Back in time

I would like to say I have been busy all week working on critters for the Friends of Teddy show. It's a good thing I have plenty of time because certain things beyond my control got in the way. Earlier in the week hubby woke up with a sore swollen ankle. We ended up spending almost the entire day at the VA medical center. Arthritis and possibly gout were diagnosed. As of this minute he is out riding his bike, so we can assume his ankle is much better.  Three cloudy days with lots of rain dampened our mood. We are used to mostly sunny days here in Florida with an occasional afternoon shower.  I think that's what kept me away from sewing and pulled to other things. 
I took some photos today and, after uploading them, I looked at some photos of older creations. I made a collage of some of my favorites.  Maybe I needed some new inspiration from some old ideas.
Reminder: The Friends of Teddy show at Teddies Worldwide is coming up next month, starting July 13th. But the preview begins June 29th.

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.