Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Whoa, Judi :D

Walking bags of water? Not a pretty picture!

Eileen

Sue Ann,

How did you get such a clear photo of the little black bear? I understand they're the most difficult to capture, but that it ONE great photo :D

Eileen

So sorry to hear about your pain, Jane

My daughter (age 27) had her gallbladder out just before last Christmas. She'd been suffering off and on for years, and diagnosed with everything but gallbladder trouble. Her boyfriend had to take her to the emergency room every night for a solid week to get someone to listen. Finally, at long last, she got to see a surgeon, who was horrified that her condition had been allowed to worsen for so long.

Anyway, the operation itself (keyhole) was very simple, but she had a lot of inflammation in there, which seemed to slow her recovery. She thought she'd be back at work in a few days. Ah, youth! :rolleyes:

So follow Dilu's advice--drink water, eat, but keep away from those fats--get walking, and don't be surprised if you feel weak and achy for a while. That gas takes a while to get rid of! Eleanor felt sick if she ate anything fatty, even fatty-ish. She lived on broth and biscuits for a while before graduating to mushy veggies and chicken.

Long story short, the operation is simple and safe, but give yourself time to recover, ok? :D

Eileen

Rita,

We'll all be with you through all those yucky tests and right through to the post-op. Sendig prayers and hyper-hugs and good thoughts. What is the name of your hospital--it might better our aim if we knew exactly where you were! :D

Do you happen to know a stone house in Helensburgh at 2 Queen St. near Kincade? That's where my hubs grew up. I have no idea how it's being used now, but I wish it had come down to us. Unfortunately, John's mom married the Clifton family estate agent, and got herself disinherited. When he died, the property had to be sold. :(

Eileen

Rats, Louise! I thought everybody wanted to come to Toronto The wine does help one through, though. :D

Rita, the C-bag sounds yucky, but you can bear it--my hospital motto is 'never turn down the drugs'. You've got to let us know when you're off, so we can be praying and sending quick-healing thoughts your way.

Eileen

Good for you, Rita!!

We have the series here, or did, but I've never seen it. Is that the one starring John Hannah? If not I love him anyway. I gave my hubs the Joan Hickson Miss Marple for his b'day and my youngest several seasons of Monk--all for me too, of course.

I'm hinting madly for my own digital camera (one that works), and might just get it for my b'day at the end of July :D

Definitely keep an eye on the bright side. They found something before it got really bad. You can keep your spirits up planning bears!!

My doctor took me off hormone replacement, then found that my blood pressure and cholesterol shot way up. We're working on it, but it scared me some. :(

Eileen

RitaRita

Get out there and do something wonderful and rash before you go into hospital!! Order a ton of mohair, or . . . whatever. Once this is over, and you've had a rest, you'll be better than new :D

Eileen

Hi crisw

I've seen many UK bears stuffed with sheep's wool (roving), but never one stuffed with goat or llama. No reason why it shouldn't work.

I really envy you your stash! And your beasts and your lack of moths! I'm thinking of shearing my collie . . .

If I had such riches, I think I'd really try needlefelting them.

Eileen

I've been making my own hardboard disks (not that many yet!) with a hole saw and a power drill. My son-in-law has a drill press, but it seemed easier to use the drill.

For anything larger than 4", I'd definitely try laminating cardboard. Winney's right--it's very, very strong and stiff. I once made a whole dollhouse out of cardboard and Elmer's and, if the mice hadn't got to it, I think it would still be standing! :rolleyes:

Eileen

Louise,

Is there any chance you'll be coming to the Toronto show on August 7th? I think I could arrange to put you up, either here in my ramshackle abode or in my daughter's apartment downtown--she spends most weekends visiting her boyfriend in Rochester.

Rita--

How are you feeling, girl?

Eileen

Dilu,

Until SueAnn gets back to us, check out

http://www.edinburghimports.com/archives/

Under Artist Tips, there's a sectiion on Sculpting Personality that covers toesies. I haven't tried it yet because I'm all out of thread-that-does-not-break, but it looks good.

Winney,

Your dream sounds familiar. Have you by any chance been reading Eliot's The Wasteland? Or have I been transmitting something beyond silly posts your way? :D

Eileen

When I've managed to make enough bears to post on a website, I'm using my daughter Eleanor--she's a semi-professional designer, and gave me a certificate for a website last Mothers' Day!!!  :D

Eileen

Good to know, Dilu--Thanks, Nurse

Sometimes I think that the 'learning new things' part of my brain is the ONLY part I use. At least it's the part that seems to work best. The 'clean the oven' part is all withered up . . .

Eileen

Omigosh, Shelli,

I think this is what they mean

http://www.intercaltg.com/catalog/index.htm

I have such a hard time resisting temptation anyway, finger poised and itching to hit that little 'BUY' button  . . . this is going to make it that much harder!! :/

Luv 'ya anyway, Intercal

Eileen

Thanks, Dilu-Girl :D

I feel pumped and confident! I've made clothing, slipcovers, etc. by machine, but never animals. Gotta jump in & do it.

I don't think I've got a needle-down feature, unless it's that little lever at the back that lowers the needle? If not, my machine and I are way behind the times, but we're both still functional.

I'm going to try the zipper foot today--I've been marking the stitching lines for hand sewing anyway. TODAY, once I finish with my 1:00 student and get my machine out from behind the 'ironing pile' . :lol:

We've got a Singer store not far from here--I'm sure I can get feet.

Eileen

Lucky Dilu,

Congrats to you and esp to Laure!! What a gorgeous little mite--I'm working on a little one too, and I wish he looked half so good. I'm on my 3rd mutilated leg :/

Thanks for all the piccies and commentary, Dilu--almost (not quite) as good as being there. Once Winney's taught us ribbons, maybe we can get her to do scissor sculpting here

Eileen

Glad you liked it, girls!

Fred's got a lot of them. He turned 60 last November, and suffered horribly. I'm the big sister, so he sends me any comfort he can!  I'll check through my stash and see what else I can find.

Eileen

Yes, Please, Winney--

My centers are a tangled mess, and my loops droop :/

Eileen

Sue Ann,

Unless you hate doing them, I think the toes and double-jointed neck are absolutely worth the time--and they'll take less time the more you do them. Definitely charge more. I'm envisioning a table full of realistic bears, all in different poses. Wow!!

That said, I would kill for the little black bear, toes or no. :D

Eileen

Dilu, you give me courage to use the sewing machine!! :D

Maybe this has been covered already . . . but what kind of foot works best for sewing teddies? I've only got a zigzag and a zipper.

Eileen

The Old Poodle

A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa, taking her faithful aged poodle named Cuddles, along for the company. One day the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long, Cuddles discovers that she's lost.

Wandering about, she notices a leopard heading rapidly in her  direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old poodle thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep doo-doo now!"

Noticing some bones on the ground close by, she immediately settles down to chew on the bones with her back to the approaching cat.

Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old poodle exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?"

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in  mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.

"Whew!", says the leopard, "That was close! That old poodle nearly had me!"

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard.

So off he goes, but the old poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.

The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!"

Now, the old poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks,
"What am I going to do now?", but instead of running, she sits down with her back to her attackers, pretending she hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old poodle says:

"Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!"

Courtesy of my Brother-in-Law, Fred :D
Eileen

Thanks from me too--I'm off to Tandyleather to look for that glue, Winney . . .

Shelli, my sister-in-law in Austin Texas has a full length mink (la-dee-dah) which she only wears at home (politically incorrect) under the air conditioning.  She wore it up here on a visit once, and I swear she never took it off . . .

Eileen

Great ideas, crisw :D

Thanks to Murph too!

Eileen

Thanks, Rita That is a most generous compliment!! My other genetic half is Belgian, on my Dad's side. I've been told it's a dangerous combination . . . but I was in heaven when we visited Scotland. I love the people and the land, but went stark raving mad for the sheep. I love sheep. I also love bagpipes, find them soothing. Of course, I have a collection of wolf howls that I also find soothing . . .

Shari, isn't he a sweetie? I'm hoping to make some realistic bears too. I'd like to figure out to get the realistics to sit like teddies or, for that matter, like real bears.
I'm not anywhere near as experienced as the other ladies on this forum. I've only made 2.5 bears, not counting the false starts and unmitigated disasters.

I have a taxidermy catalogue too--Vandyke's. I love their eyes. I'm tempted to order an inset mouth to use as a model. I used glass 'daggar' beads as teeth, but would like to try making my own.

Problem is, I'm tutoring English (believe it or not) to pay for my bearbills, and bearly keeping up.

Got to get back to The Wasteland, so to speak.

Eileen

Thanks, Shari, I'll check it out!

You'd think, wouldn't you, that a big fat self-centered city like Toronto would have a great fabric selection? Not so.  I've worn my feets out looking. :(

Eileen