Mark Your Calendar- 1st Bear Artists Online Show

The very first online bear show for Bear-Artists-Online will be taking place on June 30th, so mark the date on your calendar. Over 100 bears and critters will be waiting to welcome you. Forty talented bear artists from around the world have produced the very best of bears and critters for you to enjoy.

Opening Time: Midnight 29th June through to Midnight 30th, Great Britain time - an entire 24 hour showtime to allow for collectors in differing time zones to be able to access the show at a reasonable time for them! For those of us in North America, using Eastern Standard time, that means the show starts at Friday, 7:00 p.m. EST, June 29th and running through to 7:00 p.m EST, June 30th. It will be three hours earlier for those of you on the west coast using Pacific Standard time.

How to Purchase during the show: Simply visit http://www.bear-artists-online.com/showentry.html and click on the link to the show pages, there you will find a list of all the Bear Artists taking part - just click on any name and you will be taken to the artists online show booth. When you find the perfect bear for you just use the direct email link provided to contact the artist and purchase your bear! The artists will be hovering around their computers all day ready and waiting to hear from you. All transactions are direct with the individual artist so you will have the opportunity to talk to them, ask questions or maybe even commission a bear.

I'm really excited about this new opportunity and I'm delighted to include a preview of the five pieces I created for the show. You can view a larger image by clicking on the individual pictures. If you wish to see a preview of other bears that will be included in the upcoming show, check out the Bear Artist Online website now and click on the "Summer Show" banner.

Violet the Bunny is 5 inches long and comes with her own reproduction antique postcard, decorated with glitter. Violet is made of German mohair and hand painted with many layers of heat-set paint, to give her a realistic look. She is jointed at the head only.

Gemma and her Purse is a set. Gemma is 5 1/2 inches tall and is made from hand-dyed, German Shulte mohair. She wears her smocked dress, decorated with embroidered red roses, to match her vintage reproduction purse.

Liam II is a wonderful little sailor boy, who stands 5 1/2 inches tall and is proud to be named after his grandfather. He is fully jointed, made of German Shulte mohair and he wears a hand made button with a picture of his grandfather, on his sailor suit.

Henrietta the duck and Gabrielle the Goose are miniature working toys, made from German mohair. Henrietta is 2 1/2 inches long and Gabrielle is 3 1/2 inches long. Their bodies are wired for durability and their wings are wired for posing. When pushed forward, the feet simulate a walking motion.

All of my toys are stuffed with excelsior and weighted with steel shot. I hope you have a chance to drop in and visit the show. We'd love to see you there.

Grand Gardens

Last week my hubby was on holidays and we had the opportunity to take a day trip to visit some very special friends. We have known each other for 29 years and have shared a myriad of memories. We raised our children in the same small town and spent Christmas together for over 17 years. Our little group included four families and none of us had relatives living nearby, so we formed our own family. Our children felt like they had four sets of parents. Friends like these are rare indeed and even though we all live in different parts of the country, we stay in touch and treasure all of them.

The funny thing is, my friend and I were never gardeners when our kids
were small - no time, I guess. Now we both love to garden and my friend's garden was picked for their local garden tour this year! It's a wonderful place that has such a peaceful, calm feeling. She has a fountain surrounded by lavender and an incredible variety of plants AND a "blue bottle tree", that I just love. It's made from copper tubing and looks like a tree, and is covered with hanging blue bottles - it's spectacular, especially with the lights on at night.

My garden is small now, because I have trouble maintaining a large
space with my arthritis. However, I laugh at just how many different plants I've managed to cram into my tiny space. Oh well, once it matures, there certainly won't be any room for weeds LOL! My lupines are the only thing blooming so far, but we have roses and delphiniums that are just about ready. My trilliums are gone, boo hoo, but my lilac is blooming along with the northern azalea bush, and the jack-in-the-pulpits have survived the move - yeaaaah! We have a ton of landscaping to do in the back yard, but I do enjoy a nap on our lounger. Enjoy the pictures.

Grandsons!

Like everyone else with grandchildren, I never get tired of talking or bragging about them, but this story is my best yet. On Mother's Day, a couple of weeks ago, we had invited our daughter and grandson over for dinner, as her hubby was away. Corson, who is amost 3 1/2, loves to visit Nanny and Papa. He always has to look for the new bears and toys I have made and the enjoys peeking into my curio cabinet, but from the time he was a very small baby, he has always had a strange fascination with a Tibetan singing bowl I have on display. My sister brought it back from Tibet for my mum, and she put a moss nest, with a feather bird in it - I believe it was part of a dismantled Christmas ornament at one time. It has become a bit of a joke, if the bowl is missing from the cabinet, you KNOW Corson is in the house, and he will carry it with him and have a conversation with the bird.

They arrived for dinner early, and we were thinking of things to do to keep Corson occupied. He spotted a Winnie the Pooh suitcase, that my niece left for him and he was quite happy wheeling it around. Suddenly, it was a bit too quiet, and when I asked Corson what he was doing in the livingroom, he answered "nuffing" and before I could respond, he went out the front door. My daughter scooted to catch him and he replied he was going "downtown" to buy a drink - amazing, since he's three and has no money LOL! We are only a couple of blocks from downtown, so my daughter decided it was actually a good idea and off they went, with Corson wheeling his new suitcase. Well, 5 minutes later, my daughter came in the door whispering to me "not to laugh". They had gone about a block, and Corson had stopped, raised his finger and said "sshhhhh". He opened the suitcase and with arms wide open said "TADA!" My daughter was horrified to see that Corson had absconded with my Tibetan bowl, complete with the bird and nest!

She quickly marched him back to our house, to have him tell me what he had done and apologize. When his mum said, "Corson, do you have something to tell Nanny?", he immediately responded very innocently with, "Nanny, I take your bird for a walk"! Honestly, I burst out laughing - how are you supposed to keep a straight face, after that? I did explain that the bowl was very special because it had belonged to my mum, and that someday, he would have it for his very own, which seemed to make things all better. Grandsons! Everyone should have at least one - could you resist this face!

Sneaky Melanie - I've been tagged!

It's 2:00 a.m and I was just relaxing and reading a few of my favourite blogs before going to bed. I really need to update my blog, and I just noticed another comment had been left, so of course, nosey me had to have a peek. My friend Melanie of Bear Treasures enticed me to check out her blog, and now ZAP, I'm it! I have to reveal 7 new things about myself, before I can move on and being the obsessive/compulsive person that I am, I won't be able to sleep until I'm done LOL! Sooooo, here they are:

1. I think being a grandparent is the absolute best thing in the world. There is something about an "I wuv you Nanny", or a sloppy kiss with a face full of chocolate that melts my heart.

2. I'm experimenting with some altered art and digital pictures and it's really addictive.

3. I swore I wouldn't have much of a garden at our new house because I had trouble maintaining all of our garden beds at our previous house, but once I saw the "open" signs on the nurseries, I caved pretty fast. No, the garden won't be as big, but I'm putting as much as I can into my small space! I love the English cottage type garden.

4. I'm a sucker for kittens and cats, as if that's a big surprise (right Shantell!) I can't imagine living without one.

5. Reading is one of my favourite pleasures, even though I don't have as much time to indulge anymore. I do, however, find it difficult to pass any interesting magazine without purchasing it, and I can't part with any of them - just ask the people that moved us LOL!

6. I love the fact that teddy bears have connected me to so many wonderful people all over the world. Who would guess that a child's toy from days gone by, could have so much impact in today's world.

7. I enjoy antiquing, partially because I yearn for more simplicity in my life. Holding an antique or browsing the shops is my refuge from the techno age that seems to surround us these days. I look at all the things our three year grandson has already been exposed to in technology, and sometimes I wish I could turn the clock back 50 years.

Well, there - all finished and off to bed! Oh, and by the way, if you are reading this post - TAG, YOU'RE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spring is finally here

Spring has finally arrived in Ontario, and I've really looked forward to antiquing and browsing the local plant nurseries. Last weekend there was a Maple festival in a nearby town. It was really fun - the main street was blocked off, with lots of live entertainment and activities for the kids. All of the stores had sales and I managed to find something I've been wanting for ages - a small antique writers desk. It is so nice to stumble across the "perfect" item. Needless to say, it is firmly planted in our living room, and I am delighted! Now all I need is a small chair to go with it, but I'm sure I'll have fun looking!

I've also been anxiously waiting to see which of our spring flowers survived being transplanted from a different growing zone . We re-located last fall and I brought several plants from our garden with us, among them a few white and burgundy trilliums, which are some of my favourite flowers. I thought it would take a few years for them to really establish themseves, as they can take up to ten years to flower, so imagine how excited I was when I saw familiar greenery in my back garden with flowers. Yes, both kind of trilliums are blooming, and with abundance, I might add. Yippee!

My next surprise came Sunday morning, on Mother's day. I was looking out of the kitchen window and noticed tall, pointed spikes in my garden. I was thrilled to see three Jack-in-the-Pulpits poking up from the soil, since I wasn't sure they would take being transplanted. The final treat was a tiny group of wild purple violets, that I had also brought with us. They were one of my mum's favourite flowers, and it was as if she was wishing me "Happy Mother's Day". It really was a highlight in my day.

Where does the time go

Do you remember when we were children and time seemed to drift by slowly and holidays seemed to take "forever" to get here? I'd like to know when that changed because now there aren't nearly enough hours in the day to do everything, especially this time of year, when the weather is so absolutely lovely outside.

I finally got another bear finished and Jack made his debut on Ebay last night. This one is one of the antique style bears that I love so much. The mohair is hand-dyed and it helps to give Jack that patchy, worn look. I spent hours distressing him and I'm really pleased with his final "look". Jack needed something to wear, so I gave him a simple Sailor collar and after I spend time aging and distressing the fabric, it was perfect. I think he's pretty cute.

Play Time

I spent the weekend babysitting our three year old grandson. I enjoy spending time with Corson, although it is hard to keep up with him! Saturday was rainy and dreary but Sunday was bright and sunny, so it was off to the park.

The park is only a block from Lake Ontario and a few blocks for their home. It has the usual climbers and swings for the toddlers and older children, but this park also has a large area for sports (ie hockey) for the older kids and a water park for the really warm days - it's a wonderful place to spend time.

Corson loooooves to swing. He could spend all day swinging - he really enjoyed his baby swing too. AFter spending a few hours pushing him, your arms feel like they have had a workout at the gym. His constant chant is "higher Nanny, higher"!

I find it really relaxing to just watch the small children at play. That's their entire world - play, play and more play and they are really good at it. I was annoyed that I had forgotten my camera, but I've posted a few pictures from last week at the park near our house. I'm also posting one of my favourite pictures of Corson - one of those miracle pictures that I managed to capture - a picture that you couldn't possibly pose for no matter how hard you tried. I love it and hope you enjoy them, too.