Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I had noticed that the fur was tacky when I used the copic system.What sort of price range Judi are the systems that you use and are the colours from special inks?
This is the nice thing with teddy talk that there are people who have been doing things a lot longer than us novices and can give us advice that saves us from making expensive mistakes and know which are the better products on the market.
Laurie :hug:

I have used the pens on their own and also bought an attachment that goes with a can which is the cheapest sort that you can buy(around £20) but I found that it is no good for small airbrushing areas as you cannot control the flow.So if you have the money you are better off with the more expensive ones that do control the flow but I think they are at least £150.I will have to save my pennies
Laurie :hug:

He is great Chloe   .You haven't lost the lovely look of your bears even at this size. Are you going to make a bigger one now? :crackup:
Laurie :hug:

They are lovely Yvonne.I love everything about them.    
Laurie :hug:

I am making a bear around 20 plus inches and that is big enough.However much mohair are you using for him?He is coming along great-keep us posted with some pictures.Have you thought how you will post him if you are selling him or will he be travelling by himself on the bus? :crackup:
Laurie :hug:

I like them all Paula.I can't decide which is my favourite-it is Pearl I think.If I just win the lottery I can have all three. :pray:
Laurie :hug:

I am thinking about doing a show with my bears-if I can be brave enough and if I can get enough bears together but I wonder if anyone has any experience of doing a bear stand at a craft fair.The one I am thinking about is local but there are supposed to be 6000 plus people attend.You have to have the stand over two days at the cost of £150 so it is quite expensive.I have already seen that some people will not do the smaller bear shows as it is not worth it but if I try to do a bigger bear show I have to go at least 100 miles and the craft fair is only 8 miles away.The main thing I am concerned with is that if I do a craft show will I be likely to get many sales as it wouldn't be full of bear people.I would appreciate any comments on this.
Laurie :hug:

He is a lovely cat Millie.I am sure he will come to you eventually.Maybe he feels a bit more secure being indoors as after being shut away for two years being outside was a bit too much for him.He will probably go outside when he feels ready.Keep up the good work with him as I am sure it will be worth it in the end.
Laurie :hug:

Hi Paula,
I don't know anything about dying mohair or alpaca as I haven't been brave enough to try it yet but a while back I found the woodland teddies website by Rita Harwood and she supplies dyes that don't need setting and it gives you information to help you too.I hope this helps.
Laurie :hug:

Good luck with your auction Wendy.Bernie is just great and I am sure that he will do well.
Laurie :hug:

Hi Jenny
    Brilliant tip on switching to manual focus I have been trying a couple of close up filters but haven't been able to focus very close up using auto, i've just tried it manually and with 2 filters +3 & +2 together i focused  a mere 4ins from my subject  :dance: it will open up a whole new world of macro photography for me.....none of my books suggested this simple solution.
Paul(Lauries hubby)

The question was for my hubby as it is his camera so I can just about understand it.He goes on about his camera as much as I go on about my bears so I am slowly starting to understand.I leave him to photograph the bears as I am too lazy to do it myself and then I nag at him when he doesn't get it right. :crackup:
Laurie :hug:

You have done a really great job on your first bear-he has a really adorable face.I hope you like your cereal as it looks like you will be eating rather a lot of it if you are addicted to making bears. :crackup:
Laurie :hug:

I agree with how Lisa has explained it.This is how simple the terms should be so that you are not over complicating matters.
Laurie :hug:

Whoops-I just had to quickly amend my auction for Horace :redface:
I would relist Smook for 3 days and hope that everyone finds him again.If in just under 2 days it doesn't look good extend his auction for longer.Just make sure you do it before 24 hours is left otherwise it will not let you amend your listing.Do you remember the bidders as you could try to contact them to let them know.
Laurie :hug:

Thanks Jenny we will have to invest in some studio lighting.
Laurie :hug:

I have a semi-pro digital camera which has full white balance flexibility so i can set auto or many various settings however even at auto or around 4-4500k i'm still not overly impressed with the colours under fluorescent light of our bears. Have anyone any other ideas...would anyone recommend a FLW filter?has anyone tried one of these out? i do use a white-card to get a reading but still not really impressed???the true colour of the bears is not really there.I would be grateful for any help.
Laurie :hug:

He is great Jennie   I love his coat and hat.   
Laurie :hug:

Hi Sandra,
I know exactly what you mean as tt is a great place to learn from but at the same time seeing the standard of other peoples bears can make you doubt that your bears are any good.It takes time to learn a skill and the less time you have to spend makes it even longer.You have to keep persevering and trying to improve yourself all the time.Everyone has to start somewhere and some people reach the top quicker than others but if you give in you will never know how good you could have been.There is a bear for everyone and some of us just have to work a bit harder to sell them but don't give in as you will get there in the end.
Laurie :hug:

I think that  a mixed table is a good idea as there is more chance of a bear for everyone  but they would have to be in little groups so they would be easier to see and people could easily spot that there were different sorts to choose from.
Laurie :hug:

He is lovely Sophie.He has such a funny little face that you can't help smiling at when you see him.Your friend is very lucky to have him.    
Laurie :hug:

I agree with Heather and Gemma that there are only so many ways to change a pattern before we would end up not making our signature style bears.In the end we could be changing our patterns so much we could be making gollies like Dilu or rabbits'cats etc as you have gone so far in changing your pattern you are way off from where you started. :doh:
Laurie :hug:

I think I would be tempted not to mention series and themes when selling your bears as it could get confusing to buyers.We all end up using the same patterns so it is easier not to mention the series thing and if you made bears with a theme I would think that in a lot of cases you wouldn't have to mention it either as say you done days of the week bears there would have to be seven.I think I am trying to keep this ooak thing as simple as possible as the more you keep trying to give yourself too many different terms and explanations the more complicated it seems to get.
Laurie :hug:

It seems to me that we are all getting sooo confused the more we talk about the subject. I thought I would try and define ooak in my own terms:
1-OOAK can be the same pattern,same size and the same mohair colour and type that you have already used but you must change the features ie eyes,ears,nose in the way of placement and colours etc so they do not look the same as the last bear.
2-OOAK can be the same pattern and the same size but different colours of mohair as this would change the look anyway.
3-00AK can be the same pattern but a different size with exactly the same mohair type and colour which makes it a smaller brother or sister but would end up being the most similar out of all of these to the original bear.Although again if you change the mohair type and colour that makes it different anyway.
I hope this all makes sense as I was trying not to confuse myself as I was going along.I must go as I am supposed to be painting the bathroom and when hubby comes back I will have done nothing and he will know I have spent the morning on TT. :crackup: Hopefully we can agree on a correct definition then we can all get back to our sewing and not worry whether we are doing ooak.
Laurie :hug:

She is a lovely bear.I love her sparkly eyelids and her nose. 
Laurie :hug: