Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Thanks, Hayley--I love making different critters. Got a Squirrel in the works . . . .

Milly's got her whiskers on now, so I'm going to try to spend the day experimenting with my camera and all the backgrounds I can find. Wish me luck!

What a

TREAT

--Thanks, Jane and Paula :hug:

:crackup: How weird, Sue Ann--maybe she's using the pix to wallpaper her kitchen?

:dance: I've sold enough from the ad I placed in the Sept/Oct TB&F to pay for that ad and most of another ad in the Nov/Dec issue . . . I'm very pleased with the result!

He's gorgeous, Krista! Well done :dance:

Heather, I should have explained more clearly :redface:

Once you've got the stuffing where you want it, for example in the shoulders, you just anchor your thread in the stuffing somewhere, then take the needle to the outside through the fur, catch a thread and back into the stuffing, out through the fur again, catch another thread or two and sew back into the stuffing. And so on, until the stuffing looks as if it will stay in place, and not shift down into the softer tummy (if you want a softer tummy, that is!).

The threads should not show from the outside, and you dont need to pull tightly on the thread.

I hope this is clearer!

All True

Cats channel. They are very spiritual.

Here's a weird one . . .

Several years back, my daughter and I were returning some foster kittens to the Humane Society. Blubbering, of course.  To cheer ourselves up, we decided to look at the kitties up for adoption.

They were all adorable, but all of a sudden I locked eyes with an adult tabby, and I knew for certain that I knew him. 

Never in a million years, all things considered, would I adopt an adult cat into a houseful of other cats and dogs. Disaster would surely ensue.

So I told my daughter that I had to have this cat, and whatever strange things I said to the adoption agent, to keep her mouth shut.

Long story short, we brought him home, and he walked in as if he knew the place, and was coming home after a short vacation. No problems at all with the dogs or the other cats. It was amazing.

Nobody at the Humane Society knew where he had come from, or how, because he apparently ate the documentation pinned to the outside of his cage.

But I know. We'd recently had to have our beloved cat Hodge put to sleep.

I've never been so sure of anything as I am sure that Knightly is one of Hodge's 9 Lives.

We've also fostered a litter of feral cats, rescued from the U of Toronto Stadium, which seems to be Feral Cat Central. They were very frightened and hissy at first, but warmed up to us very quickly and became the sweetest, smartest, most mannerly kitties I've ever had to return to the Humane Society.

Thanks, Everybody :hug:

This information is pure

GOLD

:dance:

I've been having a terrible time with glare. I photographed a new mouse this weekend, shooting her on the front porch on a cloudly day. She's dressed in ivory-colored lace, which looks almost neon in the pix.

No amount of fiddling with the photo in PaintShopProX seemed to help much.

I'm going to reread these posts and take notes and then try again.

I was in such a hurry to get her onto my website that I totally forgot to give her whiskers. So I'll have to shoot her again anyway. :doh:

Great info . . . please keep it coming!

I started stuffing with polyfill only, then graduated to bits of excelsior in the nose, bags of shot or glass/plastic beads in the bottom and legs, trying for different effects. I'm still working on it.

Shelli, one way to get the wrinkled tummy look without sacrificing firm shoulders is to invisibly stitch your stuffing in place from the outside. This way you can get different densities of stuffing in different parts of the bear.

I discovered this method when the dogs tore up a very expensive Gund puppy. The stuffing was stitched in place to create musculature in the legs, keep the tummy soft, etc.

To create wrinkles in the tummy, try cutting the front body piece(s) longer than usual, then wrinkle them to fit the side seams by gathering or making little darts. If the tummy area is softly stuffed and stitched into place, you ought to get a nice 'slump'.

For my bunnies (so far both of them!) I used a 3-piece body pattern, with a paler front gathered at the chest area.

Wendy, I've been using spines in my mice, extending from the back of the neck to the end of the tail. They're too small to be very flexible, but without an anchor in the body, the tail just flops!

Great tip, Jared!

This method also helps when the inner and outer arm/leg are different colors, as I learned the hard way

When cut a bit smaller, the inner color stays inner, where it belongs.

How awful, Sophie

I hope Francois will be on the mend soon, poor man.j

Your day sounds like a nightmare :hug:

Oh, no! My whole family loved watching Steve Irwin, and admired all he did for wild things. His poor wife and babies

Awwwww . . . they are so adorable in their shells

Absolutely!!

I don't have a large flag, but I'm New York City born, and  wear my flag pins proudly

You'll be glad to know that in spite of all the anti-American politics in the Ontario gov't and media,  all Toronto schools observe a moment of silence on Sept. 11.

  :dance: The Replicator! I'm waiting for that one too! :crackup:

Hi Barbs!

I haven't met you before, but you're probably as good a knitter (probably better) than anyone here--you could design your own patterns, and they'd work better than published ones.

I've got a book by Sandra Polley called The Knitted Teddy Bear-- its full of great knitted clothing and not-so-great knitted bears.

The problem is that the clothing only fits the knitted bears, so you'd need to alter the patterns anyway.

Let me know what kind of knitted wear you're thinking of, and I'll send you a scanned sample or two!

Chrissi,

I've never glued the ring terminals, but if your glue holds the bolt to the disk, it ought to hold the ring to the disk and bolt.

It's a great idea!! :dance:

Maybe you could try one without the bear, and see if the assembly stands up to nut-tightening.

Beautiful eggs, Wendy--they look marbled.

I should think fabric strips sloshed with stiffener would work as well as paper mache. What's in the stiffener? Maybe 50/50 glue and water would work as well.

:hug:  Jenn, Jenn, you sweet girl--

I'm guilty too of the read-and-run lately.  :redface:

Now that my critters are beginning to sell and my students are coming back, I'm feeling a bit swamped.

But I know how you feel . . . At one time I began to think that every post I added to immediately closed. 

Then I posted before and after photos of my made-over Pansy Bear--many looked, but nobody responded for a loooong time.

I decided that it must be one of four things: 1) People  thought Pansy stank
                                                               2) Peple thought I stank
                                                               3) People were busy
                                                               4) People just didn't have anything to say

Then I remembered all the kindness I've experienced on TT, and decided that it didn't matter anyway!

Somebody had better post something after mine, or I'll know I'm the post-killer for sure :crackup:

  :clap: Well done, Shantell--your website is yummy. Isn't it fun?

Your colors actually making me hungry for apple dumplings, apple pie, bears . . . got to consider the state of my Visa!

I'd love to trade links--www.bairdsbears.com

I've got banners on my link page. If you like, I could just copy your logo or your avatar as a banner.

It's amazing what I learn here every day! :dance:

We have scores of 'dollar stores' here in Toronto. They sell plastic eggs meant to be filled with treats for kids, mostly around Easter-- but I'm sure I can find some if anyone's interested.

Waiting sucks!

I'm just wondering. If the fiber is long enough, is it possible to wet-felt it directly onto the egg form?

Or can it be felted on a flat surface first, then shaped onto the form?

I only ask because I break so many felting needles under the easiest conditions. The thought of felting something on a hard form makes my blood run cold

Very, very cool, Charlotte! :clap:

Louise, I couldn't focus at all without my tripod! My day-to-day snapshots are hit and miss.

My camera is so small that it's very difficult to hold steady.

You could experiment with the 'timed' shot. If the camera focuses when nobody's holding it, you need a tripod.

If it doesn't, you might need another camera!

YES PLEASE--BASKETS

Laura Lynn and Sonja,

I'm so sorry--what tragic news. I had no idea anyone sniffed freon, or what it could do.

:hug: Hugs and prayers for all the families involved :hug: