Welcome to my Blog!

Hi there, nice to have you visiting! I'm Heidi and this is the blog for Heidi Bears. Here is where I post all the happenings in my work and daily life. Here and there you'll find info on things that have caught my attention as well as the odd tutorial. I hope you enjoy your visits. I love to have feedback, so leave me a comment!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Renovation Update...


Well hello friends! and welcome to the reveal....um... not quite how I wanted it to sound :)
Actually, today was the first day I felt somewhat pleased we did all the stuff we did...survived the dust, the dirt, the noise, the chaos...and "The Fall"...


Do you all remember the disaster that was our entrance...and the TV room? Here is the new look...still missing some flowers and general dusting etc , but all in all I am pleased that some of the space in our house is semi-habitable... Do you like it?

This fireplace is the spot we spend most of our winter evenings here in SA...it gets mighty cold this time of the year, and there really is nothing nicer than a real fire to sit next to...


Some faded, vintage looking cushions for the window seat... nice spot for a snooze in the sun...


Although my favourite colour is pink, you can see that I just LOVE red for a house...


The floors are still very dusty...hopefully things will look better after a good cleaning session...

A little Happy Birthday wish to Jenna... and a get better wish for little Erin...

Have a good evening folks...
Lots of Love,
Heidi ☺

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Craft Hope...and a baby shower...

Hello friends,

I have joined a Craft Hope initiative, aimed at helping the marine life affected by the recent oil spill in the Gulf. Please link back to their website, by clicking on the pic above...it will tell you all you need to know if you are interested in joining in...

On another note...
I have been preparing for a colleague's baby shower, which an friend and myself are hosting next Saturday. I wanted to make it a special time for her, with lovely decor and goodies, so I worked on a theme this week, of roses and dots... The cupcake wrappers in the pic above are based on a design I found at Shabbyblogs (btw ...what a wonderful site...you must take a look...).
I changed the shape a bit and did my own floral design, to match the tableware I am planning to use. If you would like me to send a PDF file of these wrappers to you, please email me at heidibearscreativeblog@gmail.com, and I will send it off asap!

My tutorial posts have been somewhat derailed by the renovations...but hopefully next week will see me having some space back in our house...

Have a great evening everyone,
Lots of Love,
Heidi ☺

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

"Think Outside the Sox"... and a winner!



Hello friends...
It's been quite a weekend...I am sorry for the absence (did you miss me a little? :) )...sometimes things work against the best laid plans...

Firstly, the winner of the giveaway is...ta da!.... ♥ LORI ♥ ....... Yay! Please Lori send me an email with your postal address, and I will get your little parcel off to you asap! Thank you to all who became followers!

The renovations are proceeding.., uhmmm... well...yes, proceeding! I hit a major wobbly on Tuesday morning when I discovered the carnage in the cottage. Um, back-up a bit, let me explain....we have a lovely "cottage ", which used to act as my photographic studio, but now really functions as a venue for our girl's birthday parties, and during these renovations ...the DUMP! The builders took everything from the areas in the house we are renovating, and dumped it in a huge dusty, disorganized pile in the cottage!!!! Argghhhhh!!!!!!!!!! So, I had a heartfelt chat with the builder...and he has moved heaven and earth to try and make it possible for us to get our lounge back by the weekend...

On another note, I received a book in the post, which made my heart do a happy dance!

It's an awesome book about knitting .....SOCKS! I have a lot of knitting books about socks, but this is one of the best The Knitter's Magazine held a sock competition...and received 296 pairs of socks from all over the world. They then decided to publish a book with patterns for the best designs they received (and boy, let me tell you...it is fabulous!).

I think the thing that makes me so happy is that the authors and designers have included detailed instructions on so many new techniques and approaches to sock making...all of the included patterns are worth knitting...I've just included pics of some of them :)

By far though, my favourites are the leopard print socks and the lovely green and red flowery, tapestry like socks! Love them...love them...love them!

It's made me want to do a post on sock knitting...is that something you wonderful followers would like? Sometimes I have too many ideas and plans, and don't get to all of them as soon as I would like, but socks and gloves are gonna have to be at the top of the list....

BTW, the book is called "Think Outside the Sox" ISBN: 978-193306418-5. Lovely stuff....

I am sure you've noticed the blog makeover...I needed a change...after all...Home renovations ...Blog renovations! What do you all think? Like it?

I am off to see what the builders are up to ☺

Lots of Love,
Heidi :)

Friday, May 28, 2010

Log Cabin Crochet Block Tutorial...and a Giveaway!

Hi dear friends,

Today's post is really short and perhaps not as well photographed as I would like...
we have all been struck down with the dreaded lergy...headaches, coughing, noses running...it's not a pretty sight! So, as much as I wanted to do a nice clean, (properly exposed) tutorial, I sat on my bed and crocheted a quick easy one...

In addition, I am doing a giveaway for all my followers! Thank you so much to everyone who visits me here...although I may not manage to respond to every comment, I really appreciate you dropping in :) As a token of my appreciation, I am giving away the following items:

A gorgeous Bear making kit, complete with mohair and all the bits and pieces you need to make this little person (you just need hands ,needle and sewing thread...or alternatively, a sewing machine and thread) :)
Two beautiful Susan Bates crochet hooks (sizes 2.75mm and 3.75mm), stunningly decorated by the talented Jenn Edwards, in floral polymer clay...
A big skein of hand-dyed pink and green 100% merino wool yarn

So if you are already a follower, you don't need to do anything...if you do follow by the time I do the random draw (Sunday 18hoo South African time), you will automatically be entered into the draw :)

Now for the brief tutorial. I am making a little block for a blanket for a small boy who recently lost his mommy, and wanted to do something traditional, but in boy colours, so I made a very simple log cabin block in blues and greens...



Firstly, choose the colours you like. Try to keep the yarn weights similar or your block will be wonky.
Chain as many stitches as you would like you central square to be.

Skip one stitch and start to do Sc stitches into each chain. When you get to the first chain you made, crochet the last Sc on this side of the work, and turn your work around.


End of first row reached. Once you have turned your work, ch 1, then start to Sc into each loop of the stitches made in row 1. Keep repeating the rows until you have a square shaped piece of crochet.


Tie on a new colour and insert your hook into the first stitch loop, yarn around hook, pull through, yarn around hook, pull through both loops on the hook. Continue to do Sc into each previously done stitch as before. Complete as many rows as you find pleasing.

Once you have completed enough rows, again change colour, but this time join in the new colour so that you are crocheting along the edge of BOTH previous colours (see above pic). Complete as many rows as you did with the first colour change (this keeps thing sort of balanced, and will tend to keep the overall shape square).
Keep going around as you can see above, changing colours and doing as many rows as you feel look right. Work in the loose ends...

Simple, but sweet.

Off to bed for me,
Have a good evening
Lots of Love,
Heidi :)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

(Un)-happiness is...


Oh, the horror...

We are living in the Twilight Zone (possibly reality is actually worse...), all is a mess, and home has become uninhabitable (in parts :) )
Our renovations started last week, and initially we decided to do some small mainly aesthetic changes, but now we are in the throes of a full scale upheaval!
The entire roof is coming off and the lounge is being re-plastered and the floors sanded...



I have tried (with great deals of digging deep within my reserves, I might add), to be brave, calm, optimistic etc, but this week sorely tried my Herculean efforts...



I was sorting out bed linen (all pastels and white I might add), when an unimaginable noise, accompanied by screaming assailed my ears...milliseconds later, I (and needless to say, the immediate environment around me), was overtaken by a volcano sized spewing of dust, soot and goodness only know what (I tell you....if we do not all demise from the plague, after inhaling all that which lived in the roof of our house...it will be a miracle).


As can be seen in the pic above (post event evidence....after a full day of repairs being carried out), one of the workers fell through the ceiling, the poor thing...in the process grabbing onto the copper piping in the roof, to break his fall, opening up the plumbing and drenching the floor (and the items in the room , which sadly included a lot of perishables, like books...).



When I looked up from the swirling dust, the poor man was swinging from the copper pipe, water and dust raining down in what surely must be an approximation of the Chicxulub Event...
I was speechless...



So, an emergency call to a plumber, and a day later, you have what is seen above...



I kept telling myself, that this too will end, and that I must be brave and determined...(it didn't work...)

Thankfully, after a bit of a chat with Mr P. (who is a veritable fount of strength in these situations), I felt better, and (dare I say it?), even could smile a little about the incident.
It must be said that this is the second man to have fallen through the ceiling...I shall spare you the details of the previous victim's accident...suffice to say, it was caused by a great deal of stupidity and he was not hurt...

The one thing I am very excited about: the decorating that will follow ♥

I will post pics as the scene unfolds...

I hope to have a tutorial for you all tomorrow...how to crochet a Log Cabin Square!

Have a wonderful evening,
Lots of Love
Heidi :)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Happiness is...

Happiness is...
Spending the whole day with your baby girl...buying gorgeous fabric...enjoying lunch together...shopping for books (our favourite!), and being thankful for all the good in our lives :)

Sleep tight everyone,
Lots of Love,
Heidi :)