Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

See...I think moths go tickatickaticka.....and that's the sound I hate. I don't know about spiders coz I don't mind them hanging around.

After watching these posts grow at an alarming level I ought to contribute to say that I have a phobia of moths. It wrecks the summer months and stops me going abroad where I may encounter large species. I leapt out of a moving car when I was 20 years old because of one..and have got off public transport and walked home.
I can't even look at a photograph of one.

Terrified of passing it to my children (my sister and mother and her sisters all suffer from it) I decided that I would try to not show my fear around them and thankfully they are not scared. My husband is fantastic and he gets them out of the house if one gets in...but my nephew takes pleasure in scaring my sister and I with them. I have thought of hypnotherapy but the thought of having to encounter one stops me from going!!

I know how ridiculous it sounds to others, and I can deal with spiders and pretty much any other insect. But I can spot one of those fat hairy brown little creatures a mile off.

I don't deal with too many shops...mainly because I seem to be able to sell all I make to collectors...(That may change)..But I send a consignment of bears to Japan and they pay before I send them..otherwise I would not send them.

I think that unless you are a big company or dealing with highly reputable shops with a proven track record why should you offer them credit terms? You aren't a bank.

I would send photos of the bears through, then, when they have sent a cheque I would send the bears. The Japanese company I deal with do a bank transfer on the dya before I send the bears. If you are dealing with a large concern they will try to set their own terms as they will have them written in stone but you need to thrash this out beforehand.

Thirty days or even 14 is a long time to sit on someones hard earned cash.

As far as this shop goes , Danni, waste no time in sending a reminder that they owe you folllowed swiftly by a phone call ...and don't take no for an answer.

PS: Danni...I just re-read your letter...do you have a small claims court facility like we have here, where for a nominal fee you can send them a court summons to pay up. If they don't pay within so many days they have to pay court fees and such too. I would without any hesitation at all send them a letter of intent to do that type of thing within 7 days of receipt of your letter...the cheeky swines...how dare they!!! No, in future no money up front, no bears unless you get a written contract from a reputable shop with a proven history of paying up and looking happy about it. Like I said you aren't a bank.Some of these shops rely on the fact that you won't chase them.

Hi Shelli...I got nominated last year too....this was Bianca..my bear last year
( She won the Teddy Bear Times Award)...this years ones are on my website. The entries (photos) get sent in around October.. ish...my brian has gone fuzzy with sewing for the first time in three weeks today...but you had to have your entry form with your selected categories in by August. I am in categories 2, 3 and 5.

Then if you get picked you have to submit the actual bears for judging...on 11th December. So it pays to check them over!!!

Next year I promise I'll post the link to the call for entries when it surfaces in TBT...or you can contact the organisers direct...It's wendyhobday@freenet.co.uk

Jenny

ps: Anyone spot the deliberate mistake...I don't even know anyone called Brian...read 'brain' instead!!!

Here are my 2 big babies. Lucie on the day Elizabeth was born...and a not too flattering shot of Oliver...my youngest who has just become a dad himself!!

Whoops...I'll have to upload Ollie later....having a bit of trouble!!!

So cute!! I am not a big fan of anime style bears...(I think they are an aquired taste!!) but your little one has the sweetest face!!! I may be a convert!!

The British Bear Artist awards used to be run by Teddy Bear Times but now they are run in conjunction with them by a lady called Wendy Hobday who runs Dolls House, Bear and othe types of fairs I believe. I think there are 11 categorys including one for overseas entrants. They have a miniature category, dressed and bare (large and small), groups of bears and newcomer. Though in one category I notice only one finalist...I guess that's the winner then!!
I don't pretend it's got the same kudos as the Tobys or the Golden Teddy but , hey, it's nice to get picked for the finals of anything! (I'd win the 'laziest slob around' category at the moment as my sister has been on holiday these last two weeks and we have gone shopping almost every day, and of course I have had Rosie and Elizabeth to play with...today is my first proper bear making day for 3 weeks!!!) I like to enter awards because they get you noticed and a bit of publicity...and they make me try hard too!!

I ought to mention that Vicky from Humble Crumble Bears is also a shy finalist too...notably hasn't mentioned it either....he-he!! We aren't in the same categories so we're still mates....!!!!!!

My nominated bears are on my site under 'Awards Preview'......

Opinions much appreciated !

Hi Amanda...thanks!! We had a brilliant day at the NEC....but I have had to cancel Hove ...no bears!!!
I am a finalist in the BBAA awards though so I am going down anyway...for a day out!!

Jenny

I just wanted to say that I have been really pre-occupied lately ...what with my  new Grand-daughter...and work has been horribly busy...I had flu too (yuck). We had my son and daughter in law and little baby Rosie ( two weeks old!!) staying with us for a week as their central heating and hot water system died and it took good old British Gas 10 days to fix it...(what would they have done if we couldn't have stepped in to the breach in this freezing weather)....

But anyway, I wanted to say that I just checked out all the lovely beary photos and without a doubt they are all brilliant...Penny, I am dead jealous of your needlefelting...I won't be doing it though....but I love the look of it. It's hard to comment on them all but suffice it to say that  it's an absolute pleasure to see all that creative work and I enjoy being part of the group.

what a sweet bear....love him!!

It's always the same..we expect this pre- Christmas period of the year to bring joy and happiness don't we...and sometimes it doesn't. I feel very sad for you because animals are so innocent and don't understand the pain they are in and we feel so helpless.

Poor you....

We used to get the problem of the 'snap' ...but when we started using the gel type superglue, coupled with using less of it so we are glueing surface to surface instead of glue to glue...it hardly ever happens these days....the last time I had one snap must be last year.....touch wood!! This way I only have to use one tool to tighten the nut.

(Not intentionally using the Royal 'we'....my dad and husband glue the joint sets for me!!!)

What a fantastic bear...and what a tribute to the course which is obviously fab too!!

I got this from the UK government Copyright  website where they say that to claim copyright on something 'It simply has to be the result of independent intellectual effort'

I think that no teddy bear, no matter who designed it  these days is totally the result of 'independent effort 'since we have all taken some inspiration from other artist works and unless we live on the moon then it's hard not to. It the uniqueness of the design for me that defines the artists right to claim it's originality...if you make a mongoose that looks like a real mongoose...or a cat that looks like a real cat...or a bear that looks like a real bear no-one can claim you copied their design coz it ain't their 'design', is it! But if you make a bear that has all the original, unique, one-off features that someone else has thought up for their bears...then that's copying...unless you can prove that you thought of it too.

But if we make bears that look like teddy bears then someone, somewhere in the world is going to be making bears that look similar to ours...they aren't infringing copyright...because in all likelihood they haven't even heard of us.

I took my drawings for my rabbit patterns from real rabbits...photographs that I got from books , from the internet and from a couple of old pictures of pet rabbits. I drew my pattern using knowledge I've gained from reading books on bear making...and from my instinct about size and shape. How do I prove it though? I can't. Would I copyright it? No...because what's the point...it's not unique...it's a rabbit. As far as taking advice from a book then using it, I think you should read it and take in the subject  matter, then go ahead and utilise what you learned...that's what books are for.

Shelli is right...I hate this subject since it has caused me much pain at times..and love it because I have so much to say about it. One thing is sure though, the debate will run and run as there are no answers to it.

I made a tu-tu for my Zsa-Zsa bear that a made for this years British bear artist awards...   there a more pictures on my website..i had made one or two before but never fancy enough for my liking. I just  cut loads of long pieces of tulle...the really good stuff that costs more than ordinary netting...it just looks nicer. Then I machined them up one edge using a long stitch ( separately) then gathered them  you just tie the two thread together one end and then pull one of them up from the other...voila!!...pinned them all together in a pile...tacked them...(I don't ever tack but I did with this as it's easy to missed bits when machining) the machined it...I added a little silk bustier top to hide the raw edge and put diamante straps on. There's no need to do anything to the hemline...it won't fray.

I didn't put a seam in the skirt just a huge bow at the back with a press-stud to hold it together.

I made little silk ballet slippers too...

Fantastic!!!!! Well done!!

Jenny

The thing is Kim that everyone does it differently...and you just have to keep trying out things till you find what works for you. I work from the bottom of the nose to the top and I start in the middle and do the left had side first, then back to the middle to do the right side...so I always work from the centre outwards....but there will be lots of people out there that think that's wrong and that their way is better...and it is for them because that's what they feel comfortable with.

I shape my noses , ie to give the impression of nostrils (only slightly) which is why I find using the glue helps maintain the shape....and I like the effect that the glue has on the thread...even when it's dry it holds the thread slightly in place. It's not about doing it wrong...or right....

The theory is that if there are any fly away bits the glue holds them flat ( this is another Ted Menten tip by the way) he suggests sewing while the glue is still tacky so it holds the thread in place...I don't do that in case I have to unpick....in which case you get gloopy mess...But it does work...I don't get 'sprouts' these days... and it just gives you a good even surface on which to sew.

Well....I stuff the nose with woodwool...which in itself neatened my noses as it's so easy to sew through. I pluck the nose area with tweezers (for me, just trimming it down still leaves stubble which can stick through the embroidery)...then I paint the area with a fabric glue (I use Hi-tack). When that is  dry I mark the shape of the nose using pins and  a light reactive marker pen..The mark disappears after a while. Then I sew the nose using two or three layers of embroidery, being careful not to cross the threads (like Ghostbusters!!!)

It works for me..................and I don't get sore fingers.

I just need to say one thing about the concept of the artist sitting on a chair at the side of the stand. If you walked into a store and saw the shop assistant sitting down beside  the goods what would you think?

I think it looks like the artist can't be bothered to interact with the customers, also it's difficult to talk like that. Eye level contact is what you need....if you go to one of these trendy restaurants these days the waiter often will get down to customer level when taking the order...it is a ploy to get you to order more stuff, I realise that....but go for eye to eye contact, when it looks like you are up for talking and interacting and taking down the barrier of 'selling'.

The people next to my stand at the NEC sat down all day...it doesn't look right.

You'll have sore feet at the end of the day...but you may sell more bears.

There are loads of Japanese bear-making books on ebay...don't type Anime in the search though....just put 'Japanese bear making book'...something like that.
There'll be anime bear galore in them...

Apologies if this comes up twice...I still don't know how to fix it...

Jenny

Can someone tell me why I keep getting 2 messages posted even though I clicked only once...is this Pythagoras Theorem at work?

The square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides.......

Live and let live is what I always say...that and the above...me being such a whizz at maths...

I'm off for a cup of Rosie Lee

Here's the T shape nut driver. They come in different sizes for different size nuts. I buy 2 sizes of nuts and bolts because the hole in the disc is often too big for the standard so we get the bigger size.

We don't cut our own discs.....what's the point..they are pretty cheap to buy. I buy bags of 100 of all the sizes I use. Then we glue up the disc/washer/bolt sets in big lots so we always have a ready supply.

Like you say it doesn't matter about the glue holding once the joint is tightened up.

It does sound complicated but honestly it's much simpler this way.

Ted Mentens book Bear Studio shows how to do it. It's a doddle!!

I never stand or sit behind my table..it's just that I think that (as a customer too) that the artist hiding away behind the stand seems stand-offish and slightly intimidating. I get out front with the customers. I do make small talk...and actually, considering my weekday job, I had to learn how to do it...I'm not a natural.
I find myself saying the same things all day too...but who cares...only me and my helper have heard it over again.
I won't be over-bearing...I don't talk at customers.....I try to give them thinking time...

I have to say I wouldn't work on anything...other than being open and honest and giving my time that day to customers who have travelled to see the bears and talk to me. I agree that it might seem to customers that they are interupting your work.

It's hard.....but there's a fine line between being annoyingly over-bearing  and being a good advocate and ambassador of your own work. I don't think many artists  are natural  sales people...otherwise they'd be in sales. So it's just about being informative and friendly without being pushy.