Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Wow! This is really your first design?! You've every right to feel pleased with yourself - he's very cute and (as someone else said) truly yours :D.

My first design was....ahem....not quite as successful as yours.....:cool:

I had a look round on eBay (australia) and couldn't find anything explicit in their help section about your particular problem....but on the ebay.com site it says:

You may include links to your About Me page in your listings. However, you may not include language within those links that promotes items or other Web sites.

It seems a fine line to me, but strictly speaking ebay could say you were advertising off-ebay items if you are selling other bears on your website. I think you would be ok to say 'please visit my About Me page', without referencing your other bears.

What would worry me personally about this is, how did ebay find out? Do they police individual auctions? I doubt it! Perhaps they were doing spot checks, and you were just unlucky :(. Or......and please, please, please don't quote me on this......someone reported your auction? I'm sure it must happen.

Big, big hugs to you. If only ebay could be a little more 'gentle' in the treatment of their paying customers, and provide clearer explanations that show a little more feeling....but then they are a business, and a very profitable one at that. So what do they care?!

I have regularly listed on ebay US, because I saw my hits go up (double) when I tried it the first time....and so I'm in the habit of listing there now. International listings can be seen by everyone, but only if they are looking in the right category. In my case, UK listings can be seen by people in the US if they include the 'bears>other' category while they browse. If they narrow it down to 'bears>artist, one-of-a-kind', the UK and other international listings are eliminated.

Not sure I've made this clear....perhaps I need more caffeine!

Aww, very cute! And they all look gorgeous sitting together like that!!

Just posting a follow-up....I bought some of the fabric paper from http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/ and it arrived quickly....I bought the A5 size, so it wouldn't be so costly if I made a mistake :P. I printed on it with no problems, removed the backing & rubbed fray check on as suggested by Sue Ann, and am now the proud owner of tags for my bears!!! I'm very pleased with the results, they are just what I needed.

Thankyou to everyone on this thread!!! Without TT I might never have known about this product!

Hi Matilda,

Could you use the cat's eyes, but place the slit horizontally to look like a frog?

I'll be thinking of you Sue Ann, and everyone else affected by these terrible storms. And I'll be hope, hope, hoping that this hurricane loses some power before it hits land.....

Take care.

Yes, well done...I'm in awe! He's very cute and makes my little ones look like giants by comparison!

Kim and Clare, I know exactly what you mean! You should see my fingers at the moment :lol:. Or maybe not...they are not a pretty sight. I have to do careful editing on the photos of my minis, because when my hands are in shot I don't want to show the world the pin cushions on my finger tips......

I have seen some tiny round pads (thimble pads?) that might help. Anything more like a thimble, leather or not, is not an option for me. I need to feel the fabric to work on the little ones.

OK, thanks Sue Ann....I've ordered some of each type of fabric and I'm looking forward to trying it out. This paper is a great tip!

Oh, he's SO precious....well done to Stephanie, and it's great to hear they are doing so well :).

I just want to agree with Heather's point, because I've also heard horror stories about boxes being left in the rain or getting wet en route....it's a good idea to give the bear a water-proof layer of some kind. In my case I use bubble wrap and sticky tape, but it could be a plastic bag.

*Waves to Dilu*! As a newbie, I'm already feeling welcome and settled

For those in the UK, I just found this site: http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/ . They have cotton, silk and even voile! I'm thinking....it might be great for making clothes for minis, as well as the tags.... ;)

For the tags, is frey check on the edges enough or do they need a seam of some kind?

I've been enjoying these pics, so just had to add my own! Here's a fuzzy photo of me, aged about 18 months, wrestling my first ted to the ground..... I still have this bear, a big pink and white one with whirly fur. Very cuddly. Unfortunately (for him) he was abandoned when a new-bear-on-the-block arrived a year or two later (other photo). This bear was made for me and has a growler. He's a bit the worse for wear these days....

Hi Penny & everyone :)

I think the size of the bear adds to his or her distinct character! I've no idea which sells better overall, but sounds like it's different at shows than it is on eBay? I think we should all make what we feel most comfortable with! I love making the little ones (3") but they can be very fiddly at times so I tend to swap between those and the larger (6-7") ones. Plus, I like using mohair so the bigger ones give me that option.

The cashmere and velvet and the lovely smokey longpile make the turning much easier (it kind of slides against itself), but I still get the odd piece that is ruined in the process of turning. And then I just have to cut another limb out and start again!

Maybe another factor is whether or not we prefer to hand-sew? I made some larger bears a while back, and machine stitched them. But once I started hand-sewing I was hooked and it limits the size a bit! (Well, it does for me anyway!)

Huggles,
Helena

This must be such a hard time for you and your family - best wishes to you, especially to Stephanie for a very speedy recovery.  Hopefully mum and son will be together very soon.

Millie, you must post your photo when you get it!!!

Thanks again to everyone who's looked at this. I appreciate being able to share it with you all.

Thanks everyone, I'm really thrilled with this photo. She's such a sweet lady too, and so kind to do this for me.

Hi all,

One of my collectors sent me a photo this morning, of all the little bears she's bought from me lined up and looking cosy! I can't tell you how happy I was to receive this picture! This is the first time I've seen a group of my bears together....I feel like a proud mum! :lol:

Thanks for looking.

Hmm....I'm an eyeballer, but have occasionally had to unpick and start again.... :/

On longer/denser fur i find it helps to use a 'low tack' masking tape to hold the fur. I part the fur where I want to place the ears and use the tape to keep it out of the way. I do this on both sides before stitching either ear on, because it's easier to judge without an ear in the way! I've also been known to trim some fur off where the ears are going, but you have to confident about this 'cos there's no going back....

The pumps at our Tesco petrol station were dry this morning. I think they'll be getting a delivery later today, but no doubt it won't last long. Not sure if it's my imagination, but the roads seem a lot quieter too. Obviously people aren't using their cars if they don't have to. It's scary to think that we're all so reliant on oil, and that a little panic buying or threat of one day action is enough to cause chaos.

She's gorgeous! I love her expression - she looks like she needs a hug - so sweet

Hubby just got home from work - apparently all the petrol stations he saw on his way had huge queues of cars outside them. People are panic buying.

Thank goodness for the light relief in this thread!

Aww, what a cute bear!!!! Congratulations

I heard yesterday that gas and electricity prices are all set to rise in the UK too, apparently a knock-on effect of the oil prices (I think that's right?). We got our electricity bill this morning and it's way higher than this time last year :(.