Photo a week....

Psssst...    It's us bears.

It's well past Monday already and Ms BVee is busy baking bread and doing tax stuff and running around like a chicken with her head off.   We decided to help with the theme for the week;  My Favourite Colour. We know what colours she likes... and it is never just one ..although, this is kind of her favourite just now...

See,... pretty greens... like this sofffft mini bear fabric.....

oh.....and......

soft purples too...look ...a bear foot was already cut out of this one..... where's he gone?  .. and... who is supposed to be finding the periwinkle purples?...huh?? who? ... oh, the piece of fabric was too heavy to drag out......sorry........

I know she likes yellow.... like me.. and like this flower.... ... yummy custard yellow.... not mustard-y yellow....

and.... what about pink?...she likes pink... ...

What colour can I show?  What colour?

First....put down that darn egg will ya? .....

How 'bout my feet?  look.... pink ...oh....and we are sitting on pink too.... oooooh...lovely pink....

What part of put it down do you think he doesn't understand guys?  Maybe it's something to do with his stuffing...or maybe bunnies are just like that? ...

Oh, hey.... look, she made hippy bread.  Well, it looks like hippy bread.  Rustic. Sunflower seeds... flax... other healthy stuff... I wonder if there is some hunny to put on it... okay, let's just get back where we belong or we'll be in big trouble tomorrow.... somebody put the camera back in the drawer ....

hey Mom.....

... what? ... oh, ...silly  me.... somebody says "Mom" and I look around.  As if..... ahhahah...

aren't ya gonna make my shot pouch?  Look... the nice soft suede-y material is all set out....

My back is wide open...kinda drafty in here......

okay...working on it...oh, just a minute...the Girl Guides just knocked.... difficulties ensued.... 

...were overcome.....

how's that?  Pouch in position...all closed up and cosy now... can't even tell where the seam is...almost.... 

Ah...great shot.... but, oh, wait....those ears.... just a minute.........

a few stitches to hold the creases in position works wonders....

yeh...I know.... a tiny thing.....

But, look .. it makes a big difference.  Well, it does to me........

and...he now has a name.  My sister took one look and said.... he looks like a Scratty Eddy..... so please meet Eddy.... and he is a bit scratty looking although it's not called that by the mohair companies.  It is "sparse, long".... but, a rose by any other name....

I forgot the most important picture earlier...

Here is the bunny I wanted to make..... just like one made by Nancy Sholtey
There is no pattern...it is one that she had for sale several years ago...but, I couldn't bring myself to pay quite as much as she wanted for him.  So...when I found this fabric...decided to give one a try.  I think he is pretty close...and very cute.....

...more feet.....

S'cuse my fluffy bum ...... well, not mine..but, scruffy bunny's bum.....

His feet and legs are on... a bit of shading... but, not too much.  It shows more in real life than it does in a photo....  AND...he has a death grip on one of those chocolate eggs..... (I have to tell you that those eggs are not real because some of you sounded like perhaps you thought they were tasty ... lol) .... nope, just faux chocolate eggs.  However, even my sweetie reached for one last year when I had them on the table taking photos of bunnies and eggs...so... they are pretty real looking.  This year he glared at them and said.."oh...those eggs again.  Where's the real chocolate?"

Off I go for some brekky and to make a little pouch for some shot for his tummy.

Oh, that reminds me.... a few years ago when I was making a lot of the little guys, I decided to make little pouches for the weight I put inside of them.  If it was really tiny 'shot'...almost like seeds... I was worried that an occasional little seed would work its way out through the joining of a seam.  So, then, I was joking with my sister that we should start a little company and make up many bags or pouches and sell them.  But, what would we call our little venture.  Her responses were hilarious... my fav being "Shot in the Ass" .. or maybe it should be "Shot in the Arse"  ...we debated the "roodness" of it.  But, that WAS the general area where most of the pouches would eventually sit. Then there was "Lead Bellies"...but, we thought people would be put off by the word lead..even though it is actually steel...however, "Steel Bellies" didn't sound quite as fun..... although then we moved on to "Abs of Steel", or "Buns of Steel", which we ruminated upon, but thought there would be copywrite or legal issues.  All in all, we had a fun time of it at the expense of the little bears and bunnies while they looked at us with quizzical faces.  In the end, of course, we did nothing....I still stitch up a pouch and fill it with shot when I need one ... and still have a laugh at our silliness.

AND:::  Have to share this one.... hop on over to my other blog to see this recipe for Brussels Sprouts

Photo a week....

This week the theme is "feet".  If I had a live bear or bunny I'd have some pics of their soft fluffy feet for you.... or a kitty or puppy...for sure ...but, seeing as I don't have any pets...other than Mr. BV... I'll show you some of the other feet around here.

Frikkles was first in line.... he's a keener...

Even threw himself over backwards so you could get a better view.... uh, Frikkles... it's okay, we see them just fine buddy....

Next thing I knew... they were all kicking back... feet in the air....

Big ones, little ones.... furry ones and fancy ones...

Some were all feet...... like little Joey.

I think some were more about the hats .....

Leonard found other things pretty fascinating.... although his feet were still in the picture...

Here was my first foot as a canvas for some embroidery.... I took a class and we did some bullion stitching on a big woollen bear.  I named her Rosebud.

Well, there you have it.... bears and bunnies... my house is overrun with them......

Today I'm working on some little slim pink feet....

Pretty tiny looking in comparison to brown tie bunny's barges.... but, for the overall size of the new guy....they will be perfectly adequate.

Dusted ...

...with icing sugar snow overnight.  Mother Nature doing her thing again.  Exactly as I suspected.  It's not the "real" spring yet..... it's been faux spring for the past few weeks.  Some days were even as lovely as summery days..

For all of you who were weirded out by the bunch of bunny bits lying around....I got him assembled!  I gave him a chocolate brown ribbon to bring out the bits of chocolate in the brocade pattern...

ooops.... just a minute...

there... that's better.  Notice the difference? ...... whiskers!!  I had to run off to pluck some broom bristles for him. 

Here he is with pink bunny from a couple of years back... and a couple of tiny bears.  

Posie is totally distracted by the BIG pretty egg...but, I think little Scruffy is a bit worried by the size of those BIG bunnies !

The bunnies are only about 5 inches high seated, which always makes me laugh at the size of the tiny guys.... who are just the size of a big bunny foot....

Next, I'm using mohair for a funny bunny.  Well,... when I got a head stitched up...and this appeared.... it has to be a funny bunny, no?

... and.... here is Maggi's little guy from the same pattern...

She tweaked the legs for a bit more length and made his feet a bit larger... and gave the ears a tweak or two as well ... as you can see.  We put some chenille stems inside the ears so we could pose them.

Photo a week....

This is the time of year when the weather is the most ...uhm..... disconcerting?  Let me use that word instead of dingy, dirtry, depressing, or dissatisfying.. or ...discouraging or ...well, any one of many words that some folks might use that conjure up uncertainty or hours of clean up ... or days, weeks, or sometimes even a few months of a waiting game.  It's not that bad really...just a bit dreary.... why do all the words seem to be "d" words I wonder?  And... the weather (whatever it is) should come as no surprise, because, after all, we do live north of the 49th... and mostly it is unpredictable.

But, in reality.... the winters around here seem to be getting shorter...and less cold...and there is even less snow than when we moved here in '85 ....  less harsh all around it seems to me.  Or...maybe I am used to it..or don't mind it...or whatever .. ... unlike poor Mr. BV, who gets a bit depressed at this time of year.  He want summer and he wants it now.   I pretty much like it all and just roll along with our changing seasons.  There is plenty to do or see or enjoy all year.  What else can a person do anyway?  Mother Nature is in charge.  Just make the best of it... do things that don't require good weather in the winter or cold months...and do other things in the spring, summer and lovely autumn days... it's all good.  Today, after taking back some movies, baking cookies and vacuuming... ...I'm cutting out a new bunny pattern....

Besides... dirty and messy is pretty good compared to last year on the 22 of March.  Aren't blogs great as a journal of weather and all sorts of other "stuff"?

Look what we had last year after some lovely warm weather days....  see?  I could be building snowmen.... ...but, instead.... today is balmy and going up to +14C... hmmm... wonder if this is next week's surprise.  Hope not ..   but, if it is ...oh, well.  I get some exercise shovelling.... .

Soon...it'll be time to store away these....

I'm already wearing these ...

And, will soon be dusting off this.... oh, wow... look at all that dust and sawdust!  Disgusting!  There is actually shiny, new looking black, red and chrome under all of that!!

Think I'll go outside and pick around in that bark on the sunny side of the house and search for a green sprig of my daffs......

Why is it??

Well !!  that was annoying.  I saved the post I was working on; went away to put in some laundry ... came back to finish my post and lo and behold...there was just the first sentence!  I guess I didn't wait long enough for blogger to do it's "saving" .... sigh.....  You know how it goes.  Well, maybe you have better memory than I... but, for me, once I've written it out I promptly "give it up".   Like water off a duck.  Gone.

I think I was musing about how our homes have stuff all over them.  Know what I mean?  You do if you craft, are artsy, sew or are a DIY'er... even if you have a "dedicated" room for your fun and games ... "stuff" just seems to follow us wherever we go in a house.   Well, I suppose it doesn't actually follow us... we usually carry it around like pets or something.  Although most of my "Stuff"... does have legs...maybe it could be following me .... now I'll be looking over my shoulder!

See what I mean?  My new little bunny.. a leg and a head under Tina's left arm... while the Original Brocade Bunny hangs out for inspiration.  All of it just hanging out on the dining table... and that is just one corner of the table...so don't be saying how tidy it is.  And.. I'm not showing the coffee table, the kitchen table and counters and the actual dedicated room.  And.. oh, oh .., yes..I did buy some new "Point-2-of-a-metre" pieces of fabric.  The smallest cut we can buy from Fabricland..they probably hate to see me show up. And... more buttons.  One can never have too many buttons can one? As if I need any more goodies.  What I really should do is give most of it away.  I'm never going to use it all in a million years.

Maggi, my only doll and bear making buddy, came over for a play day last week.... we yakked, had nibblies and started a bunny from the old pattern.  I know...I'm so lucky that I actually have one person that can relate to what I like to do..other than Mr. BV of course (...who is really my biggest cheerleader  and who does know quite a lot about all of it).  He has had many a great idea to add to my endeavours.   So many have nobody at all to share their passion with.  How I wish airfare was cheap!  What a blast we could all have traveling to visit and play!  In the long run all the airlines would probably make money because they would be flying with full planes instead of making half empty runs...  maybe we should all write letters to them.

I'm waiting for a photo of Maggi's bunny to put here    { ......  }

   ....hers is already finished!  And...really cute.

Here is mine....

Still a pile of body parts.  Poor little guy.. or gal. This brocade is beautiful.. but not very colourful with the off white body.  And..it was tricky to sew too... therefore taking waaay too much time on a simple little make.  If I get it finished today...I think I might cut out more body parts ... with more colourful fabric for ears....

photo a Week....

Today's theme...."What am I" ? .....

I guess it could actually be animal, vegetable or mineral... or it could even be a shot of my face..  hahahah....that'd scare ya and you would never be able to guess what I was....  or, it could mean...I spy with my little eye...something that is ...erm.... smallish... silvery.... has little birdies..and.... guess what it is.....

Well, it's something that us kids bought for our Mom when we just little... the type of thing we usually found for her.  Something cute... smallish and not very expensive.  All four of us had to agree on our purchase because we were pooling our meagre resources ... .. ... so sometimes it took a lot of looking. 

I think it actually has some silver in it...because it gets almost black ... then I scour it with silver cleaner... 

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Salt and Pepper shaker birdies !!

Little things....

Have I mentioned too many times that little things make me happy?  Even little kitchen things... which I know wouldn't make most people happy.  But...I like to cook and bake and spend a lot of time in my kitchen...even when I'm not mixing up my concoctions...

So, Tuesday, in my travels... looking for something totally unrelated.... I spied this!

Yes!!  finally,....    a perfect size with the perfect shape!  Been looking off and on for quite some time now.... nobody seems to make this shape anymore for some strange reason.  And, if they are oval shaped?.... they have the skinniest handle .. silly to try mixing with.  It slides around in my hand ... can't get a good grip on it.  Most of the wooden spoons I see now are round.  Huh?  And most of the round spoons have big flat handles. Why?  ...  who the heck uses a round wooden spoon?  With a flat hard to hold handle.  Not me.  An oval stirs so much better.  What round spoon gets to the bottoms of most oval small bottomed bowls or pots?  Silly invention, the round.  Give me oval any day.  Plus.... this is the perfect size for filling a muffin cup.  A Mega cup...which is what I always use.  I like my muffins man sized.  So does Mr. BV.  If we're eating a muffin we don't want a dainty little cupcake.  But, why bother with a separate utensil... say...an ice cream scoop as they direct in many recipes?..  when I can just continue using the same spoon I was already using to mix the batter?   Who needs to wash extra utensils?

Thanks Mario!

I've already used it several times... ...I love it....I'm going back for a few more.  One can never have too many wooden spoons... maybe there were even different sizes.  I had total tunnel vision I must admit.  I only had eyes for you, oh perfect, beechwood, muffin-mixing-spoon!

There were several with more grainy patterns.... even some different colours of the same beautiful beech wood.  I love running my hand over the soft smoothness of it.... it is perfectly finished.... not splintery like so many of the cheapies I've seen or touched lately.

A softly rounded groove for your thumb ...and look, even a hole for a hook if you want to hang it.

yeh...I know...I'm a bit weird.....

Look at the great stew it was stirring the other day.....  mmmmmm.......

Bookcase Tour Tuesday

Maybe I should change that to .... Why Is It Wednesday Already? ...  because it seems I never manage to get it on here by Tuesday.

I'm a deep thinker, philosopher and love to read heavy, challenging material...... HAHAHAHAHH... NOT!!

That's why Rosebud is looking at me like that.  Probably saying ...what are you doing?.. and why do I have to sit on this book?  Even sitting on it is uncomfortable... never mind wading through it...

I began it once upon a time...and by page 113 was wishing I was reading a book that did begin with that very line. I love "Once Upon A Time books" ...   But, at one time in my life, I thought it was necessary to try reading some well known and deep books instead of just fun stuff or fluffy fiction.  

There are several phrases regarding the misfortune of the horses on the battlefield that will stick with me forever when I just wish I could forget them as easily as I did the first paragraph of my Science 9 textbook.  But, no.... "spurring his horse as if the animal were to blame for everything" ... and a few others ..til I read of the horse shot with a canon and "blood was spurting from his leg as from a fountain" and I tossed it on the floor and left it...    My friend from Russia says there is much lost in translation anyway...and it is far more interesting for him to read Tolstoy's books in Russian.  Let him do my deep and meaningful reading for me.... thanks Vlad.....

This is more my style... bear making .....with lots of cute pictures even in the advertisements in the old Teddy Bear and Friends mags.  I am always on the lookout for what makes them look cute.... how does the position of the eyes make the face different from other faces?... what is the shape of the head, the nose ... are there some features that just make me saw awwwww when looking at one versus another.

What about unusual little cuties that I haven't even attempted yet?  Maybe some day I'll try one.... but, until then...I love to look at all of them......

I'm not deep, or analytical, or well read .....   I'm simple, shallow, and I like easy....  I want cute, pretty, fun and interesting.... life's too short to be bothered with things that make me miserable or unhappy or even ticked off or frustrated ....  I move on.....

Photo a Week....

Buttons.  That's the theme for today's photo of the week.

I love buttons... save every one I find.  Clip them dutifully from every new article of clothing...and also all the ones from old or worn out items I cut up for dusting cloths.  I have a bag of them somewhere... and this tray full in the top of my "vintage" sewing basket.  Well, it's old anyway... I hate to say vintage because that sure makes me feel OLD>... it was the one thing I wanted as a Christmas gift when I was a teen ... not exactly sure how old...and Mom got it for me.  I loved it then...still love it...

Anyway ...   back to buttons.  What a great invention!  And the uses!  Who could even begin to list those?  My favourite use for them has to be as faces for little pin dolls.  I use the type you can cover with a scrap of any type or colour of fabric.. then press on the backing and voila...a smooth surface to play with.  I like to try different sizes ... but, the large ones seem to be disappearing.  Can hardly find them anymore ...  except at one shop.

Another way for me to use traditional smaller buttons is for attaching arms and legs to some of the animals or even the dolls I make.  In fact....I have yet to try attaching doll appendages with buttons...but, maybe some day... for now...it is just bunnies and bears.

..... and finally ..... these......

Inherited from a 97 year old Dutch lady... who saved every button she ever saw I'm sure...

but, what the heck are they?  And were they bought or salvaged from something?  A uniform perhaps?  Although, I have looked at uniform buttons and they are much more detailed and clear.  Some of these almost look a bit worn on the surface .. there are 11 of them.  (ps... found the other one in the bottom of the bag..there are now 12 of them!)

... and, to me.... the image is almost scary looking... like some demon or devil ... very strange.....

Can't imagine why on earth she would have had these ugly things.  Turned one way and then upside down...still demonic to me..... what do you think? ....