Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Jessie I'm not sure about how to go about making a phone call to the US but I will find out! I used to hate talking to people through a computer so once I got their numbers I'd ring them all and hear who they really were lol ~ not everyone appreciated it but I much prefer the phone I will find out how to go about that or if there is a way you could call me..... I'm sure there is I just can't remember the country codes as well as the state and town codes LOL

I will find out and let you know Bear-love right back to you

I agree you would do very well ~ I get tired of seeing the reaction of customers once I explain our bears are not suitable for children under the age of 14. It makes me sad, not just to lose the customer but that another child can't appreciate that bear.

I say go for it! Make child-safe bears artist bears to the best of your ability and just wait and see where it takes you I think you'd be surprised so I say dive right in Good luck!

She's gorgeous and love the name

Awww that's so nice that you ask! If it was me you were asking I'd say yes go for it!! And yes, pianos are a lot like bears! None of my bears just sit on a shelf ~ that is cruel but some people think it's normal. Everyone's different thank goodness.

I would be quite happy to pay for one of your bears Jessie, I only say that as right now I have swapped quite a lot of bears for bears and my custom order list is currently full (my swap bears go onto my custom order list). But I'd like more than one of your bears probably Jessie so I could buy one and then later on we could swap! Unfortunately even my mini bears are about $60 however I am sure I can work something out. Don't worry I work around lots of things for my bears and can certainly make a bear that would work out at about $30 without it being a boring bear (there's no such thing is there lol). We'll work something out I'll contact you when I've found one of your bears that just tugs at my heart-strings (most of them do but I will look for one that just stands out awesomely to me).

You don't need committing lol. Not at all! Bears are great friends and there's a big difference between a psycho and a bear-lover.

I have quite a lot of bears now ~ not so I can look at them and think of them in numbers, but because there's so many cute ones I keep adopting as well as making them Having a lot of bears though means they do get less hugs. I usually have one with me while I'm creating a new bear and the same bear stays with me for the whole process. They do all get attention though! We have movie and popcorn & pizza night all together and have fun.

My aunt recently told me after hearing about some people on here from myself and how I thought you were all such great bear-lovers ~ "Oh It's so great to hear there are others out there as mad as you" ROFL I took that as a compliment as I know that was how it was meant I'm a very young bear artist and I get a lot of raised eye-brows when I tell others my age that I make and collect bears and love them to bits. I can live with that though ~ definitely

LOL ~ Something artists who work with mohair aim with all their heart and effort to achieve is a well stuffed head!!! I think all you can do is keep positioning them creatively as there isn't much you can do to change the stuffing and sculpting of a bear and keep it looking good. The artists who created those bears should be proud that you think they're so well stuffed! LOL

This post made me smile. Personally when I do take a bear to bed (which is only rarely because when I do take one with me I never roll in the direction that the bear is lying ~ subconsciously even while sleeping I know he's there & I never go that way as I know I'll squash him, so I tend to sleep uncomfortably and end up placing him gently on the drawers beside me lol) .... anyway when I do take a bear with me I choose a soft one as it's more cuddly. Plus if I spend a lot of money on a bear I worry about it getting ruined or something.

Awwww I can really empathize with you there. I would absolutely love to give every last one of my bears away to absolutely anyone who loved them but unfortunately cannot afford to do so. My most expensive bear has still not sold and is $490 AUD ~ before you gasp, this is only because she was a custom order that fell through and the materials to make her were about $360. I feel really guilty charging a lot for my bears, not that I don't think they are worth it I just hate to hear, "I would love one but can't afford it" ~ I want everyone who loves one to have one.

Most online shows have a minimum on the number of years you've been making bears ~ usually about 2 years I've found. I have never heard of a group that has a price minimum though! I really don't want to offend anyone here but that makes me very angry ~ anyone who makes bears should be able to join these things regardless of how much they charge for their bears (OK there have to be some guide-lines but generally speaking I don't think it's fair to judge on price tags). They probably don't want the forum or whatever to look tacky with "cheaper" bears on it but I really think that's inappropriate as bears should not be about designer labels and price tags.

That is my opinion though so if you disagree don't worry I'm just lil ole me in my lil ole house making bears I like to make affordable to most people Please don't take offense anyone, it is simply my personal view point.

Wubbiebear (what is your real name I get confused between all these forums and names etc lol) I love your bears and I really want to own one one day. Don't be upset by what people say about your bears and if forums have a price tag minimum I would stay clear of them anyway. Hopefully you can find somewhere that you can sell your bears and publicize them that is perfect for you and your bears and that feels right. Good luck to you I really mean that ~ I also really hope I haven't offended anyone again this is all just my personal opinion!

What a great post I collect a lot of Michelle Nunnery's bears which are all quite small but I believe their hugs are just as big as big bear's hugs This is a lovely post thanks for bringing it back to the front Jessie

My business name is my name anyway ~ at least partially. My name is Gabriele Joy and my bears are called GJOYful Bears ~ but I do add on to that my name. My mother and I make and sell our bears together through this name and the same site so we usually say "GJOYful Bears by Gabriele Joy and Robyn Kaye" we have been told our business name is very memorable though and no one else that I'm aware of is using the name.

Hopefully you come up with a name that means something special to you! Good luck

Your bears are very sweet

Hi Krista!!! I'm a HUGE fan of your gorgeous animals and want to attempt soft-sculpture one day! I visit your blog quite often and I'm always telling people about you (I work in a shop that sells basic soft toy manufactured dogs, we're always getting in people asking for more realistic ones and I give them the address to your site/blog). It's so great to see you here and I look forward to getting to know you

I agree, trying to keep websites updated at the same time as show off work on a number of forums and post on other selling sites can be difficult some times ~ OK, ALL the time lol. I have not yet joined facebook however another artist is recommending I do for my business.... Thinking about it but not certain yet. All I want to do is make things and the more sites I join the less things I make 

Anyway welcome back to you Krista it's great to see you here, just going over to your blog again now to have a little look at updates

Yes me too, it will be amazing if the answer is 40 or something lol..... then again maybe if it's only 1 and is a trick question then we'll all feel silly! LOL MAybe that's the the idea.....

I want to try soft sculpture! I want to make a baby lynx kitten soft sculpture ~ I didn't know you could use doll's eyes with them. I was just going to hand-paint clear glass eyes the appropriate colour and make eye sockets for them etc ~ plus a lot of needle-sculpting. How do you insert the doll's eyes?

AWWWWW So gorgeous!!!

LOL I should have realised that! I have lots of friends in the reborn doll industry and yet I never understood why you were after them for bears..... never mind it was late when I posted the question LOL I've never used doll's eyes on a bear so sorry, can't help. I do know where some of my reborn doll artist friends find their doll's eyes, but not sure if that's what you were asking ~ I don't have any to trade unfortunately. Hope you find some!

Here, here! I agree it is the only book I keep coming back to, it's fantastic and I'm so grateful you took the time to create it Nancy I can imagine it would be a huge task to undertake My copy has glue on pages and rips where pins have fallen on it, bear fur throughout, doggy-eared pages and more! Don't worry! It's a sign of love! LOL Can't wait 'til it comes out again I think perhaps I should have a new one ~ I'd also love Bears With A Past

Awww he's gorgeous! Love his fish too, looks very slippery like a fish should be! Gorgeous duo, well done

Oh I love the papillon pattern! Her patterns are gorgeous, unfortunately I never have the self discipline to try other artist's patterns ~ I have only made one bear by another artist (my first bear) and given my strong wish to change everything about it I just made my own! I love her monkey pattern and I can say it's better than mine lol. My first attempt at a money ended up looking like a mole so now he's a baby mole to go with my woodland friends, the fox and hedgehog etc etc.
They're great patterns and hopefully you'll show pics when you've completed him!

Wow what a gorgeous photo and gorgeous bears! As I love smaller bears I love the little one to the right of the largest ~ very sweet They're gorgeous Paula well done!

I always use Gerry's Teddy & Craft Designs' Nose Shine and it's fab I have to say Needle-felting is not my forte as I still need more practice but I usually trim away the fuzzies too - and nose shine really helps it to look finished off but the wool has to be very tight other wise the nose shine tends to make the needle-felted nose sink ~ especially if you do over 3 coats. On embroidered noses I do up to 5 coats of nose shine depending on how "bling" I want my bear to look LOL. Gotta say I just hate that new word "bling" but I keep using it?!  :crackup:

OMG 15?!!! Now I'm really fascinated to see how many there are!

And lol at Bobbie's comment about yesterday's socks LOL  :crackup:

Ok...... I'm not sure why you think that, I did not think it had been passed either but it was all over the news the other night so I just assumed. They showed police taking people's dogs from them etc. It was apparently rushed through the stages because of the 4 year old that was killed in the mean-time ~ to my knowledge it has been passed, but I could be wrong and if so I'm sorry

And Leanne, you mentioned that people should not own dogs if they do not give them lots of love and affection ~ well this is true, you need to care for your dog, but as we are humans and we show love for each other by sharing affection we often misunderstand that dogs needs are far from human's. Sharing affection with a dog nurtures whatever state of mind they are in at the time you are sharing affection with them. If they are terrified of something and have gotten a fright, and the owner rushes in "Awww you poor thing, here I'll help" petting and stroking the dog to "make him feel better" ~ this actually teaches a dog to repeat this unstable state of mind every time he is scared. The time to share affection with your dog is when he is CALM and SUBMISSIVE, and when you are simultaneously CALM and ASSERTIVE. I do believe you must love your dogs however loving a dog is much different to loving a human ~ they take things in a totally different way to humans. The best time to share affection with your dog is after a long walk.

Also, affection to a dog is not just cuddles and petting, affection can be food, water, a bed to sleep in ~ that is why it's best not to feed your dog before a walk as they learn that food is simply bought to them and dropped in front of them conveniently. Always feed your dogs after a walk as that way they have learnt that nothing in life is free, and that they have to EARN that bowl of food. It's also important to make sure they know it was YOUR bowl of food and you are choosing to share it with them since your are the pack leader. A lot of dogs "block" their owners when eating, to protect their dish of food, it's important not to allow this and to block right back again lol. Only block when in a calm and assertive state though.
I am aware that it's not always possible to take your dog for a walk before their fed ~ my dogs don't always get fed after a walk as I do have to go to work and there is often something that forces me to feed the dogs and then go out. You can't always keep up this however if you can, you should. it's also a good idea to make your dog wait for it's food ~ to sit in front of it and ignore it, to look at you, until you say they may eat.

Before I'm off I'll also say that humans are NOT calm assertive or stable when you're crying or showing any kind of overwhelming emotions like anger etc. So then if you are crying you should not share affection like hugs etc with your dog as he learns that you are not the leader and of course  he must then take your place ~ in one second you have lost your leader status. If you are very angry you should also not go and pet and hug your dog, or shout at it (just because you shouldn't doesn't mean we all don't occasionally ~ sometimes when I'm super angry I shout at the dogs and then wish later I hadn't, it sometimes can't be helped).

By the way I think as long as your dog is not being mis-treated you are on the right track! I am not trying to tell anyone what to do I'm just giving little pointers if anyone chooses to follow them then that's great, but everything is up to you I mean the best in everything I'm saying, I only want to help

What exactly is a flat black oval eye? Sounds interesting....

Wow 9?! I've counted over and over and I'm now feeling cross-eyed, and I still only get 7 and perhaps one hiding that could just be my imagination or another rock...... my eyes hurt and I keep stabbing myself while sewing trying to find the extra ninth bear ROFL Better get back to sewing properly 

This is great though, love these kind of puzzles