A Revamped Santa Bear .... & a Junk Journal

Good Wednesday Greetings dear friends & readers

Sometime late last year my friend Gail was having one of her throw outs declutters

 Bearing in mind my "Steptoe inclinations" ... I happened to drop by to assist her !!

 I rescued this funny looking chap above from Gails rubbish heap & bought him home with me.
 He had begun his life as a teddy bear plastic bag holder & then my friend Gail had turned him into a doorstop, which she then dressed as a Wizard in this blue & purple sparkly cloak.
I think he even had a wand at some stage!
Once undressed I gave him a gentle sponge & brushed his fur - he came up really well & has the loveliest face

Even Miss Pippi was none to sure about him but she was being very nosey brave !

Using the Wizards cloak as a guide, I sewed him a new cloak from some burgundy fleece I had & trimmed it with some cream fur

I made him a Santa hat with a cream pompom on the end.

He was coming to life again !!

Next I made him a beautiful vintagey looking Christmas stocking using some fabrics left over from last christmas & filled the base of it with wadding
I sewed this to his hands as I planned to fill the top of the stocking with toys, bears & gorgeous goodies
However  .  .  .  .  .  .

.  .  .  .  . just the weight of the stocking alone was enough to make him topple forward, let alone when it was filled with goodies !!!

No matter what I did he kept ending up face down !!!
In disgust I took him to bits again.
I went down to the corner of our road (after hours!) & half filled my bucket with some new fine gravel that had just been loaded there
Back home again, I removed the lower part of his body stuffing & filled it with the fine gravel inside a bag, then packed the rest of him with more stuffing

His figure kind of resembled mine some days !!
But he stayed good & upright (& heavy)

This Santa Teddy will be going on my craft stall at the Christmas Fair next month

Here he is completed, with his stocking filled to the brim ... some small teddies & vintage christmas ornies, some berries & greenery & some ornies tied to the stocking as well

A gorgeous Boyds Bear Christmas brooch at his neck ....

When I asked The Mr if he was most impressed with the way I made him more sturdy ... he just gave me a long look & said "don't forget to add a note with him to say that when they no longer want him, they can take all the gravel out & use it to resurface their driveway !!!"

Indeed !!!  😯

We had some lovely sunny spring days last week & I was able to take my sewing outside to the deck table ... I had been making up some more little christmas tree ornaments with cinnamon stick trunks

I made another dozen - these are fun to make using up scraps of fabric & they sold really well last year
I just need to scent this batch with my cinnamon/clove oils.

When I wrote the post about my (new) vintage Edith Holden book  my friend Chris from Australia left me a lovely comment saying she would like to show me what she does with Edith Holden books 
I was most fascinated !!
I waited patiently for Chris's email to come through showing me the photos of her work

Imagine my surprise when instead a parcel arrived all the way from Victoria, Australia - beautifully wrapped in a doiley & polka dot ribbon.
Inside was this beautiful journal handmade by Chris using a vintage Edith Holden book

Chris had covered the Journal in a teddy bear stitchery & the theme was teddies & gardening

Chris had written a lovely letter explaining to me about junk journals, which I had not heard of before.

My photos really do not do justice to this gorgeous journal - there is so much detail that everytime I open it, I find something new !!
Tags, charms & embellishments everywhere ....

I have it sitting by my lounge chair & I enjoy picking it up each evening & just savouring the pages
Thank you So Very Much Chris for your kindness & your generosity... it is something I will treasure always 💓


Finally dear friends, I wanted to mention a book I have just finished reading from my local Library

I love it when other bloggers recommend books they have enjoyed & often make a note to read them. 
I saw the DVD of this & then read the book & I just LoVed it from beginning to end!
 It is an amazing story & I would thoroughly recommend it.  

Thank you So Very Much for your visits here today,
with much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones
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