no one emails & I have only ever had a couple of 
bears adopted from the site.
Are my bears not what people want? do I have to change direction?
It took me some time to find a pattern that I was happy with, now maybe I'll
have to design another kind of bear.
Or is it that there are just too many of us bear artists out there!!!

Hadley standing

Hadley sitting

Hadley is a bear that I made a couple of years ago. 
Made from a downloaded pattern for a competition, those of us who wished, made a bear from the pattern, with the idea being, the different types of bears made from the same pattern. Anyway Hadley did not get a place & was subsequently put away until the other day.
I was going to undo him but decided to change his eyes from boot button to glass & reposition them.

The other bear is Dusty, a little 6" bear made from mohair.

Dusty

Been playing around with my website this morning, redone a new gallery 
& put 2 more bears in the special offer section. Do have a browse, you 
never know there maybe one there, somewhere, waiting for your special hug.
Have a good Sunday, weather here is really nice!!! Hope it last's the day.

Didn't get much sewing done yesterday!!!! the weather was so foul, I curled up on the sofa & read a book. This is the second Jeffrey Archer book I have read, & I have to say he's a better author than politician!!! Well that's my opinion anyway. Both books I have found very hard to put down & have been totally engrossed.
Off to Romsey today to see some very old & dear friends. Hope the weather holds, they have a beautiful garden to sit in, a real sun trap, so here's hoping.
I feel I have rambled a bit this morning, so I will sign off & wish you all a good day.

I have cut out the first bear from one of the unpicked one's!!
I have used the 5" size of my pattern, which leaves me some
mohair left over to make some brooches or keyrings,
like those in the photos below.

Brooches

Keyrings

Good morning from a very soggy UK!!! Terrible thunder & lightening in the night.
Well I have unpicked & unstuffed four bears now, 3 mohair & 1 viscose panda.
These were all 9" bears so now I have to work out what size to make new bears, from 
my own pattern.
But first I have to do some housework!!!! it seem's to have taken a back seat lately
to the garden & these bears.
Have a lovely day, where ever you may be. 

Well that's 3 bears undone, 1 more to go!!!
It's amazing how much stuffing, steel pellets,
rubber pellets & tumplum pellets I've now accumilated
in different bags!!!

Just been making some further reductions on my special offers page on the lanesendbears.com website, three bunnies, one ellie & a bear!!!!

I seem to be taking bears apart at the moment, with the intention of revamping them into new one's.
These are bears that have, either been made from kits, or other people's patterns. I am now using my own pattern which I am happy with & appear to be quite successful in having the bears adopted with.

Benedict

Posting two new bears, which have not been revamped.....you will have to wait a while longer for those!!!!

Harrison

I would like to introduce you to my own little "Hollywood Stars"
Both bears are 6", made from felted mohair, with glass eyes,

Leonardo

Orlando

felt pads & matching ribbons.

Another bear or two!!! that have evolved over the last few weeks. 
Check out the lanesendbears.com web site.

Max, he started life as Daisy Mae, but I wasn't
happy with him, so changed his eye colour &
positioning & gave him a new nose. 

Tallulah, made from a lovely, soft, blonde, mauve
tipped mohair.

Kitty, this little bear was made from a 7"
kit bear, that I had made in my early
days of bear making. Another one I was not happy
with, so revamped, with my own pattern,
into what you see now.

Some more of my new bears for you to look at. All can be found on the lanesendbears.com website

Harriet

Phineus

India

Fern

Good morning, I have a new fluff ball for you. Sasha is an 8.5" bear made from the incredibly soft & fluffy French Tissavel. She is fully cotterpin jointed with glass eyes, is heavy weight polyfilled with glass sand & rubber pellets in her tummy. You will find Sasha on the website lanesendbears.com

Sasha 

Another fluff ball for you this morning

Showing you some bears that have evolved over the last couple of weeks.  
My 4.5" bears are now 5", having measured the last couple that I made, they
have have come out nearer 5". I have rejigged the pattern & have come up with
a 4" bear, but the prototype has not come out the chubby bear that I like!!! 
Betty Blue & Bucks Fizz are on the lanesendbears.com website

Bucks Fizz 5"

Betty Blue 8.5"

Cubby 4"

Rowan

Dilly

Adam

Three more cuties on the special offers page of lanesendbears.com
First is Rowan a 9" bunny made from viscose. Dilly also made from viscose & 9". lastly Adam an incredibly soft & floppy 12" bear. Check them out!!!

Leo

Bert

Dolly

These three will be on my special offers page on the website lanesendbears.com later on.
All are made from viscose, are 5 way cotterpin jointed with glass eyes, loosely stuffed with polyfil & tumplum pellets or steel shot.

Madison

Sundae

Pumpkin

Three new bears for you today.
We have Madison the navy blue bear that is 5.5" made from Shulte mohair. She was a pain from start to finish. First she had blue eyes, which looked rather scary, then I did her nose three times in pale blue, to match her pads, & they never ever looked right, so resorted back to a typical black one!!!!
Next is little Sundae, a real cutie, just 4.5" also made from Shulte mohair.
Lastly, & my favourite is Pumpkin. She is 5.5", again made from Shulte mohair.
They are available from my website, lanesendbears.com

Minty

Scrumptious

Two pictures for you today. Minty a little 5.5" bear made from a pale green Shulte mohair.
And Scrumptious a lovely little 5" mohair bear, that I bought from the lovely Kay Holroyd of
KatieCountryBears.co.uk