Sophie Z'Ours

Some cuteness

2011-04-11T19:20:00.000+02:00

I was given the opportunity to visit an apple tree orchad. The owner also owns lovely animals : some sheeps, goats and a deer.
The sheeps are native from a Breton island. Look at this gorgeous wool!

I thought you might fancy a few photos.

Organic vineyard and abbey garden in Bourgueil

2011-03-25T14:09:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, after visiting the abbey, we visited an enclosed (by walls) vineyard of 7 Ha just next door to the abbey. In fact, this area used to be part of the abbey in the past.

The vine they are growing there is Cabernet Franc. Some of the vine plants are about one century old.
The owners of the vineyard converted into organic in 1998.

Here are some photos :

We visited the cave after the vineyard... Very interesting. We could taste a few wines and I loved their wine of 2008 (this is red wine). The bottles on the photo are much older.

Then, we went to the abbey garden. It was the end of the afternoon and the light was a dream.

See yourselves!

Bourgueil Abbey

2011-03-24T14:07:00.001+01:00

Yesterday, I visited the museum of Bourgueil Abbey. Bougueil in a French town located in Tourraine, in a very touristic area, in the Loire Valley.

For those of you who like historical datas, here is what I copied from Wikipedia :

"Bourgueil Abbey (more precisely the abbaye Saint-Pierre de Bourgueil-en-Vallée) was a Benedictine monastery in France (current Indre-et-Loire), founded in 990. It was located at Bourgueil, in historic Anjou and the diocese of Angers. The founder was Emma, countess of Blois, daughter of Theobald I of Blois, and duchess of Aquitaine. It later (1630) was attached to the Congregation of Saint-Maur.

History

Bourgueil was a mansio set up on the Roman main road from Angers to Tours. Other Roman routes converged on Burgolium. Before 977, these lands belonged to Thibaut I of Blois. He gave them as dowry for his daughter Emma.. At this point a priory already existed at Bourgueil.

Emma of Blois, tired of her philandering husband William IV of Aquitaine (935-995), and particularly with his liaison with Aldéarde of Thouars, wife of Herbert I of Thouars, had her rival beaten up and raped.. Emma then fled with her young son, the future William V of Aquitaine, to her brother Odo I, Count of Blois at the château de Chinon. The penitent Emma founded the Abbey in 990, near Chinon. The family was pious and Eudes was a lay abbot of Saint-Martin de Tours and Marmoutier. There were also political reasons, in the Loire region, for the family to stand up to Hugh Capet."

Bougueil used to be beautiful until French Revolution. The Abbay was invade and invaders destructed a big part of it and removed everything with any religious relationship. The only part they did not come into was the hospital part.

Here are the photos I took :

This is a map of what it looked like in the past.

Outside.

Inside the cloister.

Scuptures in the wooden pannels inside the abbey.

These stairs are unique in Europe. No pilar to hold them. Just a clever way to pile the stones.

Our visit in Paris-3

2010-12-31T12:35:00.000+01:00

I now, I know... It has been months now since I posted parts 1 and 2. I just did not take time to do it.
Here we go now.
Enjoy the tour!

Well, there is no need to comment these :

For the following two, I stood in the middle of the road to be able to view both ends :

That was fun :

In the evening, we stopped at a little restaurant nearby Notre Dame cathedral and we could enjoy musicians :

And lovely food : yummy snails :

Bleuet

2010-12-29T17:55:00.000+01:00

Now Christmas is over, I can show you my handmade gifts.

A few months ago, my cousin ordered a bear for her daughter Lise. Due to special circumstances, I endend up finishing the bear much later than expected so we decided Lise who have her bear for Christmas.

Here is Bleuet. He is 38 cm tall and was made from the same synthetic furs as I used for Gregoire's bear (see my older notes). He is fully jointed with safety joints. He also has safety eyes.

Autumn...

2010-11-07T20:11:00.000+01:00

I thought you would enjoy these photos I took today :

Theodule

2010-11-07T20:04:00.000+01:00

Here is Theodule, the big baby bear I made for Enzo. Enzo is eleven years old and a teddy bear lover.
It was love at first sight when he met Theodule.

I used synthetic fur. Theodule is 36 cm tall and can easily stand as he has got flat feet.

Renaissance fair in Le Lude

2010-09-25T19:49:00.002+02:00

Last sunday, I had a stall at the Renaissance fair in the village next to mine.
This fair was really fantastic. There were lots and lots of visitors plus the weather was glorious with a shining sun all day. Lots of people dressed up with Renaissance costumes and consequently, the procession was brilliant.

For this fair, there were lots of volunteer people who helped : some gave fabrics to make costumes, some made wooden stalls, some made costumes or costume parts, some helped during the fair itself.

I was given a handmade stall, like many other exhibitors.

I was placed in a street between a stall of handmade leather bags and a stall of floral art.

My bears never got as much success before. So many visitors stopped at my stall to watch my bears, asked questions, commented, praised a lot... I was over the moon. I only sold postcards, a brooch and a key ring, and also had a custom order for a special bear. I am pleased with that though, because I often went back home without anything sold at all. In France, collector teddy bears are not much known and artist teddy bears are fully new for most visitors.
It looks like more and more visitors start to consider seriously the idea about ordering one some day... so I shall see.

I was so busy at my stall that I did not manage to tour all the fair area and missed the main part of it.

My stall.

Some deco near the baker's.

More deco.

A stall I could visit the sunday morning before the visitor arrived. The artist used different kinds of natural clays : so clever of him! I love the result.

The head of the procession.

These happy minstrels stopped specially to play for my neighbours. I was jealous so I tapped on the shoulder of one of them after they stopped playing and asked him how much my neighbours paid them for it, hehehehehehehe!!!!! They all laughed and proposed to play for me too. Yeppeeeee!

Look look!

Me behind my stall.

Me again...

A company of "musketeers" was animating the fair too. They stopped very close to my stall and played there.

Look, I manged to get a great shot!

The procession came back in the afternoon.

Et voilà!!!!

Lady Aenor

2010-09-25T19:48:00.000+02:00

I made this lady specialy for the Renaissance fair.
I named her Aenor. She is 32 cm tall.

Her costume is not fully finished.

I had a hard time making her shirt. I followed a pattern and instruction for human size and proportions, written in English. I had difficulties picturing what it was supposed to look like : I mean how the different pattern pieces were assembling and made a few mistakes. I had to rearrange it for my bear, add some extra pieces to the pattern... hard hard.

A wooden sign for my stall

2010-09-25T19:42:00.000+02:00

Not long ago, I bought a pyrograph : a new toy to try, hehehehehe. I never used pyrograph before.

I bought a wooden plank 93 cm X 34 cm : a sort of aggregated wood fibres mix.

I thought it would take me half a day to make it, but it took me two days!!!! That was so long to make!

Here is the result :

I am quite happy with the result, considering I am a real beginner at it.

The National Teddy Bear Artists’ Awards 2011

2010-08-25T11:46:00.000+02:00

I thought I would share this invite with you...

The National Teddy Bear Artists’ Awards 2011

The Prizes for each Class: 1^st £50.00, 2^nd £20.00, 3^rd £10.00

Schedule of Classes

Class 1. I am a Teddy bear made in the pre 1950 style. I am not dressed but was always kept warm in bed. In periods of war in the world, mohair and other expensive fabrics were not available. Many of my friends were made by parents for their own children from fabrics available at the time. I was made to be cuddled and parts of me may now show how much I was loved. I am over 10 inches (25 cms) high but less than 14 inches (35cms).

Class 2. I am a Teddy bear and today I am fishing. I am wearing my comfortable fishing clothes and have my fishing rod and basket for all the fish I may catch. Being a dedicated fisherman I may have a chair or a cushion in case I need a sleep while the fish ignore me. I could even read about the one that got away. It’s hard work all this fishing but what else can a bear do? No size is stipulated.

Class 3. Well my name is Tina and I can teach these aged Bruins a thing or two. Fishing indeed! I am a rock chic bear, I am standing and I am 12 – 16 inches tall. I was born around 1990 and I’m into fashion and music. Bring it all on!

Class 4. Unlike the above Teddy Bears I am a soft sculpture. I am a character bear of any size but I am very detailed and not made to be hugged. I am likely but not essentially, to be made with mohair or another natural fur fabric. With me I have one or more of my actor friends who are also character bears. Accessories will be needed to complete the tableau. We are taking part in a play. The play is based on:

“The Wind in The Willows”

Class 5. Naturalistic bears. This category can include pandas and koalas. Any accessories need to be natural/naturalistic too. No size is stipulated.

Class 6. This Class is for artists entering a competition for the first time. Competitors who entered the First Time Competitors Class last year but did not win any award may also enter. A dressed and/ or accessorised bear between 10 and 12 inches tall, you may use any fabric you choose but the difficulty of working some fabrics will be taken into account. The standard in this Class is very high. It could be won with a “non-fur” base fabric but probably more advanced design and artistic flair would need to be shown.

Class 7. This Class is as above but calls for a bear that is not dressed or accessorised.

Class 8. An 8 - 10 inch bear, dressed or accessorised.

Class 9. An 8 – 10 inch bear, no dress or accessories.

Class 10. A miniature bear under 4 inches. This Class may also be suitable for needle felting or thread bears. The bear should be dressed and accessorised.

Class 11. Teddy Bear Friend Any Size – Optional Dress or Accessories

The Award for the “National Bear Artist of the Year” will be Given to the Winner of Any One of the Above Categories who has Produced the Most Outstanding Exhibit.

This Award Carries an Additional Prize of 100 Pounds

The winning artist will also benefit from publicity as we will use a photograph of the winning entry in the advertising for the following year.

Rules for Competitors

1) Size. All bears are measured for height assuming the bear is standing and he

is measured from the top of the head to the base of the heel. Bears standing

on all fours will be measured from the nose tip along the back to the base of

the heel furthest from the head. It is entirely at the Judges’ discretion whether

a bear with legs that cannot be straightened for measuring is within the correct

size category.

2) Exhibits found to be in the wrong class will be marked “Not as schedule” and

will not be judged.

3) If a class states that the bear should be “not dressed or accessorized”, NO

accessories will be allowed. e.g. A bear standing on a plinth would be

disqualified, a bear wearing jewellery or a bow but not otherwise dressed,

would also be disqualified.

4) Each exhibit costs £10 to enter and fees must be sent with entry(s).

5) Competitors may enter as many classes as they wish but not enter more than

one exhibit in each class.

6) All exhibits must be sent to the organiser for judging in advance of the Show. The exhibits must be received by 7^th May 2011. Please address your parcel to Brewins’ Bruins, 5 Mermond Place, Swanage, Dorset. BH19 1DG. United Kingdom.

7) After judging, all exhibits must be staged before 10am by the Competitor or by the Stewards if the Competitor is not able to attend.

8) Artists unable to attend should clearly state whether the exhibit is available for sale and what price is required. If we are able to sell the exhibit on your behalf, the

asking price will be forwarded with no deductions made. In the event that the

exhibit remains unsold we will request payment for return.

9) All exhibits must have been made by the artist or artists. In a class where

accessories and clothes are permitted, these items do not have to be made by

the artist but the source of such items may be considered in the judging. If

two artists have collaborated both names must be on the entry form.

10) A section on the Competition Entry Form is available to enable an artist to describe their entry in detail. It is not a requirement for any Competitor to complete this section but it may be useful to detail if an artist has made their own clothes or accessories.

11) Where an exhibit may be staged in more than one way for judging, a photograph should be enclosed with your entry to avoid the Stewards displaying your entry incorrectly.

12) Entries must not show any identifying label or mark. It is accepted that artist may need to sew in labels. These labels should be hidden with a paper or fabric outer cover that can easily be removed after judging.

13) The Judge(s)’ decision is final.

14)Brewins’ Bruins will not enter into any correspondence regarding the results.

15)No Exhibit may be removed from the Competition table until 4pm. If you have

sold an entry during the day you should make it clear to the Purchaser that

their new bear cannot be collected until 4pm or the Vendor will post it on after

the show.

16) Public entry to the Competition Exhibits will not be allowed after 3.45pm.

From 3.45pm – 4.00pm competitors only will be allowed access to remove

their own exhibit(s).

The National Teddy Bear Artists’ Awards will be held at Minstead Hall Teddy Bear Fair on 22^nd May 2011.

A Competition Entry Form will be e-mailed shortly.

For further information please contact Brewins’ Bruins.

Brewins’ Bruins

5 Mermond Place

Swanage

Dorset

BH19 1DG

Tel 01929 425402

E-mail lube@brewinsbruins.co.uk

Finaly I made some...

2010-06-29T18:16:00.000+02:00

The idea was floating in my head but I missed that little boost to go ahead.
Then Carol from Bears of Bath gave me that motivation without knowing it. She proved me that my idea was not stupid and was doable as she apparently got almost the same!

So I rummaged into my mohair stock to search for short pile mohairs and sparse mohairs.
I took a pencil and a paper and designed my little bears.

Here are two of them (already sold) :

I needle felted their muzles. They are firmly stuffed with polyester fibres.

My original idea was to have some cheaper items to sell for the local craft markets in my area. Collector teddy bears are unknown in France and usually people are scared when they see how expensive they are (despite of my very affordable prices). Plus they do not see the point in considering a teddy bear as a keepsake/decoration element rather than a toy.

I still have a long way to go.

I am making more of these key-rings, hoping to have a few ready for sunday's craft show.

ACD awards results

2010-06-06T10:44:00.000+02:00

Here are the results of the ACD awards 2010 where I entered my challenger Faolin.

Results of the voting of the public :

The winner is... Linda Benson with her arctic angel "Aurora" :

Linda is a master teddy bear artist. Here is her blog.

"Frilenija" made by Ina Smirnova finnished second:

Here are details of her nymph :

And without the fish tail!

This nymph is really awesome. Here is Ina's blog.

And third comes... 11 votes after Linda Linda...tadam... ME with Faolin :

Thanks to all the people who voted for me!

To see the other results of the ACD awards, go there!

1,2,3,... vote! Fantasy Ball Now opened

2010-05-31T17:10:00.001+02:00

You can now visit the Fantasy Ball and discover in Day One all the entrants of the ACD awards.
Please take time to view them and to vote for your favourite!

To go directly to Day One of the Fantasy Ball, click here!

Thanks for voting!

Tuba relooked

2010-05-29T22:20:00.000+02:00

I decided to relook Tuba muzzle.

Tuba before the relooking :

Tuba after the relooking :

Doesn't he look much better???

Fantasy Ball : now opened for registered members!

2010-05-28T11:12:00.003+02:00

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Hi everybody!

I wanted to let you all know that all TBCA (click to go to the website) members can now enter the Fantasy Ball.

Of course, it is not too late for teddy bear lovers and teddy bear makers to register and join us on that great place...

All ACD awards entrants are now visible under "day one " and available for purchase.

If you do not want to join, wait until the 31st of may for the public opening!

SHOW OPENS ON MONDAY 31ST MAY AT 8 AM
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA TIME

Faolin is now available for 300 euros. E-mail me if you want to purchase him!

Nominee for the ACD awards 2010!!!!!

2010-05-26T16:07:00.000+02:00

YEEEEEEpeeeeeee!

Here is Faolin, my challenger now NOMINEE : a warrior elf bear.
I had a very precise idea of what I wanted him to look like and it has been a real challenge to design and make him. I spent so many days working on him it is impossible to count.

I got inspired by too movies/books : Lord of the Rings (Tolkien) and Eragon (Christopher Paolini).

There you can see me with the trophee Sandi sent me for my nomination and Faolin.

I thought you might enjoy seing a few photos of the making process.

So here are the photos of the making of his "scalp" : I used bamboo yarn (Phil'Bambou from Phildar-French brand) on jute.

The middle part on works.

The side parts.

The side parts once all spaces between rows are filled.

Finnished and lined scalp.

Hand-embroidered foot pads with silver thread. I used recycled leather (thin and soft).

Paw pads : Liberty fabric sewed on then I embroidered on top of all with silver embroidery thread.

Norton mohair for all the bear.

Fancy necklace : leather-like lace and exotic "bead".

Hand made brooch with fimo clay, acrylic paint and strass. All varnished.

Keeps the cape closed.

English glass eyes painted by Rita Hardwood from Woodland Teddies.

Fully trimmed muzzle.

Embroidered nose with perle thread.

Hand made drawings with textile pen.

Sewing his leather leggings with my old Mip sewing machine (fully manual).

Embroidered leggings (with the sewing machine).

Leggings closed with leather-like lace. They are removable (the ends of the lace are hidden under).

Leather belt (soft lamb leather) closed with fancy button and elastic.

Hand loom-knitted cape with fancy yarn (Frivole from Plassard-French brand).

His bow is also hand made : a branch of tree, leather, bee wax for the ends and artificial sinew.

Our visit in Paris-2

2010-05-03T22:52:00.000+02:00

More photos...

These are all from lovely covered passages. Access in Boulevard Haussmann (Paris) near the Grevin museum.

These passages are beautiful and filled with lovely shops.

An exit of the Grevin museum (specialised in waxed famous people) in one of the passages.

We tried a tea room in Jouffroy passage and spoilt ourselves there with lovely treats.

This is the thingy Wendy was given to use to put in her tea (some brown sugar on a stick).

Some of the inside of the tea room...

Our visit in Paris-1

2010-05-02T19:14:00.000+02:00

Dear friends.
Times flies and since my friend Wendy (Matilda Huggington Bears) has arrived in France, we have been very busy.

I joined her in Paris on tuesday at lunch time a few hours after her plane landed in Paris.

Our time is Paris was very very busy site seing a maximum of places.

It might take many notes to give you an overview of all we visited.

Here is the first part.

This is a bank (BNP Parisbas), I swear this is true. They have more beautiful buildings in Paris. I think I saw two more and I did not visit all Paris, far from it.

Bourse de Commerce.

Caserne de Nouvelle France.

Comedie Francaise.

Church Saint Vincent de Paul.

Le Louvre museum (the place is so HUGE). This is just a little part of it...

Le Louvre.

Eiffel tower (photo taken from the other side of the Seine to see it entirely).

More to come soon!

Short holiday in Saint-Brevin

2010-04-24T22:26:00.000+02:00

Malko and I spent a few days in the secondary house his parents bought in Saint-Brevin (along the Atlantic coast).

The weather was sunny and warm despite a cold wind.

Here are a few photos taken in the surroundings :

I hope you enjoyed the visit!

Loom knitted hats

2010-04-09T19:09:00.000+02:00

Before getting back to making bears, I made three loom knitted hats.

The first two hats are for teddy bears. I used the yarn Zoom from Plassard.

The third hat is for a baby named Harry, who is just a few weeks old.
I used the yarn Nuage (means cloud) from Phildar.

Two mice

2010-04-08T19:07:00.001+02:00

Oh dear, I knew I had not posted for quite a while but did not realise it has been so long after my last post!

I have been busy mainly with my challenger for ACD awards.

By lapousmor at 2010-04-03

I am sorry you will have to wait until 31st of may to be able to see my challenger and vote for your favourite critter.

I put a lot of work in my challenger and really hope you will like him.

After I submitted my challenger, I made a couple of mice as birthday gifts for Malko's niece Margaux and nephew Nathan.

The pattern if from Teresa (Sewing Stars).

For both mice, I chose cotton plush fabrics plus ultra suede (ears and tail). I embroidered the eyes, nose and mouth.
They are filled with polyester fibers.

Yummy macaroons

2010-02-14T13:20:00.001+01:00

I am sorry I spent some time away from all your lovely blogs.
I had to go to my parents' as a very sad event happened in my family. I will not develop that subject here. You can email me if you want to know more.

So I am trying to change my mind.

Treating me with some macaroons looked like a great idea. They were yummy indeed.
There are raspberry ones and also backcurrant+violet ones.

Gonzales (made by Sarah Medina) and Crackers (made by Wendy Walker) also enjoyed them.

A great opportunity to discover...

2010-01-14T10:46:00.000+01:00

Linda's bears (Benson Bears).

She is having a blog give away after one year of blogging.

I invite you to visit her blog.

Click click on the photo to visit her blog.

In Russian, it gets harder

2010-01-11T10:30:00.000+01:00

A new member is now following my blog and as usual when it happens, I love to go and visit the blog of this new member. So did I.
Arghhh, it was all in Russian. I could not even understand the name of this member.

Plus it looks like this new member is organising a blog give-away until today. So no idea whether it is still possible to enter it.

This new member is crocheting lovely little bears.

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Addicted to loom knitting!

2010-01-10T19:43:00.000+01:00

I confess I am addicted to loom knitting...

Here is the first neck warmer I made :

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I made a mix of two different yarns : the black one is from Fonty and the purple one is from Bergere de France.

The black one is velvet like and contains cotton.

The purple one is mohair like, as very fluffy.

I love the result.

I made a double rib stitch (purl x2 then knit x2 row after row).

Nympheus finnished second!!!!

2010-01-06T09:05:00.001+01:00

Catherine Martini just published the results of the vote in the challenge Fleurs et Gourmandises en tout Liberty.
See there.

My first mini bear Nympheus finnished second.

So I want to thank everybody who voted for him.

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Blog Give Away results

2010-01-02T19:13:00.000+01:00

As I promised, here I am to give the results of my blog Give Away.

I first listed all participants on a sheet of paper, gave them one or two numbers depending if they were following or not either my French blog (Marie-Claire Idee one) or this blog, which gave me a total of 12 numbers. Then I asked Malko to give me a random number between 1 and 12 and he chose 6.

So the winner is :.........

Mamie Jeannette!

Thank you very much to all participants!

I love my new Knifty Knitter set

2009-12-26T18:34:00.000+01:00

Do you only know what knifty knitters are?????

Now you know.

I bought it for my Christmas.

On the left, this is the rug hook I ordered together with the knifty knitter.

This is a photo of my very first try at using the knifty knitter. This is very easy to use and so easy to make even stitches...

That was a lovely Christmas-Part one

2009-12-26T18:11:00.000+01:00

Pfeeeeewwwwwww!
Getting ready for Christmas was hard but I made it!

We spent Christmas at Malko's parents'.

On Christmas Eve, we were only the four of us. Malko's mom, Marie-Paule, cooked us a delicious dinner and we had a very nice and cosy time.

While waiting for dinner time, both Marie-Paule and I were sitting at the table : me with my knitting and Marie-Paule with her sewing. I was knitting a hat for myself with my new knifty knitter while Marie-Paule was trying to finnish a pair of cats for her grand-children.

We both finnished in the morning of Christmas day, before everybody arrived for lunch.

Here is my hat (the very first hat I ever made) :

I used Baltic wool from Bergere de France and doubled the strand. The hat is just the right size.

And here are the cats Marie-Paule made :

Talking about cats, Malko's parents adopted a new kitty : this is a female and they maned her Prune.

So now, Rififi (their other cat) has got a young girlfriend to play with.

Prune is lovely and very playful. She loves hugs and cuddles.

My Christmas Blog Give Away

2009-12-19T14:00:00.000+01:00

I decided to organize a Christmas Blog Give Away for you to win the charm I will show below.
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Rules : you must follow them all :

- Post a comment EITHER on this note on that blog OR on the equivalent note on my French blog

- Write a note on your own blog (so you MUST have a blog) where you will add the give away poster/banner and a link to my blog

- If you are already a follower of my blog OR registered to my newsletter (for my French blog) you will be given an extra chance (one more paper with you name engaged in the drawing). You can still join my blog until the 25th of december to benefit the second chance

- Deadline to enter the blog give away is 31st of december 2009 midnight

- Drawing will be the 1st or 2nd of january according to how well I will be after the party for New Year Eve...

- The winner will recieve the handmade bear charm I show below.

Good luck to all participants!

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The poster/banner :

The charm to win :

The bear is made with Makin's clay. I also used French knitted wool and seed beads.

Thank you Sabine!

2009-12-18T20:02:00.000+01:00

I know I am anughty as I could not resist opening the Christmas gift Sabine sent to me after I read the card going with it.
The card told about a sea star. My grey cells boilt for a few seconds and it appeared clearly to me it would be clever to open it so I could probably use it to put on top of my Christmas tree...

So I opened it and I discovered the most beautiful hand-knitted sea star (Sabine is a knitting star herself).
Sabine did an awesome work on this sea star, believe me!

See :

this sea star is now at the place she deserve for this Christmas holiday : on top of my Christmas tree. I used a metallic thread to attach it and it was a little heavy for the branch but looks okay.

I have the most beautiful Christmas tree now!

The patchwork star under the sea star is handmade by myself : I made it for last Christmas.

Bestiole V

2009-12-18T18:19:00.001+01:00

Here is Bestiole V :

I hope you like this one.
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Bestiole V is available in my online shop :
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Bestiole IV

2009-12-11T18:38:00.000+01:00

Here is Bestiole IV :
Bestiole IV does not like to be shown in public, so please do not tell her she is on that blog!

She is from the same mohair as my big bear Tuba and from Liberty of London Tana Lawn "Ros".

Vote for Nympheus!

2009-12-09T12:26:00.003+01:00

One, two, three, please vote for me !

After his participation on the « Salon Créations et Savoir Faire », my mini bear Nymphéus (clic here to see photos of him) is now in an internet challenge and needs your votes.

In the show challenge, he finnished number FIVE, after the ginger bread man. Not that bad.

Catherine Martine is organizing the vote there on her blog.

To have a closer look at all the challengers, check on these blog pages:

Page 10

Rules (sorry in French) for the past vote at the show here.

Photos of the winners at the show here.

Display of all creations at the show here.

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Nymphéus is number 14 for the internet vote.

You just have to send Catherine an e-mail to this adress : sebastien.martini@laposte.net

Give the number of you favourite creation, your name ( = nom in French), your surname (= prenom), email, blog adress if you have got one !!!

Only one vote per person. You have up to the 31st of december to vote!!!!

Nympheus is for sale. Contact me if you want to adopt him!

Thanks!

Mikado, a yummy bear

2009-12-08T17:47:00.000+01:00

Here is Mikado, a sitting bear. Hopefully, he won't stay unnoticed on my blog.

He is 14 cm tall sitting. He is made of two fabrics : one chocolate brown mohair and the other fabric is like mohair but with sheep pile, in a caramel colour.
He has safety eyes and neck joint.
I embroidered his nose and mouth with beige twisted cotton.
He wears a matching ribbon around his neck.
I stuffed him with polyester fibres.

He can be suitable for a nice caring child (better not a too young child, as he is unique).

He is available so if you want to buy him, let me know!

Bestiole III

2009-11-28T16:37:00.000+01:00

Here is Bestiole III :
champagne mohair for the head
Liberty of London Tana lawn fabric for the body (lined with viseline)
beads and sequins for the eyes, with added acrylic paint underneath
embroidered nose and mouth with embroidery cotton thread
scarf made with a very thick fancy wool

My favorite Bestiole so far...

Bestiole II

2009-11-27T19:30:00.000+01:00

Here is Bestiole II :

I used two different mohairs for the head and a patchwork fabric for the "body".

The eyes are made with sequins and beads.

My new range of items : the "Bestioles"

2009-11-26T15:47:00.000+01:00

Bestiole is a French translation for " strange beast".

Heather from Little Berries (I love her blog) gave me the idea to use some of my mohair scraps to do smaller items. Heather makes very tiny ones, not me, or at least not yet.

For instance I only used my biggest scraps.
My first Bestioles are about 7.5 cm tall (which is a little under 3 inches).

The Bestioles are strange creatures, some are mischievous, other a little wierdo, shy or stone... who know what crosses they mind?

Now, I let you meet Bestiole I ("I" for number one):

This one has facet bead eyes and embroidered nose and mouth. It is already sold : my customer had me change the ribbon : she chose a turquoise ribbon instead of the one on the photo.

I will show you more Bestioles another time.

Pig and sheep to win

2009-11-22T10:39:00.000+01:00

My friend Carolyn Green is having a drawing on her blog for a beautiful pig and an adorable sheep.

You can go to her blog here : Little Bear Studio.

Beautiful houses in Saint-Brevin

2009-11-21T10:54:00.000+01:00

My "in laws" now have a holiday house in Saint-Brevin (a very touristique twon on the Atlantic sea coast in Saint-Nazaire surroundings, in France).

Near their house, there are lots of beautiful houses.
So here is my selection of some of the most beautiful one.

House number 1 :

House number 2 :

House number 3 :

House number 4 (I think this one is for sale):

House number 5 :

House number 6 :

House number 7 :

House number 8 :

I think my favourite is the number 1.

Which one do you prefer?

I got a blog award from Sandi and Pauline

2009-11-11T22:40:00.001+01:00

I was very happy to disover that Sandi (from Bearly Sane) and Pauline (from Valewood Bears) gave my blog an award.

Here it is :

This award comes with a fun game.
The game is to answer all the questions with one word, not easy but will see how it goes.

Rules :-
1. Use only 1 word answers.
2. Pass along to 6 of you favourite bloggers.
3. Tell them you've given them the award.
4. Have Fun !!

1. Where is your cell phone? Bag
2. Your hair? Curly

3. Your mother? Colette
4. Your father? Retired
5. Your favorite food? Chocolate
6. Your dream last night? None
7. Your favorite drink? Water
8. Your dream/goal? Work
9. What room are you in? Studio
10. Your hobby ? Bears

11. Your fear? Death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
13. Where were you last night? Bed
14. Something that you aren’t? Fast
15. Muffins? Yummy
16. Wish list item? Car
17. Where did you grow up? Brittany

18. Last thing you did? TV
19. What are you wearing? Jumper
20. Your TV? Disappointing
21. Your pets? Cat

22. Friends? Important
23. Your life? Boring
24. Your mood? Tired
25. Missing someone? Hong
26. Vehicle? Car
27. Something you’re not wearing? Bra
28. Your favorite store? Craft
29. Your favorite color? Prune
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? October
32. Your best friend? Secret
33. One place that I go to over and over? Desk
34. One person who emails me regularly? Wendy
35. Favorite place to eat? Sofa

Here are the blogs I seleted for the award (I tried not to select the ones that already got the award) :
News Teddy Bears
Puddlemaker
Sarah's Srcribles
The Wild Things
Little Bearries
Harum Sarum

I hope you will all have fun with the game!

Water lily mini bear

2009-11-05T15:34:00.001+01:00

"Once upon a time a mini bear who dreamt to become a water lily...

Everybody laughed at him when he told about his dream. Even fairy mother laughed at him.
Finally he decided he would visit his tailor friend.

His tailor looked seriously at him, took a few measurements and asked him to come back in a few days. The tailor chose a few fabrics from his stock of Liberty of London Tana lawn and began to sew.
The mini bear went back a few days later. His eyes shined with stars at the sight of the result.

He quickly tried the whole lot.

Oh dear! He felt so beautiful in his new outfit! Like a king! He never felt so happy!

From the ceiling mirror he could see he really looked like a water lily.

He thanked very warmly his tailor friend and lived the shop.

When all his friends looked at him, they became green with envy. Even fairy mother!
Then no longer laughed at him."
*
*
*
This mini bear is 10.5 cm tall standing without his hat. Not that mini for many of you, I guess, but very mini for me! :P
I used three different mini cashmere (or similar).
I stuffed his head with kapok and the rest of his body with glass shots plus a little polyester fibres).
his head it cotter pin jointed and his limbs are thread jointed with extra buttons for deco.
He has glass black eyes.
I embroidered his nose with cotton embroidery thread.
I added some shades of textile and acrylic paints near his eyes.
He wears a non-removable collar made with Liberty fabric.
His hat is made with anchor thread (70 % bamboo and 30 % cotton), seed beads and faceted beads on metal thread.

His sit is made with fimo clay.

He is not perfect, but I like him the way he is. I could not expect to make a perfect one as a first try!!!!

One thing is sure, I will not make many minis, as this is very taugh for my eyes and so tiny.

Autumnal visit in the Petit Bordeaux-berries

2009-10-23T22:36:00.000+02:00

Look at these! Beautiful berries and some extra.

Remember that pink tree?

I swear there is no trick. It really is pink!

I love this one... An Acer tree.

Autumnal visit in the Petit Bordeaux-flowers

2009-10-18T19:43:00.012+02:00

Here are the flowers I saw :

Autumnal visit in the Petit Bordeaux

2009-10-18T19:34:00.000+02:00

I had a new visit in my favourite garden the 15th of october.
The weather was very sunny and the sky cloudless. Pretty tricky to make good photos with so much sun. The weather was cold so I only had a short visit.

I hope you will enjoy the tour.

The romantic kiosque.

Beautifully shaped tree with a touch of white thanks to flowers growing closeby and a touch of red-brown in the background.

Colours and reflection.

Sandi will love this one : PINK trees! For real : no trick there.

Bonus from Saint-Vincent Abbey

2009-10-18T19:24:00.000+02:00

Sorry for posting it so late.
I was kept away from my blog by important issues.

So, as i was asked the bonus photos, here they come :

I love it! Super gutter.

The mechanism of the tower clock of the abbey. Not used anymore, but in working condition.

My boyfriend used to secretly visit it (it is stored in a small room) and ring it after he put it back in a working condition, while a pupil.

Harvesting grapes

2009-10-03T15:31:00.000+02:00

Last saturday I went to my English friend's to help him harvesting grapes. He has got a few raws of vine plants : a mix of white, "grey" and black grapevine plants. These are unknown vines, which were only given numbers.

In the tiny vineyard.

A mix of "grey (pinkish)" (in the left) and black (more blue) grapes.

Grey grapes in the sun. Actually, raisins have a pinkish colour, which does not show on this photo.

I tasted some of these raisins and they have a great taste : very sweet and sugary.

Can you see the difference of colour between the "white"grapes and the "grey (pink)" grapes?

The grey ones are in the middle of the basket.

A mix of the three colours.

All what we harvested in almost three hours (we were three to work).

At the end of the day, our friend's neighbour, who is a farmer and also harvested his grapes that sunday, joined us with a few other people to press the grapes.

He went with his own wine press but we finally used my friend's as he has got his own. The farmer only has got two very small vineyards and kept doing his wine like the ancients. So the method I will describe is the ancient one. Very few people still use it.

The wine press is put on top of a big barrel. Some people have to handle the wine press itself : if not it would fall. Someone is turning the wheel, which requires quite a lot of strenght. Someone else fill the wine press with grapes.

My friend and I did separate mannually some of the grapes from their stems to try to obtain a sweeter taste of the wine.

Wine press installed on the barrel.

The farmer posing with pride.

Pressing, pressing.

Inside the barrel.

Collecting grape juice.

Adding some sugar in the grape juice.

Transferring the grape juice inside the vat.

We did well : a little less than 50 litres.

Now, its has to ferment. Hopefully, we will manage to get some correct rosé.

To make red wine, it is more complex. Juice must not be separated from the must. The must has to be pressed a little bit everyday for some time. Looks quite tricky.

Visit of Saint Vincent Abbey- Part 3

2009-10-01T16:59:00.000+02:00

I promised I would show you some angels.
So here there are.
They were hiding in a few rooms of the abbey, but I managed to catch them and even to photograph them!!!

May them bring you luck...

On top of a chimney in the pillar room.

In corners.

I might add a bonus part if you ask for it. It would countain some of my fav photos from that visit. Up to you.

Visit of Saint Vincent abbey-Part 2

2009-09-30T15:07:00.000+02:00

Now you discovered the abbey from outside, follow me inside and you will be seduced by its gigantism and its cold beauty.

So follow your guide!

Here you can see a beautiful and simple roman style ceiling (so from one of the oldest parts of the abbey).

Detail of the arms of the abbey, which represents both Saint-Vincent and Saint-Laurent.

Huge door.

Famous room for its pillars. Its size is 25 m long and 9 m wide. There are 8 huge stained-leaded windows on each side and a huge chimney in each end of the room.

This room is currently used as the refectory of the high school. In the past, it used to be the resting room for the monks. It was the study room when Malko was a pupil there.

One of these chimneys.

This looks like the bottom of common stairs but it is of great interest and was even given the name of "Trinity stairs".

View from the top of these stairs (sorry, it is a little blurred).

And to understand why is was named "Trinity stairs", look at the next three photos!

God.

Son of God.

Sanctus Spirit.

On of these three at each floor in the stairs : God on first floor, Son of God on second floor and Sanctus Spirit on third floor.

All were really beautifully sculpted. I like a lot the way they sculpted God : very clever.

The "Trinity stairs" are between the two huge rooms (the pillar one and the ancient refectory).

Ceiling and windows of the other huge room.

Huge room, ancient refectory of the monks. Its size is 32 m long and 9 m wide. There is a huge religious paint on each end. There are windows only on one side. When Malko was still a pupil, there were wood pannels all along the walls, like in the next room I am going to show you. This room was at this time the refectory but is now the study room.

"The Miracle of Fishing", painted by Parrocel around 1775.

"The Miracle of Loaves", painted by Parrocel around 1775.

Small reception room. There used to be a huge mirror on top of the chimney.

Same room.

Detail of its ceiling.

In the next part of my report, I will show you many angels...

Visit of Saint Vincent Abbey-Part one

2009-09-29T14:26:00.000+02:00

Every year we are given the opportunity to visit ancient places or buildings that are not usually open for visitors or to visit for free places for which we usually have to pay. This hapens the third week-end of september.

This year we did not forget it and we decided to join some friends in Le Mans for some visits the sunday afternoon.
Our first visit was for Saint-Vincent Abbey, which was fully restored during the last few years. It took lots of photos and would love to share most of them with you. To avoid publishing too many photos at the same time, I decided it would be wise to split my report in a few notes. So bear with me and try not to miss any part!
I swear you will enjoy the tour.

This abbey you will discover in my report is currently part of a high school where Malko used to go when pupil himself. They added more recent buildings to it, which you will not see as they have no interest. Restoration works occurred after Malko's scholarship there, so he could notice all changes.

Founded in 572 by the bishop Domnole, Saint-Vincent was one of the biggest Benedictine abbeys of France. It went through several buildings and reconstructions until the XVIIIth century. From the ancient buildings only the big front-door (street of the abbey) and the ancient monks home which dates from the end of the XVth century remain. The introduction of the reform of St-Maur (1636) caused a moral and material resurgence of all Benedictine abbeys. The monks of Saint-Vincent undertook therefore the building of a new building in 1685.
The southern side is representative of the French architecture of the XVIIth and XVIII centuries. Building marked a pause until 1725, undoubtedly because of wars and famines. Jobs took back with, first of all, the accomplishment of the southern wing, then the building of the western building.

You can watch a diaporama of views of the abbey in 1760 here.

Here is a miniaturization of what it looked like in this period (from the same website) :

In 1789, the abbey counted no more than 16 monks who had to leave the abbey. In 1791, the monks having left, the abbey becames very national. The plans of redevelopment aborted and the abbey became barracks.
A beautiful church remained at this time, and it was transformed during the gothic era. In 1806, the military administration, thinking that this church disturbed the manoeuvres of the soldiers, decided to destroy it, as well as the cloister located between this church and buildings of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. In 1816, the abbey was appointed to diocesan Seminary; in 1906, further to the separation of the Church and the State, it came back to the State. It was then transformed into an hospice and sheltered departmental archives from 1911 till 1937 altogether. In 1954, the abbey became girls' boarding school and upper floors became dormitories. The pupils were then studying in a high school not far away. The day school building was constructed in 1965 as well as the gymnasium (with swimming pool).

And here are views of the abbey I took during my tour this month :

This is the Northern front.

Again Northern front, but extended to one side.

This is the southern front (also called Midi front).

Same but extended view on one side.

A view of the front of the western wing.

The view facing that wing : a small part of the monks building and the priory.

The monks builing viewed from the porch. The monks buiding was the only place where the monks were allowed to meet their family.

The porch and a part of the front of the western wing.

In next part of my report, you will discover the inside of the abbey.

Pepito

2009-09-28T15:07:00.000+02:00

Time to show you what kept me busy before all my energy got drained by apple picking.

I promised myself I would make a special bear for Malko's niece when she would turn 5 years old.

So meet Pepito. He must be about 39 cm tall.
I used synthetic fur and fancy pad material. He is stuffed with sheep wool. He has safety joints and eyes.

I used the same multicoloured Anchor cotton thread for the nose, mouth, hearts on his foot pads and knitted scarf (I used a French knitters with 8 nails).

This is the detail of the hearts I embroidered on his foot pads.

Maxence (Malko's niece) is in love for her bear Pepito. I am sorry but I prefer not to publish here a photo of Maxence with the bear. If some of you want to see such a photo, I can e-mail it privately.

Evron meat festival

2009-09-27T10:45:00.002+02:00

This really looked strange to include a craft show into a meat festival... But after all, why not????

What we usually expect to see in such a festival is : lots of cows (mainly), sheeps, horses, goats, and of course lots of tractors and other agricultural machines.
And indeed, all of these were there.
So many cows in exhibition, for sale and for competition, with of course lots of visitors expecting to find the best quality ones to buy.

I did not really have time to wander through all exhibited animals, as there were so many...
But I could not resist beautiful goats and sheeps.

Angora goats... could not miss these ones for they give us our mohair.

These sheeps come from Ouessant island, in Brittany.

Did not I talk about a craft market???? Yes, I did. Lost inside the festival. We were there to attract people to the new centre for culture that they just openned on the site. We were just a few exhibitors (less than ten), only from the craft association I recently joined. To get sure visitors would see us, we decided to install our stalls outside the buiding, but a couple of exhibitors prefered to stay inside.

The first day (it lasted on saturday and sunday 5-6 september), we did not have that many visitors, as most of them came for the animals. It was more busy on sunday. I did not sell any bear, unfortunately. I only sold a few charms, which is better than nothing.

Belgian people were invited at the festival this year and we were happy to enjoy a very funny troup of dancers plus musicians :

That's me in the middle... People in black and white are the musicians and you can also see one dance near me. All dancers have this funny bump in the front and a big hat. There are lots of jingle bells attached to their outfits. They are called Chinels. They come from Fosse-La-Ville in Belgium.

"Descended from the famous "Polichinelle" and his equally celebrated cousin "Pulcinella" of the Commedia dell'Arte, the Chinels of Fosses-La-Ville owe their notoriety as much to their ancestors as to the fascinating costumes they wear today. They are outstanding with their two exaggerated rounded humps. And their sumptuous, vibrantly coloured silk and satin garments shimmer and jingle to the rhythm of their dances and devilish capers, (cabrioles), and to the tune of the four "tunes of Chinel".

The parade marches on to the deafening beat of the drums and the wild tunes played by the "Pierrots" musicians. The Chinels are preceded by the "Little Chinels" who weave among the Stiltwalkers and the trench diggers whose bodies are covered in leaves."

You can see some nice vidos with Chinels there :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvlRN-xCTN0

On this one you can have the nice music without the drums. Lots of great photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0ButMtxOu0

This one is more like what we could enjoy during the week-end, but we cannot ear the jingle bells from their outfits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMXurrKAtYc

On this one we can here their jingle bells...

For lunch time, we had not much choice if we wanted to find some food to buy. We could either go to the restaurant they installed for the event (prices were a little high for my budget) or go to the stall of the "Confrerie (translates into brotherhood) de l'entrecote (entrecote/rib steak)". They proposed a slice of meat of great quality in sandwich between two slices of fresh bread with onions : very tasty.

Our stalls were almost facing the entry of the big hall in which they installed the restaurant and the scene. Plus in the entry of the hall they made a lovely little garden :

I really had a great time there.

Back in the blog world...

2009-09-27T09:37:00.002+02:00

Sorry my dear friends for this long time without updating my blog. I have been busy working at apple picking for three weeks and this drained all my energy.

So now I am back, because I stopped apple picking.
I have a few notes to prepare, just for you :
- a report on my lattest craft show
- a recipe
- photos of the bear I made for my niece for her 5th birthday
- a report on some visits I did in Le Mans : an abbey and a museum
- a report on grapevine harvesting

So please, keep an eye around, as you will very soon find a few new notes to read with lots of photos.

Hugs,
Sophie.

I am a zombie today

2009-08-31T15:21:00.000+02:00

I do not know if this is yesterday's craft market that got me so exhausted but today I am a zombie.
Even my favourite video game lost interest.

I think I will do a little sewing on that big green bear I began in may and which is still unstuffed. I still have to sew its foot pads and then I can do the stuffing.

Yesterday's craft market was not the best ever. It was a big harvest festival : that is the 35th year they organise it.

It has been a long way to go to the venue, as all small country roads. I already knew part of the route, but the second half was a little tricky and I had to stop a couple of times either to ask my way or search on the map. I had to fight against the sun too, as many times I had it facing me, which made it hard to drive.
I did not find the venue easily and when I reach the village, I first did not find any sign, but then had to go back for about one km, as it was outside the village.

It was in fields and very dusty, as the ground was so dry. The weather was very sunny and hot.

Here is a photo of my stall :

The first event of the day was an open air office on the scene (which was not far from my stall) as well as so hunting horse tunes.

After lunch, we had a parade of old harvesting machines and tractors as well as old bikes and moppeds.

Then, we had a demo of harvest with all these ancient machines (including the ones led by horses or donkeys) in a field behind my stall.

In the end of the afternoon, we had some dancers showing traditional dances on the scene.

All along the day, there was the craft market as well as some stalls with traditional farm food.

Exhibitors for the craft markets had no fee to pay for stalls and even we were offered the lunch meal. That was great.

My only concern is that they charged visitors 7 euros for the entry, which is very expensive. How could they be motivated then to treat themselves at the craft market????

Many visitors bought some traditional food, but I did not see that many of them buying items from the craft market.

In the stall next to mine, some people were selling a traditional local cheese called "bouine". This cheese mix is made usualy made from rests of cheese. Here they used goat cheeses, milk, "creme fraiche", salt, pepper, garlic, and brandy.

They served it on bread slices or in plastic boxes for those who wanted to bring it home.

I did not sell any bear, as usual. I only sold for a ridiculous amount of 21 euros of my handmade necklaces, charms and a couple of postcards.

Now, I did not do better at my previous craft markets of the Summer...

I did not have that many visitors halting for a chat and commenting on my bears. It was better at my previous market.

The heat got me very tired at the end of the day.
Plus when time came to pack back everything I noticed that everything in my stall was covered with dust.... Arrrrrrgh...

I failed

2009-08-29T17:57:00.000+02:00

Could not reverse the leather body after I sewed it.
I am very angry, because it took me ages to manage to set up properly my sewing machine to sew leather.

This leather body will be an UFO I will never finnish...

I will have to find another way to sew the different body parts next time I have a go at making a leather bear (if I do try again). Definately cannot make a "cheap" bear out of leather : too tricky to use...

Now I know.

I am very frustrated.

Sore fingers

2009-08-28T10:16:00.000+02:00

I decided I could not let more longer this leather&mohair bear (head and paws are in mohair, the rest in leather) unfinnished, so yesterday I began getting it ready for sewing with tacking thread. I prefer to sew bare fingers so already after doing a little part of the job, my thumb and firts finger were already sore. I finnished the tacking just a few minutes ago and these two fingers are now crying.... Don't you hear them?

Before, machine sewing the body, I have to prepare a cake for tonight and have a shower. My fingers would have cried louder if I had the shower beofre, for the skin would have been more sensitive.

I try not to think too much on how much I will have to struggle to reverse the bear body once sewn. Weall know that leather is much thicker and eventhough the one I am using is quite supple, I fear it will be a hard time. so if from your place you suddenly hear very loud shouting, it might be me shouting after that leather body... Not sure I will have time to do it today though...

I am invited for lunch by some of my english friends (the ones on the hill) and I am invited for dinner at 6 pm by another friend in another place. She is just back from Italia when she spent her Summer holidays, as usual, and she asked her friends to visit her so she can give everybody the Italian products ordered (mostly oil and vinegar). I asked her some vinegar and pastas, hehehehehehehe.

Hugs,
Sophie.

More lavandours

2009-08-26T17:03:00.000+02:00

These little lavender bears are successful among my friends and in-laws.

I made a few more ones :

Numbers 2 ,3 and 5 of this serie are already sold...

I have six to make as custom ones.

I have only three ready for next show. I cannot make many of them as my lavender stock is getting very low.

Surprisingly, I only sold one to an unknown visitor during last show. All other went to friends and in-laws... Pretty strange as my friends think they are "winners". Oh well, better not try to understand.

Lavandours (lavenderbears)

2009-08-21T11:05:00.001+02:00

Here they are.
Sweeter than lavender bags.

I stuffed the ears, arms and legs with traditionnal stuffing (for these ones heavy polyester) and the rest of the bear with lavender.
They are lined (except the denim one which did not need it) with a thin cotton fabric.
I only use great quality fabrics.

I used cat eye beads for the eyes and embroidery cotton thread for the nose and mouth.

I sell them 5 euros each.

I used linnen fabric for this one. Thick fabric and very hard to reverse after sewing.
Already sold.

Denim fabric for this one : very thick.

I think the fabric is a mix of cotton and linnen. It is very soft and the weaving is quite loose.

That is all for now. Two more are awaiting eyes, nose and mouth plus scarf.

I hope to make more.

*
I hope they will be succesful at my next craft market on sunday.
*

Soon to discover

2009-08-20T08:48:00.000+02:00

Right, I for sure play a little the lazy girl, but not that much finaly, as i have been working on another new project that born in my mind just after I finnished Pamplemousse.

I still have to finnish the leather bear (I do not forget him).

I just felt like the new project could not wait, hehehehehehehe.

Right, I have too little time right now to show you, but here are a few key works to put you on tracks about it :

lavender
bear
two-part body
linnen or cotton thick fabrics
buy it for 5 euros

So be patient : soon, you will see photos!

One is already sold, hehehehehehehe!

Meet Pamplemousse

2009-08-12T20:32:00.000+02:00

Here is my lattest bear.

This small bear is only one way jointed and has safety nose, eyes and joint.

His head and paws are in 3-4 mm sparse golden mohair and his body in a Norton batik 15 mm mohair in a range of pale yellow to orange.

He is stuffed with sheep wool and a little kapok in the muzzle.

He wears a cotton French knitted scarf in a mix of pale white, blue, yellow and pink colours.

He will come to my next craft show.

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Dahlias and gladioli

2009-08-05T15:39:00.000+02:00

I am happy to be allowed to enjoy my friends gardens as I do not have one of my own... (just a tiny flower bed and a few flower pots).

Yesterday I visited my English friends on top of the hill and took some photos of dahlias and gladioli.

Here are my best ones :

I hope you enjoyed the photos...

I had to make the shots in the evening, when the sun was low enough and the light finnaly not too bright. We have such a warm and sunny Summer it gets hard to take good shoots of flowers unless we do them when the sun is low.

Today again is very hot and sunny and we will go back to our English friends in a moment. I will harvest some of their lavender flowers to make lavender wands. I will bring my camera with me.

Favourites from the Rotrou mill

2009-08-05T08:48:00.000+02:00

Here are my favourite photos (I took them all) from our visit to the Rotrou mill :

Assortment of empty flour bags.

Even the Singer sewing machine was connected to the paddle wheel to run its belt!!!! Very convenient to repair the bags!

Visit to the Rotrou mill

2009-08-03T13:17:00.000+02:00

The Rotrou mill is located in Vaas (Sarthe, France). There used to be 12 mills in that village but the Rotrou one is the only one left.
It began its activity in the XIIIth century up to 1986, producing flour. It is now transformed into a museum and is still run, but just to show how it works to visitors.

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The first two photos are not from me but from the website of Vaas village. all the other photos are from me.

It is run by the water from the Loir river. Its 5 m diameter paddle wheel is now over 5OO years old and still works well.

I let you discover the massive mechanisms inside the three floors of the mill. when at the last flour, we could feel the wooden floor vibrating under our feet, as if in a boat. The whole mechanism is very noisy but it smells great inside the mill.

This thingy with the two spheres is checking on the speed of the paddle wheel. It rings a bell when the speed is wrong.

I suppose this is the bag filler.

One of the huge wheels running the transmission belts.

Once the cereal is cleaned, it is grounded successively in two big machines using each a different kind of cylinders. This in one of these machines on the photo.

I think this is another grinding machine.

Once ground, the flour is passed into huge sieves and shaken there thanks to impressive machinery.

Here is the milling table.

Outside the mill, we could see a huge portable bread oven (it weighs 9 tons, so cannot be trailed by a car-needs a special truck).

This is the ancient vapor machine that runned the ancient treshing machine.

This is the ancient treching machine (still working, but just for demo).

I keep my favourite photos for the next post...

Beautiful sunny saturday afternoon

2009-08-01T19:33:00.002+02:00

Today, we had a couple of English friends visiting us for lunch and the afternoon. They live in a village only a few kilometers far from us.

They gave me a beautiful begonia :

For the photo, I added the tomatoes one of my neighbours gave me as well as two of my cherry tomatoes from my own production plus two onions I bought at the market.

The begonia flowers are in a beautiful pink colour. Fingers crossed I will manage to keep this plant for a long time. The lighting in my house is not the best to grow plants... I installed in ot top of my fridge.

For lunch, I prepared some Tzatziki : just one grated cucumber from my sister in law's garden, plus two nature yaourts I made myslef, salt and a little fresh garlic. I served it very fresh and it was very yummy.

I also prepared a cake from my own recipe : "Cake tartiflette" or "Cake puepieds" :

3-4 eggs (240 g)

Same weight of flour

One packet of baking powder (about 10 g)

A pinch of salt

A pinch of pepper

10 cl of creme fraiche (heavy cream)

150 g of diced ham (could use lardons or bacon)

A quarter (125 g) of a Reblochon cheese (very strong and smelly cheese) : dice it

Three small potatoes : grate them

In a big bowl, put the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, pepper and salt), add the eggs and mix.

Add the creme fraiche and mix.

Add the diced jam and cheese as well as the grated potatoes and mix all.

Heat your oven.

Prepare the cake tin : put some butter (or oil) inside.

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Cake tin on the photo.

Pour the cake mix inside the tin.

When the oven is hot enough, put it inside the oven and cook it for about 45 min. With my small electric oven, I cooked it for 50 min at 240°C. It might differ with the oven you use.

You can eat it hot or cold.

It is very yummy but I think next time I will double the quantity of cheese.

You can use this recipe with other cheeses, of course. The smelliest the cheese, the yummier the cake!

I nicknamed that cake "puepieds" because we usualy say that Reblochon smells like feet.

Tartiflette is a traditionnal dish.

It was very sunny and hot outside : around 27°C.

After our yummy lunch, we went to visit an ancient bread mill as it was free visit today because of an organic market event.

You will discover the photos in my next post.

Coussifleurours-to name it in French...

2009-07-31T19:38:00.001+02:00

Would that be a flower ("fleur" in French)?????

Unless it is a bear ("ours" in French)...

But it has no body...

Hey, it could be a small cushion ("coussinet" in French)...

After all, does anyone care???

It is just for deco...

Right, this was a new try with a mini head (about 4,5 cm tall, just the head). I used bright red mini cashemere for the head and suede for the cushion.
The bear head has black glass eyes and acrylic paint shades, and its nose and eyebrows are made with seed beads.

The collar is made with handweaved flower petals with seed beads on metallic thread.

The head is stuffed with kapok while the cushion is stuffer with polyester fibres.

This is a one of a kind creation. It is out of my comfort zone. I was not expecting it to be perfect and it is far to be perfect... I still dislike making mini heads... Definately not my cup of tea.

I will take it to my next craft market.

Lots of hugs,
Sophie.

Could have been a nice week-end...

2009-07-27T11:32:00.004+02:00

Saturday began as a good day.

We went to a car boot sale where I was happy to find nice ribbons and English lace plus a nice wooden shelf.

There were fireman there too, showing a demo of cutting a car to save someone trapped in it after a car crash : very interesting. Malko found and old GPS for a good price and still working and was very happy with it.

In the afternoon, I got all my teddy bears and charms ready for a craft market (in the nearest village, only 7 km far from home) and Malko drove me to the place where I installed my stall. He chose not to stay as he would get bored, so we organized for him to join me for 8 pm for dinner and he went back home.

At 8:15 pm he was still not there and I was beginning to wonder why. 5 min later, I saw him arriving without his glasses on, looking shacked... I immediately asked him what happened and he told me he was sorry but he crashed my car while coming back to the market place.

He explained that on the little road leading to the village, he had to avoid a car arriving in the middle of the road in a curve (stupid driver!) and as he saw it too late he ended up in the ditch.

The other driver may not have seen anything of the accident. The car first went along the edge of the ditch so as to cross the other car, so Malko tried to get the car back on the road but it began to slide laterally towards the other side of the road and ended up progressing inside the ditch until probably a wheel got blocked and caused it to turn round and bump into the embankment before stopping.

Malko did not get hurt at all, just shocked. There was no way he could open the car doors so he exited from the driver's window.

A guy living nearby heard a bang so he came to see what happened and see if help was needed. Then he drove Malko to the market place. Malko did not want him to stay and wait so he let him go.

The problem is after that Malko had no car to bring us back home at the end of the market. We did not wait for the end of the market to find a way for Malko to go back home and get his own car. The problem was that most of our friends from our village were out so we decided that Malko would walk back home. Just after he left the market place, I met a friend to whom I immediately explained the situation and he picked up Malko and drove him home... :thumbsup:

My poor car is now a wreck as it is far too damaged. It was an old Citroen AX (from 1993) but it was still good enough to live many more years if not this **** accident.

Yesterday morning, we asked for my car to be removed from the ditch and brought to the garage (we were lucky one of the breakdown mechanics of the village was available 7days/7 24hours/24).

After my car was gone, we stopped at the house of the man who drove Malko to the market place just after his accident. This guy is Welsh as well as his wife and will be 70 years old tomorrow. They are really very nice people and we spent a long time chatting. They offered us to visit them when we want. They moved to France not long ago and really love the place where they live now. Their only concern is that they do not manage to learn enough French to chat in French (it is hard to learn a foreign langage when you get old). They travelled a lot in the world, even in Australia (lucky them)!

Today we will go to the garage for the paper things and we will phone the wreckyard to decide what is best to do : either get it sent to the wreckyard or stay at the garage for disposal.

Yesterday afternoon, we went to Malko's parents' to get Malko's old Citroen Visa so I have a "new" car to use until I can afford another car. This Visa is still in very good condition : I used it last year after the flood to finnish my school year as my AX got flooded and needed a serious wash.

Could have been a good week-end...

My first lavender wands

2009-07-19T16:58:00.003+02:00

It took me a moment to find the right way to name it in English. In French, we name them "fuseaux de lavande". You guessed lavender is "lavande" in French. They are named "fuseau" because of their shape similar to spindle. Spindle in French is "fuseau". Some people also name them "fusettes de lavande", not sure why. "Fusette" would translate into "reel of thread"...

Anyway, all that to come to the reason why I am talking about them, hehehehehehe!

Right, here we are in Summer, and I planted some lavender plants (4 of them) in pots.

Yesterday I harvested the longuest flowers and decided to have a go at making lavender wands (sometimes named lavender bottles, depending on how long you leave the stems at the end, I suppose). I discovered we could make lavender wands in a note from a French blog.

Tutorials are easy to found thanks to google.

So here is what I harvested :

And here is what I made with most of it :

First one with 30 flowers and 1.5 cm wide golden and pale blue ribbons :

Second with 22 flowers and 1.4 cm wide dark blue satin ribbon :

Third with 18 flowers and 1.2 cm wide orange plus 1 cm wide red satin ribbons.

Fourth with 14 flowers and 1 cm wide blue and white braid :

With the remaining flowers, I will make one lavender sachet.

I do not know if the flowers I left on the plants will get long enough to make more lavender wands/bottles. We shall see.

By the way, while searching English tutorials to make lavender wands, I found a blog you might enjoy visiting if you are interested in French wording.

The name of this blog is "French Word-A-Day" and here is the page concerning lavender wands.

Puppies are so sweet!

2009-07-17T14:20:00.005+02:00

Hehehehehe, that's funny, because my last post was about cats and today it is about puppies.

Well, the fact is that some of my friends had the opportunity to do some dog sitting : a mom and her four puppies. So I visited them to see the puppies and take photos.

Mommy and her 4 puppies, 2 july 2009 :

Same, 15 july 2009 : they grew so much!

One of the boys chewing my sandal :

Same boy playing with a big sock :

The other tricoloured dog, who is going to live with our friends :

Here trying to jump on this beam because there is a plate full of sausages on it (he did not manage to jump) :

The same with his brown brother :

And here with his other brother :

The female (who will stay with her mom) :

Trying to jump on the beam (not succesful):

With her brother :

In a cat mood!

2009-07-12T18:10:00.017+02:00

I was doing a little tidying in my folders and went through some photos of cats I took these last few years.

I thought you might enjoy watching some of them...

I am never bored of this one of our current cat Anubis (this is a "she") when a tiny winy kitty : the black one on the photo :

On this photo, Anubis is older and is enjoying herself in the garden of her kitty friend Rififi :

Here, she is sitting on a bench with Rififi :

A cat owning to a friend of Malko's mum.

"Why shouldn't I eat on a table like humans?"

Malko holding Couna (the beautiful cat of our friend Fabienne).

"It is not likely I will stay on that motorbike. Please, free me!"

Malko and Couna. "RRRRRRRRRRRRRR, I love big hugs!"

Paddington bear and Couna. "If you think this teddy bear will disturb my nap, you are wrong!"

Our previous cat Merlin (now in Paradize) : Malko rescued him as a frightened kitty on top of a tree at the University. He first lived in Malko's flat, then in mine. He really needed a house and garden, so we decided he would be happier living with Malko's parents. He spent a great time in his new home.

Merlin in my flat a few years ago. "I am the dancing cat".

Merlin in the snow for the first time.

"Can someone explain me what happened there? What's this white and cold wet thing I am walking on? It freezes my paws!!!!"

Zoubida (also in Paradize now). This old girl shared Merlin's life for a short time : Malko's parents adopted her after their relative died. She never became good friend with Merlin but she somehow bonded with him. She joined Merlin and her "parents" in Paradize shortly after Merlin's accident.

In the kitchen. "I keep a close eye onto what's Merlin doing."

A wild cat in a flower pot.

A friend of ours used to have lots of wild cats wandering around his house as his wife kept feeding them.

Hydrangea plants

2009-07-11T12:18:00.002+02:00

Here are a few Hydrangea (also called Hortentia) plants from my visit in Le Petit Bordeaux garden the 24 june 2009.

Thank you Sandi!

2009-07-11T10:59:00.003+02:00

I was very happy to find out that Sandi awarded my blog with Bella Sinclair award! How sweet of her! Sandi is the artist behind Bearly Sane and you can visit her blog here.

Ces (Ces and Her Dishes), the person who made that award states: " I designed this award to celebrate art in the blogs and to honour the value of friendship, sisterhood, sharing and caring. It is to be awarded to the gifted, accomplished, eloquent and talented blogger whose friendship and influence, inspire us to do our best. It is symbolised by the Quercus Lobata, or Valley Oak , a handsome and graceful tree."

So thank you very much, Sandi! I shall keep posting about beautiful places and flowers I photographed.

Single day's beauties

2009-07-01T09:42:00.001+02:00

It looks like I am not finnished with showing you photos from my favourite garden "Le Petit Bordeaux".
That way, you can enjoy this garden from your desk! The only thing is that you cannot get the smells and bird/frog songs or feel the wind and the warmths of the sun...

Today, I want you to discover or re-discover some beautiful flowers, which can be very smelly.
They are named Hemerocallis. Their greek name translates into "Single day's beauties". They are only lasting one day, but as there are many flowers on each stem, flowering time can last one month.

I find them quite similar to lis...

I discovered these flowers the 24th of june, during my lattest visit in the garden.

I took some photos both with my digital camera and my other camera (the fims are still to be processed). I look forward to see the result.
The weather was not the best to take photos as it was too sunny for it, but i managed to make a few nice shots anyway.

Here are a few photos i took with my digital camera :

I really love these flowers; i hope to have the opportunity to come back to the garden before mid-july, so i can take more photos of them.

Who let the heater on????

2009-07-01T09:14:00.000+02:00

A funny bugger did forget to turn the heater off... There have been now a few weeks with days getting warmer and warmer. first it was not too bad, and even i would say it was quite pleasant. but this week, it now gets so warm that even during nights, temperature do not manage to drop under 20°C.
The last few days, we had around 35°C in the sun during afternoons. Last night, the temperature in our bedroom did not manage to go under 27°C even with the window open but shutter closed.

Last thursday afternon, the weather was pretty hot and in the afternoon we had a storm. we had very heavy rain and it looked like nightmarre would come back like last year... The water could not get all evacuated again and it began to flood the street again. When the pavements disappeared under water, Malko and I rushed outside to move our cars on a safer place.
when the water was only a few centimeters under the house door level, we really got worried. some stupid people kept driving in the street although the water level was important and consequently, water leaked under our door because of the waved produced by the cars.
luckily, the rain eventually stopped and then the water managed to be evacuated, but this was not far from another flooding like last year's.
Our Mayor was expecting the works done in the fields surrounding our village would be enough to avoid the water to stay in the street, but we have now the evidence, some serious draining works will be needed under the roads : the actual drains are definitely too narrow.
we are expecting a meeting soon with the Mayor to discuss that issue. He sayed he would contact the persons that can be of help for such a problem and see if they have a suggestion.
Our Mayor does not seem to fancy the idea of the possibility to have to change the drains, as it would mean huge works in the main street... but last year, the flood concerned over 30 houses in that street!!! Ours is in the lowest part of the street.
Such flooding problem with water coming inside houses never happened before last year, but it definitely looks like we'd better get something done before it happens again.
The works in the nearest fields should avoid another very important flood, but are not sufficient to prevent a new one. It only avoids additional water to come from there...

Now we are scared when there is a rainstorm : fearing a new flood everytime.

Fingers crossed it will not happen again this year...

I wonder if the Summer will be that hot all the time...
We have got a lot of works to do for our house : shutters and door of the house to re-stain, roofs to redo on the outbuildings...
I will post about them in another notes.

Walk along an aber

2009-06-27T16:59:00.000+02:00

When in Brittany last week-end, I went with my dad for a small walk along an aber.
I thought you might enjoy seing some photos I took there.

I was surprised to see that many honey-suckle bushes there. there were not very smelly, maybe because the winf was not going the good way or because it was not warm enough.

We started our walk form the furthest part of the aber from the sea and walked towards the sea along the aber, only on one of its side. from were we start, the aber was pretty narrow, not a place to reach by boat.

Did you see the seagull? The letters BR on the boat means "Brest" : they are related the the town from where it was registered. So the letters plus the numbers are the ID of the boat. I guess it is like that everywhere in the world.

There were also some boom bushes, which is very common on many parts of the Breton sea coast.

Getting closer to the sea, we see more boats and a village on the other side.

I like theses plants I use to name the French equivalent for "pompom". There are lots on the sand dunes. We can collect some when they are dry and they great for deco and last very long!

A butterfly we met. We call this one Tircis : Pararge Aegeria in latin.

Another one in a better shape. There were many of these. Very common there.

Another genus of buterfly. We call it Amaryllis : Pyronia Tithonus in latin.

There were more different ones, but they would not let us photograph them!!!

I hope you enjoyed the visit.

Clever mower, I say!

2009-06-24T10:17:00.000+02:00

Please, do not laugh at me. It might have been created many years ago, but I discovered it only a few days ago.

I went to visit my brother and discovered a very clever mower which mows the grass on its own and go refill its batteries when needed, still with no need of any human.
My brother has quite a big surface of grass so now he does not have to worry about it anymore!

Plus this mower is very discret : we barely hear it when it works!!!

To avoid it running away, some electric lines are hidden under the surface of the ground to limit all the field it has to mow.

On the first photo, it is refilling its batteries and on the second one it is working.

I have no idea how expensive it can be, but this is definately a great idea!

Hugs,

Sophie.

A cross-stitched heart for my mom

2009-06-24T10:02:00.000+02:00

Right, I apologize to all of you who have been checking my blog the last couple of weeks and did not find any new post. i have been busy elsewhere plus I spent 6 days holidays visiting my family in Brittany (France).

In France, mother's Day was in early june, so as I planned to visit my parents from the 16th of june I decided I would delay a little bit the day my mother would get her gift, which she did not mind.

Here is what I made for her :

I used Aida cloth 5.5 /cm and red embroidery thread for the recto and patchwork fabric for the verso. I added some white trim on the side. I made an attach with white round glass beads and a mix of small white and long red seed beads.

Mom loved it!

Hugs,

Sophie.

Flowers to drive rain away

2009-06-10T11:38:00.000+02:00

Rain, rain rain, is what we have been having from a few days now...

So I decided to lighten the day with a few photos of yellow flowers I took myself.

Have a nice day!

Villandry castle and gardens

2009-06-09T09:11:00.000+02:00

We are lucky now to live not very far from many of the castles of the Loire Valley.
last sunday, we visited Villandry castle and gardens (not very far from Tours).

The gardens are best viewed from a high place, so we can enjoy its geometric shapes. I took some of the photos from the donjon.

Here are a few photos of the gardens I selected just for you : the weather was not the best and we had a few showers.

Views from the gardens.

Views OF the gardens :

A little extra :

We also visited the castle itself, which was beautifuly decorated.

To have more info if you want to go there, visit THAT website.