Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Sheesh that's 2.5 bears a week without vacations, holidays or sick days for you and 5 bears a week for your friend. Smaller bears I presume? I bow to the queens of artist bear production    :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

Over 100 I guess. Most of them are still sitting in my cupboards, on shelves, tables, sofas.... Mostly minis and I started sometime around 1999 I think.

Connie that bear is beautiful! Not at all a typical beginner's bear. Those mean ladies (ladies? huh) where just snobs, who probably couldn't make a bear themselves.

Sophie, that looks just great. What a terrific find! Like you say, a bit of cleaning and some new stain and it will look really beautiful again.

Thanks Sarahjane. That would explain it as I only buy supplies for smaller amounts.

Very interesting thread! You all have put in words what I have been sensing somehow too. I weight some of my bears to balance them for sitting or standing or in anime bears to balance their huge heads  :crackup: I have also experienced that people are surprised when they discover the weight in a small artist bear and it seems ineed to help set the artist bear apart from a toy. Since I make mostly minis, the baby weight factor doesn't really apply, but its still a nice feeling with a bit of weight.
It all depends on the effect I'm after I guess, a firm more or less decorative bear or a cuddly squishy bear, which I wouldn't weight much, just heavy weight polyester perhaps, not too firmly stuffed.

I am very confused, which isn't hard to do 
I have read for quite a while now on this board in different threads that ebay doesn't show bidder ids anymore, but just bidder 1 bidder 2 etc. I have no idea what you are all talking about, because when i look at auctions at ebay.com, logged in or not, I can see the bidder ids in the bid history just as before and the id of the highest bidder at the top of the auction. Why can I see that, but nobody else? I even tried different browsers, no problem.   

Oh Lynette that is terrible. I am so sorry for your loss. The poor children losing their mother so young.    :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

Hmm, I am wondering. What do you expect of a buyer to give her/him positive feedback? If they pay immediately, what else should they do? The only reason not to give feedback yet is if you don't have all relevant information yet to give fair feedback. So what is missing after the buyer has paid? If a parcel gets lost or damaged that shouldn't reflect on the buyer's feedback, but how that was handled should reflect on the feedback the seller will receive from the buyer. The way I see it, there are a lot more reasons for the buyer to wait with feedback than for the seller. So, when I don't get my feedback after paying I always wonder what else I'm expected to do. According to ebay regulations I'm not required to confirm receipt of the goods, so the last thing I have to do is leave feedback and that must be what the seller is waiting for. And I have been held hostage for feedback more than once. I have also waited for feedback for several months after leaving a positive one myself. When you are new to ebay and building your reputation that's really not fair.

All this being said, I think that bear artists have a much more personal relationship with their buyers than with the average ebay transaction and feedback issues won't be a problem. I buy mostly supplies and I don't bother in every case to tell the seller that the item has arrived other than by leaving feedback. Many of them sell hundreds of items each week and would drown in emails otherwise. If they go the extra mile and send me personal emails to let me know when the item is sent or even refund excess shipping I will send email them when the item arrives and thank them of course, but in most cases its just as anonymous as going to a large shop.

Ebay is a mixed blessing and we all have different experiences, which affect the way we interpret the actions of others. I have met many more great sellers than bad ones and I always read the feedback before buying. Like Shane I draw my own conclusions from that. I also often ask a question before bidding and try to get an impression of the person. A careless or no email response will drive me away.

Sarahjane, I agree with that, but it doesn't change the fact that the buyer has done his/her part. How you handle any problem will be part of their feedback, not your's. If the buyer has unreasonable claims and leaves a negative, you can always leave a comment to that.

I don't always let the seller know that I have received an item (not bears) and leaving feedback is a way of letting them know. If they haven't given me feedback I let them hang there too for days or weeks  :twisted: 

If both seller and buyer wait for each other to leave feedback it turns into a kind of chicken race, doesn't it? :doh:

I only buy on ebay, haven't sold anything yet. From a buyer's perspective I think I have done my part when I have paid and that's when I want feedback. Many sellers wait until I leave feedback and I always suspect that they are hedging bets. While I wait for the item to arrive I check for feedback and if they don't leave me any I feel a little negative towards the seller, because I see that as a possible threat of retaliation should I dare to leave a negative. They can always add a comment if a buyer leaves an unjustified negative, so I don't see a reason to not leave feedback right after payment.
Then there are sellers, who appear to leave feedback in batches, like once a month or so. Often they have a standard phrase which they use for all transactions. Its a little unpersonal, but I can understand that a high volume seller has to do it in an efficient way.
For bear artists and the friendly almost intimate relationship you/we want to build up with buyers, I think it is a good idea to leave feedback after payment and don't use the same wording on all of them.
I as buyer leave feedback as soon as the item has arrived or if there is a problem I contact the seller and work it out, before I leave feedback. I am generally very understanding and have only left 2 neutrals as my worst feedback so far. But then I only buy from sellers with at least 95% positive feedback, bearing in mind that the system is flawed for the above reasons and anyone who still manages to incur a lot of negatives really is a bad apple.

Wow Daphne, I'm so happy for you. I have no idea when (if?) the movie will come to Europe, but I'll be on the lookout. If all else fails I suppose I can get the DVD next year or so.

Hugs

Yeaaah! I'm so happy for you dear Sophie!  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

Wow Jennie, that's impressive! Congratulations! I hope you celebrate.  :cake:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

Jodi, TBCI has an online version at http://www.planet-teddybear.com/ Its the same as Teddy Bear Times, after they combined both magazines. As far as I can see, only the March issue is up yet.

Hi Jodi,

I did some cleaning today too and then I put something in the Showcase for you. 

Dear Jodi,

I want to thank you for donating that bear pin/ornament pattern last year. I made 4 of them as gifts, but didn't get around to posting the pics until now. I'm either very late or really early  :lol:
Thanks a lot for a very easy and fun to make pattern!  :hug:

Wow that's gonna be the cutest snowman ever  No, seriously, he could turn out very cute. try needle felting the footpads or applique some other fabric. You could also do some scissor sculting or if you (or hubby  ) have a beard trimmer you can shear the fur down. Perhaps a bow above the eyes like a yorkie. Do keep going, it'll be fun.

You and your family are in my thoughts Daphne  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

Awwww, want want want                 

Eeek, I don't want to have my real name blown out to the whole world. Didn't know they can do that.

I'm neither the youngest nor the oldest 

Well ok, I'm 44, feeling like 30 on some days, like 80 on others. I still like getting older, since it means I get closer to retirement, when I can craft all day long 

Poor kitty. I hope she won't be in pain when the drugs wear off. That can be so hard to tell with cats. You did the right thing for everybodies piece of mind.

Big hugs

Oh gosh what a lovely bear. Congratulations Patsy and well done Bonnie. :clap:

Ok, I went to this thread to find out what a dipwad is  :crackup: :crackup:   :crackup:
I agree, check them in. Security is such a hassle these days and the risk of your luggage getting lost is very small.

Also, in Heather's pictures you see the field for opacity at 100%, which means the active layer is non-transparent. Reduce the value and you will be able to see through the top layer. That way you can see what you are doing and add things to the picture without altering the original pic. Once you are satisfied go to the layer menu and choose flatten image. Experiment and remember you can always undo everything by backstepping in the history window. Increase the number of steps in the history to maybe 200 (in preferences) if you are like me, making a lot of small changes with quick mouse clicks.