Hugglets soon!!

It's the end of the "silly season" for me and the bears, after what feels like a very long time! Work will resume as normal for me today with far less of those distractions that Summer brings; the endless milling in and out of the offspring, the jaunts to places of interest near and far, taking a couple of hours "out" because "the sun's shining" - oh, and it's a dreary, windy day here; which whispers "Winter soon..." (let alone Autumn!) on it's all too willing breezes.Um... can you tell I've been away from the keyboard too long! :0)

It will be the Hugglets fair this Sunday (11th September) at Kensington Town Hall, so without further ado here are a few peeks at bearies who will be attending. Above is my fund raising, 2.6" chap; "Coffee". He's made from a gorgeously dense long piled cashmere Upholstery Velvet. Proceeds from the sale will go to the Macmillan cancer charity- I really hope he'll find a special new home on the day.

"Teatime Too" is a very special piece which I have lavished my attention on (truly "love in every stitch"!) inspired by the overwhelming, positive reaction I had to my winning BBA teacup bears. Here are "Fern" (3") and her tiny bear, with "Tetley" the pup* looking over the side of a beautiful Aynsley Fern cup and saucer. I researched the backstamp on the ceramic and it appears they date between 1932 and 1939 - as such they are very collectible in their own right and would retail up to £40. I just thought they were wonderful Autumny colours with a vibrant glimmer of gold; and I kept the bears in a toning palette too.

Hopefully I will manage to wade through all our excursion photos soon. We visited some amazing places in Bristol and Bath ... and you all know by now how much I love to share them!!

TaTa For Now,
Ruth XX

* Tetley is a brand of tea in the UK!

Finds

What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than rummaging through my favourite Antiques and Collectables haunt? I am intending to take a similar cup and saucer piece to my British Bear Artist Award winner; "Tea is For Teddies", to the September Hugglets fair, and to that end I was on the hunt for some really eye-catching sets. I can't really put my finger on what I look for in these ceramics ...it's a certain something; style and colour in shades sympathetic to bears I can create.I'm not totally decided what's in store for my purchases... oh, and I'm pretty sure the pink trio set is staying firmly at home!

Wedgwood, "Celestial" trio (Lee teacup shape)

 Diminutive piece of Hudson Middleton (no name)

 Aynsley Ferns (with a delicate blush interior)

 Delicious Royal Grafton trio. I smile whenever I look at it! :0)



I always choose the products of our local industries - there are still many small potteries in the area around where I live, although sadly I do come across crockery from the disappeared, or vastly diminished factories on these forays*. Ashley is always "ceramics expert"; well he does have a degree in the stuff (and he worked for Wedgwood for over 18 years, plus is still consultant to numerous companies) I love that he can pick up a cup and tell me where the factory is (or was) and if it's Wedgwood he invariably knows the shape name - this is quite separate from the pattern name. Occasionally we come across pieces which he originally modelled from the designers' spec' when he first started out. On this outing it was a large vase with flared panels - it wasn't my "cup of tea" though, ha!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my lovely finds,
T.T.F.N  Ruth xxx

* When I first moved here 22 years ago 1 in 3 people worked in the ceramics industries; whole families were employed on the "pot bank" through many proud succeeding generations. These days it is less than 1 in 10 of the local population. :0(