It really was a ‘beary’ perfect day at the doll shop. We had worked so hard over the week before getting our Bear Den ready for our special guest, John Port. Can you believe our little cabin in the woods, except, it was right in the middle of our doll shop? The entrance that Stanley and Erik built was beyond my wildest dreams, and our friend Eron Johnson supplied the rest. Our ‘Den’ is decked out in the finest antiques!
John Port and Qais arrived right at 10 AM, and we started filming for the Virtual Doll Convention’s January 2021 event. The first program was a special on all of my mother’s bears. Diane Hoffman loved her bears as much as she loved her dolls, and my heart smiled, watching John teach us about her treasures.
Lunch was a fabulous spread, and I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture! It was a delightful charcuterie board plus turkey and apple sandwiches on rustic rolls. We filmed a picnic where we were able to chat with John and get to know him better. It is a touching experience in the “Den.” Dessert was a cake from our favorite local bakery. We asked John to cut himself the first piece, and he took the “best” word because, well, he is the best! We can’t argue with that. The cake was chocolate with ganache filling and whipped cream icing.
We do not handle bear repairs at the doll shop, and it is something that I would like to learn more about. Our last program of the day was a bear repair and care tutorial. John covered many subjects and showed us how to clean and replace eyes on teddies in this video. It is in-depth, and we learned so much!
We went live on Facebook throughout the day and connected with many of you. We enjoyed every second of sharing the experience! Two of the video highlights are below. You can watch them on YouTube + share with teddy bear friends.
We took as many photos as we could throughout the day. It was awesome how much we packed into our six-hour visit.
We were able to update our website with teddy bears, we have some fabulous bisque bear miniatures set to arrive any day, and this week, we are planning the future of our Den. Many of you felt that it would be a wonderful Christmas Lodge - sort of a Rocky Mountain Christmas feel. I love that idea!
We were asked by a friend in London who runs a school to read a couple of children’s stories for their virtual learning. I said we would be glad to do this. Do you have any must-read books that contain bears as the characters? I felt this would also be the perfect opportunity to pull out my favorite Ralph Lauren sweater with a classic bear on the front. Look for this video soon; I figure we could all use storytime in the Bear Den, am I right?
We will be in touch soon with blogs and new listings of dolls from the estate of Colorado artist, Polly Mann.
As always, thank you for being a part of our story. We love creating experiences for you and sharing them online.
Gratefully,
Rachel
