Down 4.2lbs on my Weight Watchers for the end of week number one!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Hypnotized by the snake
Hello everyone:
I am in a rut. It seems the last week has past and I cannot work on my bears. I seem to be stuck. I am not sure why? I went the entire week last week without doing a single thing on my bears? I tried, I even brought the supplies to work ever single day but just left everything sitting there in a corner, with no desire to create! We were busy at work, this is true, but each day I then had the thought that I would do some work on the bears when I arrived home. But as I arrived home that was the last thing I felt like doing so nothing was done.
This morning I awoke and began looking through all the photos of bears I have made... from beginning to end! There are now many and all different styles! Some artist really have a set style and I know that is desired but for me, having been in the business only a few years I have dabbled in a few styles with all different techniques! I now have a look I like in a few different styles... But I still have a few different styles. Is that the problem? Should there be one style that I focus on so when you see the bear you absolutely know it is a Seraphim? I wouldn't know how to give up my traditional style bears and how could I leave my Melancholy bears behind and mixing the two together... well that won't work. Or does it mean a completely new change lies ahead in the future?
I don't think so. I am just the type of artist who enjoys variety and I think I have now settled on two styles that can be identified each to themselves as Seraphim Bears. You can see by my writing just how confused I am at the moment.
I have begun belly dancing! I started with a few DVD's to see if I would like it... it is something I have always wanted to try and after such a long run with my undetected heart issues and now that I am feeling better I thought I better try it if I am ever going to do that! I really love it and so I also have now joined a class. Maybe it is just that my focus is on my new thing right now as I have never really danced before. Well not in a style other than my style so now I have all this excitement that is focused on this new area in my life. The moves, practicing and eating better, and the beautiful fabrics in the clothes! My head is swirling with things and ideas of what I could make to wear for my dancing! So maybe it is just that the chiffon and silks are clouding my mind with flowing fabrics and making it difficult for me to see the bears?
I feel a bit anxious to get started on them again but I also feel excited about my new search for my inner woman through the dance! I imagine that might be what is causing all this confusion... am I hypnotized by the snake arms and belly rolls?
I am in a rut. It seems the last week has past and I cannot work on my bears. I seem to be stuck. I am not sure why? I went the entire week last week without doing a single thing on my bears? I tried, I even brought the supplies to work ever single day but just left everything sitting there in a corner, with no desire to create! We were busy at work, this is true, but each day I then had the thought that I would do some work on the bears when I arrived home. But as I arrived home that was the last thing I felt like doing so nothing was done.
This morning I awoke and began looking through all the photos of bears I have made... from beginning to end! There are now many and all different styles! Some artist really have a set style and I know that is desired but for me, having been in the business only a few years I have dabbled in a few styles with all different techniques! I now have a look I like in a few different styles... But I still have a few different styles. Is that the problem? Should there be one style that I focus on so when you see the bear you absolutely know it is a Seraphim? I wouldn't know how to give up my traditional style bears and how could I leave my Melancholy bears behind and mixing the two together... well that won't work. Or does it mean a completely new change lies ahead in the future?
I don't think so. I am just the type of artist who enjoys variety and I think I have now settled on two styles that can be identified each to themselves as Seraphim Bears. You can see by my writing just how confused I am at the moment.
I have begun belly dancing! I started with a few DVD's to see if I would like it... it is something I have always wanted to try and after such a long run with my undetected heart issues and now that I am feeling better I thought I better try it if I am ever going to do that! I really love it and so I also have now joined a class. Maybe it is just that my focus is on my new thing right now as I have never really danced before. Well not in a style other than my style so now I have all this excitement that is focused on this new area in my life. The moves, practicing and eating better, and the beautiful fabrics in the clothes! My head is swirling with things and ideas of what I could make to wear for my dancing! So maybe it is just that the chiffon and silks are clouding my mind with flowing fabrics and making it difficult for me to see the bears?
I feel a bit anxious to get started on them again but I also feel excited about my new search for my inner woman through the dance! I imagine that might be what is causing all this confusion... am I hypnotized by the snake arms and belly rolls?
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Fur Friday - What went wrong
Hello everyone
Well... I just couldn't walk away without knowing if it was something I did wrong or what so I wrote to my friend Nancy in a private message. I am delighted, well as delighted as one can be when finding out why all that time and effort was down the tubes, but delighted none the less to have found out what went wrong!
It was not the stitch length but instead it appears my coat had DRY ROT! You can not see it or smell it but when you stitch it the coat becomes powdery and falls away from the seams! AH HA moment! So in knowing this now I feel I might try again with a different coat as that might have also been the reason why I was sneezing so much! Powdery dusty leather microbes were most definitely floating into my nose...eeewwww! But hay, I might still have a shot at making a fur bear yet!
So what I would like to suggest to you all is this... before you spend all that time on cutting out the entire bear and lining it, make a test swatch from a few different areas on your coat and do a lining and seam! Just small pieces so you can be sure your coat does not have DRY ROT! THEN go ahead if the coast is clear and your seams stay together!
Thankfully I have not given away my other coats yet! And thankfully and regretfully I now have something plausible to tell the lady who gave me the coat as to what happened. I am learning a lot in this process so am grateful for my trials in that sense but it would be nice to get a bear completed from a coat down the line!
I will try again fresh with a new coat!
Thank you Nancy for sharing this wonderful knowledge with me and my readers!
Well... I just couldn't walk away without knowing if it was something I did wrong or what so I wrote to my friend Nancy in a private message. I am delighted, well as delighted as one can be when finding out why all that time and effort was down the tubes, but delighted none the less to have found out what went wrong!
It was not the stitch length but instead it appears my coat had DRY ROT! You can not see it or smell it but when you stitch it the coat becomes powdery and falls away from the seams! AH HA moment! So in knowing this now I feel I might try again with a different coat as that might have also been the reason why I was sneezing so much! Powdery dusty leather microbes were most definitely floating into my nose...eeewwww! But hay, I might still have a shot at making a fur bear yet!
So what I would like to suggest to you all is this... before you spend all that time on cutting out the entire bear and lining it, make a test swatch from a few different areas on your coat and do a lining and seam! Just small pieces so you can be sure your coat does not have DRY ROT! THEN go ahead if the coast is clear and your seams stay together!
Thankfully I have not given away my other coats yet! And thankfully and regretfully I now have something plausible to tell the lady who gave me the coat as to what happened. I am learning a lot in this process so am grateful for my trials in that sense but it would be nice to get a bear completed from a coat down the line!
I will try again fresh with a new coat!
Thank you Nancy for sharing this wonderful knowledge with me and my readers!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Happy Friday the 13th - Three New Bears
Hello Everyone
Happy Friday the 13th. I know a lot of you out there consider this a bad luck day but for us we have always considered it a GOOD luck day! That's surely always nice to hear and I thought that maybe if I made a post today it would spread the GOOD so you would forget about the bad!
What I can share with you are the three Seraphim bears that are now awaiting adoption at Collin's Gifts:
They are Parker, Wylie and Delta Dawn - three bearded Melancholy bears
Have a great day everyone! Big Hugs from all of us here at Seraphim Bears.... now it is off to work to complete the Summer collection for Silly Bears! 5 bears are on their way to Scotland on Monday!
Happy Friday the 13th everyone!
Happy Friday the 13th. I know a lot of you out there consider this a bad luck day but for us we have always considered it a GOOD luck day! That's surely always nice to hear and I thought that maybe if I made a post today it would spread the GOOD so you would forget about the bad!
What I can share with you are the three Seraphim bears that are now awaiting adoption at Collin's Gifts:
They are Parker, Wylie and Delta Dawn - three bearded Melancholy bears
Have a great day everyone! Big Hugs from all of us here at Seraphim Bears.... now it is off to work to complete the Summer collection for Silly Bears! 5 bears are on their way to Scotland on Monday!
Happy Friday the 13th everyone!
Friday, April 6, 2012
Happy Easter
Just wanted to say Happy Easter to everyone!
I received a new cake pan for my birthday that is in the shape of beautiful Easter Eggs with design imprinted in the pan! Here is a photo to tantalize your taste buds of the finished cakes! These are the mini egg shaped carrot cakes I baked today for Easter Monday dessert! Carrot cake it one cake that tastes better if baked a day or two before the day... so I did them today and decorated them with homemade cream cheese icing and some pink sugar!
I also did some cupcakes with lots more icing on the top for those who just cannot get enough of that cream cheese! Plus those cupcakes I added nuts and fruit to. You cannot have that in the egg shaped ones or you won't get the nice smooth outer shell that you need to see the decorative shape of the eggs!
Have a wonderful Easter eveyone! Big hugs from our family to yours!
I received a new cake pan for my birthday that is in the shape of beautiful Easter Eggs with design imprinted in the pan! Here is a photo to tantalize your taste buds of the finished cakes! These are the mini egg shaped carrot cakes I baked today for Easter Monday dessert! Carrot cake it one cake that tastes better if baked a day or two before the day... so I did them today and decorated them with homemade cream cheese icing and some pink sugar!
Have a wonderful Easter eveyone! Big hugs from our family to yours!
New Ribbons for my Vicotria Ribbonwork!
Went shopping the other day and purchased some new ribbons! I love doing my Victoria Ribbonwork which you see on many of my bears and it is always a joy to add more to the collection of ribbons!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Fur Friday - Sewing Lesson 6
Hello Everyone: Because I am late with my Fur Friday posts I am posting today to get caught up as I know some of you have been writing that you are going to start your fur bears and are enjoying the posts so why make you wait for the sake of the name of a day!
I have to say that this has been a fun experience up till this point at which time I think I am going to have throw in the towel! First I cannot stop sneezing! My face is super itchy as are my eyes and I can't stop sneezing! A mask... I need a mask and glasses and possibly a pair of gloves and maybe some duck tape... hahaha The bottom line is sometimes we are not meant to make real fur bears.
Here is another issue and maybe Nancy will write to tell us all what is going wrong;
I sewed my bear together only to turn the bear to the right side and see that everywhere I stitched has now turned into a perforated edge which has released itself and come apart. Big tears everywhere. So what this means is that even if I can get the bear resewn it is now going to be much smaller as I lost my seam allowance.
I followed the instructions: I changed my needle to my glover (leather needle)
I used a 1/4 inch seam allowance also. I double seam my bears... possibly this is the issue? Maybe if I increased the stitch length on the machine?
The other option of course is to hand sew the bear which I do on all my miniatures.This would allow me to control my tension which might be what is needed for this coat! I am honestly not sure and hand sewing real fur bears is not an option for me due to the sneezing...This is what happened to me with my non lined vintage bear that I posted for you all to see before... Gilbert! Remember, I told you all his seams tore the vintage mohair fabric backing! There are a number of reasons that this can happen but with the lining I did not think it would be an issue here! It was really very sad and I had to put the bear down for the night and walk away!
Now I also know that no matter if I get through the second bear that I cut out of this coat or not I will not be making fur bears at this time... due to the sneezing and eye burn! So I want to let you know that I have a few beautiful fur coats that have been prepared for bear making that I will be getting rid of! I have a Persian lamb and I also have a GORGEOUS silver fox so if anyone wants them and wants to pay the shipping they are yours - just contact me!
I have to say that this has been a fun experience up till this point at which time I think I am going to have throw in the towel! First I cannot stop sneezing! My face is super itchy as are my eyes and I can't stop sneezing! A mask... I need a mask and glasses and possibly a pair of gloves and maybe some duck tape... hahaha The bottom line is sometimes we are not meant to make real fur bears.
Here is another issue and maybe Nancy will write to tell us all what is going wrong;
I sewed my bear together only to turn the bear to the right side and see that everywhere I stitched has now turned into a perforated edge which has released itself and come apart. Big tears everywhere. So what this means is that even if I can get the bear resewn it is now going to be much smaller as I lost my seam allowance.
I followed the instructions: I changed my needle to my glover (leather needle)
I used a 1/4 inch seam allowance also. I double seam my bears... possibly this is the issue? Maybe if I increased the stitch length on the machine?
The other option of course is to hand sew the bear which I do on all my miniatures.This would allow me to control my tension which might be what is needed for this coat! I am honestly not sure and hand sewing real fur bears is not an option for me due to the sneezing...This is what happened to me with my non lined vintage bear that I posted for you all to see before... Gilbert! Remember, I told you all his seams tore the vintage mohair fabric backing! There are a number of reasons that this can happen but with the lining I did not think it would be an issue here! It was really very sad and I had to put the bear down for the night and walk away!
Now I also know that no matter if I get through the second bear that I cut out of this coat or not I will not be making fur bears at this time... due to the sneezing and eye burn! So I want to let you know that I have a few beautiful fur coats that have been prepared for bear making that I will be getting rid of! I have a Persian lamb and I also have a GORGEOUS silver fox so if anyone wants them and wants to pay the shipping they are yours - just contact me!
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