DAHLIA - A New Little Lady

Here is little Dahlia, a new little 8 inch poppet that I have created in a vintage style.

Dahlia is made from mohair and has boot button eyes. She is filled with polyflock and pellets for a gentle weighted feel and has been trimmed and shaded to give her an aged appearance.

She is also wearing a little tutu and necklace and headband. If you are interested in adopting little Dahlia, please visit my website at www.bootbuttonbears.com for more details.

Adelaide's Special Guests......

WANG WANG

In 2008, Adelaide Zoo was lucky enough to be chosen to host two Panda's from the Wolong Panda Research Centre in China. The two pandas are able to live in Adelaide for ten years, and the hope is that as they get older, they may breed, helping to increase the numbers of this at risk species. Wang Wang was born in 2005 and is the little boy, and Funi was born in 2006 and is the little girl. Both were very young babes at the Wolong Centre in China when the dreadful earthquake hit in May of 2008. Thankfully, 280 Panda's survived at the Centre after the earthquake, but unfortunately Wang Wang's Mum, Mao Mao, did not. Wang Wang is very laid back in his style and takes things in his stride, Miss Funi is quite agile and loves to chase around quite a bit. If you are ever in Adelaide, please take the chance to visit the Adelaide Zoo and see these wonderful animals. We are so lucky to have them here.

FUNI

Please meet Clyde.......

Please meet young Clyde, a 13" fellow that I have created in an antique style. Clyde has just gone onto ebay. If you want to visit him, there is a link on my website at www.bootbuttonbears.com

I have just read in the paper about this amazing new dog kennel for pampered pooches to stay at whilst their owners are away. The newspaper had dubbed it "Barkingham Palace" and it is in the Adelaide Hills, about 40 minutes away from us. I am sure our little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Muffy, would be completely at home there. The photo of the dear little Cavalier shows him having his morning "puppyccino", made from lactose free milk and dusted with liver sprinkles. Isn't that just the best photo ever.

FRED BEAR - Now On Ebay...

I have just put this new little poppet on Ebay. He is 13 inches tall and I have called him Fred. I hope you can take a peek at him. If you visit my website, you will find a link, www.bootbuttonbears.com

Valentine's Day Show Bears......

Here is a sneak peek of the four bears I shall have available for sale at the Valentine's Day Teddy Bears and Critters Online Show. The show commences at 8am (Eastern Standard Time Australia) on Saturday 13th February, 2010. For more information, please visit the website at www.teddybearsandcritters.com I hope you will have time to visit the show this weekend as there will be lots of beautiful bears from lots of wonderful artists.

It's Been A Long Time.....

I am so sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. As a lot of you know, my husband Bernie has been battling a dreadful Cancer since the beginning of the year. For the past four months he has been in hospital having a stem cell transplant. Unfortunately the transplant did not go as smoothly as we had hoped and he is still recovering from all the complications. The hospital have finally let me bring him home, but he is still so very weak, and needs help with all his daily needs. He has lost nearly 40 kilograms as well, and so I am trying very hard to fatten him up. The only problem is that whilst fattening him up, I am doing a very good job on myself as well. Now that we are home, I am delighted to say that I have finished a bear, and I hope now to be able to spend a little more time blogging with all my lovely bear friends. I have just popped this little fellow Frankie on Ebay, and it took me an eternity as I had forgotten how to do everything. Ebay changes so much, even if you are away for just a short time.

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I wanted to let you know that we had a good result at the Doctors, and Bernie's blood has recovered enough for us to proceed with the next round of Chemotherapy next Monday. So, it will be a week in hospital for him, but at least you feel like you are doing something to try and get this awful disease under control. Then we should have one more round of chemotherapy again in a few weeks and then, fingers crossed, the stem cell transplant.

It was late afternoon by the time we had finished at the Doctors, and so we decided to go to get takeaway from our favourite seafood cafe. The other day my hair was looking decidedly ragged, and, not having time to go to the hairdresser at the moment, I decided to take to it with my scissors. Well, when I came out of the bathroom, Britty nearly died. She said "Mum, what on earth have you done to your hair?" I went back and had a closer look, and to be truthful, I really did mangle it a bit. Nevermind, I thought, I'm too busy to get too fussed about it. When I went into the seafood cafe to order our takeaway, the lady behind the counter took my order and then said, "Wow, I love the new style you have your hair in, it looks terrific. Where did you get it done?" I was too embarrassed to say I had hacked away at it myself, and was thrilled to tell Britty the comments about my "fabulous" new hair cut. You have to laugh at yourself don't you?

I am delighted to let you know that a very dear lady, Sandi Smith of Bearly Sane, Blog of a Bear Nut, has given me the Bella Sinclair Award for blogging. It is an award dedicated to Friendship, Sisterhood, Sharing and Caring. I am thrilled to have received this from Sandi, but I also feel a little guilty as my poor little blog has been a little neglected of late. Sandi not only makes the most delicious bears, but she is also the creator and administrator of a wonderful site for Bear Artists to show their creations to the world. It is a lovely site to visit, and you will also see a link on my side bar for "Bruin Banter", which is a lovely little forum for bear artists and collectors alike to chat about all aspects of bearmaking and collecting. Please visit at any time, we love to talk!!! http://www.teddybearsandcritters.com/

Well, we are off to the hospital this afternoon to see if Bernie's blood has recovered enough to go ahead with the next round of the "extra strong" chemotherapy. They want to do this round a little sooner than normal, to try and get these awful tumours that have regrown and knock them for a six. Fingers crossed, and I shall let you know if they can go ahead as soon as I hear. We have a little sunshine here in Adelaide for a few days as a nice break from the Winter dullness, and it is making us all feel a little brighter. It is my Mum's 79th birthday tomorrow. I am so proud of her as she fought Cancer 18 years ago and was so brave. They told us that no more could be done for her and gave her 3 months to live. She told the Doctors not to be so silly, and that she still had all her Grandchildren to look after!!! That is why, 18 years on, we treasure every day with her, as she proved that miracles do happen. I love that quote of Abraham Lincoln, "Everything I am.... I owe to my Mother". In my case it is so true.

Aren't These "Pretties" Gorgeous......

I thought I would show you some of the "pretties" I have started collecting. They are the most wonderful "over the top" very weighty metal animals that are adorned with diamontes. I see them more and more in gift shops about the place and I have fallen in love with them. My favourite is the little teddy bear that my daughter Britty got for me for Mothers Day this year. I have seen the most wonderful little snail, and I think that I may be dropping some rather large hints for him for Christmas!! All I want for Christmas is a snail!!!!

Finally a New Bear.....

Finally I have a new bear to show you. This is Bailey, a sweet little fellow that I have dressed in a distressed little vintage baby jacket and little vintage badge. Bailey is currently on Ebay, and if you would like to visit his auction, here is the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&salenotsupportedhttp://=&item=280357799577&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AL%3ALCA%3AUS%3A1123&salenotsupported
Thanks for peeking at Bailey.

Australia's Convict Past....

As a lot of you would know, Australia was originally settled by convicts who were sent over from England, as poor old Englands jails were full and this new land across the water seemed a great place to "dispose" of these poor souls. Did you know that you could be transported to Australia for seven years for stealing just one loaf of bread? Many hungry children suffered this fate. Generally only petty criminals were sent to Australia as more serious crimes were dealt with in England with the death penalty, e.g. for murder or rape.
Australia's first police force consisted of a band of 12 of the most well behaved convicts!!!
In 2007, it was estimated that 22 per cent of living Australians had a convict ancestor. I am not aware of any in my family tree, but I am sure if we did have one, it would be for stealing chocolate!!! It's in my genes!!!

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear......

There's a rip and a tear in my teddy bear..

and love pours from him everywhere.

You Never Know How Strong You Are.....

Well, I have had to face something that I never thought I could. Bernie's Doctor told me the other day that I would have to start giving him twice daily injections at home. Yeeeeeeeek!! I took a deep breath and said "Yes, that will be fine, so long as someone is able to teach me how to do it". I didn't say that inside I was crumbling as I really didn't think I would be able to do it. When it was time for my lesson, the Nurse couldn't have been sweeter or more patient and after some very good tuition, I stood with injection in hand, I looked and Bernie, Bernie looked at me, I then lined up his stomach and.................................................I did it!!!

I gave one to him just before we left hospital and I have been doing them now for a couple of days. I thought that it would get easier each time, but so far it hasn't. I don't say a word to him that I am uncomfortable doing it, but deep inside, I just wish I could yell out for a nurse. I don't know if it would be easier to give an injection to someone you don't know, or whether the emotional attachment of giving it to a loved one makes it harder. Any nurses out there to give an opinion? Anyway, by me giving him the injections it means we can have him home this week and so it is certainly worth it. Bernie is being prepared for a stem cell transplant soon, and the injections are an important part of the build up to it. Luckily, I have to do them into his stomach and not his bottom like the picture above. I keep joking with Bernie "This wasn't in the wedding vows!!!!!"

Plastic Bags Banned....

I suppose it is not often that we congratulate our Governments for doing something, but our South Australian Government has just brought in a great new law. From the beginning of May, all lightweight, grocery checkout plastic bags have now been banned. We now do our shopping like Grannie used to and take bags with us to put our shopping into. Some people have been quite annoyed by this ban as they had become very used to being given lots of plastic carry bags everytime they did their shopping. This resulted in over 400 million plastic bags being discarded in South Australia alone each year. They never break down in landfill, and many millions of them end up in our oceans and kills thousands of wonderful creatures each year. Some sea animals, like turtles, think they are jellyfish floating in the sea and swallow them, only to choke and die a horrible death. I for one am happy to take my own reusable bags to the supermarket to try and do a little bit to help our poor old environment. Let's hope the rest of Australia follows us with these laws.

Gorgeous Dolly.....

Look at this gorgeous rag dolly I just brought. Have you ever seen a more wonderful face?

I am completely entranced by her and I have to smile everytime I look at that expression.

What do you think of her?

Forget Fashion.....

Bernie has just come home from hospital after round four of chemo, and whilst he was in hospital for the week, Adelaide's weather turned from sunny to really quite cold. Bernie has never been one for pyjamas, but, since losing his hair and some weight, he is really cold at night now. So, I went off shopping for some "Grandpa" flannelette pyjamas for him. Now my husband goes to bed all rugged up with his strippy PJ's and a woollen beanie. He actually looks quite cute, but the main thing is he feels warm. This time before leaving hospital he had to have two blood transfusions as his blood counts were too low to recover on their own. When you are given blood after an accident, where you are losing blood, they can pump it in quite fast to replace the volumes lost. When you are having it as a way of boosting your blood count, it has to be done quite slowly, as your body already has all the blood it needs, and it needs to "make room" for this new, enriched supplement. So, it took 3 hours each time to infuse just 300 mls of blood. They can only take between 3 to 4 hours to infuse it as, after the four hour mark, the blood starts to clot in the bag and won't feed through. The blood transfusion seems to have really worked as he is a lot stronger this time than last time. Our biggest thanks to all you blood donors out there. It is a real gift.

Look At This Gorgeous Little Poppet....

Isn't this little girl just the most wonderful sweetheart. She is holding on to her doll with such care, I think it might have been her pride and joy. I remember my Mum used to cut our fringes that short when we were little. I don't think I ever went to a hairdresser until I was a teenager!! I am now making myself sound ancient aren't I!!!

Easter in Australia....

Here in Australia, a trend has been developing lately to give chocolate Easter "Bilby's" at Easter instead of Easter Bunnies. The Bilby is the cutest little Australian critter and it is actually a type of Bandicoot. It loves to eat insects and fruit and it loves to live in the hot and dry desert regions of Australia. They have the most enormous ears and these help it to find its prey. The females have a rear opening pouch so that the pouch does not fill with soil when they dig. Don't those big chocolate ears look yummy!