Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Hey Kim. I like the pink much better.  I hope you didn't mind my suggesting the original photo was a bit dark.  Just trying to help.  I like your sparkley nose!

Deb, seeing a loved one let themself fall apart is understandibley frustrating a stressfull.  It sounds like you are at wits end with trying to encourage your mom.  I live with diabetes and it is not easy..infact it scares me knowing what is down the road if I don't stay on top of it constantly.  I am sure you are aware of the complications and so is your mom.

Have you made your mom a special bear?  You have the amazing ability to share your love through your art and if you have not doen so maybe you should make you mom a bear.  It just may spark something inside her to want to live.

And for you...when you feel at the end of your rope, tie a BIG knot at the end and just hang on!...and always feel free to vent on us here.

Blessings and bear hugs

Millie, how generous of you to donate your sweetie to charity.  God will be smiling on you.  Very sweet bear.  I like they way he is sitting.

Deb,  Thanks for your comment in the bears for sale section.   I have said this before.  You all inspire me( hey this would be a good thread to start...inspiration)

Anyway about the eyes on Rosy, they are German glass clear.  I painted the backside with blue and sliver glitter sparkle nail polish and two other shades of blue.  I like to add more than two , at least three, colors to my eyes for more depth and I think it makes them look more interesting.

I have been painting the backside of eyes for some time and scraping the paint, in tiny lines and or flecks, then filling in the scraped off paint with BROWN...but I never quite got the look I wanted.  Then SHELLI suggested painting BLACK over the scrape marks and wella!  the results I was looking for.  THANKS SHELLI.  I use a black enamel paint found in the model car section at Hobby Lobby, or other craft stores.  It dries rock hard and seals the paint.

I randomly paint dots of color and let it dry before adding another shade.  I don't want the colors to all muddle together, entirely, anyway.  You can really come up with some very interesting eye effects.  It's fun!  Good luck!

I think Shelli's way of shading is really great.  I wish the word "copic' and "airbrushing' were not thought of as one.  The copic system is far removed from commercial airbrushing .  I have been an airbrush artist since 1984 and it is not something you canpick up and do right off the bat.  Rita, you need to get lots of practice behind you before attempting to airbrush a bear.  It takes time to learn to properly prepare the paint to an ideal consistencey (very watery), and to learn to control the paint flow.  Airbrushing should be very soft and go on very very lightly.  It should almost be dry on contact and the effects built up in layers, layers, and layers of color.
What kind of airbrush do you have?

Shari, you really have a wonderful imagination and are so talented.  WHen I get some more money I want one of your bears....along with many others here...    Your colors are wonderful and to take a chance with this kind of combination shows that you are not afraid to branch out.  What a gorgeous bear!

Thank you very very much for such nice comments.  You all inspire and motivate me to keep going.  Thanks!

Dillywogs, you make the sweetest gollies.  This boy is a keeper for sure!  Love the hands!

Laura,  What  cutie!  I love his costume.  You have such a great imagination.

What a beautiful bear Jenny!  You have such a sweet look on all your bear's faces.  I do love knitted clothes on teddys and this one is probably my favorite so far.!

Mille you bear is so very cute!  I really like the center seam look on bears.  Love the colors you used too.

Wow Dilu Am I ever LATE at posting.  Truth is I just now discovered this showcase section.  Pretty neat.

I have to say you put a lot of work into this teddy bear.  What a  cutie!  And waht gorgeous embroidery you do!!  You've been holding out on us!  Great job.

Very NICE Jenny!!

Hello again.  Here's a photo of GRIZ.  He's about 18" tall and has a double-jointed neck section so he can be posed in many different ways.  His paws are needle felted and his claws, I sculpted from polymer clay.  He also has airbrushed details and a leather sculpted, hand painted nose.

Shantell, My first thought was Yummy fur...then I saw Sue Ann wrote that first...well it is very yummy looking and is my favorite color.  I want to touch her.:)

Here's a new baby of mine.  Her name is Pollywog and she's about 17" tall.  I hand knitted her dress...just winged it to fit her.  I supose I should habe been writting down my pattern as I knitted.  Oh well, I guess it will make her a one-of-a-kind for sure.

She has needle felted eyelids over her hand painted German glass eyes.  I haven't put her up for adoption yet...I am hoggingher for now.

Just wanted to share.

Dilu what a scream!  He is darling!  I love the colored shirt and buttons.  What do you use for the hair?  On the golly girl I have, that you created, it feels real. Very fine and soft too.

Oh Dilu, I must see your pictures .  You HAVE been a busy golly-girly!!  I , myself, cannot really see myself how a cotter pin joint would work on a felted teddy.  I think your best bet would be to string joint it.  You can cover the shoulder area of the arms with wool and felting after doing the string joint. 

hhhhhmmmmmm.......I suppose you could do quite a bit of fiddling around with a cotter pin joint.  You would have toonly partially make the body, one side at a time, attach the cotter pin through the arm, into one half of the body then turn the pin.  Then you would do the same for the other side and the legs.  Then I think you could felt the body side together adding more wool to attache th sides.  Then more wool to conceal the disc and joint.....yeah....now I think it could work....am I making any sense?  I am typing as I think.

Gina, your avatar teddy is really adorable.  I am very attracted to him.  Has he been adopted yet?  Maybe I should check out the bears for sale.

I knoe I have only been needle felting for just over a year but I can tell you what will make the woll stick into your foam block less is to wet your hand a bit (lick it....ssshhh don't tell anyone!)  no really if you wet your palm just a bit then rook the wool it will pack down more firmly.   Take a wad, felt it down with a 32 needle, then roll it in your hand, then back to needle felting only start using samller needles.  Keep repeating this.  It workd well.  I am like Dilu, I like my end result very firm.

Heather, I too, do a lot of poking just in my hand, while while applying pressure to the wool and it works great....but is risky on the fingers!

Shelli, I have been trying to play with doing an avatar but ran inot a few glitches.  I won't give up though.  I will try again later...wish me luck.

Rita, I think your bears certainly are recognizable.  And aren't we all ever evolving?

I think we should all remember this:

It is not about being better than anyone else,
it is about being better than you used to be.
Don't die with your music still in you.   (Dr. Wayne Dyer)

Heather , your new avatar is really cute.  I love the avatar Shelli made for me but I think I may have to update it.  NCTB has a tutorial on how to do it........when I get some free time!

SHelli, I have suffered many wounds from my needle felted bears.  Not as many now , but in the beginning...OUCH!!! I think it is all in the learning process.  Once I got into a groove I automatically moved my fingers just enough to avoid the tips of those evil needles.

  When you first start needle felting any project you start with a loose ball/wad of wool.  It takes lots and lots of repetetive jabbing to reach a point where it is more firm ,and if you are wacthing TV and look away for a moment...look out!  I recently stabbed o needle through one side of my finger and out the other.  It hurt so darn badly( and I get enough finger jabs daily to test blood sugars, diabetic here), but I put a band-aide on and kept going.  It' very addicting and I can't stand to see my bears head looking unfinished...they look so strange until they are done.  Almost like they are deranged or in some kind of pain.

You also need to make sure you use a large enough foam block.  I use a cut up old foam/sponge pillow.  Foam breaks down over the repeated neeld pokes.   The foam block you can buy on line are only good for about two bears then they are so degraded that you can actually poke right through it an into you leg...done that too.

Oh the injuries we sustain for the love of our art.........

OH JANE....I am so sorry!  How could I miss you!!! I copied the names from the user list....too many "J's" must have scrambled my brain!!!

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((BIG HUG)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Or I could say I saved the BEST for LAST....(trying to dig out here):(

I agree with what so many of you are saying.  I believe the more bears you create the more you will see the common 'thread' that identifys them as yours.

I have several original patterns, more than 20 and I like to have different styles, yet people tell me they recognize them as mine, even though I think they look very different from one another.   I sometimes don't see it myself but I think it is like having children, in way.  Outsiders will often see the resemblence between the children and thier co-creators, mom and dad. 

My bears are also a spin-off of my inner self or soul.  They come from my heart.  I often don't know what they are going to look like until they are finished....kind of like they are speaking to me and have a life of thier own.  Sounds silly maybe, to an outsider, but I bet many of the artists out there can relate.  One example:  when I create a felted face bear, each face has certain parts, yet they all come out looking different, even when I try to make them look the same.  hhhhmmmmmmm

My ' look'...and i guess I have one, is not something I decided on ahead of time.  It it happened on it's own.

I have been an artist as far back as I can remember, drawing...ALL the time with lots of detail.  Without trying to sound boastful, I have won many drawing contests starting in first grade, and  through high school and also made  the top 1200 in the USA.  Also won a national drawing competition at age 14.  I never had any help from anyone, but my parents were my enablers as I had an endless supply of drawing tools, colored pencils, markers, crayons.

Anyway, at the risk of writing a novel (sorry) I believe art is something that you are born with .  Yes, anyone can go to art school and learn a SKILL, but to really make art your own it has to come from within. 

I also have to say I recognize so many of the bears before actually seeing who the artist is...this means you too Louise!

What would we do without art.  Artist put the rainbows in our world.

Hey guys, I know pelts can be controversial but they are soooooo much nicer in a finished bear than an old musty coat and almost always in better condition....strong supple hides, clean soft fur with no residue or dusty mold.  HOWEVER, you can find some pretty nice coats out there as long as they have been taken care of by thier owner.

As always on ebay...it's buyer beware!  I can't even begin to tell you how much crap I have aquired from ebay by way of fur coats.  One wasn't even real fur but the seller  claimed it was.  On the other side of the coin , I have bought some really gorgeous fur coats on ebay.

Gina, I hope your bad experinec willnot turn you off from trying real fur.  They are a real challenge but are so nice in the end.   Here's a decent source....and I am sure there are many more too.   www.hideandfur.com

This just shows the world that Teddy Bears are more than just cute and cuddly things.  They actually DO make a difference.

Those who still want to get in on the Teddys For Charity still can.  There is info on this at www.northcountryteddybears.com

It's never too late to give tothose who are in need.

YAY Shana!!!  What a beauty too!  Your noses are perfect and those eyes...WOW.....I still want youto make me one from mohair.......... :):):):)