Works of Heart

I was humbled, honored and completely surprised this morning to find I've been awarded another blog award! This one is very special and comes from Bettina Groh of Glass Dragon Bears "for her work in keeping the bear show alive in Maine and now in Illinois!"

It is so nice to be recognized, by someone I have never had contact with before, for my efforts to provide bear lovers with fresh and exciting shows to participate in and attend!!! As an artist and collector I have a very personal interest in seeing high quality shows continue and am pleased to know that others appreciate my hard work! Thank you, Bettina, for thinking of me!

I am going to pass this special award on to a very dear friend of mine who shares her heart with so many in the adorable bears she makes, and is also working with me to create the Chicagoland Teddy Bear Show. Laura Matthews of Teddies by Laura Lynn is not only a fabulous teddy bear artist, committed to keeping the bear industry alive, but she's also an amazing friend who has made such a difference in my life! You deserve a public thank you and award, Laura!!

I'd also like to pass this award on to Paula Carter of All Bear. She has given her time and energy to create a site of top bear artist blogs which has brought so many of us together and given us a sense of community and belonging as bear bloggers! Thank you, Paula!

I just loooove being a part of such a wonderful group of people!!

Snow Day!!!

Snow Day in New England!!

I think most of New England is having a snow day today! Here in NH we're forecasted for up to 20" of snow! Though many are complaining I'm thrilled at the idea of having an excuse to cancel appointments and stay at home! I have so much to do.... putting away the remainder of the Christmas decorations, getting out the Valentine's Day ones.... laundry and ironing... plowing through the mound of papers on my desk... looking through the new spring catalogs that have come in the mail.... and OH YEAH, bear making!! How could I forget that one! ;) I now have two almost finished (I know, I know, why not just finish one, Daph!!??) And I cut out two elephants last night. I'm excited about those!

Plans for the Maine Teddy Bear & Fiber Arts Show and the Chicagoland Teddy Bear Show are well under way and I'm so pleased at the number of talented artists who are sending their applications in!! I've just posted a list of artists who will be participating in the Chicagoland show in October. More will be added as the app. deadline isn't 'til the end of March. If you are a bear collector I think there will be a lot of artists on there you know! If you are an artist and your name isn't there why not consider joining us??

Time to get started on my Snow Day!!

Thank you!

I was shocked and honored to learn that a beary sweet friend, Sue of Fenbeary Folk, gave me a blog award!!! What a great way to kick off my new blog and encourage me to stick with it!!! Here is my award:

"The authors say that blogs who receive this award are exceedingly charming. This blog invests in proximity in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends .They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandisement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these awards are cut, even more friendships will be propagated. Please give your kind attention to these writers! Deliver this award to 8 bloggers who will choose 8 more, and include this cleverly written text in to the body of the award."

There are 8 bloggers who I would like to give this lovely award to. Please see for yourself what lovely people (and blogs) they are:

Whispering Poppies
Apple Dumpling Diaries
CatherWoods
Q.D. Patooties
La De Da' Rose Garden
Melbears
Boot Button Bears
Inside My Studio

I did it!

After another very late night last night I have redesigned my blog so it is viewer friendly no matter your screen resolution or size. I've kept it simple... no more playing with graphics! And I figured out how to add a third column! (Happy dance!) I'm a bit proud of myself as my html coding skills are zilch but I some how managed to muddle my way through a bit of it with the help of an online tutorial. Phew!!! Thank you to my dear friend Laura Matthews for trouble shooting with me!

So, now on to the rest of life! I have a bear to finish today... my first of 2009! I'll share a photo of him just as soon as he's done. I'm playing with new pattern designs and never make a 'prototype' out of muslin or some other cheap fabric, I go right for the most expensive mohair I've got! So keep your fingers crossed he comes out OK!!

Think I'll take a quick nap first! I'm getting too old for late nights!

I think I can! I think I can!

I've tweaked and I've tweaked but it still isn't quite right. Some folks are seeing this page with the left side/tags cut off, or the right side, or both. And I don't know how to fix it. Sigh... should have just used one of those cute backgrounds on The Cutest Blog on the Block's website! Instead I followed the instructions on their Blog Secrets page for making my own... except for the uploading it to photobucket at 2 megapixels as I couldn't figure out how to do it at any bigger than 1 megapixel which makes the image too small. So this background is hosted on my own website.

Yeah... OK, techno stuff you don't care about. But if someone is reading this who DOES know what I'm talking about and can help PLEASE tell me!


So anyway, seeing the cover of The Little Engine That Could reminded me of my favorite books when I was a kid. Goodnight Moon, The Pokey Little Puppy and Corduroy were my absolute favoirtes. And I had my mother's Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes Book which I read from every night before bed. What were your favorite children's books? Did any of them have an impact on your adult life? For me that Little Engine's mantra is one that still helps me get through challenging tasks!

What ever your day my bring: YOU CAN!!! And if you have doubts, go hug a teddy for some reassurance and feel good-ness!

I can do this!

Over a year ago I started a blog.... I made a few posts... hated the format and look of the thing... couldn't think of anything you all would want to read about... and eventually lost all interest!

But I've been feeling left out... everyone else has a blog it seems! I love reading them! And I love to keep in touch with everyone though individual emails is very time consuming! So I'm back... and I've been having fun playing in Paint Shop Pro to design my own background! So now that I have it sort of looking the way I want it's time to move on to coming up with fun and interesting content!

I'll be back just as soon as I think of some! Don't abandon me just yet! Please come back again tomorrow!

Thank you for your love and patience!
Daphne