Diary of a Studio Elf

Doesn't time fly.

2011-05-17T14:25:00.000+01:00

Well I never whatever happened to April?
With all those bank holidays it seems to have dissapeared in a puff of smoke...pity Bramling wouldn't do the same!
We've been up to our eyes in the Studio what with visitors making the most of all that time off, finishing the end of year accounts and getting some new stock made for the shelves.
The new blogshop is now up and running with new items being added as soon as her Ladyship can get them posted online why not have a look...
Aurorabearealis Online Shop

His Lordship has also had some new postcards designed so we decided to do an advertising one for the Studio as well.

My next job is to find suitable places locally to leave some for people to find...I think cafe's would be a good place to start...especially ones that make nice scones...any excuse for a cup of tea!
If you are lucky enough to find one it also has a 10% discount voucher on the back.

Talking of tea I haven't had any lunch yet and it's gone 2 o'clock...as I said "Doesn't time fly!"

Just for Derrick

2011-03-09T10:38:00.000Z

I wasn't sure which one you meant Derrick so here's both...hopefully they will both work!

A Little Cross Eyed.

2011-03-09T10:18:00.000Z

I'm glad to say our photography marathon is almost finished only a few pieces of artwork to photograph now.
It has been fun but I must admit I am getting rather cross eyed...what with looking through viewfinders, checking back screens and staring at the computer while processing the hundreds of pictures we have taken...thankfully I have pretty good eyesight.

We should be finished photographing today and just a little more processing and then LOTS of uploading we should be ready for take off...I have heard rumours of a party and some special offers to get the ball rolling.

There are also rumours that that dreadful Goblin is working on his own blog...heaven help us!

Lights, Camera, Action.

2011-02-22T15:13:00.000Z

Work continues apace at the Studio as we trot on taking hundreds of photographs for the upcoming online shop. I suppose one of the drawbacks of Her Ladyship making unique items is that everything must be photographed separately although I am rather enjoying setting up the scenery for the backdrops...would you like a taster?

The Bears had a great deal of fun with the little sewing machine although Herbeart had a very close shave with the scissors. I told him not to run about but he wouldn’t listen, he’s almost as bad as Bramling.

The prop for these lovely silver bracelets is a piece of petrified tree that is more than 300 million years old...that's even older than my Great Grandfather!

New Year New Projects.

2011-01-15T12:55:00.000Z

I say it has been very quiet at the Studio.
I don't mean customer wise, I mean Her Ladyship has been typing away on the laptop for days now sorting out the text for the new online shop (I would say "coming soon" but there is still much to be done).
There is an exciting big box sitting in the corner waiting to be opened once all the writing is finished...I believe it contains a small but perfectly formed lighting kit for us to photograph all the stock for the shop.
It's going to be quite a marathon session believe me as there are an awful lot of things to be photographed especially as most of the things she makes are one off pieces.

The Bears behave themselves quite well when being photographed, I'm not sure I can say the same about Bramling...perhaps we can send him somewhere for a few days.

I'm quite looking forward to it though...I like to keep busy.

Furgeous.

2010-12-03T17:41:00.001Z

My my we have had a busy day, Her Ladyship has had a commission to make a stack of calendars for a Gentleman with some pictures of his two beautiful Maine Coon cats, so we have been sticking like mad all day.
They are called Pearl and Jasper and are brother and sister...

Now it's almost home time (I don't always stay in the studio at night in this cold weather, I go home with Her Ladyship and have a warm house to snuggle down in instead) I must tidy up before we go however, there are bits off of the double sided sticky tape all over the place...

...I wonder what's for tea?

Better late than never...

2010-10-16T14:40:00.002+01:00

At long last here are some of the Oil Pastels Her Ladyship was painting last month.
They are rather fun to use, a bit like painting with lipstick (not that I ever have painted with lipstick you understand, but you get my drift!).

This one rather reminds me of the heather moors on the Isle of Lewis...

and these are three of the seascapes.

We do live in such a beautiful part of the world...such an inspiration, especially as that dreadful Goblin has gone west with His Lordship so we have peace and quiet today without any of his inane questions like "Wot would 'appen if I was to put this crayon in the toaster?"...really!
That said, I shall put the kettle on to celebrate his absence, a little toast and some Lady Grey is called for I think...without added crayon.

Artistic licence.

2010-08-12T13:15:00.001+01:00

Gosh I have had a busy summer.

Firstly I must apologise for not writing sooner but Her Ladyship gave me a leave of absence as I had been commissioned to paint the portrait of one of our Elfin royal family.
Now a commission would normally be most welcome but when it is to paint Prince Grogbot one is faced with a bit of a dilemma.
The Prince is not...how shall I put it...much of an oil painting, therefore how much artistic licence should be used in order to make the painting acceptable to all ?
To that end it took several attempts and numerous working sketches before I dared show him anything.
This is one of the earlier working sketches…

…as you can see I had my work cut out to make him as regal as he would expect.
However with perseverance I succeeded and the finished work now hangs in his private chambers.

I was therefore relieved to get back to the studio…much less stressful pottering about in here helping Her Ladyship…I believe she has just ordered some more oil pastels and we are to do some painting when they arrive…thankfully not a portrait !

I felt that!

2010-06-29T13:45:00.000+01:00

Oh my goodness what fun we have been having.

The felting machine arrived along with a huge mound of brightly coloured wool roving and Her Ladyship and I have been having a ball making all sorts of things to try it out.
We have made a veritable bouquet of flower corsages which are now festooning the studio.

It has been most interesting finding out how to felt the wool both by needle and with soapy water, the latter being rather messy but such fun.
I wonder what we shall make next.
Perhaps some wall hangings or something else…there are a selection of cookie cutters in the felting box and I’m not quite sure what they are for…I guess we shall have to wait and see.

2010-05-18T12:19:00.001+01:00

Golly it has been a busy month since I last wrote, the trade fair is over and Her Ladyship has been tweaking and cutting and sewing and stuffing as a new batch of bears comes to life.

They are rather jolly, if a bit fiddly to make as they are only a few centimeters high.

I think this one is rather fetching in its blue and lilac flowers.

I thought I might gather together all the scraps and make myself a waistcoat, although it may take some time as the scraps are also rather small. Perhaps I shall have enough by the autumn then I can spend the winter sewing them together.

We are waiting for a shipment of wool to arrive soon and Her Ladyship is going to make some felty things...there is even word of an embellishing machine to help...I do hope she lets me have a shot of it as it sounds most intriguing.

Perhaps I could use it to decorate my waistcoat.

The making of a Fairy.

2010-04-15T11:38:00.003+01:00

We have been beavering away like mad things here at the Studio, the trade show is only a week away now and we are just finishing up the last minute bits and pieces.
The place was full of Fairies last week, much to Bramlings annoyance (he hates Fairies for some strange reason...I dare not ask), so I took some photographs of them being made for you to peruse.

This is a rather naughty one as the little Fairies are undressed!

That's better now they have their frocks on.

A new hairdo and some party shoes and they are dancing round the Studio.

Finaly a tiny Fairy wand and they are ready for anything...including grumpy Goblins!

Time for some tea before hanging the jewellery on the new stands we made yesterday I think...

Busy Busy...

2010-03-02T11:29:00.001Z

It's been a busy week or so.
Her Ladyship had just started making the stock for the Trade show in April when she put her back out, so I have been doing lots of extra fetching and carrying to help her out. Picking up things she has dropped, fetching things out of low drawers or off high shelves, making soothing cups of tea and ensuring the batteries on the Tens machine were fully charged!

It has been a busy few weeks what with the extra work but hopefully her back will be better soon.

The workshops are also in full swing with people beavering away every wednesday making, drawing, painting and photographing.

His Lordship has kindly allowed me to sit in on his photography ones so I can learn how to take better photographs now that I am allowed to use the camera.I can't wait for the "studio photography" session when we get to play with the studio lights too!

Well it's past time for elevenses so I had better go and put the kettle on...toodle pip.

What a Motley Bunch...

2010-02-02T17:20:00.002Z

Her Ladyship was playing today...she has now caught His Lordships cold and wasn't feeling up to doing any serious work so we spent the day finishing off the Needle Felting she has been experimenting with over the winter...they are a rather motley bunch.

They have been made using different techniques and with wool from different sheep to see which worked best, do you know you wouldn't believe how many different flavours of sheep there are out there and there was me thinking they were all white!

Aah...mint sauce.

Is it spring yet?

2010-01-30T17:30:00.001Z

Yawn...stretch...hmmm...

I think I must have fallen asleep, I do hope I wasn't snoring too loud.

Apparently the snow that was here has gone and there is new snow here instead. I was not entirely convinced that I had been asleep that long but Bramling dragged me outside to see the snowdrops just pushing their little heads through the ground so I guess I must have nodded of for quite a while.

I also seem to have missed the first workshops of the year so I made up for my absence by helping Her Ladyship tidy up the last of the Christmas stock and dust the shelves before rearranging the shop display for spring.

It can be quite a dirty job especially when there's snow outside and the floor gets wet so all the dust gets wet and sticks to my feet as I pad about the floor. I shall have to fill the bucket with some warm soapy water and wash them later on.

His Lordship is snuffling away in front of his computer with a head cold…I do hope I don’t catch it…not with a nose like this!

Never mind the oil burner is steaming away in the corner with some tea tree and eucalyptus oil in it, so hopefully that will help, it makes the place smell lovely too…perhaps I could use some on that smelly old goblin.

“Bramling…oh Bramling…are you busy?”

Chilly for June...

2010-01-10T15:01:00.003Z

I do like a good toddle along the beach but it's proving a little difficult at the moment...it's so cold the sea has frozen!

I do feel sorry for poor Heron...it must make it well nigh impossible for him to catch any fish.

I wonder if I should take him some hot chocolate and a doughnut?

Perhaps some sardines would be more appropriate...then we can have the hot chocolate and doughnuts ourselves.

I shall just go and put the kettle on...

A good excuse...

2010-01-08T12:55:00.001Z

By golly it's cold out there.
There's not much doing in the Studio just now so He Ladyship suggested I put on my socks and wellington boots and went to play in the snow, so here is a photograph I took of my good friend Wheredid enjoying this frosty weather.

I'm not a great lover of snow...far too cold and damp for my old bones...however it is a good excuse for a steaming mug of hot chocolate when one returns indoors.

Hapy Crisymusses to yoo !

2009-12-24T12:04:00.001Z

I is takin dis hopportunety To(*)^* wish all uvverworld beings (and yoo shoomans of couse) a verrry happy wotsitsname cos Elfypants is at 'er Ladyships house tooday wrappin up all the goodies 'n stuff and cant do 'is bloggy fing......little creep! So fr*m me...Bramling Leafmould (a nice, goodest goblin, I am) and Dauby and her Ladyship and Lordship I have to wishes yer an apppy Crissymus and grate Noo Year. So eer's a luvvely pikcha of my favey fings....

Luvverly mushrooomses!

I'm orf to get verry, verry drunk now......

"Twinkle Twinkle...

2009-12-22T14:12:00.001Z

...little lights how the Fairy shines at night."

Oh we did have such fun last night.
After a hard days tidying and polishing Her Ladyship and I put up the Christmas Decorations at home and decorated the tree with lot's of sparkly things.I do love the way the lights twinkle (although I did get a telling off later in the evening 'cos I kept putting the livingroom lights off because the tree looked so pretty in the dark).
My good friend Farting Fairy is sitting beside the tree (the little motor inside her makes a rather unfortunate noise for a fairy) keeping an eye on the presents as Bramling has taken to poking, prodding, and shaking them quite violently to see if any of them may contain mushrooms of any sort!
It's very chilly here today so I think I shall go and put the kettle on and offer round the mince pies...

Too frosty for elves...

2009-12-18T12:43:00.001Z

My goodness it's cold out there.
It has also started to snow so I have turned up the heaters and I think I shall go and put my socks on.(we Elves don't normally wear anything on our feet but I will make exceptions in weather like this).
Her Ladyship has been busy making family gifts so I'm afraid I can't show you those untill after Christmas but meanwhile here are my socks...

...they are rather snazzy but they do keep my feet toasty when I'm padding about the studio in the winter.

His Lordship is busy printing the family christmas cards , I think I shall go and design one to put up on my blog for all you nice people.

But first it's time for soup...roasted vegetable I think with some crusty brown bread.

Button up it's cold out there.

2009-12-04T17:29:00.004Z

Brrr…winter is definitely upon us now. There is snow on the Ben and for several days now His Lordship has had to scrape the frost off the car before we set off in the morning.

We have been busy in the studio making pretty things and today Her Ladyship finished off a batch of beautiful Button Necklace Sets. They looked so colourful I asked if I could photograph them for my Diary. Here they are…

I hung them in the window as it was such a gloriously sunny day and think they look like precious gems with the sun shining through them like that.

I do like frosty winter days when the sun shines, everything looks so pretty with its sugar frosting on and Bramling usually keeps out the way when it’s sunny as he much prefers “a good dose of murk” as he would put it.

Move over Mr Bailey.

2009-11-20T16:32:00.002Z

Oh I say what glorious fun...
Her Ladyship showed me how to use the camera and I spent a wonderful afternoon setting up product shots.
I had no idea how involved it is...finding a suitable backdrop, setting up the products to look their best, making sure one has the lighting just right (it has to be very bright...but that was fine as the bright lights put Bramling off interfering and he hid under the counter among some painty rags and fell asleep), then putting the camera on the correct settings.
I did enjoy myself so as I promised here is a shot of the keyrings Her Ladyship makes with the offcuts of denim.

Some of our customers think they look like little sporrans...I suppose they do really.

I like the way Crafters let nothing go to waste even if it does mean a very full store room for me to tidy up.

Simply Jeanius.

2009-11-18T11:29:00.002Z

I think today could get rather messy in the studio... Her Ladyship is about to start fringing the Denim rice packs she has made so I will be spending the rest of the day sweeping up little bits of blue thread which fly off in all directions as she weilds the wire brush with great gusto to the edges of the denim.
I must say though they do look rather nice when they are finished and are sooooo relaxing when heated and placed on my rather bony old shoulders at the end of a hard days tidying.
She makes several items out of recycled denim jeans I especially like her pocket bags.

Nothing goes to waste of course even the tiniest pieces of denim are used to make small keyrings as well as tags for the decorated jars.

I must ask permission to use the camera later and show you those too.

Hurrah, it drippeth no more.

2009-11-14T15:01:00.003Z

Oh joy oh rapture...we have dispensed with the buckets, the tarpaulins have been removed, I've swept and mopped up the mess and now it is done.

We finally have a shiny new roof... in a tasteful shade of forest green. You can still see an upturned bit which is a nice grey colour (I like it too) but Her Ladyship wants green so....

It took a bit of doing mind you, but just between us, I really quite enjoyed myself what with oodles of mess to tidy up and the never ending refreshments required for the work force.

Oi...Elfypants! shHow uz somE of da roofy musHrooms then!

The detritus that came off the roof was most interesting and appeared to be made of wet cardboard.

I gather from Master J that there was more than one and a half tons of the rotten stuff and all of it was sopping wet.

WE Wants sum shRooooms picKcha's Elfy!

Now however we have nice dry plywood instead.

Her Ladyships brother did a marvelous job of stripping of all the old tar and cardboardy stuff and almost came in through the roof to say hello at one point.

Even Her Ladyship herself helped out by removing all the wet plaster board from the inside before Master A did a splendid job of fitting the new stuff. Now it's just down to the master to finish...

Oi! mista Elfy perSin Dobbly, wot abOut da roofy musHrooms then!

Oh alright then, anything to keep you quiet...and it's Dauby if you don't mind.

AAAAaaaahhhhh loooky loooky - yumness taSty fungusSness!

Good grief, Goblins really are a pain the the derriere...and none more so than Bramling Leafmould Esq. However that should keep him out of my hair for a while (well, it would if I had any...aha aha aha ha ha! ).

Now where was I, Oh yes... Her Ladyship got busy tearing down the plaster board and that horrible wooly stuff that looks like orange sheep...

...and now all that remains to be done is some titvating up and a little decorating.

Hurrah.

Peculiar goings on.

2009-10-31T15:01:00.004Z

Happy Halloween everyone.
May I take this opportunity to remind you humans to be careful out there tonight,there are strange and unworldly beings about and you never know whom you might meet,and believe me you do not want to meet someone like Bramling Leafmould on a dark night after he's been licking toads.
There are peculiar goings on at Samhain.

Hanging by a thread

2009-10-24T16:34:00.003+01:00

Another drippy day here in the studio but things have been brightened up somewhat by the grand hanging of Her Ladyships first weaving.
Inspired by the beach at Uig on the Isle of Lewis and woven with fibers bought at the wonderful Blue Pig Studio I do rather think it captures the serene beauty of this idylic place.
It is now hanging on the back wall of the studio along with Her Ladyships felted bees wall hanging, which has been admired by ever so many customers.
I wonder what they will think of this one ?

Dried up like a prune.

2009-10-17T16:09:00.003+01:00

Autumn is well and truly upon us and all the leaves are turning into beautiful works of art.

Well...some of them.
Others seem to just dry up and fall off overnight.
Things are drying up nicely in the studio at the moment with the purchase of a dehumidifier to stop things getting mouldy untill we get the roof fixed.Bramling has been complaining that he likes the green stuff growing on the ceiling and doesn't see why we want to get rid of it...hmmm, I guess thats Goblins for you.
Perhaps I could turn the dehumidifier up full when he's asleep and dry him up too...tee hee hee.
Miss J brought us in some rockbuns for afternoon tea and they did make rather a mess, I'd better go and sweep up the crumbs.

Digitally challenged.

2009-10-10T16:41:00.003+01:00

I do believe I'm rather getting the hang of this toplap thingy, it doesn't take me nearly as long to put the letters on the screen.
Her Ladyship doesn't always use the buttons on the toplap, she has a marvellous contaption which has a pen with no ink and a rubbery bit where the paper should go.She paints and draws with it and like magic the picture appears on the screen.

She was using it today to paint a birthday card for a nice lady who wanted to send it to her Grandson. Her Ladyship has done many of these special cards...I thought you might like to see some of her latest ones.

I shall just go and wash up the tea things and that will be my chores finished untill monday...toodle ooh.

The stuff of life.

2009-10-07T10:40:00.004+01:00

Goodness me, we are having a fun time in the studio today.

All those little arms and legs and assorted bear bits are getting stuffed.

We've done all the arms and heads and now we are onto the legs.

They all have their cardboard soles in place and once we have finished stuffing the toes I get to put a teaspoon of steel shot into each one.I have to be ever so careful not to spill any as it goes shooting off across the studio floor in all directions and takes hours to pick up...as Bramling will testify as he once knocked over the whole tub and spent three days chasing little silver balls all over the studio(Goblins are such clumsy creatures, he can't help it really but I must confess I found it all very amusing, the sight of him,bottom in air trying to crawl under the shelves swearing at the "little silver boggers").

Ah well, Kettle on soon I think, time for a little tea and perhaps a raspberry oatcake...

Oh what a beautifull morning...

2009-10-04T13:51:00.004+01:00

Greetings and felicitations on this glorious autumn day.

The sun is shining and the storms have abated so I put on my new wellington boots and cosy socks and went for a stroll along the beach this morning before opening the studio.

Thankfully we have managed to keep a grip on the pesky tarpaulin on the roof during the gales and the roof is not dripping too much...not that I care now that I have my new wellingtons.

Her Ladyship is just finishing her lunch then I believe she is going to do a little needlefelting with some of young master Harry's clippings. He's a hansome little chap, I don't much care for dogs generally seeing as most of them are bigger than me but young Harry is only a wee smout.

Ah well...I think I shall go and sit on the doorstep in the sun for a little while...it's good for my creaky knees.

2009-10-01T15:54:00.007+01:00

I'm afraid poor Dauby is at home today.

He has a horrible cold so I've tucked him up nice and warm with a flask of chamomile tea, some of his favourite biscuits and a box of extra large hankies (with a nose the size of his, a cold is no laughing matter).

He got terribly cold and damp helping us mop up the flooded studio after the other nights rain storm and it will be another couple of weeks before the builder comes to fix the roof so I've bought him a pair of wellies and some nice warm socks meantime.

Hopefully he will be better tomorrow.

It's oh so quiet....Shhhh....Shhhh.

2009-09-26T15:10:00.005+01:00

I hope you can hear me as I'm typing very quietly, Her Ladyship is busy doing her annual accounts and tax return. Being a creative soul at heart numbers aren't really her thing and she would much rather be making something than balancing books.

Therefore I'm being very quiet and just slipping a fresh cup of tea and the odd tasty bite onto her desk now and then.

However tomorrow is Sunday and she always reserves Sundays to experiment with a new craft or technique so I shall creep off into a corner and have a snooze meantime...

Never again...

2009-09-12T11:02:00.008+01:00

Oooooh,my poor head.
I should have known, when Bramling said he was coming via the brewery, that it wasn't a good idea.
"You'll like this" he said..."posh stuff this is" he said...
Something called "yellowhammer" and that is just what it feels like this morning.
When I looked in the mirror my eyes were a sickly shade of yellow and my head is thumping like a jackhammer!

My snail and mushroom risotto was quite delicious however,even though I say so myself.
Thankfully Her Ladyship has given me the weekend off as it's a quiet time in the studio.
She likes to experiment with new crafts and ideas at the weekend especially in the summer when the studio is open 7 days a week,she say's it's her way of having the weekend off...rather clever I think...Oh no, I shouldn't think at all it hurts too much!
Pass the alka seltzer someone...

image©aldoaldoz

Congratulations & Celebrations

2009-09-11T14:01:00.008+01:00

There is an air of excitement in the studio today, His Lordship and Her Ladyship are celebrating their wedding anniversary.

There are flowers on the worktop and some of Ingrid and Lucas's delicious handmade belgian chocolates in the fridge...mmmmm.

I did offer to make my special snail and mushroom rissotto to celebrate but apparently a secret booking has been made somewhere nice for dinner tonight...I guess I shall just have to share the rissotto with Bramling since he has such a thing for mushrooms.

Funny creatures goblins, no manners to speak of but ever so grateful if mushrooms are on offer!

Taxidermy in progress

2009-09-10T14:33:00.005+01:00

I say...the studio does look a little strange today.The worktop is strewn with tiny arms,legs,and headless bodies!
Thankfully all is well...Her Ladyship has not become some mass murderer but is deep in the middle of a bear creating frenzy.
I think I shall go and tidy up the storeroom when she starts stuffing them though, it makes my eyes water just thinking about it!

September in the Rain

2009-09-06T13:04:00.005+01:00

Well...I must say it is a lovely day now,which is just as well as it means the leaky studio roof has almost stopped dripping.
It gets quite mesmerising sometimes, almost soporific, the gentle drip drip drip into the strategically placed buckets.Other days it's much more rhythmic and makes me want to tap dance my way round my chores.
Aha...time for luch methinks...fresh pancakes mmmmm.

Humble Beginnings

2009-09-03T17:02:00.003+01:00

jduvKsjdnv.,;*...
Aha, now I am beginning to see how Her Ladyships toplap thingy works...so I type things in here and then push the publish button?