Brrrrrrr!

Last night was the coldest night this winter here in central Florida. Several areas got a freeze although locally it didn't go below the mid 30's. Yesterday and today the high is in the mid 50's. I know all you people who are suffering snow and below zero temps are laughing at me. I am all bundled up in several sweatshirts and drinking hot chocolate. They say after you have lived in a warm climate like Florida for several years your blood thins and the cold bothers you more. I can tell you the cold always bothered me. I hate the cold! To me, temps below 70 are cold. Tomorrow it will be back in the lower 70's and up to 80 by Sunday and I will be warm again.

More Mohair

I had meant to post yesterday but a line of thunderstorms came through. We are 30 degrees cooler today than yesterday.

The Tampa bear show went well. I didn't sell any Teddy Bears but did sell several of my puppies and kittens. There were many great artists there and a fairly large crowd of collectors for most of the day. I did manage to get around to see some of the wonderful bears and other creations. I know of at least 2 artists that almost sold out.

Of course there were a couple of tables of mohair for sale from two suppliers. It is wonderful to be able to sort through and just feel the different types of mohair. I wanted it all! I took a list of the type of mohair I wanted. Because I had sold some critters, I managed to come home with the mohair I wanted plus a couple of other neat pieces. I can't wait to get to work on them. The ideas are already rolling around in my head.

Smallest Mohair Critter

I remembered the day before yesterday that I need to take a door prize to the show on Sunday. Last year I had a beautiful wooden box with a bear couple painted on the lid. The door prize is supposed to be worth at least $10, so I went to the local gift shop hoping to find something Teddy Bear related. A book, or figurine would do. I couldn't find anything I was happy with soooo ... I decided to make something.

I tried a bunnie out of doe suede but I wasn't happy with it. I pulled out my mohair scraps and drew out a small pattern. I needed to keep it simple because of time and expense. I spent yesterday working on the little bunnie(didn't get any other work done) and Choco Bunnie is the result. He is 2 1/2" tall sitting-not including his ears. That makes him the smallest mohair critter I have ever made. Choco's head is jointed with discs and a cotter pin, arms and legs are string jointed. His nose, cheeks and tail are needle felted. I use wool felt for his ears and his eyes are glass. I got the neat little box at Dollar Tree. I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out and hope the winner will be too.

1 Week til Show

The countdown begins....next Sunday is my first(and probably last) live Teddy Bear Show this year. I used to travel to 5-6 shows a year. These days I prefer to sleep in my own bed. Also, more sales occur via the internet and there just aren't as many shows. I will be driving across the state to Tampa. The drive is a little over 2 hours and Bill(who will be doing the actual driving) & I will be hitting the road at 6:30 am.

I actually finished more bears and critters than expected. Usually I set my goals too high and never finish as many as I hoped. But I have 8 new bears and 2 new cats. I already had 9 other critters ready to travel.

This week will be spent going down the checklist. Tagging & packing and putting together supplies.

For a sneak peek at who will be there click here

Photo is Sushi the newest from my Kitty Kibbles series. She will be traveling to Tampa with me.

Who trains who????

I sometimes wonder! I am not a very good dog trainer, even though I was a breeder for a number of years. I did go through an obediance class with Lexi when she was a pup. She was and excellent pupil, especially since she will do anything for food. Lately though it seems I am the one doing what the dog wants. Lucy definately has a way of communicating her wants. She will sit under the treat jar and look from it to me and back again, barking if ignored. She has also been known to wake me up at night to cover her with her blanket. Last night Lexi showed how well she has Bill trained. Last week Bill was having trouble sleeping a couple of nights in a row. He would get up and open the refrigerator. By the time it closed Lexi was sitting there volunteering to help with his midnight snack. Bill fell right to sleep last night but at about 1am Lexi started scratching and crying on Bill's side of the bed(her bed is on the floor on my side). He was trying to figure out what she wanted and decided since he was awake he would go to the fridge. Lexi followed him, got a little snack, then went back to sleep. THAT was why she woke him. Bill & I hope this isn't going to happen every night.

The pics are the girls in their Valentine finery.

Chocolate

This weekend the food network is having all these specials about chocolate. I was cutting out some bears with the tv on and watching a program about the Ghiardelli festival in San Fran. Suddenly my chocolate cravings were amped up 10 fold. The various stashes of chocolate(drawer in the fridge & decorative canisters in the dining room) did not satisfy the almost crippling cravings. The chocolate creations just kept on coming-truffles, mousse, cake, and fudge. There were eat offs of chocolate ice cream sundaes and chocolate pudding.

I decided what I wanted was brownies. Warm, gooey, chocolatey brownies! I picked up my purse and told Bill I'd be back in a few minutes. I headed for the Winn Dixie about a mile from home. Just as I parked the car the DJ on the radio mentions today is the anniversery of Hersheys. How fitting! Once I got inside I realized it was a really bad idea to go in with severe chocolate cravings. I strolled down the candy aisle then up the aisle with the cake mixes. By the time I reached the ice cream aisle I really needed a bucket for the drool that was forming in my mouth. It took all my willpower not to purchase that chocolate cheesecake in the frozen dessert section. I got my brownie mix and high tailed it out of there. Right now the glorious smell of brownies is filling my house. Bill says to me "I wish you looked at me the way you look at chocolate".

Free Bear Dress Pattern

This is Skylar and her dog, Dodger-the lastest in the Me N My Best Friend series. I dyed the mohair, wool felt, and the wool for her needle felted nose. I purchased the fabric I used for her dress a long time ago-just because I liked it. Actually, I had another fabric in mind when I dyed the mohair but the blue wasn't quite right. This cute fabric turned out to be perfect and the tan background goes with Dodger's coloring. I got the basic idea from an old doll book for her little dress or jumper. It turned out so cute and was so easy to make I decided to make the pattern available to anyone that wants to use it. You can find it here . I will add a link along the side for the pattern.

Florida in February

It was so beautiful here today we decided to head for the water. We live close to the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge which actually surrounds Kennedy Space Center. As of 6pm today the area is closed until after the shuttle launch scheduled for Feb 7.

But today we drove through, looking at many varieties of tropical birds. We have spotted gators before, but none today. Heading for Haulover canal which connects the intercoastal waterway with the ocean we settled in along the shore. Bill got out his crabpot and fishing pole and I pulled out my beach chair. The temperature reached 80 with a soft breeze and no humidity. We just chilled out as Bill "drowned" a few shrimp. There were dolphins playing and feeding in a laggoon like area on the other side. A crab strolled up near the beach but moved away too fast for me to get a photo. The big white bird watched us from really close by. A nice relaxing afternoon!

Everybody in that below zero weather....SORRY!

Old Photos

Yesterday I had to rearrange the spare room to make room for possible company. I discovered a photo album my mom and little sister put together at least 25 years ago. The album included my baby and school photos. One album was made for each sibling. Unfortunately they used those sticky albums. When I found the album yesterday I realized I needed to take all the photos out if I wanted to keep them because they would eventually be ruined. Most of the pics came out pretty easy but some came out in pieces. I scanned some in to be saved on a cd and will get around to scanning them all soon(I am supposed to be getting ready for a bear show in 3 weeks). These are a few from my childhood. The first of course is my baby pic(I look ready to run my mouth even then). That stroller is now considered vintage. The next is my first grade pic-Mom loved Shirley Temple curls. Then my brother Bill-known as Billy then and I. Check out those striped shorts. The last is my senior photo from high school-at least I didn't have the "big hair" that was popular at the time.