|
Next to the sound of children laughing there is nothing that warms the soul more than the joy of friendship.  Recently we were lucky enough to share a lovely moment of friendship between two very new friends, Bertie Button and Miss Emily. As you may remember Emily joined the Book Cover Bears just two weeks ago. Being such a sweet bear she was readily accepted by the others and quickly made friends with everyone but, much to the disappointment of her new friends, Emily, having only just finished unpacking found herself having to repack and bid everyone goodbye as she left to travel to her new home in America ! However despite all of her excitement and preparations for her travels she made time to fulfil the wishes of one particular little bear and she gathered the necessary measurements for a new outfit for Bertie....... now all we have to do is to try and stop Bertie getting over excited while he waits for his surprise. Wish us luck !  Wishing Emily a safe journey to her new home.
1 Comment
Whispers of "me next," and " I want to see please " were the noises in the Bear Room today. The Bears don't often get mail but todays post was one to remember. A postcard all the way from Tokyo in Japan. Halfway round the Bears world. Beatrice was a little tearful when she realised that Tokyo Bears paw had touched the card to post it in the letter box in Japan at the Paralympic Games. Smart little Bertie asked why it said 2020 on the front when this year was 2021. Thank you Rosemary for remembering your furry supporters who just adore you and Werona your horse. They are all so proud of you and all the Irish team. The Book Cover Bear room is a very noisy place to be this morning. Lots of our little bears are rushing around in a state of high excitement as the special day they have all been waiting for has finally arrived and in just a few hours time they will be watching the Irish Para Equestrian Team compete in the Olympics !  The bears have been preparing for today for most of the week with everyone lending a paw and doing whatever they could to make sure this big day will be a wonderful celebration.
Oh my goodness what a wonderfully exciting day ! GOOD LUCK IRISH PARA EQUESTRIAN TEAM. On this beautiful late summer morning the Bear Room is not just filled with sunshine but with the wonderful sound of laughter, giggles and animated chatter. Anyone happening to wander into the room today would have been greeted by the most extraordinary sight of bears clambering out of cabinets, climbing on furniture and generally having lots of fun......although it would have been of no surprise to anyone familiar with our little bear family to see that a certain Bertie Button was right in the middle of all the activity ! It seems that the imminent start of the Tokyo Paralympics is causing quite a stir amongst our bears as they have been closely following the progress of the Irish Para Equestrian team ever since one of our family, Tokyo Bear and his horse Hope, went to join the team....... ...... and now that their Olympic debut is only three sleeps away it would appear that there may be a party on the cards. Miss Beatrice is keeping a careful eye on the preparations, making sure that bunting is hung properly and flags are all displayed correctly ! How exciting !  Book Cover Bears send the entire Irish Para Olympic team our love and admiration. GOOD LUCK ! What an exciting day it's been in the Book Cover Bear room . Our mystery visitor has been identified ! Meet Mouse .  This sweet little bear has come to stay in the Bear Room in the hope that while she patiently waits to find a new home she can make some special friends....... she is obviously a clever little bear as what better way is there to make new friends than to turn up with a plate of freshly baked chocolate cakes !  We think it worked !
Beatrice bear has been helping Liz in the garden on these sunny summer days. She has her own little berry bag and collects all the berries she can reach. She enjoys helping and dreams of the lovely pies and cakes and juice Liz will make for all the bears to eat. When some berries stain her dress she is excited about the colour and would like them to stay on her dress but Liz explains about berries being “fugitive “ dyes. Beatrice didn’t know that word and asks lots of questions so she could explain to the other bears how berry dye washes out and preparation of the fabric with a “mordant” is very important to make the colour light and wash fast. To answer the many questions Beatrice asked, Liz decides to dye a favourite dress worn by her. They use Cochineal Beatles and grind them up to a powder and add water, the dress is soaked in Alum and then cooked in the Cochineal. Some indigo sprinkles were added to create the squished berry design. Beatrice stirred carefully until the dress was ready to be rinsed and dried. She was brimming with excitement when she modelled it in the bear room and explained the new words she had learned as they ate blackcurrant muffins. One new bear in particular was captivated and asked Beatrice many questions about the dyeing. Ohhh I wonder if that new bear keeps their fascination with natural dyeing. Beatrice’s new words Fugitive dye - disappears after washing with soap, not light or colourfast Mordant - A mordant or dye fixative is a substance used to bind colour to fabrics Mordant red 19 Many adventures begin at Dalmally Railway Station, trains cars and hill walkers but the conversations of visitors to Heartfelt Studio about Kayaking really inspired the bears. Using what tools they found around the Studio - they created their own boat and with a little help, set sail in the local landscape. What a wonderful idea that led to the creation of some new pieces to go out into the world and make others smile. We would like to introduce you to the Loom Series. Using authentic antique loom shuttles ( for holding the fibres for weaving ) we have created these mini bears sculptures. They are a limited edition as are all of our bear creations.
Primrose Bear is off to join her sister Bears in America. To be sure that she was ready for the long journey all the bears gathered for an evening of fun and storytelling in the Bear Room at Dalmally Railway Station. Beatrice made sure all the passage tickets were in order - there were some tears from the bears that had come to know this gentle, pretty bear but every bear is excited at the new adventure Primrose is embarking on. There was a lot of singing and laughing and even the noise of the passing trains didn’t make a difference to the joy and love each of the bears gave Primrose.
The stories she will have for her fellow book cover bears in America will be keenly listened to. We are sure this delightful bear will warm the heart of her new Bear Mummy |
