After the show is over ...............

A very slow start today, after working around the clock to complete bears for Hugglets I woke up this morning feeling somewhat exhausted.

Our drive to London usually takes about an 1 1/2 hours depending on traffic, road conditions etc.   The past few days have been a variance of cold/frosty or quite mild and yesterday dawned bright and clear.     Megan is becoming an expert at taking photographs of beautiful skies or scenery whilst we are driving.   The sun was just rising in the sky when we left home  ......

 

amazing rich cold colours and I was thrilled to see a large brown hare in the field right next to the road.  

Quite unusual weather for February and the first time in the sixteen years of exhibiting at the winter show, that  it was not extremely cold or snowing.    Such a nice sunny day can mean that collectors would rather spend the day out of doors but attendance at the show was excellent with a long queue waiting for the doors to open.

My new pattern design proved very popular and all these little bears sold ....

Oliver and Dicken on their vintage suitcase,

Tiffany in the hand knitted cardi made from a silk yarn which was extremely difficult to knit as it is ultra fine and split very easily

Briar Rose in a pretty pink cardi very kindly donated by Megan

and poor Bethany who had to make do with a felt jacket as she was only completed on Saturday morning! More of this bears needed for the forthcoming on line show.

Which leads me to another subject related to making bears.    There is an assumption that tiny means less work and miniatures are very highly priced for the size!    A miniature teddy bear stitched entirely by hand takes some eight hours to complete.    Our little dresses take anything from three to six hours particularly if they have embroidered detailing.    A little knitted sweater takes up to eight hours to knit.   Add this all up and these little creations are rather labour intensive.

Welcome to my newest followers and thank you to all the special people who left comments.   I must admit that in the last hectic days before a show, I look at my bears with a somewhat jaundiced eye and wish I could start all over again.   The encouraging comments made me look at my work in a slightly different light.

A few more weeks of hard work for the on line show then I can actually catch my breath before starting to work on some overdue orders and start planning what to make next.  

This year marks a special event for Essential Bears.  It is now twenty years since we  found a pattern and fabric to stitch that first teddy bear, definitely time for introspection but more on that at a later date.   I am planning a celebration blog give away when I have a little time to spare so watch this space.

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes ... Art is knowing which one to keep!