Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

So far so good!

Hi Karen,
I'm sorry to hear about your situation with ebay, it is disgraceful that providing excellent service is no longer enough!
But (I don't think I'm the bearer of bad news here) we as artists and collectors just have to acknowledge that the powers that be in that place do not want us there anymore.
As the higher fees and altered search functions haven't scared completely everybody off yet this is just the next step. I believe that if you somehow managed to overcome this Catch 22 they will throw you obstacle at you. It doesn't matter to them that you need to earn a living, you (and by this I mean we) do not earn them enough money.
We have to utilize the other bear friendly sites if we want to remain selling online, because before you know ebay will figure out another way to make doing business on their site impossible.
Though these sites may not get as many passers by yet, collectors will go where we are, and the fact that prices will not include those huge fees from ebay will make things even more attractive.

Mel

Hey folks,
The list has been sent to all of those that put their name down, if you haven't received it please let me know ASAP so I can sort you out...
Cheers
Melissa

Well the deed is done, and I hope that everyone who put their name down has got their recipient's name and details.
If you haven't received an email from me today and had submitted your name, can you please email me straight away to straighten any problems out (much easier now rather than 2 days before Christmas).
Happy ornament making everyone!

Mel

Hi Everyone,
Well I'm going to close off the list tonight so if you'd like to receive your little package of TT Christmas Spirit this year, get your details (as outlined above) in to get onto the list.
For everyone involved in the swap I'll be drawing the names tomorrow and will let you know your "secret" recipient shortly thereafter 
Cheers
Melissa

Hi Folks,
Just letting you all know that this is the last chance to put your name on the list as I'll be formalizing the list tomorrow and sending out details to all involved , it will be hard to have to resend the list once it's out there so please make sure to get in your details as outlined in the first post by tonight,
Many Thanks
Melissa

Hi Carolynn,

Actually it isn't that hard, though learning some hints is the way to get through- from memory I think there is an online course (someone help me out here! I've had a dumb moment and cannot remember the e learning university's name)
I was taught by my other half (photographer and graphic designer), though he only gave me two hints to get me started.

No'1 You have to think in layers! Just like a cake you need to think about the order you want them- cake, cream cake icing...so you have to understand that you want the background on the bottom layer then the (for example in Judi's photo) unicorn, then the sphere on top.
Once you think in layers it all starts to make sense.

No'2 You have to do alot of experimenting and alot of practice, the shading, highlighting, sizing etc will work out with time (but you'll get a headstart with a course) once you have got an understanding of layers then you can have fun manipulating the layers with different functions.

I've been using photoshop for two years now and started with absolutely no idea, but with those two bits of advice I've created thousands of designs.
Of course one of my best helps is google, when I don't know how to do something I just type in the exact question: how do I ...? Typically there has always been someone that has asked before me and I get taken straight to the answer!

Anyway thinking about this will get you on the way.

Cheers
Melissa

Gotta love this "fairy" stuff hey!!!

back to work now!!!
Mel

Hi TT'ers,
Well it's getting close to the closing date for you to get your name on the list, so if you're thinking about it please make sure you sign up by midnight this Wednesday (5th),
Cheers
Melissa

Hi Andrea,

We'll blame it on this weekends Halloween hijinks, but I got your messages for both of the swaps :O)

Mel

Update:

So far on the Christmas Card list we have over 30 participants, from all over the globe- don't forget if you want to join in to send your details via email to the above address.

Thanks
Melissa

Update:

Already we have over 20 people participating in the swap, don't forget to email me at the above details if you want to join in on the fun!

:O) Mel

Hi Julia,
You are more than welcome to join in, as are all of our new members to Teddy Talk-
the most important thing is that you get your name in by the cut off date!!!
The more people that have a go the more exciting it gets as the pictures start rolling in 

Cheers
Melissa

:clap:  :clap:  :clap:
I love this idea Aleta, and just when I was trying to come up with an idea for my kids playgroup xmas craft, the kids love putting stickers on things, so I might just nab this idea and kiddify it - I've got hundreds of discs that they can decorate!

Thanks you so much for sharing
Cheers
Mel

Thanks Tammy,
I'll take you up on the tree offer, they looked so great last year!
And thanks to all of you who have sent in your info- the list is growing :dance: this should be a very exciting swap.
Cheers
Mel

Hi again TT'ers,
Well it another one of those aha moments for me!!
Looking back through the libraries of TT for info on the ornament swap, I came across a pile of info regarding this particular swap and many others...if your interested do a search on "ornament swap", I won't put up all of the links (there are a few), but there are many pearls of wisdom in that lot and I hope that lots of you can join in on the fun and not forget that we enter into this in the spirit of sharing! and that our trees are all the more beautiful because of these little swapped creations.
To once again save time (being so very close to our deadline already) and to save me trying to come up with something not very original, I hope that Tami doesn't mind (because she summed it all up beautifully last year), I've brought out her words for another go. I'll paraphrase and please let me know if I've forgotten anything.

Wow is Christmas coming fast or what?!!!
If you'd like to participate please follow the guidelines and have your info in by Wednesday 5th November, I will hold a random draw of participants to allocate partners in the days that follow, but you can get your ornament started as soon as you decide you are participating so it can be sent in time.  As it is a Teddy Bear Ornament Exchange, perhaps more people could find the time to participate. This will be a COMPLETELY RANDOM swap and part of the fun is that you must keep the name I draw for you a secret! (You will not likely have the same person who has you.) I will draw a name for each participant and send them an email with the name and address of their match.The idea of this swap is to create a Teddy Bear Christmas Tree ornament for your partner. The scale of this project should make it easier for mailing and perhaps quicker to complete this busy time of year.

Follow this link to see some of the lovely ornaments exchanged last year! Some were small Teddy Bear heads embellished in Christmas style and some were felted creations and tiny bears. These are only some examples. Your ornament can be any medium you like to work in. Be creative! (like I have to say that!) The rules are that it must be bear/critter -themed and hand made by you to hang on a tree or similar!

Here is the link to last years tree:
http://teddy-talk.com/viewtopic.php?id=20565

Here is how to participate:

1. Send me an email to happylittlesouls@y7mail.com containing your user name, your full name, and your mailing address by November 5, 2008.

2. I will send you a return email with your partner's name and address, once the draw takes place. PLEASE keep it a secret! Everyone loves a nice Christmas surprise! (Remember, the person who's name you have is not necessarily the one who has your name.)

3. Make a lovely Teddy Bear ornament for your partner. Be sure to add a string or cord for hanging it. Wrap it nicely and make a tag revealing yourself to your partner.

4. Ship the ornament so it will arrive by December 24, 2008 for a wonderful Christmas surprise.

5. In good time we will have another tree to display the beautiful creations, so send in a photo to Tammy once you've received your ornament via email to tammy@beckoningbears.com

Merry Christmas!!!

As a sidebar I'm using email instead of PM's as the messages are a little easier to sort out that way.
Also from the lessons learnt last year, to get your ornaments to their destinations on time, you really need to send it by the beginning of December if it has an overseas address, this way recipients also get to enjoy seeing them on the tree for that much longer before Christmas.

Hope you'll be able to join us
Cheers
Melissa

Hi everyone,
Well with it being that time of the year again    it's time to get ourselves organized and into the Christmas spirit!!!  :dance:
In the planning of this particular swap, I have been given a heads up to an old post from '05 re: Card Swap with some guidelines designed by Shelli.
So I reckon if it ain't broke don't fix it, as well as saving much valued time, I hope Shelli doesn't mind I'll just rip off what she said  so in the vein of KISS (see below) I'll plagiarize a little (ok alot), here goes:

I'm handling the Christmas Card Swap and wanted to post new information.  For the sake of clarity I'm starting from scratch.  That means that, if you've sent in an address already, you will need to resend.

If there's something in what I suggest, below, that leaves you totally aghast, please do let me know.  I'm more than open to accommodating as many people as possible.  At this point I'm going for K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid.)

I will be producing a confidential, TT-eyes-only mailing list, for distribution to participating swap members, via email.  This document will be produced in Microsoft Excel, I'll make it available as a PDF and an excel file. Names will be added to the list in the order they arrive in my Inbox!

If you want to participate, here's what you need to do:

1.  Send me an email to happylittlesouls@y7mail.com which includes ALL of the following seven pieces of information, in this order:

Name
Address
Town/Suburb/City
State
Zip/Postal Code
Country
Your email address

2.  Send the information PROMPTLY, by Wednesday night, November 5th, at midnight PST.

3.  Wait for me to send you an email, to the address you include (see above), which contains the mailing list.

==========================================================================

Once you get the mailing list, here's how to send out your swap cards:

1.  Find where your name is located on the mailing list.

2.  Starting with THE NAME DIRECTLY BELOW YOURS, check off five people.  These are the people to whom you send your cards.

3.  If you're at the bottom of the list, and there aren't enough people to "check off" to reach a total of five, wrap your checklist around to the start of the list as necessary.

PLEASE CONTACT ME ON THIS THREAD OR PRIVATELY WITH QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS.

To keep things fair, please send cards with paper contents (cutouts, confetti, photos, business cards, etc.) only.  There's nothing worse -- in terms of guilt potential, I mean -- than a well-meaning holiday card sent from the heart, for which you receive a ten-pound box of chocolate in return.  Oops! Everything should fit in a standard size envelope.

Cheers
Melissa

Ok then; off we go!!!
I'll have a look back at some of the older threads to make sure I have all the info we need and then start some new threads for folks to sign up on!
Thanks for the link Daphne, I wasn't on TT way back when, so it will be good to get it right from the start.....
The Fourth??? Annual TT Xmas Swap will be underway very shortly.

:dance: Mel

Ok Guys and Girls,
As I have 5 months to till my next Fair, I'll take a crack at organizing the ornament exchange (and cards too!)- I definitely want to see it go ahead, so if that's OK with everyone I'll start making plans and threads- because time is ticking and as we found out last year we need to get things sent quite a few weeks before Christmas to take into account the postage time for overseas.
Tami did such a wonderful job last year, with so many participants- Daphne's spreadsheet was a lifesaver last year too with soooo many TT's involved, plus Dilu for figuring it all out in the first place - I'll be taking a leaf out of their books to get it all done quickly!
Is that OK with everyone??
Cheers
Melissa

Is it too late for me to join in??? I never did end up with a little christmas ornament last year, but it was an unintentional glitch in the system, I might just suggest though with so many people that you use surnames on the list, that way double ups are out.
I love the thought of a TTer's bear or critter coming to live at my place....

    ...by the way are we doing ornaments again this year?  I've already been hatching an idea in anticipation!

Mel

Hi Lynne,
I might as well add my two cents!!!
I totally agree to let nature takes its course- up to a point. My first was a great natural birth (no drugs) and I was "over it" within 5 minutes, the only problem was Andrew was off taking photos of a wedding (I'm always one for "perfect timing"). I had post complications, but they were fixed in time.... which leads me onto my second, I hoped to do it again naturally, so that Andrew could be there and experience it all, he really felt left out of the first- although it only took one cuddle to catch up  (and I was scared of the cut). At 31 weeks Master 15 months got a vomiting bug, which I came down with after 5 hours of cleaning him up- result: premature labour that couldn't be halted with any drugs.
Baby had been sitting up high in my rib cage and across me- within 30 mins he had turned and got down ready to go. Then with things as they were and the pain (10 x the first) what it was I begged them to fix it, it wasn't till the baby got into trouble that they acted. The result an emergency c-section for which I was under general and Andrew was not allowed into theatre, so in the end he missed the second birth too.
Now everyone's story is different, but although we had high hopes of our ideal deliveries, when it came down to it I just wanted healthy children.
I know that doctors here are reluctant to do c-sections unless there is concern for Mum and Bub, and you have to think that at the end of the day, they have done it thousands of times before. Although I wouldn't have planned either the way they happened, I wouldn't do it any differently if I had the chance.
And I heard someone once say, it doesn't matter how they get here, you just pray that they get here safely. Your sister is so lucky to have gotten this far, I'm sure she will be over the moon no matter how it happens

Mel

Hi Lisa,
Not sure if it helps but we sell a dvd for people who aren't able to get to a class. It's the traditional style of making bears but it is very detailed, excellent for beginners and then you can set your own pace with the remote control- all you have to do is press stop.
Anyway have a look if you like www.theartofteddybears.com - under getting started products.
Cheers
Mel

:clap:  :clap:  :clap:  Well done Samantha,  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:
What a great job you've done, it's so awesome that all of your hard work paid off!
The show looked absolutely Spectacular! Spectacular!
Thanks to everyone for the great pictures, oh how I wish I could have been there!

Mel

Love it!!!  :clap:  :clap:  :clap: I know the feeling with two under 3!!! Exhausting....

I totally agree with you on the negatives of having everyone "mail it in" for their table. There are criteria however that I follow and for me I capped the number that could participate and have a little line in the sand at the state border (which in most directions is one day travel). Any closer we'll see you at the show. It is alot of coordinating as well- which was why it used to be so good when we had "reps" that did this for the market.
I have to note though that this isn't a fix it for those of you out of reach of shows, it's just another type of promotion- unfortunately no magic bullets here!

Mel