Sunday 4 October 2015

Lots of Autumn News!

Well it's been a while so I have a lot of news to promulgate :)

Firstly, woo hoo! Pancake the Bear has won Judges Choice at the Excellence in Bear Artistry Awards!


This is the second Judges Choice in my career so I'm very pleased, click here to vote before 31st of October!

Secondly, I'm now getting ready for my second trip to Sheffield for the Great Yorkshire Teddy Bear Event.  I'm very excited as it will also be a reunion with my good friend Tami Eveslage in her first bear show outside of the US, can't wait. I'm going to try and make some Christmassy creatures this year as my Hugglets dates have always felt too early to go festive.

Thirdly, I've joined Bearpile for a month, to see how it goes... the link's here if you'd like to check it out! Jack is listed, amongst others...



Last but not least, if you've not seen him already I welcomed Boris into my life in July!  Life is much better with a dog but I've got to be honest, he's getting too big to plonk in my lap while I sew... think some adjustments may have to be made!


Hope to have lots of photos for you soon, but in the meantime don't forget to follow us on Facebook where my posts are much more regular.

Chloe and the Luglys xxx


Saturday 16 May 2015

Getting ready to do my first ever Non-Hugglets Show!

Morning all,

Well it's the day before The Great Yorkshire Teddy Bear Event in Sheffield, and this will be the first time I've been to a show outside of London.  I have been invited to others before but the lack of car has always put me off: travel via train means an inevitable stay on a hotel as shows are usually Sunday events, PLUS I generally need help from someone else so it becomes an event that needs much more careful planning.

ANYWAY, I took my one day off a year from teaching yesterday to get everything done (for September Hugglets I can usually rely on the holidays) and to take my photos.  I'm a bit nervous this year as I'm taking a lot more creatures, having learnt at the last Hugglets that it's ok for faces to reappear more than once (especially as I'm a known emotional hoarder of my own work).  I also have a few new styles and ideas coming too so I'm looking forward to hearing opinions on the more unusual designs in my collection.

We're off to get a good English Breakfast now before our train, then off to see family and friends in Sheffield before the show.  Hope my suitcase is a bit lighter and easier to store on the train home!

Hope you like the photos,

Chloe and the Luglys xxx







Wednesday 4 March 2015

What I'm (Slowly) Working On

Hi everyone,

It's been a while, but I thought I'd update you on what I'm doing at the moment. My work rate has to drop during the school terms, but I'm still designing and working on patterns in the hopes of taking on a new show in the North this year!

Anyway, my new design is one I need to hurry up with really, given the time of year, and that's a rabbit.

As usual, I started my design with a sketch and then my plasticene model which you can see to the left - I know some talented people can just draw out an idea, but pattern draping makes much more sense to me! Actually I kind of reinvented the wheel here and made the same shaped head as a previous bear, but ah well... The plan was to have a triangular head with lower set eyes which hopefully you'll agree was a success from the photos below! I left my prototype with little eyes but will make them bigger before he finds a home...


 Now I had planned to make a bigger version of this guy so whacked his pattern into my scanner and printed it out on a larger scale... bigger than I thought actually, but percentages are deceptive when it comes to pattern sizes!


 One of the reasons for increasing the size is because I've recently invested in a small airbrush to help with my shading, normally done with copic markers on very small areas; I love it! It's even shaped like an elephant... hope you like the results of the first coat on my bun.


Well, he's still just a head resting on an egg cup in my living room, but hopefully this weekend will give me a bit of time to work on his body, or he'll be a very out of season rabbit... speak soon!

Chloe and the Lugly's xxx