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The past year went by so fast, I can hardly believe there are just 7 days left. I wanted to pop in here to thank you all for having stuck with me through 2011. Thank you for making me see the purpose in my life, for making me feel loved and for teaching me things I needed to learn.
Merry Christmas to all of you
May there be angels to watch over you and lead you the way in 2012!
Vienna's new wonderful mum suggested different coloured ears and so Vienna went to the spa this afternoon (a nice way of saying she needed plastic ear surgery) and I have to agree with my collector, she looks stunning with ears in the same colour as her body....That is exactly why I like to work with collectors, you can learn a lot from listening to requests :)
Oh Vienna.....again :)
Ain't she lovely?
I still have not put up my Christmas tree, but it is hard to shut the studio door behind me. It is cosy here, with the radio playing just Christmas songs surrounded by my beloved supplies...Can one really love one's supplies??? Well, maybe the chocolate I ate makes me love my supplies or I am in a silly happy mood....I don't know. I love to go through my fabrics and run them through my fingers :)
Wishing you lots of love and happiness this Christmas
I was thinking of coffee Wiener Melange when I made this bear and that's where the name Vienna comes from. I know....I should not be thinking of coffee so much. The times I have called bears after a type of coffee......
I had some serious doubts as to whether I should let this bear go or not, but what it boils down to is that the best part of my job is the people, who invite my bears into their lives and who later tell me they enjoy them so much. That is so much more powerful than keeping a bear.
Vienna was made of Schulte alpaca and felt and was stuffed with fiberfill, rubber beads and glass beads making this quite a heavy bear.
Vienna has needle-sculpted paws which were airbrushed for added depth. The paws are not yellowish at all, the flash units made it look a bit yellowish. I needed flash units, because the skies stayed very clouded all day long. It really did not clear up for one minute....Ah well
Vienna has an endearing face with a nose embroidered in many layers in a coordinating colour.
Vienna has found a new home, thank you :)
Let me introduce you to the latest newborn from my studio. This is Fleur (French for flower) and she is...well....pink! I love pink, but I always find it hard to find mohair that suits my taste. This mohair was not very fluffy to start with, but after I had thoroughly soaked it in a bath with wool detergent and then dried it with a hairdryer, it looked much better....
Fleur is 10 inches tall (25 cm for all of those , like me, who can't think in inches...). She is a very substantial bear for her size, as I think she might be prone to eating cookies or scones. She has cute short limbs and a soulful face with wonderful very dark brown eyes, just like you would see in puppies...
The lovely little lady has felt paws with nice toes and she is very heavily stuffed. Fleur has a wonderful new home waiting for her already....
I have some more projects on my desk, but let's see how much time I will have to finish them. One other bear (which will be available) has been finished and the raccoon will be finished before the end of the year as well. I have not even put up a tree yet, can you believe it? After the end of next week, I'll take a week off though....I have great hopes for next year....If I have been doing so much better for the last 3 months of this year, imagine what happens if I feel like this year after year :) There is a thought that makes me happy.
The wonderful Christmas show I went to see earlier this week provided me with so many wonderful picture opportunities, that I could not leave it at the 6 pictures I showed here yesterday....
Those flowers have my absolute favourite colour.....I am going to paint my living room that colour. Yes, yes...how brave of this grey-living-room-girl :)
I spotted loads of birds and butterflies in Christmas trees, lanterns and vases....I liked the cute face of this one
Oh, great doggy! I loved this one, but managed to restrain myself
I had to touch these glass balls to believe they were not leather....Aren't they magnificent?
Even though I really love bright and breezy houses and soft pastels, I really liked this display. There is a theme in my pictures, I seem to have photographed lots of animal decorations....Surprise, surprise....When I got my first camera at a very early age, I did little else than taking pictures of cows and sheep :)
I love, love, love the Venetian Carnival. It is one of my biggest passions. Soooo, I did not manage to leave this Christmas show without buying several of these masks. The one on the left is now mine and is proudly displayed with two others in my lantern. I will have to show you what it looks like later :)
Enjoy your weekend!
P.S. There will be a bear coming up really soon....
Oh, how does it happen every year, that Christmas is upon us even before I realize November is long gone? Last Monday I had a quick look at a Christmas decoration show with Kayla. Kayla was very interested in toys for huge dogs instead of Christmas decorations and so I went home with a bone for a dog at least 5 times her size and a very large squeaky toy ....
I took quite a lot of pictures as usual, but I'll keep it modest and show you a few:
Wonderful floral decorations in all kinds of pastel shades....
I actually bought one of these lanterns (an empty one.....)
An entire group of large Santa dolls resided there as well....
Birds appeared to be a theme this year
Oh, how I love this early 1900's style buste...
The decorators who worked on these displays must be true artists...
Traditionally I wake up in the midst of December realizing I have not done a thing about the Christmas cards....That happened today when I was sewing two new bears. Eek, I have not made Christmas cards, I have not ordered them....How could that be? I was even later than usual....Ahhhhh, sigh....What can I say? Time flies when you're having fun and I am certainly having fun creating new bears. There is a pink one coming up tomorrow and another one in the weekend. The raccoon is well on his way too....I'll just keep on going, I am on a roll :)
I almost forgot....Kayla was very, very interested in me photographing dolls and bears upstairs and so I got her on the table too. All she was interested in, were the birds in the sky, which she could see through the rooflight. Picture after picture of a dog gazing into the sky...We have thousands of geese here, you see, so she had plenty to see :)
As much as I love bears, I have an enormous weak spot for ball jointed dolls. I guess it is my love of fashion and costumes, which makes them so irresistible to me. I bought my first Vogue and Harpers Bazaar when I was just 11. I absolutely love fashion, fabrics, textures and costumes. I always wanted to go to the Art Academy to become a fashion designer. It is therefore a strange thing that I have this huge fear of sewing clothes. I might fail terribly and it seems incredibly scary to fail at something which you feel so passionate about.
There you have it, all the rational reasons for loving ball jointed dolls and their outfits. When I was little, I was not so fond of barbies and dolls like that, because my sister and I would use them as weapons and had two little black spots close to eachother quite regularly. I never told my mum until much, much later that Barbie's upper body was responsible for that.....
I love Victorian clothes as well, so my dolls are dressed in pretty, nostalgic dresses. Gosh, I have a good life with loads of passions, don't I ? I have not even mentioned my love for photography, but that is obvious, isn't it? To have a passion or two makes you feel alive and so I can highly recommend it :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Have you decorated for Christmas yet? I am hopelessly behind as usual....
I finished this grey bear a few days ago and was finally able to take pictures today. The lights went out in the sky during the last two days, so no light in my attic photo studio. The wind made my studio feel far from comfortable as well. Eek and brrrrrr....
Well, this is Oliver. He is another custom ordered bear. Fingers crossed that his new mum will love him
I love his paws :) I had such fun building up colours on his toes
He is 31,5 cm tall and has a double neck joint.
He loves hugs, loads of them please :)
I hope you'll all have a wonderful Thursday! (Eek, is it Thursday already???)
You might know that December 5th is Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) in The Netherlands. I really, really love this wonderful tradition. Poor Saint Nicholas is supposed to ride over rooftops on his horse on this evening, but I would not recommend it today. So, dear Sinterklaas....let's try to not break those old bones of yours and stay safely on the ground this time around :)
Saint Nicholas' helpers wear the most amazing costumes. This might be what I love most about Sinterklaas...
I am a big fan of beautiful costumes, especially those made of velvets....
I had some more pictures of Saint Nicholas' arrival, but I will stop here for today. Kayla climbed on my lap and snuggled up underneath the laptop, making typing virtually impossible.....The joys of having a Tibetan Spaniel :)
