Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

At last, here are my photos of the all the award nominees at the BBAAs - apologies for the quality of the pics, I took them in a bit of a rush!

Category 1 - Miniature under 6" dressed or undressed

Category 2 - Bear 6"-15" undressed

Category 3 - Bear 6"-15" dressed

Category 4 - Bear 16" and above undressed

Category 5 - Bear 16" and above dressed

Category 6 - Group of bears miniatures under 6"

Category 7 - Group of bears 6"-15"

Category 8 - Group of bears 16" and above

Category 9 - Artist who has been making bears for 18 months or less

Category 10 - Artist of the Year: Europe

Category 11 - Artist of the Year: Rest of the World

Huge congratulations to all the nominees, the standard of work was fantastic!

I am in the process of resizing the photos of all the award entries, but in the meantime just wanted to share my news.

I am proud and thrilled that three of my bears (or groups of) won their categories and Atticus was placed 2nd in his when the final judging took place at Hove on Sunday. 

And massive congratulations to all the other winners and nominees - all the entries were absolutely fabulous and obviously a tremendous amount of hard work had been put into each and every one of them!

ATTICUS - 2nd in Category 2 - Bears 6"-15" undressed

PUNCHINELLO - 1st in Category 4 - Bears 16" and above undressed

MISTLETOE KISSES - 1st in Category 8 - Group of bears 16" and above

For some reason my photo of Santa's Little Helpers (Category 7) isn't too keen to upload. UPDATE: PHOTO ADDED - see post 10.

I've got some photos - but they aren't my best work!

We were late and I took them in a rush and unfortunately some of them are a bit dark and/or grainy - but I'll resize them and upload them anyway. 

I'll try to get it done today - I have photos of each of the categories in the Awards showing all the entries.

Thank you for all your lovely comments!

Santa's Little Helpers  (Category 7 - Group of bears 6"-15")

I'm thrilled to have heard that I have received 4 nominations for my entries in the BBAA!  Needless to say, I'm absolutely delighted!

Huge congratulations to all the other nominees - l'm looking forward to seeing all the gorgeous bears at Hove on 23rd November.

Here are some photos of my entries:

Atticus (Category 2 - Undressed bear 6" -15")

Punchinello (Category 4 - Undressed bear 16" and above)

Mistletoe Kisses (Category 8 - Group of bears 16" and above)

I'll be there - Stand 40 in Hall 1.

Hi Michelle,

I've just renewed my Norton subscription too and although my experience was nothing like yours, it certainly wasn't the fairly straightforward and stress-free process it has always been in the past.

It took about a total of about 90 minutes for the download to be completed and even then I wasn't sure if it had worked properly!  I did a bit of poking around and luckily it all seems to be doing what it should. 

However, since then my access to the internet has been getting slower and slower and this morning I couldn't sign on at all!  So I've spent about an hour and a half on the phone to my ISP sorting it out (it would seem that my broadband dialling folder/driver/whatever it is had been damaged and was no longer working properly).  I can't say if it has anything to do with the Norton download, but it's a bit of a coincidence.

Another thing that I didn't like (and I don't know if the same happened to you) but during the download process - that is, after payment had been made and I was absolutely committed to the purchase - I was shown a screen which told me that as I was downloading the product I was agreeing to an automatic renewal next year.  If I didn't want to do this, I couldn't decline at the time, but have to go into my Norton account and opt out later, I suppose the hope is that I will either forget or just not bother.  I was a bit annoyed at not being given a choice, so I was thinking about using a different security product new year - and hearing about your experience has just convinced me that I should! 

Glad you got it all sorted out in the end, but sorry you got stung for an extra $40 and it took them hours to fix it!

If you want to transfer the design onto fabric there are several ways to do it.  It shouldn't be too difficult, but might be a bit fiddly due to the extra complication of the mohair pile.   

Take a look at some embroidery sites...try this one for a start:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5968_transfer-e … esign.html

Hopefully this will give you some ideas.

I just want to whole-heartedly endorse all the lovely things that have already been said - it was a wonderful day, fantastically well organized and with a lovely atmosphere.  I enjoyed every minute!

I am one of the old-timers who can remember the fairs that used to held at this venue and so it is great to see The Civic Hall back on the bear calendar. 

It was obvious that Samantha had put a great deal of thought into the many little touches that really made it such a special day.  For example, we were met at the car with an offer of help to get everything unloaded and shown to our stand - a wonderful start!  The little welcome bags for the exhibitors contained a pen - a lovely touch as I'm sure I'm not the only one who has arrived at a fair to find their only pen won't write.  I could go on and on....the catering, the pretty balloons, etc, etc.  Nothing was overlooked

As many others have mentioned, there was obviously an incredible amount of hard work, research and preparation that went into the fair to make sure everything was perfect - and it certainly showed on the day. 

So to Samantha and her family: a huge THANK YOU for all your hard work.........and I am already looking forward to next year!

Hi Judi

We've caught dozens of cats over the years (we have a sanctuary) and we know from experience that cats will often turn into absolute tigers once they realise they're in a trap!! 

So it's a good idea to cover the trap with an old sheet or curtain as this will calm her down.  You can cover it when you set it but be sure that the fabric doesn't impede the trap mechanism and use something you are happy for her to ruin (it's amazing how much fabric a cross cat can claw and pull through the bars). 

Pilchards in tomato sauce work well as bait - yuk!

As she is doodling all over the basement floor, it might be worth putting a litter tray down for her - even if they are completely feral most cats will use one. 

Good luck!

Me too..........Hall 1, Stand 40

Hi Julie,

Entering competitions is certainly a very good way of setting challenges for oneself (and it's fun too!!) 

The British Bear Artist Awards take place each year - the first round of judging is done by photographs and if you are lucky enough to receive a nomination, your bear is judged in the final which takes place at The British Bear Fair in Hove.

I haven't seen any application forms yet either - but if you contact Wendy Hobday (the organizer) at wendyhobday@freenet.co.uk she should be able to help.  Or you can try wendy@wendysworldfairs.co.uk.

Update:I've just spoken to Wendy and the British Bear Fair will be held on 23rd November 2008.  Entry forms for The British Bear Artist Awards will be available in two or three weeks.  I'll keep you posted!

I sure do!!!  And they love it......honestly!

The person below me loves gardening.

I most certainly do!!! 

We have a sanctuary with 30 permanent residents.  A lot of the cats come to us with bad times behind them - and we'll happily take on the problem ones - the elderly, those with chronic health conditions or the just plain feral.  We'll take them in and we love 'em all!

The person below me loves detective stories.

Here are two of my helpers - there are more, but this pair are particularly helpful!

This is Pookie - she's just a baby at about 6 months old.

And this is Boo-Boo - if it's on the table and you want to cut it out he just has to sit on it!!!

But aren't they gorgeous?

Congratulations Samantha - I love both your entries!

Congratulations Judi - I made the most of the opportunity to see your bears 'in the fur'.  They are fabulous!!

Congratulations Judi - I made the most of the opportunity to see your bears 'in the fur'.  They are fabulous!!

Congratulations - your little bear is so gorgeous!

Congratulations Shelly - I love your rabbits!

Sorry I am a bit late posting this (had a very bad day yesterday - but that's another story), I just wanted to share my delight at my success in the British Bear Artist Awards.........my bear Ollie won 2nd place in Category 4 and my Letters for Santa bears won 1st place in Category 7.  I am thrilled to bits!!!

This is Ollie

And here is Letters for Santa

It was a wonderful day and congratulations to all the nominees - it was lovely to be able to see all the bears in the fur!

Congratulations Vicki - your bear is so cute!

Congratulations Samantha - absolutely gorgeous bears (I adore the sleigh ride)!

Congratulations Chloe - well done!!

Congratulations Anne - your bears are gorgeous!!