Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I think Scotia looks great even without a mouth! Your eye and ear placement and toes are so Polar

What Renae said--I think we must be children of the same mom, Renae, Long Lost Sisters :hug:

When your kids are at risk of emotional or physical damage, and you can't just separate yourself and them from the source of the problem, you need help, darlin'.

Shari, I'm so sorry that you're carrying such a load. You've already done all you can all by yourself, and more.

If the problem person refuses counselling, I'd look into getting some for the children. There's nothing wrong with them, of course, but timely help could make sure it stays that way.

A good family counsellor/psychologist/doctor could certainly help even young children understand what's going on and that adults sometimes have problems they can't deal with. Children are remarkably quick to understand these things. We don't give them nearly enough credit sometimes.

Sometimes even among adults direct confrontration just doesn't work. Sometimes nothing works. But if there's anyone out there in God's Own Country who provides children and their moms with help, please talk to him/her!

The first step is the hardest, approaching a professional and trying to explain what kind of help you need. Be assured that they've seen these difficult situations before, and that many, many of us have been there!

Hugs and prayers, dear friend! :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

BorEES, eh?   Our friends in the UK pronounce it BAdiss, as of course Karloff did!

:crackup: March of the Borscht!! :crackup:

Helena, aren't you glad you came to us for help in designing bears  :crackup:

Seriously, though--the experts on TT are right. If you've already made a few of other people's patterns, or even looked at them, you're ready to try one of your own.

I couldn't see any mention of it--probably going blind--but Nancy Tilberg's site offers excellent online courses, and this one is on designing your own bear.

http://www.kranbearys.com/EbearZ/Design.htm

I wish I'd taken it . . . less fur would have ended up in the trash

:crackup:   Are you Kidding, Edie?  :crackup:

Last time I showed my Ugly Duckling Bear, there were howls of mirth.

First time, there was a lot of sympathy.

:crackup: I'd prefer to remember the sympathy, thanks all the same!! :crackup:  :crackup:

Oh, well, here he is . . .what was I thinking? Both his arms are growing out of his chest! But I wouldn't give him up for anything

Anyway, I built the planter beside the garage all by myself

. . . but these are

wonderful,

. . . keep them coming, pleeze?

LuluBears, this is a most victorious vixen!! I love him

Thanks, Julia--this is good to know!

My Scottish Hubs has been known as Boris to all his UK friends since he was 13 because of his height.

They were thinking of Boris Karloff!

:crackup: Yup :crackup:

Absolutely right, Daphne . . . thanks for giving us a necessary nudge! :hug:

I'm still waiting for my Tissavel (sigh) but at least I'm working on my pattern with a stand-in fabric.

Lynette, I just found this thread, but I hope Janet's recovery is complete. What a year!!

Absolutely adorable 

And the name is perfect . . . Gnarl :crackup:

Love it!

OK, I must get off this machine and take my 3 antsy dogs to the park and then get back to work, but . . .

:dance: More Validation, WooHoo :dance:

Karen, when I first made a 5-piece body, it was because my bear looked like a watermelon on a stick--the body was just too small for the head. 

At the time it felt like cheating with patchwork, but the result was very pleasing--sculptural, as Karen says. This was ages ago, a Care Bear for my middle daughter, so I have no piccie, and the bear is long gone . . .

Anyway, if you need more support for the head at the neck/shoulder area, you can try stuffing the shoulder area hard and stitching the stuffing in place, or (rather than gathering the neck and head edges), using circles of fabric over the joints. I did both for Dawson, here.

Audrey, this is basically what I do with my 3-piece bunny and mouse bodies. On a big bunny I use the dart. On a tiny mouse, I cut the end of the tummy piece in a V shape to reduce bulk.

I'm so grateful to learn that Tammie does this--validation! :dance:

. . .  though I have to say that I discovered the method after much trial and even more error

All great links, Daphne

Do you (or does anyone) know exactly what French velour is? 

Is it defined by fabric content? manufacturing process? anything else? I'm honestly stumped.

I got some lovely green French Velour from DearBears, with a dense undercoat and long striped feathers. It's absolutely top quality and light as air. I've seen very similar-looking faux in a variety of places, much less expensive, but probably not so nice.

I just have no idea why!

  :dance: What a great new feature!! :dance:

:hug: Thanks Sue Ann and Shelli and Quy and Intercal :hug:

I'm going to make a PastTime Bear all for myself

Deborah, you're not lazy or yellow.

Lots of people screen all their calls--these days it's not surprising. This is one call you definitely don't want to take!

  :clap: Congratulations Sabine! Little Suzy deserves to be a cover girl

Beautiful, Tami--you made both? Yikes!

Excellent advice, Paula, and just in the nick of time for me. I've ordered some 'polar bear white' for a commissioned childsafe bunny. She's to be 12" tall sitting upright, and she'll be dressed.

It would be wiser to use a shorter, less dense fur, but I'm determined to use this one. I'm thinking very, very skinny, but any suggestions would be welcome. This ought to be a very interesting challenge!

By the way, I had an email from "Leena" at Prefurs. Apparently faux fur now  travels duty free, and Prefurs has switched carriers to save us a bit of money. In this case, it saves me about $20--

Nice, yes?

Gemma, your bear is scrumptious!!

:dance: Quy is the greatest! :hug:

Shelli, I worship the little bear in your avatar

Agreed. Talking to her does not help, it just fuels her problem and ours.

There's no way of knowing for sure what her actual home situation is, whatever she's told us. I'm hoping that there is no elderly mother, but I also worry that there is.

Last year I took on a student who seems to have suffered from Borderline Personality disorder--Renae's right, it's a catch-all term.

This woman told me about all the trouble she was having at home and at work and at school. Her profs and coworkers and parents were all negative and unhelpful. She was so glad she'd found me, because I was the only one willing to help her. And so on.

She had to write a paper on Darwin, and seemed clueless how to begin, even though she said she'd been taking university courses for several years. So I found her some sources, helped her to take notes relevant to her topic, helped her put the notes in order, wrote her an outline, and waited for a first draft.

What she sent me was literally gibberish, and she freaked out when I told her that I couldn't understand it at all. I was now just like the others, making things up to upset her. Even so, she called and emailed constantly, in a different mood every time.

I had to consult our psychologist, because I didn't know what to do, and she was making me very nervous. He said to drop her immediately, and told me a lot about her kind of problem, and the Catch-22 of trying to treat it. This was the first student I'd ever turned away, and I felt awful about it.

To my surprise, she accepted this very quietly and politely, and even insisted on sending me the money she owed me. I still feel awful about the whole thing, because she was clearly suffering, but I just couldn't handle it.

Looking back, I'm fairly certain that my mother suffered from a version of this disorder. I don't know how or when it began, but from a time I was too young to remember, I never trusted her or felt safe with her. I hope our picture lady doesn't have an elderly mother, but I'm very glad she doesn't seem to have a child!

STALKER ALERT

You're so right, Bobbie. I wish I'd had the sense not to list my phone number.

Our friend called me again this afternoon. She'd obviously forgotten that she'd called before.

I told her that I knew who she was and, though I didn't want to be rude, she was known among BAs as someone who insisted on pictures, and more pictures, with no serious intention of buying, and reacted abusively when denied, and that I  did not intend to send her any pictures.

Well.

Her tone changed from sweet and breathy to loud and coarse and  . . . . most narsty.

She was actually shrieking.

She told me that for my information she knew  a lady at TB&F named Kate (I think she meant Kellie), and that she was going to tell Kate to remove my blankety-blank ad from TB&F and I'd be sorry, so there.

I stayed on the line as long as I could understand what she was saying, and then hung up.

I'm no psychaiatrist, but I'd bet my bottom dollar that this woman is suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder.

It's a tragic and virtually untreatable condition. Most psychologists/psychaiatrists don't want to deal with these patients because they can become so dependant and so violent all at once. One minute you're their best friend, the next minute you're their mortal enemy. The trigger is usually some opposition to their delusion, but it's far more dangerous to encourage them than to resist them. Once opposed and exposed, they'll usually back off and find other people to feed their delusions.

This is all very creepy, but I think it's best just to say no--matter of policy, no pictures.

I asked her if I could send her pictures online, and she said she doesn't have a computer. That's when I began to suspect I was talking to the teddy stalker.

There are probably other ways to get people's telephone numbers.

Hey, I know!

My daughter went to a sci-fi fair recently, and brought home a brochure about "Teddy Scares," bears who were abandoned to the garbage bin by unfeeling owners, and are now coming back for revenge.

Maybe I should send her some of these pix

Hayley,

I've got a pile of Tissavel samples, plus a small (so far) stash of Tissavel fur. All have woven backings.

I order mine from www.prefurs.com, although I've found a few good-as-new Tissavel coats on eBay. The older coaats have a knitted backing, so I had to line the head pieces, but the current stock is definitely all woven.

I highly recommend investing in the samples--they'll blow you away!

I hope she doesn't call when my husband is sleeping after working graveyard.  He could scare her out of making any more calls at all.  It's not good to wake a sleeping bear!

:crackup: Joan, I think this would be great!! Let her call for bear pictures and get herself growled at by a 'real' bear! :crackup:

You should hear my bear growl at telemarketers . . . . sheesh!

Unfortunately, I found her address. At least I think I did--my scrawl must be as bad as hers. It looks like Swansea, Illinois.

I think I will write to say that she's known to be a serial harasser. If Daphne's already done this, a second warning might help.

Wow, Jenn, your story gives me chills. I'll never curse another alarm clock!