I'm having fun!

Boy, I'm getting a lot of bears finished for the Tampa show. This sweet little bear is Lysbet and her dog is Bitsy. I love the retro look of the dots on her dress and ribbon. Bitsy needs a collar but I can't decide what kind. I might glue some small rhinestones on ribbon.

It's also a lot of fun thinking up names. Now, after going through my baby name and pet name books I have a list of names that I think go together.

The curly matted mohair is just right for this series and a box of mohair arrived yesterday. More bears to come.

Closing time

It's sad. We have had a thrift store for almost six years. First in North Carolina, then here in Florida. We called it B & N Trading Post (for Bill & Nancy). It has been so much fun. We started out going to auctions and when the garage became full we opened a store. It was like a treasure hunt and we did acquire quite a few treasures. More than once, at storage unit auctions, we ended up with diamonds and gold. When we started prices were reasonable and we made a decent profit. We met a lot of nice people too.

Now we don't even make rent. You would think in hard economic times thrift stores would do well but not here. Many of our customers are snowbirds, people that come to Florida for the winter. There just aren't as many anymore. High gas prices? Anyway it's time to move on. B & N is closing it's doors.

The boys are done

Meet Bobby & Buzz and Charlie & Chip. Those heads now have bodies and clothes. The next in the "Me N My Best Friend" series, they each have a little dog. Bobby and Charlie are each 9 3/4" tall and their puppies are 4 3/4" tall. Buzz, Bobby's dog is made of short dense upholstery mohair. Charlie's pup, Chip, is made of dyed alpaca. His spots are applied with prisma markers. They are headed to Tampa with me, February 24. I hope to have a couple more in the series done by then. They are so much fun to make -I hope everyone likes them.

Sea Shells by the Seashore

We had a really great Sunday. It was cold for us(54) and windy but we decided to take a drive to Melbourne, about 50 miles south of us. There was a Sea Shell festival at the auditorium. We have a collection of shells on display in our living room(the shelf with the sailboat on top).

There were beautiful displays of so many different kind of shells, we walked around with our mouths open. I also won a door prize-a gorgeous pair of shell earrings! We bought a shell for our collection that was polished til the mother of pearl showed through(pic of single shell).

Then I talked my hubby into stopping at the JoAnn's Superstore as I don't get to go often because of the distance. I picked up some buttons and ribbon for the bears I am working on.

To top the day off we ate at a Mexican restaurant on the ocean. It was recommended by some friends and it was as good as they said.

Back to work now!

Bear heads in progress

I have been working on 2 bear heads at a time, mostly because I had to wait for the wool felt for the paws before I could sew the bodies. I have always thought it very interesting(and exciting) to watch the personalities emerge as I work on the heads. These 2 will be in my new series "Me N My Best Friend" so I will be making little dogs for them. The wool felt arrived today. Hopefully I can finish them up in the next couple of days, dress them and then work on their little pets.

Easter Parade

Yes, that's right, it's time to start thinking about Easter. Remember the Softie Thanksgiving Parade? Everybody loved it so Lisa of q.d. patooties is going to have an Easter Parade. I'm sure there will be bunnies and chicks and even some Easter bonnets. You can find out more about it on Lisa's blog or at the flickr group for the parade. There will be voting & prizes.

I've been thinking about my entry. I picked up something at a yard sale last year that I think will be part of my entry. Easter is early this year(March 23) so I better get working.

Join in the fun!

New Series Me N My Best Friend

Presenting Chloe & Cuddles from my new series Me N My Best Friend. Chloe is 9" tall and Cuddles is just 4 1/4" tall. I have had the mohair for some time. It is sort of pink/brown and I am really pleased with how the colors came together. I dyed the wool felt for her paws,
mixed rose pink and tan Rit dye and had enough left over to make a collar for cuddles. I tea dyed the polka dot print for her dress to make it look vintage. I couldn't believe it when I found the brown ribbon with the pink polka dots. I just love the look I get with the
glass google eyes-kinda Kewpie like.The plan is to make several more in the series-boys & girls and their pets before the Teddy Bear show in Tampa, FL February 24.

Ready for the New Year

I don't have any specific resolutions(except removing those holiday snacks from my hips) but I look at each new year as a fresh start. I have already worked on receipts for taxes although I am a long way from finished. I did manage to have them a little more organized this year so it should be better than last year. I cleaned out my scrap boxes and found a lot of fabric I had forgotten. Of course I didn't find the color I was looking for.

I wish I had more time for sewing because I have some ideas waiting to be made. I have started working on a new series of bears. I am almost finished with the first and I am very happy with her. When she is finished she will make her debut here. I am doing a show Feb 24 in Tampa, FL and want to get several in the series done by then.

I did finish a fox I have been working on for awhile. He was almost finished when the loop on one glass eye broke and I had to order more and wait for them to arrive. Zorrito, which means "Little Fox" is just 7 1/2" tall. I hope to find time to put him in my etsy show next week.