Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I am using black so I'm not sure if I can go any darker.  I tried using heat after coloring them last night so we will see if that helps.  It's such a dramatic loss of shading in such a short period of time.  My Prisma colors do not state that they are permanent on the marker.  I didn't know there was more than one kind, but perhaps I have the wrong variety?

Thanks
Shanna

A fantastic story and a beautiful bear!  Thanks for sharing!

Shanna

I am happy to report that Lisa returned my call and told me that she would be happy to exchange the eyes for me.  She also suggested a line of high quality eyes and said I would have less issues with those being of different sizes.  Now just a little more patience on my part, at least the joints I needed to put together my first big bear arrived and he is almost done!! 

Daphne, I knew you must have gone through a bunch, those eyes I purchased from you were perfect!!

Thanks again

Shanna

My heart hurts for your loss.  I am glad that you and your husband can find strength in each other.  Hugs to you!

Shanna

I read through the archives and they are not supposed to need heat setting, yet I keep re-applying my shading on wool felt paw pads of my first large bear.  Has anyone else noticed this? 

Shanna

I just placed my first order with Edinburgh (other have been with Intercal), and am disappointed.  They didn't give me the sale price on a sale item and several pairs of my eyes that I ordered are either drastically different in size, one eye egg-shaped, or have dramatically different pupil dilations.  Is this what I should expect from Edinburgh?  I've never had any troubles with my orders from Intercal.  I also would bet money that I placed an order from pre-looped 8mm black glass eyes, yet it was neither on my invoice or in my box.  I'm just really bummed as it was an expensive order for someone at my income level.  Thanks for the ear!

Shanna

Hello-
   I just received an order from Edinburgh where I ordered a bunch of eyes, and the reason I was placing an order was because I didn't have a pair of 8mm black glass eyes for the bear I'm working on.  When I got my order, there were only 8mm blue glass eyes which are going to look terrible with the colors that I have chosen for this bear.  I don't know how the 8mm blacks were missed by me, but somehow they were (I still would have bet money that I ordered them).  The shipping was rather expensive through the company and I was hoping someone would be willing to sell me an 8mm pair of eyes...pretty please!!

Thanks
Shanna

I had the eyes all set, but there was the gap.  I did pull them in to get them to sink into the head, but if I pull them anymore they will look too deep.  I do plan on using a lower lid.

Thanks
Shanna

Thank you thank you for the photos!  It  made me wish desperately that I was there.  I'm over the moon about Jenny Johnson's bears....someday...(perhaps when I'm finally out of grad school?).  So many talented artists!

Shanna

Cute cute, if one of my bears was a prize, I would be rather pleased that the winner was shouting with joy!!  Lucky you.

Shanna

Hello again-
   So sorry about all the posts on tips and techniques.  I'm sewing up my first big bear and am trying a lot of new things.  One new thing I would like to try is eyelids.  I have an idea of how I want to install them, however, I have a small space where the bottom eyelid would go, where the eye isn't flush with the fabric.  This is going to result in my leather cording slipping behind the eye.  I've been reading previous postings on eye installation, and it sounds like needle sculpting would work, but when I tried my first stitch (to the base of the neck), the problem was still there.  Is there a better way to get the eye to go flush with the fabric.  I also thought about a couple of stitches between the eyes, but I think that would put them too close together.  Would it make a difference if I anchored them behind the ears?   Thanks again everyone!!

Shanna

Thanks Ali-
   I don't think her name was Dee....that doesn't ring a bell.  Does L&S bears have a website?  I tried googleing it, but nothing came up.

Shanna

He is super cute!  I love his little claws, I've always wanted to try this.

Shanna

Thanks Daphne-
   That's interesting because the ones on their website look plastic.  I will try calling tomorrow morning, I already placed an order, hopefully if I catch them early enough they can add one to it.

Hugs
Shanna

Hello everyone-
   A little while ago on ebay I found a bear that I really loved.  I was able to go to the artists website and she had a good 8-9 bears available.  They were all around 7-9 inches (though she had this in cm) and were made out of mohair/alpaca with a type of mini bear fabric for the muzzle.  They also all had something knitted that they would wear (made by mom) and some of them had little stitched freckles on the nose.  I think the language was German (with English underneath) and the prices were around $115.  I can't for the life of me remember her name and have searched through ebay both current and completed listing with no luck.  Can anyone help?

Thanks
Shanna

I am looking to put a growler in my big bear, and have read through some posts on the topic.  It was suggested that the cardboard growlers are better, but I can only find plastic ones in US online stores.  Does anyone know where I might be able to get my hands on a cardboard growler.  I know there is a place in the UK, but I'm assuming that shipping will be pricey to the US. 

Thanks!!

Shanna

Joanne-
   Perfect!  Thanks so much, I was worried about the crimp not holding also!

Shanna

Thanks everyone for your generous compliments!  It's nice to get encouragement as sales are not going well.  When I used to sell 4-5 years ago they sold immediately and now...nothing.

Thanks
Shanna

Hi everyone-
   I'm in the process of making my first big bear and went to the store to get supplies for making wired armatures.  I ran into the problem of not being able to crimp the ring terminal so it's tight enough around the wiring.  I even asked my Beau for help and he couldn't get it tight enough either.  We are only using pliers, but I can't help but think I may have gotten the wrong thing??  Would using a crimper make a big difference?  Is it supposed to be really hard to crimp?

Thanks everyone!
Shanna

Really cute!  I love the scruffy look!

Here is the newest little leaf, Sam.  He is 6" tall and is for sale on my blog.  I am thinking about posting him on Bearpile in the near future, but really like this guy so may just take my time with it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Wow, thanks everyone!  Donna, I will let you know if I still don't have any by the end of the month, but I really hope it doesn't take that long!!!

I love the photo with the little girl...so cute.  She's even holding a sucker!

Shanna

If it were me, I would take a string and stretch it across the length of the foot twice, then try and form that length onto the footpad to see about how much extra you will need to trim.  There might be an easier way to do this, but this is how I design my footpads to be the right size.

good luck
Shanna

Thanks so much.  I'm in Rhode Island, sorry for some reason I thought it would show on my post, but maybe I didn't put it in there  .  There is a Joanne's within a reasonable driving distance, next time I'm in that area I will stop.  I will see if we have any embroidery shops, they might have something interesting!

Thanks again
Shanna