Jigpaws

Finally did it........I got my LL.B !!!!!!!

2009-06-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

YIPEEEEEEE!!!!!!

I found out today I've passed all my exams so I'm now the proud owner of a University of Edinburgh law degree...........I'm now Janice McLeod LL.B, Bachelor of laws........how fab is that....lol :O)

On the whole I've enjoyed my time at university......there's been a few ups and downs and I've struggled at times to try to juggle studying, working, being a single mum, making bears and not to mention the financial struggles.....but I'm glad I did it :O)

Now I just need to find myself a job!!!!

What an eventful last couple of months I've had!! After finishing all my essays and exams for uni, I had to get enough bears made for the Teddy Bear Artist Event at Stratford and I have to say what a wonderful weekend I had there :O)

My mum and sister came with me and we went down on the Friday so we could spend Saturday wandering around Stratford soaking up all the sights..........unfortunately it didn't quite work out that way as the weather was terrible (and I stupidly only took my flip flops with me as the weather was quite nice when we left Edinburgh on the Friday!!!!). We stayed at this wonderful guest house called Broadlands.......Jeremy and Tamara were just wonderful, we couldn't have asked for nicer hosts (they even popped along to the civic hall to visit the bears!!).

The fair itself was great fun, it was lovely to meet up with a lot of collectors and other bear artists........the bears on display were absolutely fantastic, there were some really fantastic bears there.....how anyone managed to choose just one bear from all the talent on display is beyond me :O)

My table at Stratford

On a different note......my eldest son flew the nest a couple of weeks ago!!! He and his girlfriend have decided to set up home together and I really hope it works out well for him :O) But........as I'm sure a lot of you out there will understand.....it really tugs at your heart strings when they close that door behind them!!! I'm still finding it really strange not having him around the house.

I'm off to see Take That on their Circus tour on Friday and I'm sooooo excited!!!! Aside from all the fab songs they sing, the show itself is suppose to be quite spectacular. There's a huge mechanical elephant that enters the stage which is meant to be quite a sight to see!!! I'm really looking forward to it :O)

Click here to see the elephant in action

Speak to you again soon :O)

Hugs
Janice

Giveaway by Ginger

2009-05-09T00:43:00.000-07:00

Look at this gorgeous little bear.......isn't she just adorable :O)

Posy has been made by Ginger of Bearbits and she is being offered as a free giveaway as part of her Silver Anniversary as a bear artist celebrations. If you would like a chance to win her just pop along to Ginger's blog and leave a message for her. Just click on Posy's photo to visit Ginger's blog. Good luck :O)

Hugs
Janice

Happy Easter!!!

2009-04-11T00:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone
Hope you all have a lovely day :O)

Oh my goodness........where is the time going......Easter already!!! You know what that means..........we'll be seeing advent calendars and tinsel in the shops from Monday.....lol

It's such a beautiful day here in Edinburgh today......for a change!!! I love Spring, I think it has to be my favourite season with nature bursting into life everywhere you look and promises of better things to come :O)

Anyway......have a wonderful Easter....and try not to each too many of those yummy chocolate eggs :O)

Speak to you again soon!!!

Hugs
Janice

Bear swap

2009-03-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

I recently did a bear swap which was organised on Teddy Talk and thought I'd share photos of the bears with you :O)

This is the bear I made for Patty of Swan Valley Bears, his name is Peter:

And this gorgeous little girl was made for me by Patty :O) Her name is Celeste and I'm absolutely thrilled with her!!! This photo was taken by Patty before Celeste began her journey from the USA to Edinburgh. I tried to take piccies myself but my camera decided it wanted to play up today. I'll add more photos of her when I get the chance.

I've signed up to do another swap, this time with a theme - summer flowers - and I'm really looking forward to it, they're so much fun :O)

I can finally get back to bear making this week as that's me now finished uni..........YIPEE, YIPEE, YIPEE :O) I've still got my exams to revise for which are in May but I no longer need to attend any classes so have a lot more free time now.

I'll need to also start making bears for the Teddy Bear Artist Event in Stratford. It's still a couple of months away but you know what it's like.......it'll be here before I know it!!! I'm sooooo looking forward to the event. It had rave reviews last year (it's 1st year) with everyone having such a wonderful day. If you want to see what it's all about click on the icon on the right.

Hugs for now :O)

Janice

I'm still here :o)

2009-02-19T10:22:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Just thought I'd check in to let you know I'm still here :o)

I've not had the chance to post anything on my blog for a while due to my essays deadline (too) fast approaching. In fact I've not had the chance to do anything else much aside from studying over the last few weeks :o( I'm really missing making bears just now as I find it such a therapeutic way of unwinding at the end of the day. I've been making up for it by buying lots of lovely mohair though...in preparation of when I can get back to my bear making.

Only 5 weeks to go.........and I'll be finished uni.......I can't believe it!!!! It's been a long and hard struggle getting to this point but I'm so glad I did it :o) I'm really looking forward to having my evenings and weekends back to myself again though!

On one of the forums I read regularly, someone posted a really clever link.......it certainly had me scratching my head and wondering how it was done!! Why not check it out yourself and see if you can figure out how it's done:

http://www.regiftable.com/regiftingrobinpopup.html

I've also recently joined a new blog link site called '100 Best Bear Artist Blogs'. It's worth popping by for a visit to see some other fantastic work by some very talented bear artists. Just click the banner on the right hand side or below if you would like to have a look :o)

Thanks for stopping by for a visit :o)

Hugs
Janice

Thank you Kelly!!

2009-01-31T05:24:00.000-08:00

I'm so honoured to have been awarded a Work of Heart award from Kelly of Blondheart bears. Kelly states:

"The Works Of Heart award is for people who put their heart and soul into their work, their words and/or their kindness to others."

Thank you so much for awarding me this lovely award Kelly......it really means a lot :o)

I can now forward this award to 2 other people but before I do that I'm going to bounce it right back to Kelly (which I think is probably cheating as it means I'm now sending it to three people!!) as she really deserves it for all the work she puts in to promoting bear artistry and for being such a lovely friendly person. Kelly has also done a lot to promote team spirit not only within the bear artist world but in the crafting world generally........she's such a star :o) So Kelly....my first award goes out to you - Blondheart

Now.........who to award the other 2 to........this is going to be difficult as there's so many wonderful people out there who are so worthy of this lovely award!!!

I would like to award this to Catherine of Bumpkin Bears. Catherine makes such adorable bears with the cutest expressions and has also recently started doing the cutest bear artwork. She is such a friendly person which I feel shows in her lovely bears.

I'd like to give my final award to Kay from KatieCountryBears. Kay is one of the sweetest, kindest people I know. She has a heart of pure gold and always says the nicest things. Her bears are really sweet and have such personality. She's wonderful :o)

Enjoy your awards ladies :o)

Hugs
Janice

Another good reason to join ArtFire

2009-01-06T07:14:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas :o)

I would also like to wish you all a very happy new year.......I hope you have a very happy and healthy 2009!!!

I just thought I'd mention another good reason to join ArtFire. By taking out a membership you will be 'doing your bit' to help the environment.

One of my MANY new year's resolutions this year is to become more 'green'.......and this is one more way for me to do this :o)

There's only around 3,000 $7 (roughly around £4) places left so now would be a good time to join in if you're thinking about it. I believe the price is going to rise to around $20-$25 once all the $7 slots are taken!!

Why not pop along and see for yourself by visiting the site, just click on the link below :o)

Well.........2009!!! I've got quite a bit to look forward to this year! It's my last year of studying at uni and I have to admit, as much as I enjoy being a student (definitely should have done this YEARS ago!!), it will be nice to have more time to myself again. I find it quite difficult at the moment fitting everything into my life.......between being a single parent (and all that entails), studying, working part time and making bears! There's just not enough hours in the day.

I've also got 2 bear shows this year which I'm REALLY excited about :o) Apart from getting the chance to meet other fantastic bear artists (many of who's work I've admired for quite some time), it'll be so nice to meet some of my collectors :o) Although, I dare say nearer the time I'll be really nervous as these will be my first 'proper' bear shows!

I'll also be hitting the big 40 this year!!!! WOW, where does the time go.....scary!!!

Speak to you all again soon :o)

Hugs
Janice

ArtFire

2008-12-30T05:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I've just joined yet another new venue for selling my bears and I must say I think it's fab!! It's called ArtFire and it's along similar sort of lines as Etsy, but with people behind the scenes who listen to you.........which can only be a good thing :o)

They're running a special promotion just now and the first 5,000 people who sign up for an account get it at the special rate of $7 a month compared to $20 when all these slots are taken. There's also a chance to 'earn' a free ride which means you get it free for life!!!!

Why not take a look for yourself, it looks to be quite a promising site and one which is going to be very well promoted.

Register on ArtFire-Jigpaws.com

Hugs
Janice

Christmas Parade now open!!!

2008-12-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know Ellen Borggreve's Christmas Parade is now OPEN :o)

Ellen is running a lovely parade on her blog site which features bear artists' favourite bears. Why not pop along and pay her blog a visit!!!

Hope you all have a fantastic christmas and a wonderful new year :o)

Hugs
Janice

2008-12-07T12:35:00.000-08:00

I've just listed my last 2 bears of 2008 on ebay :o)

There's one of my usual style of bears called Rusty who's made from a lovely deluxe faux fur and a more traditional style bear called William who's made from a delicious brown dense mohair.

I know they'd be thrilled if you stopped by to pay them a visit (just click on their photos) :o)

I'd just like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very merry Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful time :o)

Hugs
Janice x

New record!!

2008-11-21T13:25:00.000-08:00

WOW.......2 posts in one week :o)

I've just listed another bear for sale but this time on ebay. He's called Crispin and he's a lovely little 10" mohair bear with the loveliest hand painted glass eyes. I hope you can pop by to pay him a little visit :o)

Hugs
Janice

Benjamin on Bid4Bears

2008-11-18T11:01:00.001-08:00

I've just listed a lovely little 4.5" bear called Benjamin on Bid4Bears. If you would like to pop in and pay him a visit just click on the Bid4Bears logo on the right hand side :o)

I've also signed up for the Holly Jolly Holiday campaign on Bid4Bears which looks to be quite exciting!! It runs from 20th November to 20th December and artists from all over the world are participating. What makes it extra exciting is santa will be popping buy every so often to give random shoppers and browsers gifts.......you don't even need to buy anything :o)

There's some very exciting bear artists signed up for the event so I hope you can pop by and pay the bears a visit.......you never know, you might even win a prize!!!

Just click on the link on the right hand side if you fancy taking a look :o)

Take care all and speak to you all soon.

Hugs
Janice

New Jigpaws LolliShop coming soon!!

2008-11-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

I'm sooo excited to be part of a brand new shopping site coming soon. It's called LolliShops and is a juried site where artists sell their hand crafted creations. I'm really looking forward to this site being up and running as there's some fantastically talented artists on it. It's due to open to the public at the end of November and I'm sure it's going to be fab!!!

On another exciting note I've been invited to attend 2 bear events next year. The first event I'll be attending is the Teddy Bear Artist Event in June which is organised by Samantha Potter of Mary Myrtle Miniatures. It's only the second year this event has been run but last year it had rave reviews by so many people so I'm really looking forward to attending.

The second event I'll be attending is the Hugglets festival in September. I'm sure this event needs no introduction to all you bear collectors out there but to those of you who don't collect bears it is the biggest teddy bear fair in the UK which is attended by around 150 bear artists, so it's very exciting (and quite daunting) to be invited to attend.

Hopefully I'll get the chance to meet one or two of you at one of these events :o)

Hugs
Janice

New bear on ebay!!!

2008-09-17T11:44:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

I've just added a new bear to ebay. He's a 14" halloween bear made from the most deliciously soft deluxe faux fur :o)

He'd love it if you popped along for a visit :o)

Don't you just love halloween :o) It's not as big a thing here in the UK as it is in other parts of the world. Our kids go out 'guising' (trick or treating) but they just don't go all out like they do in the US for example. I suppose it doesn't help that it's usually raining here and sooooo cold...kind of puts a bit of a dampener on things!!!

Anyway.....hope you like Spookie :o)

Hugs
Janice

The best laid plans

2008-08-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Well.......so much for listing a couple of new bears on ebay soon after my last posting!!! Two days after my last post I was admitted to hospital and had to have emergency surgery to have my gall bladder removed so, needless to say I didn't get round to finishing my bears!!!

I finally got round to listing 2 of them today and I'll hopefully get the other one put on tomorrow. The first one is called Willow and he's a 10" panda made from the most scrumptious new deluxe faux fur.........incredibly soft and fluffy!!

The second one is a new design I've been trying out and is an 8 way jointed polar bear called Flake. He's quite a big boy (for me anyway) at 14" tall when standing and quite heavy. He's made from a lovely white straight pile mohair. He's got such a lovely feel about him, I could just sit and hug him all day :o)

I've also finished off a very cute little miniature bear who stands just 4" tall. I just need to finish off a couple of little things before I post him on ebay!!

I'm really enjoying playing about with new designs and fabrics just now.....hence the 3 different styles of bear being listed on ebay!!! I think that's one of the things I really enjoy about bear making......there's so many new things to try and so many wonderful fabrics to choose from that I can't imagine ever getting bored of creating new bears :o)

Speak to you again soon!!!

Oh dear......yet another 2 months!!!!!!!

2008-08-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

Well......what can I say????? I've no reasonable excuse for leaving it yet another 2 months to update my blog, so I'm not even going to try......lol :o)

I'd like to say a very warm welcome to all my visitors :o) I've been having a look at my little Feedjit thingy at the bottom of my blog page and am amazed at the people who have visited :o) It's very nice to see visitors coming from all over the world.........thank you :o)

Well, that's my holiday well and truly over for this year and I must say what a fantastic (but exhausting!!!!) holiday it was. I LOVED America and most definitely want to go back there!!! I won't bore you with all my holiday photos (WAY too many!!!!) but I thought I'd share a couple with you :o)

You can't go to Disney without taking a photo of Cinderella's castle........so here it is!!!

One of the floats at the Disney night time parade

The FANTASTIC Shamu at Seaworld....what a show!!!!

My son enjoying the cool water mist coming off the water under the Universal globe.

The African Queen boat from the movie starring
Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn which was outside our hotel at the Florida Keys.

WOW........bush sculpture in Busch Gardens!!!!

And, for me, the highlight of our holiday.................

.........my son and I swimming with the dolphins at the Florida Keys
FANTASTIC!!!!!

Well holiday pics posted......now lets talk bears :o) I've got a couple of bears almost finished (hopefully I'll get them finished over the weekend) which I'll hopefully get put onto Bearpile and possibly ebay over the next few days. I've just bought a stash of GORGEOUS deluxe faux fur which I'm looking forward to making some bears from. I've almost finished a panda I'm making from this stash and it's sooooo soft. I've also got a little miniature bear, an open mouthed polar bear and a golden mohair bear in the process of being made so fingers crossed I should be finished them soon :o)

Speak to all again soon(ish!!!!)

Hugs
Janice

Where does the time go???

2008-06-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness..............has it really been almost 2 months since I last updated my blog!!!!! Where does the time go??????

I've been busy, busy, busy making bears for a craft fair I attended on Saturday. The weather was fantastic (for a change!!!) and I was stuck indoors!!! It was VERY quiet at the fair as the hall used is near a local beach and everyone (very wisely) was spending their time at the beach in the glorious weather we had. Anyhoo.....since it was so quiet I didn't sell many bears so I'll be listing quite a few on ebay over the next couple of weeks.

I've got 2 bears on just now which are finishing tomorrow night. There's a pink and white deluxe fur panda called Candyfloss and a mint and chocolate mohair panda called Mintola.

It's only 2 weeks now until I go to Florida and I'm REALLY looking forward to it!!! I'm not looking forward to the flight.........9 hrs!!!.......but it'll be worth it when we get there. If anyone has any useful tips to share about holidaying in Florida I'd love to hear them :o) We're planning to do a park every other day and sightsee in between. We're also going on a trip halfway through to the Florida Keys and Miami which I'm very excited about!!! We're doing an airboat ride at the Everglades and swimming with the dolphins at the Keys...................something I've wanted to do for years!!!

New style bears!!!

2008-04-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm not very good at this blogging business.......I was never any good at keeping a diary when I was a child either (despite numerous attempts at trying!!). I'll try to make more of an effort to update more often :o)

So....what have I been up to???? Well, I've been busy making bears for a couple of local fairs I'm attending in May. I've posted photos of a couple of new bears I've made!! The one at the top is called Bobby and he's the first bear I've made with a muzzle insert. I know muzzle inserts are done by many many bear artists but it took me quite a few attempts at getting the look I wanted. The other bear is called Bonnie and she's made from such a lovely colour of mohair!! Hmm......I think I like the different coloured muzzle look, I'd love to know what you think of it :o)

I also had a letter from Teddy Bear Club International magazine saying they would put photos of a couple of my bears in their magazine so I can't wait to see them!!!

Teddy bear stuff aside....I've been on holiday from my work for the past week and a half and it's been absolutely fab!!!! I've not been doing anything very interesting (saving my pennies for Florida :o)) but it's just been very nice having the luxury of having time to do what I want :o)

I will try to not leave it so long to update my blog the next time.....promise!!!!!

Finally!!!!!

2008-02-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally did it......I managed to post a photo on my website :o)

I've just spent the last 3-4 hours trying to put a small picture on my website. I never thought a small 12cm photo could cause me so much hair pulling :o) As you've probably realised, I'm not the most computer savvy person in the world. Of course it doesn't help when my computer keeps freezing! Thank goodness for the saviour at the other end of my computer (Penny, my web designer)! I know I'll eventually get the hang of updating my website, it's just so new to me just now and everything seems really difficult and time consuming.

I've just listed a new miniature bear on ebay called Topsy (which was infinitely easier to do!). He's only 5" tall and made of beautifully soft deluxe fur. I quite enjoy making miniature bears, I like the fiddlyness (if that's even a word!) of them. One of my favourite jobs when I was a florist was doing wedding flowers, I loved making the delicate corsages and wired bouquets.

Hope you like Topsy :o)

It's all happening!!!

2008-02-18T11:34:00.000-08:00

Hi to all :o)
My name is Janice and I'm a 38 year old from Edinburgh, Scotland. I'm a single parent with two sons aged 19 (okay now nearly 20!) and 14 and a Bengal cat called Kayla.
I recently decided I'd like to have a go at making teddy bears after collecting them for many years. So in July 2007 my first 'bear' was made and Jigpaws was born! My first bear (if you can call it that) left a lot to be desired but quite a few bears later and I'm a lot happier with the bears I make now.
In the last week or so it's all been happening......I now have a website set up to sell my bears (huge thanks to Penny of Gotobedbears for being wonderfully patient with me) and the owner of a wonderful little boutique in Gullane, East Lothian agreed to show (and hopefully sell) a couple of my bears in her shop. I've also just found out that the Teddy Bear Scene magazine is going to feature a couple of my bears in a future edition...........it's all very exciting :o)