The Elves have been busy!

Yeah - it finally feels like fall! Well, an Arizona desert fall anyway. We enjoy having the doors open.

We are all decked out inside the shop for the holidays. There is a different themed tree in every room. Lots of new "pretties".

Last year we decorated the outside of the shop like a gingerbread house. It was really cute for about a week. We used paper and it rained. (of course!) We've been brainstorming for a couple of weeks and have got some great new ideas. Think candy canes, peppermint and lots of candy! It will be finished by Glendale Glitters, the big event in downtown Glendale, held on the Friday & Saturday after Thanksgiving, 11/28 & 11/29. It will be up through the following weekend, and as long as the weather permits.

New in the shop this week-

From North American Bear - Muffy Miracle on 34th Street - she is so darling in her little flannel coat, red tights and black MaryJane shoes.

From Steiff - the alpaca Dove ornament - really a pretty bird, the details are fantastic.

Pick of the week -

Linda's - Muffy Clara and the Mouse King - really this mouse with his little crown is too darn cute for words. Her dress is a deep red with gold accents and as always, Muffy is darling.

Valerie's - from Natural Life - the word ornaments! Being a Christmas nut these are just plain fun. Joy, Jingle, Believe, HoHoHo, Peace, and Be Merry in reds, greens, and aqua blues - what more could a girl ask for?

We work every day to make sure the products we have in the shop are high quality, well made and above all safe. It brings us great joy when we are able to help someone find that perfect something. There is a big movement this year (for reasons ranging from environmental to economical) to shop locally. We know there are many options available and we appreciate your support of our little shop.

Come by and see us, the bears love the company!

No, it isn't Friday

I can't believe how time gets away from me. It's been almost a month! And there is lots and lots of news.

Our Steiff Event was great - thanks to everyone that attended. Claire Steiff-Meisel and Chuck Steffes came and they are always such fun guests. Chuck brought with him some antique Steiff bears from the archives in Germany. Here's a picture of those bears with Ryan & Morgan.
The bears are just fantastic - but really - can you believe how big Ryan & Morgan are?

This time of year it seems that something new arrives every single day -

A really fun line of cards from Graphique de France - we searched high & low for a new line of cards and this one fits the bill! They have great artists and a wide variety of styles. I especially like the black & white photograph ones - they are a hoot!

The newest Muffy arrived - Muffy Wizard of Paws - she's dressed like Dorothy and comes with Toto too. She wears silver slippers with a ruby bow - too cute.

From Boyds - the Fluffwees are in! These are designed by Janet Wilson and come in 3 different colors, brown (Twig), pink (Rose Petal) and blue (Raindrop). They are made of plush and are very close in size to the ones that Janet makes herself. There's a lot of sweetness in these little (and affordable) bears!

From Steiff - the 2nd Antiques Roadshow bear has arrived. He's quite charming this year. Also, the snowman ornament and Lumpi have returned.

Pick of the (previous!) week:

Linda - The Pilgrim Bear from Gund. This bear tells the story of Thanksgiving. It is a great story and the bear is animated.

Valerie - new from Endless Games - Headbandz - this game is a riot! For 2-6 players, everyone gets a headband with a card and you ask questions to find out what you are. I played this with Ryan & Morgan and it was a blast.

The area wide open house is on November 8th. Come in soon to see our great new holiday items. Delivering on our promise of finding unique, special and hard to find items, our holiday selection this year is all of that.

Thank you for your continued support of our little shop. Come by and see us, the bears love the company.

2 weeks rolled into 1

Getting ready for our Steiff Event has kept me on the go! It is this Friday! Call us and let us know if you are able to attend - or have questions. It's at the Glendale Civic Center, just 2 blocks from the shop, in the Annex building. It starts at 6:30 and Chuck Steffes & Claire Steiff Meisel will be our very special guests. Chuck is bringing some of his pieces and a very, very special Steiff item. I can't wait to see what it is - he has not given me any hints!

If you aren't a Steiff collector, come on down to Glendale Saturday. It is the annual Fireman's Parade and Muster. It is a bunch of fun! The parade includes trucks of all ages and sizes and from all the different communities near Phoenix. It's as close to a small town parade as we are going to get here in town.

Tidbits from Tug:
He passed his test!! Congratulations to Tug & John Dean!! It is quite an achievement and we are very happy for them and their team.

New in the shop:
From Steiff - Sophia the Angel bear, she wears a sheer blue dress. Joseph in his Technicolor Coat, the bear is beautiful.
From Gund - some of their Comfy Cosy and Huggy Buddy items for baby, these are different sizes and coordinate with the Snugapuffs. And a monkey from GundFun, Mongo - he sings "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands" and claps along to the song.

Pick of the week times 2:
Linda - Clementine Homespun Quiltin Bee Bear from Boyds and Joseph in his Technicolor Coat.
Valerie - Snow White coloring book from Nana Banana and the Animal & Friends watercolor set from Schylling. The pictures in the coloring book are fantastic & the paper is nice and heavy for watercolors, markers, etc.

We hope to see many of you Friday night and Saturday. If you aren't able to come, well, try to visit soon, the bears love the company.

Heads Up

Whew - what a busy week!

Duncan from Steiff has arrived. If you have one on hold/layaway, we've got it set aside for you. I had fogotten how beautiful this bear is. Such a nice dark brown..oooh.

New this week:

From Steiff - Muffy Nutcracker - that teeny tiny frog and his teeny tiny crown is a kick!

From Gund - Wild and Wooly Animal Heads (more on these below)

From Encore - Lou Rankin animals are back! These are one of our all time favorites and we are very excited that Encore got the license. They are wonderful wild animals. There is a new baby penguin that is darling.

Tidbits from Tug -

The Arizona Search Dog team was deployed to help with the hurricanes, mostly in Galveston, TX. The lead dog, Reo, was retired from working about 6 months ago. Pic, a 6 year old Black Lab Superstar took the leadership role. Sadly, during this deployment Pic crossed over the rainbow bridge. They need 4 teams to be deployable. Tug is going through his certification testing and had the 2nd phase scheduled for 10/4. With the loss of Pic, Tug's testing became top priority and was moved up to this Saturday. He's on his way to Oakland. Join us in wishing Tug and J.D. the best and send them good thoughts on Saturday. Go Tug Go! (That's Jackson hugging on Tug and Tug's brother Ben.)

Here's the story on those Wild and Wooly Heads. Sometimes Linda & I try things in the shop and Coit questions our sanity. I really thought he would think that about the Wild and Wooly Moose head we ordered from Gund. Much to my surprise (rather shock!) he went crazy over the Moose. Had it been in the shop for any length of time, it would have made it's way to our house. It went home on teddy bear day and we ordered some of the other styles. The Moose arrived this week along with the Bear, Polar Bear and Deer. And, Linda picked the Bear as her item of the week. Wonders never cease!

Pick of the week-
Linda - Wild and Wooly Brown Bear by Gund

Valerie - Ganley Hedgehogs by Gund (again with the little rodents!)

Our Steiff Event is 2 weeks from today - where does the time go?

Come by & see us, the bears love the company!

Cooler Weather

Yeah!

Cooler weather is on the way! We've made it through another long, hot summer. Bring on the sweaters - can't say coats because sometimes we don't need them at all.

I put my picture up. I must have been 2 or 3, because I have hair and it isn't brown yet. And, the mystery is solved - my love of little garden animals (rabbits, mice, guinea pigs) started very young! I wish I still had that bunny rabbit I'm holding.

New this week-
From Little Adventures - the super hero cape - little fellows really like these and they are washable
From Hansa - their camel - a very nice sized one too

Linda's pick - the leopard teddy from Steiff - she has really taken a liking to this bear
Valerie's pick - Snugapuff Elephant Cozy Cushie - so soft and such a pretty shade of lavendar - I'm thinking this might be a great travel pillow for me!

Save the dates: October 3, Steiff Event & October 18, Front Porch Festival

We've got some great new stuff coming in this month - so be sure to stop by & visit, the bears love the company.

Teddy Bear Day

Did you see us on t.v.? Linda was in all her glory - she digs being on t.v. Valerie was even on, if just for a minute right at the beginning! Thanks to Good Morning Arizona, Brad Perry and all those that make it happen - especially Lorraine - she's the best!

Well, if you didn't make it down for Teddy Bear day, make sure to save the date for next year. It falls on the Saturday closest to National Teddy Bear Day, which is the 8th of September. There was so much going on Saturday - it was great fun - we had Becky & Sue (volunteers from the Visitor's Center) at the shop taking pictures for folks with the biggest bear we've ever had in the shop. There was lots of entertainment spread out - a mime came in the shop - I wish they would talk - they wouldn't give me the heebie jeebies then - but then they wouldn't be mimes, would they? Our favorites, the Taylor Family Circus were there doing balloon tying, face painting & stilt walking. Lots of drawings, make & takes, and fun all around downtown. Plan on it for next year!

New in the shop this week -
From Steiff - the Hot Water Bear - beautiful!
From Gund - finger puppets - all sorts of different little animals from farm to zoo

Linda's pick - Flocke polar bear ornament from Steiff - he is something else.
Valerie's pick - Howton & Pumpkin Bumpkin from Gund - it makes me giggle - the pumpkin singing backup is a riot.

The next big thing is our Steiff Event on October 3rd at the Civic Center Annex on Glenn. New pieces, presentations and a great event bear, it's going to be a bunch of fun.

For those of you who have been to the last couple of events, you've met John Dean and Tug from Arizona Search Dogs. Well, Tug has passed what may be his most challenging half of the certification process. They passed the prerequisite test and are signed up for the certification test, which will be in Nevada, the same weekend as our Steiff event, so they won't be able to come this year. John and Tug are working full time to prepare for this next test. We wish them both the best and continue to be some of their biggest fans. Tug is still all go and little whoa! I'll put some pictures up of him when I figure out how to do that! With all the challenges, storms, budget cuts, etc., the handlers and dogs continue to train so they are ready should the call come. It is a testament to their commitment that the handlers give so much of their own time and money to guarantee they and the dogs are ready at a moments notice. With our customers help, we have been able to support Arizona Search Dogs, and we can not thank those customers enough.

There will be lots of new product going up on the site this week - Valerie got all her ducks in a row and is ready for a marathon. We've put out our fall stuff in the shop this week, trying to at least pretend it is getting cooler! Bring on that sweater weather!

Hope to see you soon!

Hello!

Whoo hoo! We are so excited about all the new stuff! The web site is so cute after the extreme makeover. Valerie is working on it in some way every day - there's so much behind the scenes - it's keeping her hoppin'.

Can you believe it? It is already the end of August. Summer is almost over - and cooler weather is just around the corner. And with that cooler weather comes event season, when there is always something going on at or around the shop. On Saturday, 9/6, the downtown area celebrates Teddy Bear Day. Go to http://www.visitglendale.com for all the details. We will be having drawings for some great goodies at the shop. Oh - be sure to watch Good Morning Arizona on Thursday - we'll be on t.v. talking about Teddy Bear Day and all the fun stuff that will be going on that day.

New in the shop this week -
From Boyds - a great new bear that looks like mink!
From Steiff - the little meerkat - oh my gosh - so cute!

Linda's pick - Rough Rider from Steiff - really a fantastic looking piece.
Valerie's pick - the mouse from Hansa - who knew she had a secret love for rodents?

This has been a long time coming - a new web site - a better way to get our news out - an easier way to see what we have at the shop - and as an added bonus, this blog! Thanks to Lisa at Izabe Graphics for doing her magic!

Want to get our online newsletter? Be sure to sign up on our home page! And while you are there, check out the calendar - we've included all our events as well as the area wide events so you won't miss a thing!

Stop by & see us - the bears love the company!
Linda & Valerie