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What a delicious colour!!! I wouldn't have picked her as one of your bears - she's different from your usual style. Super cute though! 
I am SO thrilled to have 2 finalists in the People's Choice Awards!!! :dance: :dance: :dance:
I am a little sad that my bunny didn't make it through (he's in the showcase section) but am just so, so happy that my 2 bears did.....especially as I've been on a bit of a downer in regards to my creations lately (lost my mojo a bit).....it's given me a bit of confidence back now!
HUGE conrats to everyone else!!!! :clap:
Thought you like to see a few of my new creations....
First is 'Luca' who was a custom order from the lady who owns Lottie (in my avatar) - she wanted a brother for Lottie so little Luca was born!
Second is Smokey (original, I know!!), my 2nd bunny. He was made for the People's Choice Awards in Sydney, Australia. I entered 2 bears too and should hopefully be finding out very soon if any of them made it through to the finals. (The other 2 bears can been seen on my blog on my website, but they were both made about 6 months ago so many would have already seen them).
Hi Everyone,
Sorry it's been so long (November was the last time I posted)....I've been having a little bit of a rough time over the last 3 months and completely lost my 'bear-making mojo'. I'm slowing getting back into the swing of it now though, so thought I'd just pop on here to say 'hi'.
I see you have all been busy making some wonderful creations!
Good to be back. 
Another late-comer here!! 
......please may I join you all too????? 
. I couldn't resist the excitement of a swap.....it's been a loooong time since I participated in one....
Peta, I have sent you an email......
Yep, I had a phone call from tbci too. One of my bears was nominated, unfortunately one wasn't. I am in the finals for Category 3 (dressed) but Maria, i can see your bear 'flying' off with 1st place!!! :crackup: 
This is my finalist (as yet un-named):
And this is poor Delilah who didn't get through (I did have a buyer for her already but unfortunately she now has vets bills to pay so has had to pull out so Delilah will be looking for a new mummy elsewhere!):
I would LOVE to own a 1950's Steiff some day (I'd really love to own a 1910 centre seam Steiff but I'd have to win the lottery first!!!), so I have a real 'thing' for the older Steiff's (even though I am yet to own one!). I also love the Me To You bears (tatty teds). I own a couple of these. My husband and i have been together for 9 years now and it's a tradition that every birthday, valentines, mothers day, christmas etc, he gives me a Me To You card.......you see, the first card he ever gave me was one of these and what he had written inside was so beautiful that I cried.
I use both. And my collectors buy both. I only use the super soft quality faux fur and sometimes, you just can't get the same look with mohair or alpaca that you do with faux fur. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE mohair and especially alpaca but I also love some of the quality faux furs available. It's also very difficult to find the length and density in mohair/alpaca that you get with faux fur, especially if you're making a bigger creation. It just scissor sculpts so beautifully!
I did come across a few people who commented about my rabbit being made from faux fur at Hugglets. One of these was a very famous Artist who said "why do you BOTHER using faux fur? It totally ruins it - it makes them the same quality as the soft toys you'd find on the shelves of a greeting card shop!"...Uh huh, she's lucky I was in a good mood (up until then) or I wouldn't have been held responsible for my actions! There was also a collector who said "that's very expensive for just faux fur"...that comment was made while I was away from my table but my mum told me what had been said - this collector obviously doesn't understand that regardless of what the bear is made from, just the same amount of time and effort went into making that creation (and anyway, it was priced about £20 lower than it would have been if it were made from mohair, so the fact that it was made from faux fur WAS taken into consideration when pricing it!). BUT, apart from them 2, I had hundereds of people commenting on how soft and adorable he was! And he's found a new home and is on his way to the USA to his new mummy.
So basically, I use mohair, alpaca AND faux fur. I LOVE working with alpaca and it's my favourite fur to use, but I also love using mohair and faux fur - they all give wonderful but different results!
Bramble, the rabbit in question!:
What a great thread! Bren, that is just tooooo funny!!! :crackup:
I don't THINK I look like my bears, but I DO think that this particular bear of mine on the left looks quite like our gorgeous little puppy Nara on the right (photo taken last Friday). Nara does give you those real puppy dog eyes with her eye whites showing when she looks up at you - whenever she does, it ALWAYS reminds me of my bears! My 6 year old son says to me ' Mummy, Nara has got sad eyes - she always looks sad even when she's happy!!'
Hi,
I know there are quite a few of you who are concerned about the change to featured items under Artist Bears on ebay. Well, after a week (yes, a WHOLE WEEK) of waiting to hear back from ebay, I FINALLY just got a reply just a few minutes ago. This is what they had to say:
Hello Gemma, Thank you for writing to eBay's Customer Support.
My name is ***** and I would be happy to assist you with your question.
First of all I'd like to apologize for the delay in response. We are currently experiencing high email volume during this time but let me assure you that we are doing our best to address messages in the order they are being received.
Having said this, I took the time to review your listing and I realized that you had chosen the Featured First option when you listed the following item on the site: 120316398784
Actually, Featured First gives you a chance (no certainty) to enhance the visibility of your items by appearing as one of the listings on the first page of search results in the Featured Items section.
See the listing upgrade section of the Fees page for more information onthe cost of this listing upgrade.
Each time a user enters search criteria that may result in your listing appearing in the search results, there is a chance that your listing will appear on the first page of search results in the Featured Items section if you purchase Featured First.
When the user performs this search, a number of Featured First listings will be randomly selected on rotation to appear on the first page of search results in the Featured Items section. This means that your listing may end before it has a chance to be selected to appear.
The listing has already ended. Therefore, it is difficult for me to see where it placed in the search engine.
As for the delays before the item actually appeared, I would like to remind you that your listing may not be immediately searchable by keyword or category for several hours, so eBay can't guarantee exact listing durations. Where your listing appears in search and browse results may be based on certain factors including listing format, title,bidding activity, end time, keywords, price and shipping cost, feedback,and detailed seller ratings. This is mentioned on the Sell Your Item form when creating your listing.
I see that you modified the listing after creating it. Revising your listing once it has been submitted will generate a longer time for your item to be searchable because it has to be re-indexed every time you modify the listing.
Having said this, if you need more assistance with this or if you have any other concerns, I suggest that you contact us through Live Help. This is usually a faster and more efficient way to get help with an active listing. You will find Live Help links on our main page, and alsoin other places on the site where members might need assistance such as the selling form and registration form.
I trust that this information has been useful to you. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us again. I want to thank you for being part of the eBay community and wish you a wonderful day.
Regards,
***** .eBay Customer Support
I've removed the name of the person who emailed.
These are the bits that I am asolutely astonished at:
Actually, Featured First gives you a chance (no certainty) to enhance the visibility of your items by appearing as one of the listings on the first page of search results in the Featured Items section.
When the user performs this search, a number of Featured First listings will be randomly selected on rotation to appear on the first page of search results in the Featured Items section. This means that your listing may end before it has a chance to be selected to appear.
Can you flippin believe it?????!!! So what EXACTLY did my $20 extra to feature it get me? Absolutely bu**er all from what I can tell, because I looked at the Artist bears maybe 100 times (at least) while my bunny was listed and NOT ONCE did I see it as a featured item! I am SO furious right now that my husband thinks I should demand my money back (yeah right! We all know how ebay loves to take OUR money, but they're not so good at giving it back!). Fair enough if they want to do this with Featured First items now, but NO WAY should they be charging $20 for listing to 'possibly' appear at the top!!
Sorry, I'm not cross THAT often, but right now I am absolutely FUMING!!!!
Y'know, the EXACT same thing happened to me with my bunny which finished a few days ago!! I sent ebay an email the day after the listing started...4 days later I had NO reply. I wrote them another email and told them how horrified I was that they could do this to people...2 days later and STILL no reply! 
I am SO frustrated with them - I now have £17 in ebay fees for the bunny but frankly I really don't feel like paying it!!
Stunning as always Kim!!! Just so darned cute!
Oh Wendy, he's one of my favourites of yours!!! Sooooooooooo cute!
Thank you everyone! She really is a sweetie. She's currently laying on the sofa next to me (if my mum knew I'd let her on my sofa she'd kill me!!!!).
I can't belive they charged you THAT much!!!! But boy, what a beautiful bear!!!
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause an argument in this post.... :redface:
I am going to just take things easy for a while with the bears....I have 2 custom orders to complete but after that I may just busy myself with some Christmas craft instead then start afresh with the bears in the new year.
I have given my mailing list customers a 15% discount on any of the bears available for immediate adoption through my website - one of them has reserved a bear. I have my rabbit on ebay at the moment and may put another bear on there after the rabbit finishes.
The only probelm I face is that if I don't NEED to be making the bears at the moment because things are slow, my husband (and my mum!) will insist that I have PLENTLY of time to do the housework now.....and that's just no fun :doh:
spent almost an hour talking to John Lamb the writer of the teddy bear mysteries.
Oh, I'm soooo jealous!! I've just read 2 of his books and i LOVED them!
:crackup: :crackup: That lady is a scream!! :crackup:
Clare, I think over here we call it microfibre plush. I was looking for the exact same fabric a year ago and asked in a local fabric shop what it's called and they said 'microfibre plush'. I didn't get any of the fabric as I found a different plush to use. I know that BearCountryUK used to stock it but they no longer do bear supplies.
Sorry i haven't been here much....having a new puppy, completing a bear for the British Bear Artist Awards and finishing a few custom orders has taken up ALL of my time at the moment! 
Anyway, I'm sure you like to see some pictures of our gorgeous little puppy. We've had her for 3 weeks now. My husand wanted an Australian name for her (being an Aussie 'n' all!) so we decided on the name 'Nara' which is Aboriginal for 'companion'. Pretty, eh? She's a handful - just the usual puppy traits of trying to eat everything (including my plants!!!!) and demanding attention....but we love her soooooo much!
The first 2 pictures were taken the day we brought her home aged 8 weeks. The other pictures were taken of her a week and a half ago aged a day short of 10 weeks. She's now 11 1/2 weeks (and getting bigger by the day!). Enjoy!
Is anyone else finding trade sooooo sloooow at the moment? It's totally depressing. It was only a matter of months ago that my bears were snapped up within days of me advertising them.....now nobody seems to have any money to spend on such luxurys as bears. I know I'm not the only one - I've heard the same thing from many of you. I've also noticed that bears on ebay aren't selling for as much as usual.
I was hoping to raise funds from my bears to treat my husband, our 2 boys and I to a few days at Disneyland Paris....it's not looking good! 
I really hope we get over this Credit Crunch soon......it's making me feel down in the dumps....
I spoke to Vicki last night (she's been trying to get hold of me all day yesterday bless her). She is devastated (sp?). I can't imagine how she feels - I don't think I'd ever feel safe in my home again. Her 10 year old son is soooo upset - they took his computer console and games etc. She will be offline for a while until they can get their hands on a computer to keep them going for a while. Luckily they seem to have receipts for most things so they claim it ack on the insurance but it still doesn't stop the fact that complete strangers have been in her house and gone through EVERYTHING.
I'll be speaking to her again this evening. Please keep Vicki, her husband and 2 little boys in your thoughts. :hug:
Well, I'm still exhausted after a busy few days! My mum and I took the train to London on Saturday (with all the bears in a big suitcase!!), went to see the Lion King at the theatre and stayed overnight in a hotel over the road from the Town Hall in Kensington (where Hugglets is held). We had a great time at the show, even though it was very quiet compared to all the other Hugglets I've been to (but still MUCH busier than most shows). I only sold 2 bears but at least it gave me the money to pay for the rest of our puppy (who we got yesterday!! Yay!) so I was happy. Both bears also went to brand new collectors which was good. It was great seeing eveyone - it's the chatting I enjoyed most!! 
I have put the other bears up on my website (and the bunny will be going on ebay in a few days).
Fingers crossed I get a cancellation place at the Feb Hugglets!
Well, here are the 4 other bears I've made for Hugglets. I'll only have 10 bears there which is less than what I wanted to take but unfortunately I've had flu so was unable to make any for over a week.....hopefully the ones I HAVE made will be satisfactory....
Firstly there is 10" 'Isabella' in her metal framed wheelbarrow, second is 15" 'Delilah' with open mouth, needlefelted muzzle and handpainted eyes (she has clay eyelids and some eyelashes too!!), third is 6" 'Chubbs' and last is 13" 'Flora', one of my 'traditional' designs - she's completely wobble jointed.
Thank you SO much everyone!! :hug:
I must admit, I have a soft spot for both Jasper and Bramble the bunny.
Oh, he is GORGEOUS!!!!!
