Been to the British Bear Fair today... / General / Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Pumpkin & Pickle Bears
East Sussex
Posts: 2,047

Pumpkin & Pickle Bears Dec 10, 2006

Well....I've been to Hove today to attend the British Bear Artist Awards at the British Bear Fair....

I arrived at 9:45am to set my bear up on the judging table before the public were allowed in at 10am. As soon as I saw the bears by the lady I was up against I nearly cried - she has a big display consisting of 3 bears playing banjo's and sitting in loungers etc on a bed of hay with a fence all around etc - I thought to myself 'how can my 6" bear possibly be any comparison to that?' so with that I went outside to ring my mum to tell her I'd arrived safely and said 'Mum, I don't stand a hope in hell'......I was feeling really deflated by now.... bear_cry

I kept my chin up and went around looking at all the bears for sale and chatting to all the Artists which really put me in a fantastic mood - with the exception of a few, all of them were really lovely.

There was a free prize draw which had a £40 voucher to spend at the show as a 1st prize, and a £25 voucher as a 2nd prize. My mum, godmother and god-sister also put their names in for the draw which was being announced at 2pm. Well....at 2pm the tannoy came on and said 'Here are the results of the fre prize draw - the first prize of a £40 voucher goes to dadada (can't remember her name!! lol), and the second prize of a £25 voucher goes to........Gemma Jeffries'!!!! I'd won a £25 voucher to spend at the fair!! I was thrilled as I'd never really won anything before - I thought it was a great compensation for the fact that I didn't stand a chance in the competition.....at least I'd won SOMETHING!! bear_thumb

The competition results were announced at 3pm. We all stood there in the hall while the runner-up and winners were announced from each category. It got to category 9 (which was my category - only between me and 1 other lady) and I made sure I was standing at the front so I could collect my runner-up certificate...they said 'The runner-up of category 9 is.............Teddy Bear Quazey'...it didn't register in my brain for a few seconds till my god mother said 'Gem, you won, you won!'....they then said 'and the winner of category 9 is pickle & pumpkin'....ok, so they got my name a bit wrong but I didn't care! I was instantly shaking like a leaf and couldn't quite believe what I'd heard.....I HAD WON! I was presented with a beautiful crystal vase engraved with 'British Bear Artist Award 2006. Category 9.' I will receive my certificate in the post.

So, I had 2 wins in 1 day!! lol......I'm still on cloud 9 and can't quite believe it! :dance: :dance:

Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the lady's bears I was against....she had taken them away before I could get a picture....actually, even before she was supposed to!......she didn't take well to being a runner-up even though we'd had a lovely conversation earlier in the day and she was asking advice on shading etc....I saw her after the results and said 'Hi'...she just half smiled and turned the other way!!

Anyway, here are some pictures for you to enjoy:

A few of the other competition pieces.

My bear with my vase.

And.......a bear I treated myself to! The beautiful clown bear above (which won it's category) is by the same lady as my lovely panda 'Yanzi'.......the dark fur on Yanzi is actually a beautiful deep aubergine alpaca. bear_wub

There's also more news........Kirste McCall (the editor of TBCI) was one of the judges....she came and spoke to me after the the awards and said 'Why haven't you sent any pictures in to me?'...I just looked at her confused! She then said 'I'd love it if you could email me some pictures - I want to do a feature on you'.........my head is spinning with all this good news here! bear_rolleyes

Cleathero Creations
Ripley, Queensland
Posts: 1,925

Cleathero Creations Dec 10, 2006

:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:

Brisbane
Posts: 2,951

sarahjane Dec 10, 2006

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :dance: :dance: :dance: So well done Gemma!!!

Laurie Lou Bears
Norfolk
Posts: 3,246

Laurie Dec 10, 2006

Sounds like you had a fantastic day Gemma :dance: :clap: :dance: :clap: :dance:
I am happy that you had such a great day and congratulations on winning your category bear_thumb
Laurie :hug:

Past Time Bears
Double Oak, Texas
Posts: 21,720

SueAnn Help Advisor, Banner SponsorDec 10, 2006

That is just stupendous, Gemma! What a day you've had . . . and very well deserved, too!

Luton
Posts: 518

beary_clairey Dec 11, 2006

Go Gemma, Go Gemma !!!!

You know how proud I am of you and know how much you really deserve your award!!! You are on your way my girl !!

Just remember me when your a famous bear artist commanding a £1000 a bear !!!

LOL

Hugs

Claire :clap: :clap: :clap:

Patsy Lake Bears
Sydney
Posts: 3,442

patsylakebears Dec 11, 2006

Congratulations Gemma, what a fantastic achievement for you... I am so pround for you

Back Road Bears
Laconia, NH USA
Posts: 6,568

Daphne Dec 11, 2006

WOW, Gemma!!!! FANTASTIC!!!!!! AWESOME!!!! VERY WELL DONE!!!
:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

:hug:

Jellybelly Bears
Australia
Posts: 4,066

Jellybelly Bears Dec 11, 2006

Well done Gemma...that is fantabulous news!!! :dance: :clap: :dance:

Draffin Bears
Auckland New Zealand
Posts: 5,354
Website

Carolyn Green Dec 11, 2006

That is great Gemma! Well done and I suppose you are still up on cloud 9 and you have every right to be!

Hugs
Carolyn
bear_flower

Delartful Bears
Australia
Posts: 3,518

Delartful Bears Dec 11, 2006

I told you you would win! No suprise for me, but so glad you won!!! You must be on cloud 9 at the moment - congratulations on your win!!!!!!!!!! Oh and on the feature - yay - you go girl!
Danni