Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Thanks, Katy! 
Meet 18 inch Butterscotch... aptly named for the color of his yummy fur! He's a serious bear with a very big heart who loves to give hugs.
He's available for immediate adoption with multiple shipping options to ensure you have him by Christmas!
Won't you have a peek at him and the other bears for sale on my website? www.backroadbears.com Gift Certificates are available too!
This bright eyed little bear loves to look at all the pretty Christmas decorations and sparkly lights and he's just dying to go out in the snow! The excitement and wonderment of the holiday season isn't lost on him, that's for sure!!
He's available for immediate adoption with multiple shipping options to ensure you have him by Christmas!
Won't you have a peek at him and the other bears for sale on my website? www.backroadbears.com Gift Certificates are available too!
Krispin is off to live in Atlanta, Georgia!!! I'll miss this guy....
By accident I'm guessing you mean potty accident. I have no idea the cause for all of this but I wish you could get him to the vet before Wednesday! If he develops any other symptoms please try to get him in sooner. Could the eye roll perhaps make him a bit nervous at times to cause the accidents? Perhaps the two are unrelated... the accidents could simply be old age and lack of bladder control, the eye something entirely different?
Keep us posted!
... seeing text first left aligned and then right aligned right under it looks strange to me... so I'd kind of like to see the first two lines of text (title and menu) centered. (I think because everything else on the page is centered too...)
See, I like that. What then makes me go cross-eyed I guess, now that I'm really studying it, is that then the "Welcome to Bingle Bears...." text in the body is left justified. The text in the body of the rest of your pages is center justified so perhaps the text on your home page should be too? That would balance out the banner text and navigation bar.... IMO!!
Some of all this is just going to be personal preference! LOL! 
Looks great Cheryl!
Becky - I had my navigation bar across the top on my site for the longest time too. I just redesigned my site this week and put it back on the left side. I think we're creatures of habit. However I'm noticing a lot of retail sites now place the navigation bar across the top.... might be the new way of things and we'll have to adjust! LOL!
I think it looks wonderful! Very easy to navigate, not a lot of "fluff" to get bogged down in, great pictures and enjoyable to read. 
I'm not a fan of large text to be honest but found I was always using large text on my site too... most professionally designed websites don't use such big text... look at TT or Intercal or eBay or Etsy! Those who have trouble seeing tiny print usually have the text size on their monitors adjusted. Using smaller text size means less scrolling for the viewer and allows more info to be seen on the screen when the page comes up. Just a little tidbit of design info.
Now if HE was under my Christmas tree.......... 
My boys love to do this too! Great exercise for 'em and then they sleep the rest of the day! Not so pleasant with long haired dogs though... the snow gets all balled up in them and takes hours to melt!
Those of you who are experiencing thyroid issues or think you might be or have a family history of it, please check out these links (there are plenty others but it gets to be pretty dry reading!) for info on the test results and what the numbers really mean. I used to believe my doctor when he'd call and simply say "Your thyroid test came back NORMAL." When my physical therapist (who I was seeing for unexplicable but debilitating ankle pain and tendonitis) did some research and wanted to know what my actual test results were numerically he brought me documentation in the medical journals showing that my doctor was following the "old" range guide, not the new one. He also brought case studies describing an incredibly wide range of symptoms related to thyroid disease... muscle and tendon pain was one of those things... once I was on meds and my tests within the very middle of the "new normal" 75% of my pain was gone!!! LOVE my physical therapist!!! They are the kind of people willing to think outside the box... many primary physicians can't get past what the text book says.
http://thyroid.about.com/od/gettestedan … maltsh.htm (Note the comments in #3)
http://thyroid.about.com/cs/newsinfo/l/ … values.htm (You'll note that the "normal" range was tightened in 2003 but a lot of doctors don't know or follow the more strict range.)
Also wanted to add that my father-in-law had the rapid heart rate, anxiety and severe head aches.... ended up being a cyst on his pituitary gland which had to be removed. You just never know.
Jenny, this is something I was forced to really look into a couple of years ago and it's something I most definitely deal with every winter, and even in the summer when we have consecutive days of rain. I was put on anti-depresants but, long story short, none of them worked for me or I couldn't tolerate the side effects. I do take a vitamin D supplement and I also found that exercise helped (although with SAD, finding the energy to get up DO something can be a challenge!). I walk on the treadmill or do some aerobics or yoga.... gets the "feel good juices" running in my body! (Sometimes I just put on some upbeat music and dance around the house... but don't tell anyone!) I did buy a lamp but it has to be so close to you and although I may sit for hours working on a bear, the glare from it made it hard for me to really work. I packed it away.
I just want to throw something out there for anyone reading this: It took two years to finally figure out that a lot of my depression symptoms were actually from an uncontrolled THYROID disease! The symptoms of an over or under active thyroid are so vast and everyone can experience something different. I didn't present a lot of the "typical" symptoms at first and even my blood tests came back "within normal range" but upon further investigation I learned that the normal range is too big and being at one end or the other can result in symptoms. With the proper medication dose I'm now (3 months later) feeling so much better and my blood test results are right in the middle of that normal range, not at the outer limits. Other things I hadn't associated with thyroid issues have cleared up or lessened too... strange aches and pains, the ability to concentrate, energy level has increased, hormones are more in balance... the list goes on. (But don't a lot of those sound like depression symptoms too? Easy to over look an underlying cause like the thyroid!)
Just something to consider....
I hope you find something that helps you, Jenny. :hug:
While I love this idea I had the same concern as Tammy. Especially where children are concerned. It's certainly a sign of the times and I find it sad. But I KNOW there are parents out there who wouldn't let their children even open or touch the bag. It would be a shame to make something with good intention only for it to end up in the trash can. I only saw one "happy ending" story on that site (I looked at about 15 drops) so who knows how many are kept and appreciated and how many aren't.
Luann has a great solution. Bring what you make to a place where they know you and can make sure your gifts get into children's hands. A shelter, food pantry, church, local library.....
Oh, how yummy those look!
It does seem like the internationally made packaged foods sent to the US seem to be a little different than that which you'd buy right in the country of orgin. I hope someone in Germany can get these for you, Bobbie!
Shows seem to offer the best sales opportunities if you don't have a strong online following or a mailing list.
I just did a craft show last weekend and had the best sales I've had EVER.... in 8 yrs of selling! :dance:
Workshops are a great way to make money if you are a highly skilled, established artist with a following in the area you'll teach in. I taught for a number of years and still do upon occasion but find it takes away from actually MAKING bears which is what I really want to do. And not everyone is a teacher. Getting your bears into some shops on commission like at quilt shops and the like is a great way to spread awareness about your work to local people. My local collectors are just as important to my business as my online collectors.
To build a mailing list: put a sign up box (free through Bravenet.com) on your website and blog where people can join your mailing list. Anytime someone buys a bear from you online, whether through etsy, bearpile, eBay or your website, add their email to your mailing list. If you do a show in person have a guest book on your table where visitors to your booth write down their name, address and email... whether they buy or not!
It all takes work... building any kind of business takes work.... and time.... and there will always be ups and downs... we all have to suffer through the slow times and just do all we can to get our work out there in front of people. This is not a "build it and they will come" kind of craft we do. For the most part, we can't just list a bear on the internet somewhere and expect someone to find and buy it. This is an expensive collectible, luxury item that at least 50% of the population can NOT afford right now. (I'm thinking that % is probably higher!) So to find those who can we have to do paid advertising in mags and online like here on TT, do local shows AND the internet..... gotta cover all the bases.... spend money to make money, etc.
Hang in there!!! Good for you for trying BearPile!!!
Archie was snatched up FAST!!! He's on his way to his new mom in Michigan!!
Krispin has his scarf on and snowman ready... he wants to play!
He is now available for immediate adoption on my website!
http://www.backroadbears.com/bears2.htm
Sugar Plum is a new design and made of delicious kid mohair!
He's now available for immediate adoption on my website!
http://www.backroadbears.com/bears2.htm
Archie is a sweet little 6 inch bear now available for immediate adoption on my website!
He's a new design that my collectors seem to like a lot! I hope you do too!
http://www.backroadbears.com/bears2.htm
This one? http://www.hb1.dk/bamsemoenstre/_privat … ccharm.pdf
Gotta love Google!
Lenora,
You have to make what comes from with in YOU!!! Don't worry about what others do... create your own bears! Some artists can pull off "happy" quite well. Others do sad well. (And oh yes, there ARE sad, pitiful, woe-is-me type bears!!!) Every collector has different tastes. Every artist has a different style. There is no right or wrong. I'm a firm believer that there's a collector out there for just about every style of bear! Create from your heart, create with quality and a style all your own... it is those creations that will do best for you.
At a show just today a collector complemented me on having my own style and observed that the love and passion I have for what I do showed in the quality and details of my work. She noted that it's often easy to tell the folks who are just in this to make money or are trying to make what they think people want or are doing what they've seen other artists do, not creating from the heart. Collectors see this! It was a powerful observation!
As for elephants having mouths: Real ones do of course. Someone else here says they do. My elephants don't have mouths at all and sell very well!!! My point: it's personal preference and individual interpretation. If you want the elephant YOU make to have a mouth then give it one. It's YOUR creation, it must be what YOU want it to be! Not what anyone else says!
You need to experiment.... try things... find what YOU like... seek out the creator in you... use your imagination...pour your heart into your work.... trust yourself... be willing to take risks... do your own thing... these are the things an artist is made of.
Thanks, you two, for advertising!!!
I love these little bears!! I just did some of the grunt work along with my mom and dad's help... it was definitely a family effort tracing, cutting, pinning, sewing, stuffing..... Laura did the finish work which is why they look so cute like her bears!! They have each been made with so much love and every one has it's own personality! They were snatched up fast at the show. These few didn't quite make it to the showroom the day of the show but are really hoping someone will love and adopt them!
I have a whole herd of ellies in progress right now for a show next weekend. I did the same - tweaked a bear pattern keeping the gusset almost the same but making the nose end come to a point. Then for the head side piece I changed the muzzle area to come down into a trunk. Big ears and rounded foot pads finished off the revision. I also made the belly fatter. Don't forget a tail!
