Yes, I can't even look at how long it is since I made my last post... ahh what can I say? It's been a super busy time and things have been going on, lots of shows to get ready for!July shortly after the last post, was a trip to Sydney for the Doll Collectors Club show, which went well. Lots of bears and a few dolls went home with new owners, which is always lovely. You might be thinking well yes of course- it's money- but its always more than that. It's so wonderful when something you create brings a smile to somebody's face, even if they don't decide to take it home with them.
A couple of weeks after Sydney I was off to Adelaide for the wonderful show put on by Margaret and Kylie. They always do a wonderful job, and even though the show was moved this year it went off fabulously well. I have always enjoyed going to Adelaide, and the people there are so wonderful. So nice to catch up with them. After the show I had a couple of days with my wonderful friend Sarah and her Mum and Sister. We had a great time chatting about bears, sewing bears and even a little trip to the wineries in the Barossa Valley where I did my first wine tasting and we took a little tour of a winery. Lots of fun!
Once I got home it was time to prepare for Hugglets! I have been looking forward to this since I was accepted in early May, it seems to be the pinnacle of the Teddy Bear calendar these days:) Lots and lots of work before I headed off to London in early September. What a fabulous time! After the show my wonderful friend Susan had myself and two Kiwi artists, Tracey and Laraine, as houseguests, and made sure we saw lots of fabulous things. Day trips to Bath, the Cotswolds and Brighton, a weekend in Bruges and a few days in Paris. Not to mention lots of trips into London. What a fabulous time! If I give too much detail the post will read like a book! hehe.
One of the things I wanted to do when I was there was find some antique/old laces, as I love these for my bears and dolls, and they are not always easy to come by. Well, I found antique lace galore! The Sunday morning we were in Bruges there was a huge antique market, where most of the above pictures were taken, stalls full of lace and one even had millinery supplies- I got a shopping bag full of vintage flowers- anyone who knows me knows I was in heaven:) As you can see there was some lovely old dolls ( in their original clothes in original boxes no less!) and adorable old bears. Don't you love that grumpy one there? Or the big boofy-shouldered one? So much to see......
The other photos are of lovely Bruges, the statue is a Michelangelo sculpture in one of the churches ( I can't remember which church offhand) I don't think you can capture the skill and beauty of something like this in a picture.. imagine sculpting something like this from Marble, no mistakes and adding bits on here like you can with clay! And of course Bruges was filled with the things it's famous for- chocolate and lace! Just about heaven for me:)
I somehow managed to stumble across wonderful things to buy for my bears and dolls (and me!!) almost everywhere- I happened to be in London and wandered to Covent Garden on a Monday which happens to be the day they have an Antiques market- more lace:) Then a trip to Camden Passage Market where guess what- more lace! hehe There is also a tiny hole in the wall old Doll and Bear shop here that looked fascinating. So tiny in fact if there was a customer in there, there wasn't enough room for another one:) Well worth searching out if you are in London and like old Dolls and bears though.
Well I will sign off for now.. I could go on and on but this post will be way too long!:) I am back home slowly adjusting to the time change... settling down to work to try and get a nice stock up for the Woodend show at the end of the month. Oh, I just realised I didn't say much about Hugglets show! hehe.... It was a wonderful eye opening experience, so many great artists, lots of lovely new and old bears ( I came home with a lovely girl I will probably show off in a later post) and to top it off, I managed to sell almost all my little creations. I hope I can get back again soon!
Bye for now
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