Sue's Bears and other makes...

Controversial Mermaid!

2010-10-02T06:38:00.001-07:00

She made me smile though and at least she sold!!

2010 - My year of the Chickens!

2010-10-02T06:16:00.000-07:00

My pictures never seem to be in the right order, but here we go.....

This is the chicken house we were given by Rob's nephew (the small bit on the left!).

After never really wanting chickens, I decided that as realistically this plot of land would never be turned into a vegetable patch, it would be an ideal spot!

We had a realistic, but high quote to get the additional run built for us, so I decided to have a go myself!

Although I had originally wanted to get some ex-battery hens, none were due for release when I was itching to get some, so after looking on the internet, I found a breeder who we bought these from - this picture is missing the white one, named Dave.
We had only had them a few months when suddenly all three went seriously broody.

I tried turfing them out but they just got noisier and noisier, so after emailing the breeder again, I decided to put some of her eggs under them!

Crikey..

2010-04-01T05:27:00.000-07:00

Almost an entire year since I last posted - sometimes I even amaze myself!

Well, I can hardly sit and write all that has happened in 12 months, so for a few MAJOR things, here goes:

Rob's mum sadly passed away last May and after the funeral, sorting of the house, valuations etc, we suddenly made the decision to try and sell our own, tiny terrace and buy it ourselves.

We moved in November.

Just weeks before we moved in, mum slipped in the house (doing me a favour) and fractured her femur.

She is still housebound and under varying stages of hospital treatment.

However, I finally have a craft room - the picture shows the "tidy end!" I added the shelves to the cupboards on Monday, and have been buying more storage boxes every day!

White rabbit

2009-04-07T23:15:00.001-07:00

I've recently recieved an order from a friend who's getting married in a few months, for 3 white rabbits for her small bridesmaids to hold on the day instead of flowers.

Here's the prototype I made yesterday.

I was SO pleased that I'd found exactly the material I want to use - a double sided, super fluffy dressing gown fabric - marvellous!!

I wasn't quite prepared for the hideous mess it made when I was cutting it!!

I'm going to try making the ears longer, and the belly a bit bigger and do something to make it look as though it actually has eyes (which it does!)

Our NEW yahoo group!

2009-04-05T09:46:00.000-07:00

After much discussion with Pat Doyle, who makes fabulous dolls, we have decided to start our own group to support and encourage other doll makers (I do make dolls as well as knit, honestly!!).

We aim to run a variety of swaps, challenges and tutorials and whatever your skill level would love to welcome you to ukfabricfigures

What a bargain!!

2009-04-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

These were the lasted bunch to be posted off last month. I find storing them becomes a problem, so I've decided to knit and sew up and then devote a day to stuffing and finishing off.......

I just LOVE wool and despite all my best resolutions not buy any more until I have used up ALL I have I couldn't resist these 7 balls which only cost 50p each - well, how could I ??!!

Knitted bears!

2009-03-08T03:59:00.001-07:00

I was delighted to recently receive a photo of one of my bears with it's new owner (sorry it's such a fuzzy image) - suddenly it makes it even more worthwhile. I knit between doing all the jobs that don't give you long enough to achieve much, if anything else!

Busy, busy, busy!

2009-03-08T03:50:00.000-07:00

I've started looking at more and more blogs recently, inspired by many things I discover and amazed at times by the wealth of information so freely given away!

I've added a link on the right to: http://jeenaskitchen.blogspot.com/ which was my most recent delight to find whilst hunting for a recipe for onion bhaji's - I made them, and ate them, they were delicious!!

This morning, we (me and my helper, Terri, who's 8) made up her chocolate cake recipe - added the icing and blobs on top with a bit of artistic licence!

Finished!!

2008-12-14T04:48:00.000-08:00

She's done! Finished, wrapped and ready to go - tomorrow.
I'm still not sure I like her, or indeed who she is or what she's supposed to resemble, but the feeling of actually finishing something is remarkable!!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

YES!! got the decorations all up yesterday

and I confess,

I do quite like this fuzzy photo!

Not quite as long!

2008-12-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

Crikey - who's this!

Yet more lack of co-operation!! I was aiming to make a librarian for a member of staff who’s leaving at work, and then decided to make a school girl, representative of one of our pupils, then changed my mind totally and came up with this!!

She's not quite finished, as I've added a base and I'm going to make some books, to try and get back to the library theme..... not sure it's going to work!

She was originally based on this free pattern that works well.

http://glitteringdolls.tripod.com/Glittertowndollys/id15.htm

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Napkin Doll

I've been experimenting recently with Judi Ward's Napkin Doll pattern which can be found by clicking the link below - it's a fabulous pattern and I've enjoyed using it enormously.

http://judisdolls.com/napkindoll/index.html

OH! What a difference a change

of hairstyle can make!

This doll seemed to have a mind of its own, and when finished we couldn’t resist naming it “William” as it somehow looked too much like a boy not to!
I did start to wonder after a while quite what the transformation would be with different hair, and curiosity got the better of me, the result is shown beneath!

This is the NEW look!

THE CRAFT FAIR.....

The craft fair wasn’t a massive success, although on a positive note, I made enough money to cover the cost of the stall. I sold this fairy doll, shown below - designed from Judi Ward's Napkin Doll pattern, a bear and 3 small snowmen, spent two days with my sister in law (who I rarely see) and took time out from the monotony of housework!

The Stall!

Yet more delays in posting!

2008-11-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

It's been ages, since last posting and I have NO excuses that I can think of, but here's a brief update on what I've been doing!

Craft Fair

I really can't believe I'm actually finally doing one again next weekend- haven't done one for about 10 years or more, still it's given me a few frantic weeks of creativity!

Built myself this rather large "staircase" as my daughter calls it, to put things on...

I'm going to be sharing a 6ft stall with my sister in law, so this just about gives me my allowance.. I'm going to be selling some of my dolls, some bears and snowmen.... fingers crossed for some success!

Knitting again!!

Yes, more bears for the Motherbear Project.

This time I reduced the needle size to 31/4mm and I'm using lightweight stuffing in the hopes of keeping the postage down - good news, it worked!

These 5 bears were posted a few days ago for HALF the price of the last lot!

Online Class

Having signed up for the free online class offered by Linda Misa, to make sporty Sam, more than a few weeks ago now, I decided to finally make a concerted effort to get finished.

It was soon quite apparent I that the Sam I was in the process of making was going to be a girl, so I added some boobies, changed the shirt slightly....and she now sits patiently wating for me to find her a pair of boots, as my numerous attempts with paperclay sadly failed!

It was a great class and I would strongly recommend it!

Whoops!!

2008-07-01T09:40:00.001-07:00

It's been ages!! Months in fact since I last wrote anything and despite my good intentions to update regularly, life has conspired against me.... or other things have simply just got in the way - really no excuse at all.

I'm swapping dolls again! I recently completed my first ever raggedy doll - she's the top one with the blonde bunches, and was actuallyquite pleased with the result - I swapped her for the lovely doll beneath created by Pat Doyle, who makes fantastic dolls.

Knitting....

I'm also STILL knitting for the motherbear project and have totally lost count of the number of bears I've sent - here's a truly rare picture of me taken by my daughter (mainly rare as she's actually managed to get my head in this shot!!) and was requested by the motherbear project for their website

Two posts in ONE day!!

2008-03-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

Just to prove it's possible, either that or I've got too much spare time.............. and I can confirm it's not the latter!!

I finally finished my goth challenge doll today. Admittedly not the type of doll I'd normally choose to make, but she came out ok in the end!
Here she is with her small goth bat baby!

And here's a close up of their faces...

Whoops!!

2008-03-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

It's been ages since I last posted and I really can't believe how much decorating I've been doing!!
Finally we found a willing plumber/handyman to do the necessary to convert this horrible area that actually looks much better after the washing machine and tumble dryer have been taken out, into THIS, much more desirable and useful room!

Ah, you can see that I'm now fully moved in -the washing basket is full-as usual!!

I was lucky enough to have extra lino over.... so then moved on to decorate the porch... and then the kitchen looked a mess......

I think I HAVE finished painting for a few weeks!!!

Here's Pippi!

2008-01-31T10:23:00.001-08:00

Started as a spontaneous alternative to doing anything more useful, I offered to make my daughter a doll to accompany the book we're reading that I bought her for Christmas.

Once I'd actually started to make her, Terri then asked if she could make one of her own..... So here is my effort and below is the one we made together!

Where did Christmas go?????

2008-01-03T22:48:00.000-08:00

Well there's certainly no sign of it left in our house! Decorations came down swiftly on New Years Eve and took a lot less time to take down than to put up!

I've done a bit more knitting for the Mother Bear Project - didn't realise quite how much until I looked in my box! - I just wish postage costs weren't quite so high (especially at this time of year!!)

Phew!!

2007-12-18T06:46:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a busy few weeks!

I'm knitting more bears for the motherbear project and having finished work last Thursday (don't work Fridays - YAY!!) spent an entire day moving the fish tank and furniture around to try and make space for the Christmas tree.

Succeeded at last and all the decorations are now up.

To add to the chaos, we've recently acquired a new bird to help with the indoor avairy feel... here's "Floyd" and he's a handful....he's 7 months old and a maroon bellied conure and into everything!

She's finally finished!!

2007-11-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

It's a leaving gift for the Biology teacher at work and another project started enthusiastically, but one which I began to doubt I'd finish!!

Hmmmmm, so what next, I wonder......

Knitted Bears!

2007-11-23T03:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm pleased to say that at the beginning of this week, my mum kindly took my parcel of bears to the post office for me.

I wasn't terribly happy with my first attempt (the one with green trousers), and even my daughter commented on his wobbly legs!

My second attempt (the red bear) who recently accompanied us (whilst in progress!) to London on a long promised trip to the Natural History Museum. I'd taken my knitting to do on the train and was somewhat concerned when it was confiscated - fortunately only temporarily as we entered the Museum as it was deemed to be a security risk!

My favourite cake!

2007-11-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

A fail safe recipe from my friend and ex-boss, even I can make this one with no problem athough I guess most people would've taken the picture BEFORE cutting the cake......

Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it:

Lemon Cake

4oz Soft Marg
6oz Caster sugar
6oz Self Raising flour
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of milk
grated rind of 1 lemon

Icing
4oz icing sugar
lemon juice

1. mix ingredients together – any method
2. Put into greased, lined 1lb loaf tin
3. Put in COLD oven, bring upto 160 C (350F) and cook for 50 mins
4. While cake is cooking, mix icing sugar and juice of the lemon together.
5. While cake is still hot, pierce holes all over the top with a skewer.
6. Pour icing over cake WHILST HOT so it soaks in well.

YUM!!

The scarf is finished!!

2007-10-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hurrah!!

One of the best picutures taken of me in ages!

Well it certainly feels like it's going to be warm...... I tend to get cold much quicker than anyone else I've ever met, and having to take Stanley the squirrel chaser out for twice daily walks when the weather gets even colder than it is now, fills me with horror!

It's a slightly odd wool though, a bit prickly and seems to lose a bit of colour..... could be a fair chance that I go to work with a green tinge to my neck!!

I'm also considering making Stanley a new coat too, as he's far from being hairy......or brave....

I'm KNITTING!!!

2007-10-24T23:44:00.000-07:00

Well, amongst all the other things I'm currently making, which include a set of 6 dangly festive insect/bug things that will be FAR too large for the tree (see, I'm still feeling festive!!) I'm also making a weeny pink bear, that I found (half finished - surprise! errr, not!) whilst sorting out the treasures from my haven.

I'm also knitting a scarf, it's very wide, and having unpicked it once, I'm not doing it again! I recon I need to do about another 6 feet to make it a useful length.

My daughter (age 7) was kind enough to agree to take this picture of me, but as it took absolutely ages for her to press the button, I'd lost the ability to retain a normal facial expression (and no, I'm not pregnant, for anyone kind enough to enquire - it's a rather unfortunate shadow on my top!!

I've also ordered a pattern to knit (hopefully more than one!) bear for the Mother bear project, which can be seen by following this link: http://www.motherbearproject.org/

2007-10-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

Shed Update!!

Well, I've spent some time recently moving stuff from what seems like everywhere in the house, to what is now my central point.

I'm hoping (or worrying) that as I've stored lots of fabrics, they might get damp.... nothing ever did before, and everything is stored in plastic containers, so in theory should be ok.

The green one at the top is a picture of the shed BEFORE I repossed it and below is the latest shot.....Well, I certainly know which one I prefer!!

I found a LOT of unfinished projects whilst "sorting", and am determined to plough my way through them ALL before starting anything else.

Here's a little bear I finished last weekend, whilst sulking that a pair of dirty work boots, hard hat and tools, had suddenly appear in my haven.... I went on strike and refused to do anything but sew, until they were moved...

2007-10-12T03:03:00.000-07:00

Morty's Made!!

Just finished making "Morty" from Kate Erbach's "Morty and Snerf" pattern.

I'm not too keen on his feet - I used doe suede and it may have been a bit too stretchy as they are VERY long!!

JINGLE BELLS!!

2007-10-10T02:55:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit late this year with the festive feeling - it usually kicks in about mid July and is fully burnt out by November!!
This little family unit, was a project I finished earlier in the year and is currently residing, boxed up, in the cupboard under the stairs, waiting for a slightly more appropriate moment to go on display....I wanted to add the 3 Kings and a camel, some shepherds, an angel and a few cows until I realised that we'd need to move house in order to put them all out at one time!
Another thought I'd had was to use some of the images for Christmas cards, and might even get round to doing so (optimism is a wonderful thing!!).

Sue's Bears, dolls and ramblings......

2007-10-09T09:43:00.001-07:00

2nd Place Winner!

Well, I thought a good picture to begin with would be this one!

I only heard today that she's won 2nd place in a Yahoo group Challenge competition and this being the first bear I've finished in a long time - no name, but at least a finished item!

CIRCLES...........................
I always seem to have so many things on the go at one time that I often feel I work in circles... begin something, then something else, find a new project before going back to the original, do a bit to the next project, before deciding to change direction and persue a totally new hobby and then back to the first!

Just now and again, and NOT very often, I find myself catching up and finally things are getting finished, almost at the same time!

I can then almost feel inspired to finish them all, before letting myself go and beginning the whole thing, all over again.

PHEW!!

I bought myself a book recently, with the rather ambitious title "Organizing your craft space" so far I have managed to generate (if possible!) even more chaos in my utterly disorganised life!

Here is a glimpse at my outdoor storage space, reclaimed from it's previous life as a household dumping ground.... I emptied it out, painted it mauve and added a brand new piece of off cut carpet (thanks mum!!) I'm in the process of moving all my crafty bits onto the shelves and storage boxes, may yet post a picture of the inside!!

Okay, I've just been told to make clear that it's the INSIDE that's mauve.... I KNOW the outside is blue!! Not that you can see the colour now the shelves and boxes are in place, but it FEELS mauve!! and calm (for a cramped garden shed!)

I don't work Fridays now, so I WILL attempt to take a picture of the inside then (or possibly before if the rain ever stops!!)

Sue's Bears and other makes...

Controversial Mermaid!

2010 - My year of the Chickens!

Crikey..

White rabbit

Our NEW yahoo group!

Subscribe to ukfabricfigures

What a bargain!!

Knitted bears!

Busy, busy, busy!

Finished!!

Not quite as long!

Yet more delays in posting!

Whoops!!

Two posts in ONE day!!

Whoops!!

Here's Pippi!

Where did Christmas go?????

Phew!!

She's finally finished!!

Knitted Bears!

My favourite cake!

The scarf is finished!!

I'm KNITTING!!!

JINGLE BELLS!!

Sue's Bears, dolls and ramblings......