Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Kathy, I guess that's Fahrenheit and thus pretty cold. Here it is unusually warm for the season at 10°C (50F). Its dark, cloudy, rainy, blahah. We had a day of snow in early November, which stopped all traffic for an evening, but it melted the next day and now its just muddy from the rain and mushed leaves.

Wendy, your fur looks like mink to me, because of the shiny guard hairs. The pelts may be too wide though, hard to tell. Its not muskrat to me. Muskrat or musquash is a small semi-aquatic rodent, bigger than mink though. In Sweden and Germany its called Bisam or marsh rat. I found a website for you
http://my.net-link.net/~vaneselk/muskrat/ 

I think I've seen Berta Hesen-Minten and Bobbie Ripperger collaborate on a bear and sell their piece on ebay. Berta and Bobbie, where are you?

Spectacular! I am in awe of your talent Kassie! I hope he fetches a great price.  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

I didn't realize Renae is having such a hard time. Not sure I fully understand what happende, but I hope she will get better and find the strength she needs. I miss her posts about her animals. She is our own Dr. Doolittle, who can talk to animals. Lots of hugs to Renae  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:               

I keep agonizing over the artist bit. Who qualifies as artist? Do we have to be willing to sell? I only have a private phone number and don't want to publish it.

Now I'm German, my teachers taught British English, I watch American movies (not dubbed here in Sweden). Here are my results, which add up to 95%. Wonder what the missing 5% would be.... :doh:
Didn't know all the words, but most.

50% General American English

30% Yankee

15% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

:doh:  :doh:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:

At Annies Attic you can find instructions for knitting, crochet and other techniques, all with text, drawings and short videos. That's were I finally figured out the difference between German (aka continental) and British-American (throwing the yarn) knitting. I think the German way appears to be a lot easier, but of course I have never really tried the other way. Crochet instructions in English can be confusing if you don't know if they are British of American. In Bristish terminology a (US) single crochet is called a double crochet, a (US) double crochet is a treble etc. I think there are conversion tables on the internet. Same problem is with needle sizes and yarn thickness.
I am very happy to be able to read patterns of all kinds and I have been knitting an crocheting since I was maybe 7 or 8 years old. Learned it in school and from my mother. See how I managed not to tell you for how many years I've been knitting and crocheting? :crackup:  Its been several decades and I hope I never have to stop :thumbsup:

Forgot the link http://www.anniesattic.com/crochet/cont … ?type_id=S Look for more under stitching help.

Love your new avatar, Wendy. Is that the new thing?

:dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :hug:  :hug:

Irene, I think what people are asking for is the web address of your banner to download it to their own website. For the banner to be available you need to put in on your website. Then tell people the link to your banner.

That's horrible Kerren. Credit card companies try to rip everybody off, the cardholders and the sellers. Wouldn't it be possible and cheaper for you to accept credit cards through paypal? Surely, many collectors would be ok with that, no?

Gemma, I've got several clear feet, one of them open-toed, for my Janome. I also love my 1/4-inch quilting foot, where I just slam the fabric edge right against the metal guide and get the same seam allowance (1/4 inch) all around. That one is not so good for narrow turns though. A clear extra short applique foot gets me around those curves and turns.

Dearest Daphne, go and enjoy yourself. You deserve it. Sorry to hear that your dad is still having problems and that ohter family members (including Tucker) aren't well. Try to relax and put things out of your mind for a while.  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

:doh:  :doh:  :doh:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:

Of course I missed you too, silly.    :hug: How tell you when your computer is down and snail mail takes an eternity? Sorry your computer is still acting up. Bet you got lots of cute platypussies done instead of hanging out here all the time.

I've got another one from Germany.

Magazine name: Teddys
Publisher: Dollami Verlag GmbH
Mail address: Postfach 1366, 37253 Eschwege, Germany
Email: verlag@dollami.de
Chief editor: Christiane Freitag (Email christiane.freitag@dollami.de)
Phone: +(0) 5651 7467-15, -16, -21
Internet: http://www.dollami.de

Appears four times a year.

OMG that's hilarious  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  and soooo cute! Thanks for sharing!

Welcome to TT Peggy!

I have used leather fat on my pelts and it has worked well even on pelts that felt thin and papery dry. Others will not recommend it, but for me it has worked well. I use the stuff that comes in a flat tin and is used for water-proofing shoes etc., but not shoe polish, just fat. Don't use oil as it may soak through and make the fur greasy. I leave the furs for a few days or even weeks so the fat can get into the leather and soften it up. It is a bit messy, but since you line the furs with fabric anyway it isn't too bad. Just don't use more fat than the leather can soak up. Rub it in with a brush.

I don't like glycerin either, didn't make my pelts much softer and felt sticky, and when I researched the subject I found contradictory opinions. Some people say that glycerin actually may dry the fur out in the long run. It attracts water and I fear it might not only soak up moisture from the air, but also from the pelt. I have no hard evidence for this though and I know others will disagree. I read that if you put pure glycerin on your tongue you will get a blister, because it dries the tissue out very quickly. I don't want something like that on my pelts.

He is great for being only your second bear. I started with minis too, when I began making bears. About 3 inches is my favourite size for minis, smaller is hard. With minis, the slightest difference in size, like 1-2 mm, will be visible and so there is much less margin for error than with larger bears. You did a great job on him.

Oh Claudia,

so sorry that your husband lost his job. I cross my fingers that he will find a new job soon.  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

Hi Majbritt,

welcome to TT. I love your avatar puppy!

Assuming that you are working with non-fraying fabric, I sew with tiny back stitches as close to the edge as possible. I usually sew only once. A fatter pattern should indeed be a little easier to turn. I  use hemostats and tweezers to turn tiny pieces and I stuff with tweezers.

Good luck and don't forget to show  pics when you are done.

Hi Patty
Hmm, further down in the auction text it says international airmail shipping $11.00. I guess, she could have had another auction for something that can't be shipped, used the template for this one and forgot to change the shipping option. Is that possible with ebay? I've never sold anything there so don't know. Just send her an email and ask.

My latest bear was as a pattern tester for Sue Pendleton (Bluebeary Treasures). Not sure if the pattern is for sale yet, but here is my version of the bear. The outfit is included in her pattern.

Daphne, does that mean we can uncross our crossables?   :crackup: I'm so happy for you  :dance:  :dance:  :dance: