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..ooohh! Bobbie, my inlaws are mad Dr. Who fans---from the original series and the newest one. I would love to claim it! I shall PM you.
What are the knitted designs? Sweaters? I don't really watch the show that much, but Marion, I watched that one and I think that was the season cliffhanger episode...
Amelia
I recycle, recycle, recycle...and I also get the boxes from USPS for Priority Mail. I use the ones I have on hand first, and stuff with styrofoam peanuts---since I collect polymer fairies too, I get lots of those---but I am at all times conscious of the environment.
Did you know that, according to research, metals are the only worthwhile object to recycle? All the others take up more energy than the use of raw products...so I try to get my paper products used at least a couple times around.
Amelia
Richy, Cheri is very nice, she sold me a how-to instruction booklet long ago, but I've noticed her fabrics, though gorgeous, seem more suited for larger bears because of the pile on 'em. Not sure, since I've never ordered fabrics from her, but the pile usually is too long for minis.
Amelia
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! [shudders] I saw those specials on the Discovery Channel about the bedbugs---makes my skin wanna CRAWL off my body!! Ick!
Amelia
Jennifer, Dawn & Suzanne have purchased my bears too, and I would always put an extra goody of some sort---maybe a dolly for the teddy, sometimes a polymer clay mini teddy, etc.---in with their purchase. They are wonderful customers to have, and their collection is truly marvelous! especially with your lil' bruins in it! =)
Amelia
BIRTH CONTROL!!!
..funny, one never expects the brief something that results in babies and is pleasant to produce a new thing that produces huge messes.
Amelia
A BIG hurrah for you and Dallas and Cappuccino, Sue Ann! That is incredible news, absolutely marvelous! Huge congratulations!
Amelia
..and, apparently,"Anekua" is how one spells Amelia when one's fingers are on the wrong home keys... :redface:
Amelia
Brenda, what an amazing blessing. I am so thrilled for you and your family. Thank heavens. =)
Anekua
..oddly enough, my post offices every once in a while stick out a couple rolls of that tape out for customers---you can be sure I snatch it up! I've got at least nine rolls stashed all over the house...hurrah!
And I got taken to task for using the mailing labels improperly too, and that's the only reason why I brought it up. It does make sense, though, when you think of it..and hasn't everyone ripped off those NOISY tags off pillows and mattresses? Sheesh!
Amelia
..you can still turn 'em inside out, from what the mailman said, you just cannot ship anything other than Priority Mail or Global Priority or Express [I think]...basically, they don't want you to ship your stuff cheaply [via Media Mail or First-Class] with free boxes! It makes sense.
I will email a link of this discussion to a friend of mine who works at a post office, and see if I got it right or not. Hopefully she will be able to chime in and help us.
Amelia
Jodi, I think the free boxes are covered in the price of the postage for Priority Mail, as you are only allowed to use the free boxes if you are shipping Priority Mail. Plus, we subsidize the USPS through the government, that's why our postage, compared to other countries, is so cheap. Alas, we still don't have health care for everyone, like lots of European countries.
I'd of course like to keep the cheap postage, but with times having changed so much and there are so many more different ways to send information other than snail mail nowadays [originally USPS was subsidized so that the masses would have an affordable way to communicate with each other], I think the free health care would be so much more helpful to Americans.
Amelia
Er. Chrissi. That's illegal. If you use the Priority Mail boxes, you need to pay for Priority Mail shipping---I used to turn them inside out because then I would decorate the brown box portion, and I always ship Priority Mail---my mailman told me one day that you cannot use the boxes to ship any other way [Media Mail, First-Class, etc.] as it has been prohibited by law [because the boxes are free, etc., we mustn't abuse them, otherwise we'd have to pay for boxes to ship too..and the Priority Mail ones are so conveniently sized].
I didn't know about the protest thing, where can one find more information on it? I help moderate an eBay forum with 1200+ members, and would like to tell 'em about it. A lot of artists are quite upset, and I'm sure would add their names to the boycott list.
Amelia
*LOL* LOVE that! It's being passed around in Montana as being written by a Californian who moved to Montana..unfortunately, the snow USED to scare people off like that, but we've been having mild winters lately...apparently New York is getting it all!!
Amelia
You sometimes see a woman who would have made a Joan of Arc in another century and climate, threshing herself to pieces over all the mean worry of housekeeping. ~Rudyard Kipling
My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint. ~Erma Bombeck
Nature abhors a vacuum. And so do I. ~Anne Gibbons
Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. ~Phyllis Diller, Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints, 1966
Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it. ~Author Unknown
Our house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy. ~Author Unknown
Don't cook. Don't clean. No man will ever make love to a woman because she waxed the linoleum - "My God, the floor's immaculate. Lie down, you hot bitch." ~Joan Rivers
The Rose Bowl is the only bowl I've ever seen that I didn't have to clean. ~Erma Bombeck
I think housework is the reason most women go to the office. ~Heloise Cruse
I'm not going to vacuum until Sears makes one you can ride on. ~Roseanne Barr
The trouble with living alone is that it's always your turn to do the dishes. ~Author Unknown
There was no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse. ~Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant, 1968
Housework, if it is done right, can kill you. ~John Skow
I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.... I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby. ~Nancie J. Carmody
My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance. ~Author Unknown
This is a honeydew day. That is when you get a day off and the wife says, "Honey, do this," and "Honey, do that" around the house. ~Jim Lemon
The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie
Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner. ~Author Unknown
The obvious and fair solution to the housework problem is to let men do the housework for, say, the next six thousand years, to even things up. The trouble is that men, over the years, have developed an inflated notion of the importance of everything they do, so that before long they would turn housework into just as much of a charade as business is now. They would hire secretaries and buy computers and fly off to housework conferences in Bermuda, but they'd never clean anything. ~Dave Barry
I always thought a yard was three feet, then I started mowing the lawn. ~C.E. Cowman
There's nothing to match curling up with a good book when there's a repair job to be done around the house. ~Joe Ryan
The fellow that owns his own home is always just coming out of a hardware store. ~Kin Hubbard
A clean house is the sign of a boring person. ~Author Unknown
I enjoy mowing the lawn, it relaxes me. It gets me outdoors, it's good exercise, the freshly cut grass smells great, and the engine is loud enough that I'm sure no one else can hear my thoughts - or intrude upon them. ~Astrid Alauda
Old houses mended,
Cost little less than new before they're ended.
~Colley Cibber
Cleanliness is next to impossible. ~Author Unknown
They're sure housework won't kill you, but why take the risk? Author Unknown
When it comes to housework the one thing no book of household management can ever tell you is how to begin. Or maybe I mean why. ~Katharine Whitehorn, "Nought for Homework," Roundabout, 1962
This mess is a place! ~Author Unknown
My idea of superwoman is someone who scrubs her own floors. ~Bette Midler
I like hugs and I like kisses,
But what I really love is help with the dishes!
~Author Unknown
Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn. ~Chuck Clark
A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life: he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
It's all in the attitude - housework is exercise. Slim your way to a clean home! ~Linda Solegato
When you use a manual push mower, you're "cutting" down on pollution and the only thing in danger of running out of gas is you! ~Grey Livingston
One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop. ~G.M. Weilacher
Dust is just a country accent. ~Author Unknown
I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor. ~D.H. Lawrence
Thank God for dirty dishes,
they have a tale to tell;
while others may go hungry,
we're eating very well.
~Author Unknown
A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent
Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing while she mops up the floor after her husband has walked across it in his barn boots. ~Hoosier Farmer
There may be dust in my house but there isn't any on me. ~Author Unknown
God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done. ~Author Unknown
If the shelves are dusty and the pots don't shine,
it's because I have better things to do with my time.
~Author Unknown---but they must've been a teddy maker!! =P
..my favorites are in bold.. =)
Amelia
..well..my husband and I work full-time [I manage a law office], but a couple times a week, when I'm caught up and there's nothing to do but answer phones at work, I bring out my sewing and I've managed to complete quite a few of the wee bruins at work---I work in miniature, though, so five to six hours to finish a bear is the norm.
For family, I have a husband [somewhat like a second child, only can feed itself and go to the bathroom on his own] and a toddler of 22 months, plus a dog and two cats. The dog is a Pomeranian, and when the snow is deeper than he is tall, doesn't go out for walks...and the cats are pretty independent.
The guys are pretty easy to take care of, all things considered---Daddy's on his way to making Ian [our son] a video game player, so Ian plays with Daddy and then comes upstairs and plays in Mommy's craft room [he has his own 'special' toys up there and is learning the difference between Mommy's toys and his toys] and 'helps' me with stuff up there. We usually all try to eat the dinner meal together if we're all hungry at the same time, but at times we aren't, plus my husband doesn't eat the same foods as the baby and I do [he says he's allergic to vegetables]. Usually, we wind up watching an episode of Blue's Clues or the Backyardigans at night, and trying to tire the baby out periodically, so there's lots of free time after we get home for me to work on bears if I choose.
..I could probably do more---but I like working on things gradually and getting them done in due time, not rushing work. Plus, it's good to take time and enjoy life---I'm sure that I'm done having children, in spite the husband's wistful thoughts of having more, and the years are going by so much faster than they did when I was younger, the baby's growing up fast, etc.
=)
Oh, and in regards to housework---it's overrated! We have this sign hanging in our home,"Please don't feed the dust bunnies." =P
Seriously, I can live with a little mess---ESPECIALLY with a toddler underfoot---as long as things are kept clean and disinfected ['cause of the baby]. Clutter is actually the number one problem in homes---if you get rid of the clutter, you will feel so much better cleaning...thank heavens for closets, cabinets and organizers! Really, the best thing you can do for yourself is go through your stuff and figure out WHY you are keeping it---if it's because it was a gift from so-and-so, and not because you like it, CHUCK IT! That is an incredibly freeing feeling, and once I realized that [thank you, TLC & DIY network!], it made life so much easier...throwing out handmedowns I was never going to wear, gifts I didn't like, etc.
Amelia
..just got to this one, but wanted to add my two cents---my mother, to help earaches and partially I think to keep us quiet, would warm a capful of the hydrogen peroxide in the microwave, and then we would lie down on the couch and she'd pour it in, cover it with a cotton ball, and we would let it sit there until all the fizzing was gone or nearly gone. It's an interesting and different feeling, I think it gets kids to focus on something other than the pain, and then it warms the ear and kills the infection inside it.
Am very happy that your little tyke was much better after it, Brenda. Will have to try the drops if my little guy starts pulling at his ear---I don't think he'd lie down on the couch for the fizzing, seeing as he's 22 months!
Amelia
You full-time bear artists have my admiration---being your own employer is a huge responsibility. I belong to the group who has a full-time job [mostly because when I was at home with my son, I really sucked at being able to meet deadlines and goals for myself!], I work managing a law office...and do bears as fun endeavors on the side. I don't know if I'm cut out to be as independent and self-sufficient as a full-time artist---I too like my full time pay, with money for extras like sushi, clothes, vacation trips, retirement fund, etc.
Amelia
..I havn't read all of the posts on this topic, but unfortunately, there is another category in eBay that is simply EXPLODING with shilling since the advent of the hidden bidder process---and that is OOAK fairies. Polymer clay fairies is a category that has also been plagued with dishonest sellers and false buyers---which is just horrible. I am seeing the shilling now more than ever there...I'm not that in tune with teddy bear auctions on eBay since I don't usually look [I look and I am too tempted to spend lotsa money!!], but it is heartbreaking to see sellers taking advantage of GOOD collectors by inflating their prices.
Conversely, it also gives the bears an inflated worth...which is obscene, unfair, and dishonest. I don't know how copiers and shillers live with themselves, but they are sadly lacking in the most important and what I consider most divine gift we as thinking, reasoning beings have---CONSCIENCE.
Amelia
Eliza, I have this same problem---about the only thing that really helps hide things is a vintage longpile fur! Then my bears look fantastic! *LOL*
But seriously, I use a double-stitch, with upholstery thread, and cinch tight after I pull each stitch through---because of advice received here on the forum---perhaps 3-4 mms in length, but then I double back over them, so that the stitch holes are spaced 1.5-2mm apart. That's for a mini of under 3", though.
How big are your minis? 'cause minis range in size from under 1" to about 6-8", I think. That's what I consider a mini bear, anyways. Melissa or Kim or Kimberly would probably be better at suggesting stitch length, I always admire their minis with no signs of being sewn, just seems like they were born.
And I've heard that the Super-lon thread from Sassy's is great for sewing---don't know if helps the stitching be invisible, though. Matching up colors is a really great stitch hider technique too. Also, I notice if I use a smaller needle, it leaves smaller holes that aren't as apparent as the holes a great big whopping needle leaves.
Amelia
..hrm...grilled cheese with a sharp dill pickle, peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, strawberry jam with cream cheese on a bagel, and then [and this taste has developed later in live] SUSHI. I simply ADORE sushi. Yum yum YUM.
And of course what could be better on movie night than some freshly popped non-microwaved REAL popcorn with loads of melted butter and your own malted shake? Mmhmm!!
Amelia
I've done swaps---two from artists here on Teddy Talk, one was Kim-Bee and one was Gina of Orange Blossom Bears---I treasure their bears because firstly, one actually really has a connection with the artist and firstly again, the bears are AWESOME!!
I love swapping! =)
Amelia
Seamus MiniMcFlanabeary! We should ask Diane---although Scotland and Ireland aren't really the same thing...
Amelia
Oooh oomph ooooooooh! one of those bears lives at MY house!!
Wonderful new tag, Jodi! You are a lucky duck!! =)
Amelia
