Ellifolks - Bears, Critters, and Stuff

August 4th, 2010

Blogs Around the World - How to Read Wonderful Blogs in Other Languages

I love reading all kinds of craft blogs and especially enjoy learning about artists from other countries. Until recently if a blog was in another language and didn’t have a translation option, I would pore over the images and try to guess what the blogger might be saying. Finally I found a Google translation bookmark that can be added to your favorites and will translate any page by clicking on it there. The link is here.

Just pick the button for the language you want to translate to and drag it into your favorites in the sidebar. Then when you find a blog in another language, click on the bookmarklet in your sidebar and it will translate the blog for you. If you click on “older posts” on the blog, the next page will be translated also. The English translation definitely is good enough to give you the idea of what they are saying.

Here are some blogs in other languages that I have been able to enjoy using the Google translate bookmarklet:

Fieltromania

Lolita Blahnik

Sara Morante

Japan Couture Addicts

Vintage traeume

Takiyaje Live Journal

AK Doll OOAK Doll

July 30th, 2010

Projects Around the House - More DollHouse Work

Here we have a few twigs added to the door and are checking it on the house to see how we like it.

This is the last summer before my daughter leaves for college. She will be a freshman at MIT in the fall. We are a homeschooling family, and I will especially miss times my daughter and I spent working on various projects together. (More about our experience applying to colleges as a homeschooler in an upcoming post.)

This summer my daughter and I are trying to finish our dollhouse. This is a dollhouse from a Buttercup kit we started on a few years ago and have been slowly working on it together as her time permits. (You can view the original post about the dollhouse here.) Now the outside is almost finished.

We covered the rectangular and round exterior windows with a thin layer of moss and then covered the moss with small seashells. We used reindeer moss on the long arched side and front windows, but were undecided about how to finish the outside of the front door — with a different moss than the adjacent arched windows, with seashells, or with twigs. After much discussion and trying out different materials, we settled on twigs with a background of the reindeer moss.

All twigs glued to door and door placed into position.

Here is our progress on the door so far. We used an X-acto mitre box and saw kit to cut twigs to the length of the door. Then we glued them side-by-side over the moss. The moss covers the bare door so the wood doesn’t show between the twigs. Here are some detail photos of us at work:

Here Sophie is measuring and marking the twig length for the door.

Sophie is sawing a twig for the door. I hold the twig on both sides of the saw while she saws.

A bead of glue has been added to the twig. Now it will be glued down onto the door front.

We found tiny hinges at A.C. Moore. The hinges had teeny brass nails that we finally we able to hammer into the wood. We will remove small sections of the moss on the house where the other part of the hinge will go and then glue back on the moss to cover the hinges.

We are trying to decide on a doorknob for the door. This is one possibility that we like.

A shell is placed on door as possibility for doorknob.

July 29th, 2010

Teddy Bear Picnic Event at the Country Plus Shop, Hopkinton, MA

I am excited to have some of my bears represented at a wonderful event, Teddy Bear Picnic at the Country Plus Shop in Hopkinton, Massachusetts on Friday August 6 and Saturday August 7. Marie Poole of Basically Bears will be showing my bears along with other wonderful bear artists including Vicki Stephan “Raspberies”, Louise Bernier “Bear Witness”, Tonni Bears, Sheryl Wells, Frances Harper, and Karen Seal.

Bear artists “Raspberies”, Louise Bernier “Bear Witness”, Jill Kenny “JK Bears”, and Donna Bjerke “Bjerke Bears” will be making special appearances at the event.

Please come visit if you are in the area!!

July 24th, 2010

Lucien and Dani, New Bear and Panda in Etsy Shop and on BearPile

Lucien is a sweet hand-dyed and hand-shaded bear made of sparse Schulte German mohair. He is 7″ tall and is wearing an antiqued copper necklace with a vintage brass bell. He is in my Etsy shop and can be viewed here and on my BearPile gallery. Lucien has been sold.

Here is Dani:

Dani is a 6″ panda made of hand-dyed and hand-shaded Schulte German mohair. She is wearing a linen string collar with a rusty jingle bell. She is listed in my Etsy shop and can be viewed here. Dani has been sold.

I hope you can come visit them!

May 11th, 2010

Chuck Berry and Blueberry Hill

Blueberry Hill - sign outside club

Chuck Berry, rock and roll legend also known as “The Father of Rock and Roll”, was born in St. Louis and still lives in a suburb of St. Louis today. He and the St. Louis landmark restaurant and music club, Blueberry Hill, have a strong connection going back many years.

Chuck Berry has been performing at Blueberry Hill for the past twelve years. He celebrated his 80th birthday there with a special standing-room only concert. And at the age of 83, he still performs a concert there one Wednesday a month. His concerts sell out, so buy tickets in advance.

Blueberry Hill is a perfect place to visit if you are a rock and roll fan. Located in the historic Delmar Loop area, there are shops and galleries to explore and the St. Louis “Walk of Fame” with stars of famous St. Louisans dotting the sidewalk. You can start your afternoon exploring the area and end off the evening with a casual dinner at Blueberry Hill.

When you enter the club, you are enveloped with rock and roll and pop-culture nostalgia. The walls are covered with memorabilia from Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley, pop-culture memorabilia, and vintage jukeboxes.

Blueberry Hill interior - Chuck Berry guitar on display

Blueberry Hill interior -Simpsons collection

Blueberry Hill interior - Howdy Doody collection

The food is casual, but delicious. Some of the Blueberry Hill specialties are the famous St. Louis Toasted Ravioli appetizers, chicken wings, and hamburgers. Waiters are friendly and can tell you about Chuck Berry’s next concert date.

The next time you visit St. Louis, check out Blueberry Hill and the Delmar Loop. If you are lucky, you can even catch a memorable Chuck Berry performance. You can learn more about the Delmar Loop area here.

Blueberry Hill interior - Chuck Berry portrait and albums

March 23rd, 2010

New Bear, Aleph, in Etsy Shop -- New Rabbit, Alice, on BearPile

I have two new critters available for adoption.

Aleph is the first of my new Min-elli series. He is 4 1/2″ tall of a sparse Schulte mohair that I dyed and hand shaded. He is wearing a copper and sterling silver chain collar. His limbs are cotter-pin jointed. He is available here in my Etsy shop.

Alice is a hand dyed rabbit of a sparse German mohair that I dyed and hand shaded. She is wearing a skirt made of vintage lace trim and a vintage lace trim scarf. She is holding a vintage millinery carrot. She is cotter-pin jointed. She is available here on BearPile.

March 21st, 2010

Pussman & Co. Sweet Teddy Giveaway

Danielle of Pussman & Co., Pussman Stuffies is giving away the sweetest hand-dyed teddy to celebrate her three-year blogging anniversary. There are two more days to join – until March 23!