Tuesday 23 December 2008

Last Post !



I just managed to get these pics ; above is my new , absolutely favourite decoration which I pounced on in Paperchase . I love these elegant hands ; reminds me of those old Mavala adverts that used to be seen on the wall in hairdressers ( remember them ?) As a child I was so fascinated by those stylish , sleek , impossibly glamorous finger nails - harking back to 1930s Vogue illustrations - that I determined I would grow mine long when I was a bit older . Well , dear reader I did ! My nails have been ultra long since I was 14 ... I'd be lost without them LOL .
I just knew that this star with a pearly centre was "the one" to hang from a finger . Wish I could leave it in place all year .....




Next are the Red Nose family ; felties I designed and made when my 18 yr old was a baby . They come out every year to survey proceedings - ahhhhh!


I'm such a lucky girl to have a really special friend like Tina ; here are the exquisite vintage decorations which she sent me as a thoughtful little gift . Don't worry , I shan't burn the house down ; the "tea light" in that organza bag is battery powered - they look really sweet under my tiny tree on top of the dresser.

One last thing , before I crash out with coughing , and crossing my fingers the "fairies" make it to the end of the To Do list - and that is to wish everybody ; friends ,fellow bear makers , collectors and bloggers ,

a very Happy Christmas and New Year !

Festive Hugs ,

Ruth xx

The Christmas Parade


The lovely festive parade of artist bears , to be hosted by Ellen Borggreve , starts today ; you can catch Ellen's blog here and join in the fun . All the participating artists have contributed pics of their most favourite pieces .

Whilst I battle with a horrendous cold , which has made me go very deaf in both ears :0(( there are still a few Christmas preparations to get done .... suddenly time is running away as quickly as the last grains in an old fashioned egg timer . I didn't get a photo of my new , favourite mantel piece decoration on here yet! Or the sweetest little gift sent to me by Tina (of Tiny Bear) !! Maybe I can sneak them on later .
Even the little-est bears are hanging up their stockings and bedding down for a good long rest . What a shame Santa's sleigh bells will sound so muffled ! ... BooHoo ....


*****This little bear "Pasha" is still available , at a special sale price of £48.00 *****

Tuesday 16 December 2008

Tallulah


Sunday saw the start of another auction for China Bear Rescue , over at Abracadabra Bear Shop .
Tallulah , 2.5" (above) made from Frosted pink , and lilac , long pile Upholstery Velvets is hoping to do her bit towards helping the Asian Moon bears . Perhaps she's wearing that heart skewiff because she's so excited about it ? :0) Anyway , if you'd like to see another picture of her (non-"Poster Edged" !) please click the link here where you will find her in Gallery 2 , and maybe check out all the other lovely items - from brand new artist bears to vintage teds - in this month long auction .

Happy Christmas Moon Bears !!

T.T.F.N Ruth x

Wednesday 10 December 2008

The Super Duper Candy Store Badeely-Bob Music Majigger !

WooHoo ! My hubby introduced me to this wonderful site ; Playlist.com where you can grab loads of legal music together and decorate whatever you fancy with audio wonders ! He didn't realise what a monster he'd created !!! I can't seem to tear myself away , and I've re-visited tracks that had gone well-cobwebby in my brain's music department . I'm sure no headless chicken ever had so much fun running riot in a sweet shop (to mix metaphors !)
I am going to add a side bar gadget eventually but for now check out my "I was a seventies teen Disco Diva" selection , whack the volume up and get on down !!



Fab party music or what ? :0)

T.T.F.N Ruth x

Tuesday 2 December 2008

Postcards from Brighton



I thought I was going to do a post all about the Brighton Pavilion , which the three of us visited on the Saturday before The British Bear Artist Awards , but it's almost impossible to convey the stunning opulence of this former Royal Palace without internal photographs . So instead I have a string of fabulous images that Ashley caught on camera at around 4.30 pm on Saturday , whilst I was snoozing in the hotel room .

First I must just mention the Pavilion ; from the outside (we approached through the gardens) I was quite surprised by the almost flimsy , film-set architecture ahead of us . The closer we got, the less the minarets and eastern crenellations convinced. How odd - but of course that's exactly how this palace was built ; a sham of metal cloaking around a modest sized farmhouse ! A fantasy hidey-hole for an aging Prince Regent - who would later become King George IV.





Actually , there ought to be a warning over the door "here be dragons" as there are more than you could shake a stick at inside - together with snakes ; large , small , gilded , painted , bas-relief , overhead , coiled round pillars , smiling , sneaking , snarling , and down-right enraged in to blowing flames over your head ! All the visitors meekly walked about with their eyes swivelling from side to side goggling at the sheer ...... goldness of the interiors ; all decorated by artisans from a period mad for the exoticism of China and the Far East . Many a life's work is represented here , from wallpaper to the finest furniture that could be conjured from imagination . The great Banqueting hall in particular (laid out in full , priceless , table service) takes your breath away . The enormous silvered dragon in the centre of the ceiling ,which dangles the biggest chandelier I've ever seen , still has to compete for your attention with a gold Phoenix in every corner of the room!

We toured through Queen Victoria's rooms ; apparently she became fed up with the pokiness of them , and felt her family could never be accommodated there , and so she sold the palace to the people of Brighton in 1850 . Mind you , that was after removing 147 cart loads of furniture and artefacts .... a fraction of which have now been loaned back in situ .

If you do ever manage to visit the Pavilion , and specifically the Music Room - covered in gold dragons , serpents and chinese pagoda canopies , I am sure that like me you will take pity on the conservators who spent 11 years restoring and re-gilding 26,000 golden shells within the central cupola , after an arsonist damaged them in 1975 - only to be put back at square one by a stone minaret ball crashing through the centre of it in the storms of 1987 ! Some hold this room to be unlucky ; the mythical creatures all look very cross , and it does have a certain opressive atmosphere not detected elsewhere .....


Anyway , back to the photographs - remember there are no fancy filters used ; what you see is what my husband and son saw at 4.30pm . The sea a strange inky hue below an otherworldly skyscape , and the phenomenon of thousands of starlings wheeling in the skies above the old West Pier (burnt out in 2003) before roosting together on it . Click on each picture to bring the size up .















T.T.F.N Ruth x