Bear Love

We started our new year off with a wonderful treat!  A visit from Craig - dear friend and bear-maker and Someone Who Can Do Just About Anything...and do it so well.

 He visited an antique mall in KC before heading to our house for dinner, and he found this wonderful toy wagon.  It needed a few modifications to fit in his suitcase for the trip home to Andover.  I'm sure by now it has found a home in one of his wonderful cabinets, nestled in with other equally wonderful antique toys and bears.

Last summer we had the good fortune to house-sit at Craig's home in Andover, MA, while he and his family vacationed.  When they returned, he gave me this Darling Bear, which I named Andover.  The starfish is for all the fabulous memories we have from visiting all those wonderful East Coast seaside villages.

Andover is by himself in the picture, but he has lots of "brothers and sisters" in my collection who are also Craig bears!  Just for fun, here they are.  I should add that when Craig photographs his bears, he makes them look absolutely ALIVE...  I'm afraid I can't even come close to that.  I think it has to do with making sure they are looking at the camera - which I didn't always get right, but I'm sure you can still tell how wonderful they are.  The bear in the first picture belonged to my Mother-in-Law Rene, who was also a big fan of Craig's bears.

That's my very first Craig bear below, on the right - Merlot.  Craig says he has "come a long way" as a bear-maker since then... but I love Merlot!  Without Merlot, we would have never met Craig!!!  See close-up of the bear on the left in the next photo.

 

 

The framed piece in the center below is a hooked rug I made (and framed).  It is a pattern by Victoria Engalls.  I added the striped wallpaper and wainscoting to the design - and black and white tile which you can barely see at the bottom. 

Gettin' a Bear Hug!

It sounds like 2011 is going to be quite a year for Craig and his family, but I sure hope we get to see them again soon.

A very good friend... and a couple of bears...

This weekend we were lucky to have our long-time friend Craig here for an overnight stay.  He lives in Massachusetts now so we don't get to see him very often.  He counts teddy bear making among his MANY MANY talents.  Mike and I met him many years ago when I first started collecting teddy bears.  His bear "Merlot" was the very first artist-made teddy I bought.

We had fun last night looking at all my bears - most of them are his handiwork!  He could see the progression of his work over the years, and he talked about how he has changed his patterns and stuffings and eyes and noses and ears and paw pads and length of arms and legs - quite an evolutionary process!  He loves antique bears (and all things antique!) so of course that is the look he tries to achieve in his bears. 

The two bears he is holding in the photo are the two "best" examples of his bears - according to him.  I love them all, but he is the expert on all things teddy bear!  He is right, these two are really special...

We have been invited to stay at his home outside of Boston for a week this summer while he and his family are on vacation in California.  I can't wait to see the house.  He worked on it for 2 years and it is full of antiques and goodies!  He has already given us suggestions for day-trips and restaurants.  All we have to do is feed the dog and walk her once in the morning and once at night!  A pretty good trade don't you think?

Have a great day!

First Baby Blanket is finished!

Here is the baby blanket I just finished for my sis-in-law's new grandson in Mexico.  I was inspired by the wonderful photos and instructions on the attic24 blog I have mentioned before.

 The blanket is made with Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn.  I think it will be perfect for cool summer nights up in the mountains in Mexico!

This photo is a little dark.  I used the lime green as the last round for each square, then used it again to join the squares together. 

 After joining all the squares, I put four rounds (four different colors) around the entire outside, then finished off with the lime green.

 Sylvester really likes it - he is a bit lime green himself!

Well Sylvester is not really supposed to be standing up in his chair - but here he is giving the blanket his seal of approval!  Say Adios Sylvester - the blanket is going to Mexico!

The next blanket is going to be very similar, but with a wool yarn (because the baby lives in Norway).  Right now there are colorful little squares piled up all over the place - nothing sewn together yet.  Maybe it will be finished in about a week???

Have a great day!