Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I was busy with other projects with close deadlines, so I am a little late with my swap bear for Raewyn.
Raewyn has finnished my bear a while ago, but she is kindly and patiently (bless her!) waiting for me to finnish hers.

Her bear will be finnished before the end of the month, but may arrive at her doorstep a little after the deadline!!!
Now all depends on how fast I can be to finnish her bear. My mood rules...

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Right, so be it, I had to relook Thomas to please my customer. 

Okay, the result is not too bad, plus my customer loves him now.

Now he does look cheeky. a little clown, I would say.   

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Thanks for your lovely comment.
My customer said he looked too sad and shy so she asked me to change a little his face...

I will show his new look asap. Fingers crossed his new look will please my customer. 

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

A customer ordered Thomas.

He is 26 cm tall.
I used two different short toothy pile mohairs: a 5 mm one in golden colour (one of my fav mohairs) and a 3 mm one in a brown colour.
his paw pads and foot pads are in leather.
I filled him with wool plus kapok in the head and limbs and with heavy uncarded polyester plus steel beads in the body.
He is fully jointed with cotter pin joints.
He has black German glass eyes. I felted under his eyes with wool which i then painted in light brown with textile paint.
I embroidered his nose with brown twisted cotton and lightly waxed it with bee wax. I used the same thread for his mouth.
I embroidered his eyebrows with brown perle cotton.
I attached to his right leg an hand cross-stitched label (Aida cotton ribon and golden cotton embroidery thread) with  "Sophie Z'Ours" on one side and "Thomas" on the other side.
Finally, I knitted him a wool scarf in a brown colour to match his tummy, nose, inner ears and pads.

I hope you like him. And I hope his mom will love him!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Hi Louise!

I am so happy to see you are back!  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:    :hug:

You've been missed there...

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Thanks for your lovely comment, Carolyn.
I did not eat very often macaroons, to be honnest, but heard about famous places in Paris where to find some with surprising tastes.

I loved knitting the little basket : it was pretty fast to make actually and I am thinking about making some hats the same way for my bears.

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Finaly a new bear to show you.

This one is very special, as made for a special project.
A great painter offered volunteers the opportunity to make needle projects around her postcards so she would show the projects at a needlecraft show in Paris this month.

Here is the bear I made :

And I handknitted him a basket (with my French knitting machine) :

The bear's name is Macaron after the macaroons on his tummy.
He measures about 18 cm sitting.

He was made out of two different mohairs (one for the head and the other for the rest of the body).
The long pile mohair is from Intercal : golden tan (color 4704) quality 815A. This long pile mohair is gorgeous.
Macaron is unjointed.

If you wish to know more about the painter, Catherine Martini, here is her website address :
http://www.martini.free.fr/
All in French but photos talk for themselves.

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Well done, Gemma!

I really love Luca... I am amazed at how Lottie and Luca look like sister and brother.

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

:clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

Paula, your new bears are terrific!

I am in love for your panda and for Honey...

No doubt they will all find new loving homes in no time!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

:crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:

That is soooooooo true!

I love my cat.     

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Ha! I new there was something I had to do but forgot to do!!!!!

Here are more retailer addresses to add in your list :
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/
Arts et Créations, France : http://www.artsetcreations.com/catalogue/
http://www.glasaugen-porzel.de/
http://www.handglasscraft.com/index.php
http://www.discojoints.on.ca/
http://www.crscrafts.com/
http://www.loubear.com/
http://www.jacqlynbears.com/
http://www.fred-i-bear.co.za/cgi-bin/index.pl

For instance, I have not paid any subscription. I will do in a few days, when I have more money on my bank account!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Dear Brenda,

I have got Mac computers too and always had Mac computers at home. I love my iMac even if it gets a little old and my iBook.
I had to learn working on PCs too at work and I have to say it has been a little hard at the beginning as in my mind the way it worked was not friendly at all. then i eventually got used to it, but i still prefer my iMac (tastes and colours are different foe everybody, hehehehehe).

I know we do not all learn the same way and thinks appently obvious for one person can look almost impossible for other people.

I just hope you will find the perfect book(s) to explain you how your new Mac works and that you will eventually learn to love it.

Some applications exist both for Mac and PC and barely work the same on both, but this is all the rest you will have to get used too!!! Take it easy and please, do not give up too early.

Good luck Brenda! Oh, and please, if you need some help concerning your computer, I may be able to help.

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

A chance I did not have such a high amount of money to spend!!!!
Plus i already have a huge (considering the space I have) mohair stock at home!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Hi!

I cannot help you with eBay, but I heard so much negative stories about this site when it comes to sell!
Why not trying Bid4Bears, The Teddy Patch, Etsy and Artfire? They are all great alternative places, with much friendly background.
Maybe, visit all theses places, and try them to see with which you feel the best... unless you like them all, hehehehehehe!

Whatever you choose, I wish you the best of luck!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Thanks, girls...

Well, after talking again with Malko, it seems that his cat eyes were clear eyes with a painted back.

I checked again my retailers list and eventualy found some clear cat eyes at Edingburg Import, so i will ordere them some.
This is better, as i will be able to paint them myself according to Malko's memory about their original colour.

beary hugs,
Sophie.

Well, Denise, these eyes on Beary Cheap are not cat eyes!!!!

They have got safety cat eyes, but they may not do the trick, as I do not want to open and unstuff the cat to install eyes! In addition they do not have the good size and colour!

I really need glass cat eyes in green!

Thanks for your help...

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

some GLASS CAT EYES : green with black pupils, 18 mm diameter?

This is for an old pluch cat who lost his original eyes. Malko wants him to have the sames yes as before.

I searched all my long suppliers list but could not find any who has what we want!!!!

Thanks,
Sophie.

Oh my God!!!!!!!

I cannot believe some supposed postmen could even think about abandonning parcels in a drain!!! This guy could have at least kept all the parcels for himself  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup: !!!! I am not sure that man has a brain... What was the point of abandonning these parcels????
Now how did this postal service get to employ such a brainless guy????         

One thing is sure, Finley deserves a second name, which is Lucky! And you, Christine, were very wise to pack him so well.

I wonder if this guy will still claim his salary. If he does it, his employer should tell him he abandonned the check into a drain!!!!  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:

I am thinking about this poor and clever guy who went to search the parcels and whose book got destroyed... He really did not deserve it.

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

:crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:

You made my day!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Dear Sheryl,

I am not a mini bear maker... I have always been scared by their so tiny size...
but I took the plunge when Nany Tillberg proposed her classroom for pins with a mini teddy bear head (at ebearz univ). Thanks Nancy! you are a gem!
My smaller bear before that try was... 21 cm tall!

I used some mini bear material I first bought in order to use for paw pads : so kind of mini-cashemire which does not fray at all.
For a first try, I have to say I was surprised I did so well. It is a little hard for the eyes the first time as all is so small... You need a very good lighting (I use my daylight lamp).
A mini bear head can be done pretty fast (in one day, you should be able to complete a pin if all goes well and even you can take your time). Right, some people may smile, as they can make a whole bear in a day, but I am as slow as a slug at sewing! 

I am not sure yet I will try to make whole mini bears... but we never now, don't we?

I think you should have a try, making like me begin with just a head to make a pin or a pendant, and then if you had fun making it, you can make more or try whole bears.

As soon as I finnished my first pin, I began a new one... so yes, i believe there can be some kind of addiction about making them.
But to garanty a maximum fun, try using fabrics that do not fray!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Dear Daphne,

Daphne,I feel like something is missing on these two bears...
I like the way you placed the eyes, but something must be done to highlight them.
The eye socket is a good idea.
My own idea is to try making clay eyelids for example. That way, you could avoid removing the eyes or re-placing them.
Plus or instead, what about adding some eyebrows?

In addtion, I think these bears would look great with a hat (with a vintage look). Why not try with a beret?

I would had a very discret shading near the muzzle and maybe the eyes too, in colours just a little darker than the mohair.

Well, that was just my two cents about it...

I hope it helps.

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

I am with you, girls.
Already listing on b4b...

I really sell very few bears a year, as tmy bear are not as successful as expected. Very depressing. I need to earn money from my bears because I made such a big stock of teddy bear making supplies!!!!
Unsold bears are queueing in my home, wondering if one day they will find a new loving family.

I tried eBay only a couple of times but gave up quickly.

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Please, update your list with the only French magasine :

Ours et Poupees :
http://www.oursetpoupees.com/indexx.html

Ours & Poupees
12 rue du Crêt des Pesieres
BP 40
39150 Saint Laurent en Grandvaux
Tél. 03 84 60 24 50
Fax 03 84 60 24 51

Thanks for sharing all your database of magasines!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

I started my collection while in England in late 2003. I first bought some Cheeky bears from Merrythought plus a couple of memory bears from Oxford plus a small Paddington bear.

Then, thanks to teddy bear swaps on forums, i added some artist bears to my hug. I eventually began to buy artist bears too.

I tried to count my bears but quickly lost the count. All I know is that I have got a little over 50 bears. I also have other critters like one platypus, one kangaroo and one bilby, all from my dear friend Wendy. Thinking about adding a lion too from Nina Potter some day when finances get better.

I try to restrict the number of bears I add to my hug each year to have enough room for the humans and the cat to live! Our house is small. 

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Judi, have you ever tried the program Photoshop elements?
It is nice for playing with photos.

I have got Graphic converter too, which i love a lot but which has less capabilities.

Having both is great.

Just check on http://www.download.com

Beary hugs,
Sophie.