Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

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Can we see your entry please Sue? I best it's lovely... just too many entrants :(

I like the website! How on earth do you set one up? I can't work it out!!

-Nice name dropping there Sue    You forgot to say 'secure home for mentally unwell Chloe's ' though :D:D

Lol Ummm... yeah, I'm about to sound a bit mad here!

Well, 'Lugly' is a combination of Lovely and Ugly, which is what the lady who does my hair (and is also a family friend!) was called by her late partner The Je Suis part came in because i thought it sounded better than 'I am': I don't speak a word of French in reality!

As for bears (or Sloths) some times the names just come to me, and sometimes I name them and then make them: it builds characters.  I know if the name's wrong if i stop using it!  My first Sloth was called Ai (the sound Sloths make) for ages, until I decided it was horrible... now he's called Poke (as in Slowpoke )

Oh Sue, I'm sorry to hear about your disappointment There's always next year: apparently there were LOADS of entries...  Can we see your entrant?  I'll wave that G-Town flag high!!

I don't know if I can make it to Hove now I think about it: my Uni has sprung a huge test on me... hopefully they'll accept me posting Marmite to them if I include a check for the postage back, but if not and I can't go is there anyone who would be happy for me to post Marmite to them to take with them? I REALLY want to go, but it's a MASSIVE journey down from Durham, and it's through London... Hmmm...    I want to go!

I'm sorry to have to tell you that Bear Bottoms have closed down, Anne It's now an Oxfam Book Shop. I don't know what happened, as I only got into this mad world after their closure, so it must have been early this year. I do remember yearning for a Steiff monkey they had in their window though! Are there any other Bear shops in the area that you know of?

Thanks everyone, it's my first nomination ever   Fingers crossed! Do you think I could ask them if i could change the Business name?

Thanks to Ellen I now have a copy of a Jennifer Laing book I've been DYING to read, so I'm actually working on completely changing my Lugly bear look... I have a must shorter muzzle in my mind

I saw you'd been nominated too Lisa, I'm so glad!!  I guess I will be seeing you, if I can get down there... looks like it'll be one heck of a journey...

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I got in! I'm so pleased, as I haven't actually heard anything, butI'm in a magazine!! OMG, I HAVE to buy it... No where in Durham sells Teddy Bear International!   AHHHHH!!!!

Only thing is, I'm down as Hedgerow Bears XD Whoops, my OLD old name... ah well, it's still me :D

OMG I'm SOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!

:D:D:D

EEEE!!!

I haven't heard about my entry either Samantha, but I'm not expecting a letter as I e-mailed to check and got no reply... my photo's were awful in fairness Well done you! Good luck!

Thanks, I think I will choose a Toyota: glad to know it wasn't a case of everyone hating them!  Fingers crossed I'll be sewing again soon...

Thanks Yvonne: if a Toyota produces your bears I'd be happy for some of that magic to rub off on me!  I assume yours is quite a flash model?  I was thinkning of going for the Jeans Plus one... it's about £95...

Ok, so here's my story

About a month ago I bough an E+R Classic sewing macine from a website. It was £70, and promised to do everything a more expensive and well known macine would do, with a five year guarantee, so I though why not?  I parted with 70 of my lovely pounds and in a few days the machine turned up.

Now, I don't know much about them technically, but I know when you turn them on and press on the foot pad they sew This one; the needle didn't move at all, and the right hand side dial didn't turn; it just 'whirred', so I arranged for it to be picked up and swapped.  The new one came, and this one won't change the needle position, and he needle is biased to the right so every time I attempted to sew another needle went  :crackup: 

So, I rang them up today, and they won't refund me without me paing the shipping fee to get it back to them    So I'm going to have to exchange it: the man suggested a Toyota instead as they are more robust? Does anyon have any experience with these machines? I don't want to spend more than £100 ideally as I am not that good yet, but the site's here if you want to make any suggestions they will be greatly appreciated  :)

(this is the machine I currently have:)

http://www.sewingmachinediscount.co.uk/ … p?pid=1855

I am indeedy a Johnson, alothugh I'd take my mum's name (Bishop) if it didn't sound so weird with Chloe!

I've checked my balance and I'd lvoe to buy a ticket: it's all for a good cause and an even better bear! I'll e-mail you as well, just in case ;)

Fingers crossed!

Awww, lookit those eyes! 

Gosh Jenny, let me check my bank balance and I'll definitely buy a ticket (I don't suppose I get a special 'Johnson' treatment as a fellow Johnson, do I? What if I did un-named favours... I love her so much!).  She looks like a Ballet girl, which strikes a cord with me as I've just taken up my childhood dancing again!

I'm sure you'll raise that money for charity

Lol! That is just perfect! My cat has a new technique instead of the bat, which is to press his lovely moist bottom against my face... lovely.  I miss him so much back at Uni 

She looks like she fell out of Fantasia, how wonderful!

Oooh, congrats Cat! And jus think, If you'd been able to come to Hugglets I might have 'met' Maus XD

My other Catherine would say there must be a pregnancy chair somewhere  :crackup:

I'm so glad the total's so high, well done everyone! This was my first auction, so it was nice to get a feel for it (as well as watch the bids on my sloth!)

Sorry I've not commented everyone, my move to Uni has happened but I have no Internet! It's amazing how little I have to do when I'm without broadband... I may actually have to READ soon  :crackup:

It's nice to come back to so many entries though, but it is a little worrying as they are all so good!  And Ellen, you're so nice   I'd like to know a little more of the mechanics of bear making, as I still feel like the sloth and this bear pattern are mostly fluke... I'd like to be able to look at a pattern and say 'this needs to change', and I'd ESPECIALLY like to make decent sewn faces... wistful thinking at the moment!

Fingers crossed I'll have internet access at home in a few weeks, but I have bought a sewing machine to occupy myself till then

Ah, look at them! Wow Maria, they're great!  That first guy is a little 'Phantom-esque'... makes me think of underground caverns and opera masks... And the penguin in the second seems to be thinking 'OMG they're HUGGING?! Don't look, don't look!'

Good Luck!

I've always loved FIMO Lately I want to try working in Sculpey clay too, but I'm not sure you can get it easily (and cheaply) here in the UK... I've seen some amazing sculpture in Sculpey...

She's great! Do you make your claws out of FIMO too? I love her dress... wish I could make clothes...

I'm glad you both like the snout I quite like it, but I'm worried as one of the judging criteria is 'proportions'... I wonder how strict they'll be?

Oooh Catherine, I love your bears eyes... wish mine looked like that!  What fur is he? Good luck :D

Lisa, I want to see! Show us all a photo, I'm sure your bear is really great: your others have been!

Thanks Pauline, the only thing I'm worried about is the length of his snout... it's massive! I've done two felted snout bears, and they both have snouts too long for their bodies...

Oooh, I am, I am!  Add me I'll do a search for the group... got any links?

Thasnks Catherine I've just finished him: he's called Marmite, as I think he'll either be loved or hated Do you think i should change this topic to one where people can post photo's of their entries? Do people do that?

Nah, I've just finished my bear entry and it looks like he'll be going it alone   You're allowed another creature, but only as a companion to the main piece, who must be a bear... maybe we should have a topic where people can show off their entries?  Would people post theirs?