I am also into my third week of training in preparation to complete a half marathon in October.  I'm not quite sure how it happened but I came home from work one evening only for my husband to great me and ask if I wanted to run the half marathon with him.  My first answer cannot be repeated here, but his quiet persuasion throughout the night made me give in with a final demand that I get some proper trainers!  We went to a running shop in Swansea that weekend!!!

The training has not been easy - I'm not a youngster anymore (unless we are talking mental age...) and I don't remember getting so many aches and pains when I used to do a lot of running in my much younger days!  As hubby keeps telling me, it's the weaknesses leaving my body.... Who's kidding who here...?  In my mind pain = stop!  But alas, I've made the committment and I'm now determined to do it.  Anyway, in between the training after work, which is every other day (shock, horror) I am trying to remain creative, so as I mentioned earlier, I have recently finished my 'duckie with attitude' and here he is...

He sits at 2.5" tall, has wired arms for posing, legs which flop around and his body is loosely stuffed with cotton stuffing and steel shot.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

28 March 2010 - I finished my first little scruffy bear late last night, or maybe I should say very early this morning seeing as the clocks went forward an hour!  I really enjoyed making this bear as the worn, scruffy look is not my usual style.  I found it hard when stitching the nose to make it look untidy as I'm so used to trying to make them as perfect as I can.  The bear is still in a contemporary style with a new 2-piece head pattern but I wanted him to have the 'old' appeal.  I hope it has worked.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

23 March 2010 - You can now join us on Facebook.  Sarian Miniature Bears has a fan page here.  There has been much discussion on a forum for bears artists about the pros and cons of having the bears on Facebook, Twitter, blogs etc, etc and I've decided to give Facebook a try and see how it goes.  I made the decision long ago not to have a blog as I spend too much time on the computer as it is, plus I would only feel guilty about not keeping it updated regularly.  I hope to keep the Facebook pages updated with my new creations as well as sending updates to those of you who have signed up to my mailing list.

As ever, feel free to send in your comments and suggestions or join us on Facebook. :o)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

27 February 2010 - Well, it's been a busy time on the bear front.  I have 3 orders to complete and at the same time I want to try and keep new bears coming for the website.  I've started working on a few bears at a time which so far is working quite well.  I even take sewing to work with me to do during my lunch hour.  I can just about manage to stitch a little arm in that time!

My evenings are taken up with the bears too and I've been experimenting with changing my head pattern.  My rabbit design has a two-piece head pattern, so I decided to give the two-piece head pattern a try with my bears and so far Myrtle and Petit Bleu are the result.  It was one of those moments when I thought 'why have I not done this before...?'  One of my orders is for a completely different creature and I'm still working on the pattern, but all won't be revealed until it is completely finished.  I just hope that it turns out how I want it too.  I want it to be quirky and comical at the same time.

Anyway, back to the bears...

This is my current work area - my 'workshop in a cupboard' where all my little creatures are brought to life.  If you look closely, you can just make out Petit Bleu on the desk waiting for his arms to be attached.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

15 February 2010 - Changes are afoot!  Last week I managed to complete my course that I started in November with Pitman Training in Cardiff and I have also managed to get myself a full time job, at last, which has been no easy task in this current climate since we moved to South Wales.  The bears and the course have helped me to keep my sanity, but it has also been a time of reflection.

Since our move and the large amount of time I've had to spend on the bears, I have realised just how much I enjoy making them and that I've missed it.  Since returning to the UK end of 2008, the bears have very much taken a back seat, but since Christmas I've decided to put more effort into the bears and take a more business minded approach to it.  Although I will be working full time again, it just means that I will have to manage my time at home better.  So do keep popping back every now again to have a look at future little orphans looking for new homes to go to... :o)  Of course, if you want to be updated each time, just put your name down for my mailing list, which can be done from the Home Page.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10th January 2010 - Happy New Year to you all!  Let's hope that it's a good and successful year for everyone.  I'm hoping that it will see me get the job that I really want to do but I need to finish my course first, so I've quite a bit of revision to get done.  It's good to get the old grey matter working again, but just when I think I've learnt something, the next day I seem to have forgotten it!  It must mean that I am getting old!

The snowy weather has been very welcome from the point of view of being creative as it has meant that I have been able to get my very first rabbit finished at last.  I managed to complete the prototype rabbit before Christmas and then tweaked the design here and there to improve the look and Maisie is the result.  I am really pleased with the overall look and I love the wired ears which makes for some very cute poses!  Your opinion and comments on the design would be most welcome, so please feel free to let me know or post on my Guestbook.

:o)  :o)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9th November 2009 - Finally, I've managed to finish some new bears and I hope that you like them.  Times have been quite busy of late with our recent move from bonny Scotland to South Wales and I've been putting all of my efforts in to finding new employment.  Things are starting to look a bit more promising on that front so fingers crossed...

I have plenty of ideas for new bears and I've yet to finish a rabbit design I started in the summer.  So my next plan is to finish the prototype and maybe tweak the design here and there if I feel I need to, so keep your eyes peeled for some Sarian rabbits in the future.

Don't forget, feel free to leave any comments on my Guestbook or join my mailing list.

:o)   :o)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5th October 2009 - My bears and I have moved from Fife in Scotland to the the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales.  We are still trying to sort ourselves out setting up the new home and getting everything in order which hopefully won't take too long - fingers crossed!  My indoor 'bear workshop' has been rebuilt and the bear making paraphernalia has been returned to some kind of order after being stuffed into boxes by the removal men.  I hope to have some new bears available very soon.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday 23rd May was the grand outing for 6 of my latest little bears.  My sister was happily married to a lovely young man and they were both very pleased with their wedding cake decoration - two Sarian Miniature Bears.  The other four found new homes with the Bridesmaids.

The colours, types of fur and style were all chosen by my sister and niece but they didn't see the finished result until the special day, so I was a little apprehensive about them, but I needn't have been because they were very well received!  The whole day was an absolute success and the bears were very happy to be going to their new homes.

Here are a few pictures....