Hermann Bears With a New Lease of Life

I have a group of Hermann bears in my Etsy shop at the moment. Three of them are from around the 1950's.
The first one though is a more modern example that I would not have recognised as a Hermann bear, but I am told on good authorisation that he is.  He is definitely a German bear.
This cute chap is really cuddly with a good covering of mohair. 

 



SOLD

 The next is this cheerful open mouthed bear with his black dog.  He is not jointed, but sits quite happily if leaning on something.
I had to remove his head (sorry if you are squeamish, I hated doing it) and stitch it back on again as it was in danger of falling off.
He has a squeaker that works when it feels like it!


This grumpy looking growling Hermann bear stands very straight (with a bit of help from me) and looks very proud of his little bell.  He is a serious soul, but very cuddly with his beautiful long pile mohair.  I had to do some extensive repairs to his paws, practically having to replace the left one as can be seen if you look carefully at the photo.  He is probably my favourite of this group of Hermanns.  As with other damaged paws I tried to leave as much of the original fabric in place and just slip the new underneath and stitch in place with tiny invisible (I hope) stitches.

This is the last of the German bears to date.  I am not sure if this one is actually a Hermann bear, but he is definitely from that area of Germany, as there are many similarities in his design.  He is not mohair, but a soft plush which has cleaned and brushed up very well.

All of the above bears are available for sale in my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/PollysVintageBears

along with many other bears and vintage toys.

Chiltern Bear 'Darnit'

Darnit, with his strange button eyes.

I have not blogged for quite a while, but I just had to show off this cute Chiltern bear that I have christened Darnit.  He has quite extensive darning to his eye sockets, hence his name.
Here are his before and after photos.


What a difference a nice pair of glass eyes makes.
Darnit is now SOLD

He came to me with odd sized white button eyes, one stitched on with green wool and the other with white wool.  A delicate operation and he now looks much happier with his amber glass eyes.

He is very worn with just tufts of mohair and is quite saggy.  His paw pads are all intact though and he has his original nose and mouth.  I restitched his back seam as it was not very neat and put a few stitches in one of his ears.

He is now available in my Etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/PollysVintageBears

Fairies, Sprites, Elves, Gnomes and Woodland Creatures

I love the fantasy world of Fairies and Elves, and all of the beautiful woodland creatures that are seen in pictures with them
I realized that I have many of these creatures in my Etsy shops as well as the Fairies themselves.
The knitted fairies were based on a pattern found in the IOM and are all individual designs - no two will be the same.
The Kneehugger Elf/Gnome is a vintage find from around the 1950's and is in very good condition.

Knitted Sprite and Fairy 15" Tall



Vintage Pot Headed Knee Hugger Elf  SOLD

Purple and Pink Knitted Fairy Doll

The next section are the woodland animals that are mainly Steiff except for the larger Deer which is Hermann.


Steiff Wittie Owl - Large  SOLD




 

Steiff  Joggi Hedgehog 5" SOLD and Hoppy Rabbit



Steiff  Nagy Beaver

Steiff Perri Squirrel

Steiff  Tiny Fawn SOLD

Hermann Fawn

 ..and finally, the Christmas Fairies are back!  I know it is only the end of August, but the Christmas goods are already being filtered into the High Street shops so I thought I would get in on the act.

Pink and White Fairy



Pink Fairy Christmas Tree Topper SOLD



Pink Fairy Tree Topper



Blue and Purple Fairy Christmas Tree Topper

 I hope that you enjoyed looking at my fairy folk and cute woodland creatures.  They are all available at www.etsy.com/shop/PollysVintageBears




 

Pud Bears Flower Pandas

I started making 3 coloured Pud Bears Pandas in the 1990's.  They were very popular so I have made a few since I restarted making bears.  Here are a selection of past and present Pandas.



8" Biscuit - SOLD

8" Cherry Panda - SOLD

 

8" Rusty Panda - SOLD

8" Purple Panda - SOLD

8" Tan and Green Panda - SOLD

6" Tan Panda - SOLD





Pastel Panda - available at House of Bears, Bath



I am currently making a new 8" Panda in black, shaggy blue tipped, and royal blue.



My Cavalier Boys Pose for the Camera

I thought I would take a break from showing you my vintage toys and give Harry and Sidney their moment in the spotlight.


Sidney liking his 'new' 3 tier bed (they were waiting to be washed)

My beautiful Harry, complete with cobweb on his head :)

He loved my new Elephant hot water bottle cover

Sidney has a bad hair day!
I can't believe how 'grey' he has gone, just look at the difference in those eyebrows from the photo on the right!

Come to think of it, they both had a bad hair day that day lol
You can easily see their different characters in this photo - Sidney with his wide eyed innocent, worried face and Harry squinting with a willful, defiance stare.

Horses, Chiltern, Prams and Steiff with a Sprinkling of Pincushions

I have not shown the most popular items from my Etsy shops for a while now.  Here are the most viewed items for the last 30 days.

 

First four are from my Bears and dolls shop - Polly's Vintage Bears www.etsy.com/shop/pollysvintagebears

 

Number one  is the miniature doll in her little blue pram.

At number two is this cute Hermann Fawn

Next, at number three is this very play worn Chiltern Bear..SOLD.

...and finally at number four, a very old late 1800's
papier mache horse on wheels.

 

 

As I have two Etsy shops now, here are the top four pincushions in my Polly's Pins and Needles shop.
www.etsy.com/shop/pollyspinsandneedles

Number one - a pretty pink floral high heeled shoe

Number two is this cute Sheep eggcup SOLD

At number three a simple seashell pincushion...

...and at number four is this vintage blue and white teapot with
tulip decoration

There are many more items available in my two shops.  More are being added daily, so keep popping back for a browse.  You may just find that special gift for someone special, or even a present for yourself.

Pincushions, Fairies, Swans and Bagpuss

I opened a new Etsy shop earlier in the month to list the pincushions that I make from found items - some vintage, some just cute.  www.etsy.com/shop/Pollyspinsandneedles  

 



This spider pincushion is the one that started my interest in making more of them.  I found the vintage red velvet cushion at a boot sale.  It already had the cotton doily on the top and I thought it looked like a spider's web. The spider came from a charity shop (a toy free gift I think from a certain fast food shop that children adore). :)   They just had to go together, then I remembered I had a plastic fly/bee somewhere in my stash of decorating bits.  They just came together so well.  I think he is great, so if no-one buys him I will quite happily hang on to him.

There are various shoes and boots

Cute items on cushions - I love this little Bagpuss
 on his striped cushion SOLD

Character Eggcups



Cute ornaments

Miniature vases and jugs

There are 4 different fairies to choose from

Pretty needle holders

I also found some great cotton material that I thought would be good for needle holders.

These are just a few of the pincushions I have available in my Etsy shop.  Go take a look, they make lovely gifts.

An Assortment of Vintage and Antique Toys

I love to get a box of old toys from a sale or Ebay and rummage through to see what I have.
My latest finds include some strange toys, some of which are pre 1900.
These wild animals for example, are from the late 1800's to very early 1900's.  They are around 4"/10cm long, carved from wood and mounted on a wooden plinth.  They have been hand painted, the Leopard's SOLD pattern still being quite clear and colorful.  The Zebra and Tiger are a bit worn and faded though.





To purchase this little horse on wheels go to
www.etsy.com/shop/PollysVintageBears

This small Carthorse on wheels is also from the same period and is very collectable.  It is made from papier mache, and is just 4"/10cm long.  I have seen a few different types like this and most seem to fetch $100 or more.  I have this one for sale in my Etsy shop for 50GBP + postage.