Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Thanks Sandi!  I for one am quite excited over it.  This is my first time doing it, but I understand it's quite well established and attended.  The bear teasers are all so intriguing, I can't wait to see what everyone else has made!

Yeah I got it too

Here are all 8 of mine, I deleted my previous post so I could amend the pic.  Sorry it's not a real fancy sneek peek, I ran out of time!

I bet it wouldn't change much, it looks like it's completely synthetic so the fibers wouldn't shrink....it might have some sort of poly-nylo meltdown... :crackup:

The backing on it looks really loosely woven.  It's good you didn't pay much for it.

What is it?  I didn't even know they had that?

Bobbie, I think they only did the center seams during the war to conserve mohair because it was in such short supply since they used it to line jackets and airplane seats and stuff.  In those days they laid the patterns out a little differently so as to use every scrap.  That's why they don't have center seam bears now unless they are a reproduction.

Sounds like classic text book anxiety attacks.  They can be caused by more things than you can imagine.  When you have one, do the opposite of what you think you should, get up walk around and swing your arms.  Eat a banana too if you have one.  They always hit at night when you're starting to relax.

This is Sugar Cookie, another piece I made for the Ho Ho Oh BearZ show!

:clap: Congrats, that's so kewl!  Winning something always makes your day!  :clap:

I drew you a little diagram because it's hard to have it make sense if you just describe it.  It's like trying to describe how to do a gusset with a pleat instead of a U, you just have to see it.

Anyway you bend the cotter pin in about a third of the way from the top, then you bend it out about 2/3 of the way down and it makes tension against itself when you bend it against the wooden circle.  It's actually quite effective if you can learn the right place to bend it to make it work every time.  It's the method I learned when I learned to make bears.

My reccomendation is if you really want to make a chibi bear, is to study some anime art books and apply it to a bear.  Any time you're crossing one art style with another it's a good idea to know a little something about the other art style, it makes the fusion easier.

We all owe you alot!

I make distressed looking bears so my noses are pretty easy since there are gaps...BUT...I do know how to do a filled in regular nose and I do it the normal way with perl cotten.   The size depends on the size of bear I am making, and I simply sit there and stitch it.  Back when I learned how to make bears we didn't have any nifty tricks so it never occurred to me to draw anything on or anything like that, so I just do it.

But over the years, I have heard of things other artists do.  A lot of artists use a felt template under their stitches to give the nose a more three dimentional quality that stands out away from the face.

Now if you've ever seen Ted Menten do a nose you probably want to cry! (Just kidding)  He has the most convoluted method I've ever seen for making noses, but they are perfect every time.  So since he isn't here, I will do my best to describe what I saw him do when he asked me to sit in on a class one afternoon.

First he takes all the hair away from the area he wants to do the nose on.  Then he puts a felt template on the inside of the nose.  (I am not sure why.)  Then he uses scotch tape to hold down all the hair around the outside of the nose so it doesn't get caught in the stitches.  He then colors that area all in with permanent marker.  Then I think it was him, but it might have been Diane Gard who put a straight pin horizontally on the top of where you want it to be to use as a stitch guide.  Then he rubs glue stick on it to hold the stitches in place while he is sewing them.  I don't ever condone the use of glue, but it's part of his method.  Then he embroiders his nose. 

Also the same as using wool that the ladies mentioned above, a little excelsior in the nose cone works really well, especially if you have carpal tunnel and have a hard time pulling the needle through.

Thank you!  I had planned on doing a couple more candy inspired bears this year, even before the challenge.  We must all be on the same sugary wavelength!

Change your password!  It may have been a password cracker or a keystroke logger.  And you don't owe me anything!  :crackup:

I sent them an e-mail and Johnna said that they and their homes are fine, but today was much worse in dealing with lots of ash and smoke.

I was just lookin at the map on TV of the fires in Cali and I got to wondering...how close is Intercal to those?  Are they ok?  Does anyone know?

Southern California geography isn't something I am that familiar with when lookin down on that kind of map.

One of the pieces I made for the Ho Ho Oh BearZ show is a roly-poly and it was inspired by ribbon candy!

I always stay up til 5 am.  I like to work at night when it's quiet.

You know when you have traveled to shows for so many years, you naturally have tons of "war" stories, but I can think of one in particular that is pretty funny.

Another artist and I had gone to the Tokyo show and when we returned we came through customs at SFO.  He went to the person on the right and I went to the one on the left.  I handed them my paper to declare all that I had brought back, and the guy rolled his eyes and said go ahead.  So I went on through and I waited and waited and my friend didn't show.  So I went back to see what was going on, and he was at the desk talking rapidly.  So I walked over there and when I got close I was told to "stand over there and don't come any closer" in a spot that the guy pointed at.  So another guy that worked at customs came up and asked me for ID and asked me a bunch of questions and finally told me to go ahead. 

Well I still had no idea what was going on, but I had been on that plane for 12 hours and I wanted to get out of there.  So I made a bee line for the exit to meet our friend who was picking us up.  I put my trunk and suitcase in her truck and chatted with her for a while as she moved the truck, it had been parked in front of the airport pick up too long so we went around and came back again.   I went back and called my husband and my friend still hadn't come.  So I finally decided to go back to see what was going on. 

Just as I got back to the customs area he had come around the corner.  He was none too happy either.  Apparently they had flagged us on the plane because they thought we were Irish terrorists.  We both have irish names and either his initials and my birthday were the same as this woman they were expecting to come into the country or vice versa.   They had run our names through Interpol and everything.  What I hadn't seen when the second guy told me to go and I made my hasty exit was that there were several people chasing me down to get me back but they saw me get into the truck and drive away so they figured it was too late!   In the mean time he had been trying to convince them that he was really a teddy bear artist, that it was REALLY a real job and that we were not terrorists!  :crackup:

Edit:  I have a good story about Clarion too, but I will post it later.  Gotta get busy workin!

What was the last magazine you bought? 
Romantic Homes

What did you have for dinner last night?
Baked turkey, acorn squash and apple sauce

Who did you last speak with on the phone?
My Mother

What was the last tv show you watched?
A rerun of The Cosby Show

What’s the best thing that has happened to you today?
I got a lot of house work done and finished a bear for the show.

Have you ever broken a bone?
Yes, my nose and 9 toes but not at the same time.

What are you really bad at?
Singing and false sentiment.

Your favourite food?
Is coffee a food?

Do you believe in ghosts?
Not in the conventional sense, but in the plasma imprint showing up in an electromagnetic field sense...yes.

Your favourite season?
Summer

Do you collect anything?
Bears, lockets, teapots, shoes, purses and jewelry.

What do you wish you had more time for?
Everything

When is your bedtime on average?
5 AM

Yup we are gettin it down here too Tami!  You know we always have to have that one snow storm in October!

Try a taxidermist

I am sure you've heard the stories about bears being infested with bugs, but these bears were old bears and usually the bugs were more interested in the excelsior stuffing.  Or the bear had been wet at some point and molded.  Unless you live in an incredibly humid climate I wouldn't worry at all about pests.  If you do live in a climate that is prone to moths or silverfish, keep some mothballs around and you will be fine.