Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Wait.  Am I understanding this correctly? 

Nancy, you put REAL bumblebee wings on a little fairy you made???

:|:P:o

DON'T TELL!

Oops, thanks for the heads-up.

To everyone else, thanks, and you're welcome!  These links move you up in the browser spidering rankings so over time we should all see more hits as a result of being nearer to the top of the search term lists.  Does that make a whit of sense???

Laughing,

Okay.  I made some updates to my site, including adding a second LINKS page.  I think I added EVERYONE who participated in this thread.  If you supplied a banner image I used that; if not, I used a text link.

Please check to be sure I've added you and if not, understand it was an oversight.  I hope you'll contact me right away so I can correct the problem!

I haven't been "checking up" on who's added me and who hasn't but as always, a reciprocal link would be appreciated!

http://www.potbellybears.com/My_Homepag … age13.html

Thanks so much,

Oh, absolutely darling, Sue Ann.  Is he destined for sale online (here, your site) or is he travelling to a show?

Oh, good point Amanda.  Definitely looking at websites, and eBay, inspires me.

My husband, Tim -- the sentimental one -- actually picks spiders up in the cupped palm of his hand so that he can release them outside.

Me?  I show no mercy, although they don't really scare me into hysterics as much as creep me out.  I got a spider bite once -- not even a bad one, like a brown recluse (Sue Ann, please share!) or black widow -- and man, did it hurt like the dickens!  I could not believe how much ache such a tiny, exoskeleton-encased, creature could inflict with a millisomething of venom.

We have lots of black widows here; we find them regularly in the garage.  And jumping spiders, with about ten thousand visible eyes and those white leg spots, although they are small.  They're hairy, tho, and they do leap right onto you (now THAT's what gets me freaking out), so I could do without those guys.

Rodents don't bug me too much on a fear level but I keep them well away from my family and our things because they carry disease.  I do remember a few years ago, at Christmastime; I had put chocolate stocking stuffers into a paper bag in the garage.  I came out the day before Christmas to find that they had been entirely consumed by mice.  I was incensed, and had to rush out to replace them.

In the meantime, noting all of a sudden that we obviously had a LARGE mouse problem (the droppings were abundant and never before noticed), we decided to set mousetraps.  With little kids around the garage grabbing toys, though, that sounded like a dangerous proposition.  So I enlisted the help of my young sons.

Tim and my dad -- who was visiting for the holidays -- set the traps, and I placed large red strips of duct tape six inches in front of them to mark their locations with Toby's help.  Noah was assigned the task of writing BEWARE, MOUSE TRAP on the tape.

I left Noah to his work as something from inside the house called. 

When I returned to the garage, Noah beamed proudly.  Yes, he had written BEWARE, MOUSE TRAP, at every location (probably about five or six) where we had placed a trap.

He had written it directly on the cement garage floor.  Of course, using a black SHARPIE.

Now, those words are a laughable reminder of the fact that:

1)  We are mouse free (we caught five in a 12 hours period); Merry Christmas, Mickey and friends! (not), and
2)  Children are well meaning, but need constant supervision!

OH, yes!  Do submit it to TB&F or TBR.  I'd be willing to bet they could find column space for such a wonderful tale.

And you DID paint it beautifully with words; the visuals just popped right in front of my eyes.

Let us know how this goes...

Thomas Kinkade.  Whose work I am... not a huge fan of. ;)

If I'm burning the midnight oil I can make two bears a week but it's more like three in two weeks.  And sometimes, like this summer, when I've been distracted (wonderfully so) by my kids home for summer vacation -- and then totally bummed out, because they leave entirely to spend some time with their dad for a change -- and when emotional and physical family issues (none of them really mine, per se) have kept my mind somewhat dark and troubled, I make even less than that.  One a week, or one every two weeks.

I do find that I get SLOWER the longer I make bears.  I think that's because I keep trying out new things, or trying to "better" what I'm already doing.  The curse of the mildly obsessive/compulsive perfectionist; that's what it is.

Great question!

Eek!   My dad had shingles as a boy and describes it as one of the worst pains of his life.  Mind you, this same dad was an army paratrooper -- one of those tough military dude types -- so that's saying a lot.

Good luck with your move and I hope you're feeling better soon.

I get inspired by "meeting" the bears I'm in the process of creating.  The biggest anticipation comes when the head is sewn, turned, and stuffed, and awaiting the placement of facial features.

I'm really inspired by the nose template I just got from Hayley, since it will open up some new horizons for me now that I have a way to "try on" some general sizes and shapes before committing to them.

I also get inspired by particularly interesting or new to me fabrics, like a tiedye or a real fur (my current inspiration to move along with things...!)

Yes, it moved me so much I'm sharing it with my husband, Tim, who has a soft spot for sentiment and old people.  The combination will be deadly.

Thanks so much for sharing.

PVC pipe is used mostly for sprinkler systems.  They go right into the ground!

Sandi, thanks for the vote of confidence!  Your photography isn't bad, actually, and your bear is completely darling -- so that's a great foundation for the rest!  It looks like there's a dark shadow being cast at about the 11 o'clock position; is your light source front right, from the top, as we look at the photo?

The light tent is not my invention so I have no problem recommending it heartily.  It will help you bounce light aroudn beautifully in ways you can't imagine until you get there.  It practically takes gorgeous pictures FOR you.  I'm deadly serious.  Do be sure to use LOTS of light, from at least three sides.  As I've mentioned before, I use 14 fluourescent tube lights, plus a shop light and a halogen flashlight for spotlighting/highlighting.  These simple tricks, once assembled and plugged in (I have twenty million cords snaking out of my photo closet) will do amazing things for your pictures.

As for inventory... I had my first show in April and barely managed to get 6 or so bears made for it.  I work incredibly slowly, even doing so full time.  Go easy on yourself or you'll burn out.  I've had some issues with overextending myself this first year in business and am chalking it up to the learning curve.  You'll get there.  We'll hold your hand.

I'd love to make an avatar for you if you have a business name.  That bear in your picture is really quite sweet adn inspiring!  Let me know!

Thanks, Winney.  You're appreciated. :)

Here's a bit of wacky irony/karma for you all to digest...

About two minutes after writing the above post, which focused in large part on the ABSOLUTELY, FABULOUSLY IMPORTANT ROLE OF THE MAILING LIST IN BEAR SALES, I went to my email program to compose a long overdue letter to my Mailing List re: my two newest bears, soon to land at Collins Gift Shop.  And, lo and behold, my Mailing List -- heck my entire Address Book! -- had up and disappeared.  I have absolutely no idea what happened.  <sigh>

Happily, sorta :/, I had saved various versions of my contact list over time, and could reconstruct my Mailing List from that.  But the saved version did not contain the "Groups", like my PBB Mailing List, from which I was working.  It only contained individual names and email addresses.  So it was really a hit-or-miss bunch of guesswork on my part reconstructing the list.  I'm just hoping I didn't accidentally mail to too many folks who had previously asked to be unsubscribed, and were, but had not made it off my saved version.  <sigh, again.>  I hate getting people riled unnecessarily.

Thanks for your ears... eyes?... in "listening" to my woes.

Daphne, you are a smart and funny girl.  Come visit me sometime!  You can bring your dog.

PS  Right now it's 105 degrees.  Is that offputting?

The list of participating artists is here:  http://www.northcountryteddybears.com/T … photos.htm

Artists are just completing -- or, as in my case, haven't even yet started! -- their bears around now and will be submitting finished pieces for posting as they can, so the Photo Gallery page isn't up yet. 

You can visit North Country Teddy Bears forum and check out the TEDDIES 4 CHARITY thread if you have comments and questions that might be better answered by Nancy Tillberg and/or the rest of the participating artists.

http://www.northcountryteddybears.com/phpBB/

Thanks to everyone who is considering becoming a part of this, and to those who have already signed up, welcome and THANK YOU!

I've gotta pretty much give a big "ditto" to everything Kim says, with some extra emphasis on her statement that it really helps collectors if they know your auctions will ALWAYS end at the same time. 

A long time ago as I started out, I watched eBay to see when the high price point artists were ending their sales and it was inevitably Sunday night around 7pm PST, so I chose that time as my own ALWAYS auction end point. 

Later, I read somewhere that it's actually a statistically verified fact that 7pm PST (West Coast time, for you international folks who, like me, can barely keep track of their own time zone!) is the time when most people are on eBay.

Having said all that, Keep Away! from my auction close time.  Laughing here... ;)

I think a constant presence is great (and am kinda afraid about my own LACK thereof over the last, stagnant months I've had)... but I think it might be even better to have a Mailing List option available to your repeat/new/potential collectors BEFORE ever starting up on eBay. 

You can reference your Mailing List -- which you'd put on your website (also a very good thing to have in place BEFORE starting up) -- in your listing with wording like, "See my ABOUT ME page for more on my company, and to join my Mailing List, which entitles you to news and updates on the freshest bears out of my studio."  Or some such thing.  Remember that it's against eBay policy to reference your website (or ANY third party website, for that matter) in your auction listing directly.  You can, however, point viewers to your eBay ABOUT ME page without consequence.

I use my Mailing List each and every time I have a bear going ANYWHERE, be it eBay, a retailer, or once in a blue moon, as an exclusive to the Mailing List subscribers themselves!

Never underestimate the power of a great photograph.  Especially a close up of a sweet face.  If you hope to be paid for both your materials AND your talent and time, remember to show off what you can do!  It takes a very long investment of energy and effort to create any teddy bear by hand.  Take the time to photograph those efforts well, using lots of light, and a pretty backdrop, and crop your photos to show off the very best parts of your bears.

Last, add some professionalism to your listings.  If you don't have the ability to create your own templates, hire someone to create one for you; use eBay's themed pages; or enroll in an auction template service.  I use The Seller Sourcebook and think they're fantastic.  It ends up costing me about $7/month and the fees are set up to autodraw from my PayPal account, so it's a total no brainer.

I do think the extra formatting, crispness, neatness of display, color coordination, etc., of these kinds of services can add dollars to your final bid price.  It reflects that you take your work seriously.  If you don't, why expect someone else to? 

As in all business ventures, you must first value yourself and your own work and makes choices that reflect as much.  Then, if you offer a quality product, the buying audience will happily follow.

Hope this is helpful.

Hey, for all you double jointed neck experienced ladies, I have a question too.

Obviously, in looking at the photo above, the head pieces (side heads and gusset) are somewhat "shortened" and the "bottom" of them is more at an angle, where it meets with the neck wedge piece.

Usually, when I close a head, I use a running stitch and doubled thread, gathering around my cotter pin and disk to close.

Do you close this kind of "shortened", angeled head in the same way???

Thanks!:)

Yeah, with more thought, I think the gathering idea is a bad one.  Do insert circles at both ends of the "wedge" piece.  Keep the triangle point at top, back.

Jane, I'm delighted that you know the artist at Bears Upon Soar.  I was searching for double jointed bears to use as a starting point (I think I Googled just that; "double jointed bear neck pattern") and came upon Lisa's (?) work, which perfectly illustrated the point I was hoping to make.  You can barely discern the piece itself because she works with dense and beautiful, but relatively short, pile.  Her bears are spectacular!

I didn't ask her if it was okay to post her pictures here but I figured that, with credit given and a website reference included, it could only be a good thing for her business!  Her work is spectacular!

I tried to make a quick and dirty photo of what's been explained about the double jointed neck piece.  Although I admit I haven't made one myself, yet.

The picture I'm posting here suggests GATHERING at the top and bottom of the wedge-shaped double joint piece.  Judi and Eileen were talking about intead INSERTING A CIRCULAR PIECE OF MOHAIR at top and bottom of the double jointed piece.  Either way would probably work, although it seems, intuitively, that inserting circles woud produce a better result.

Does this help anyone visualize things at all?

Please do advise about the "best" way to do this, in your estimation, esp. if my picture is misleading.

PS  I Googled "double jointed bear neck pattern" and came up with this little darling.  This artist has many more similar, realistic, and very inspirational bears on her website.  Do check it out if you're interested; I don't know her at all but want to give credit to her photography for inspiring my diagram!

Thanks!

Hey, if you guys want to see some of my longest posts ever, check out my CHARITY RECOMMENDATIONS at the TEDDIES 4 CHARITY page (NCTB forum).

http://www.northcountryteddybears.com/p … c.php?t=94

Although, in this case, I think the windbagginess was merited.

Hi Laura.  Boy, have you been missed.  I understand all too well the depression of seeing kids leave to the "other" spouse for part or all of the summer; please write or call if you want to talk more.

I noticed your new website just yesterday, when I was checking out TEDDY TALK sites on a lark.  Beautiful!!!

Welcome home.

Calling all TEDDY TALK participants and lurkers!  Attention all bearmakers of good heart!

I wanted to bring attention to a worthwhile and fun endeavor happening at Nancy Tillberg's NORTH COUNTRY TEDDY BEARS forum.

Some while back, a group of bearmakers on the Edinburgh forum decided it might be fun to make bears from a single pattern; Nancy offered permission to use one of hers from her "101 BEARS TO MAKE" book.

What to do with the bears when done, though, became the question.  So we decided to create a charitable auction opportunity here.

The auction will occur sometime in September, staggered throughout the month, with dates assigned by the organizers (mostly Nancy.)  All that, TBA.

Right now, we're gearing up discussion to determine which charitable organization will benefit from this group auction effort.

We will be running the auction on eBay, through eBay Giving Works, which utilizes MissionFish to certify all non-profit organizations.

If you'd like to get involved, I encourage you to visit Nancy's site NORTH COUNTRY TEDDY BEARS for more information, and perhaps to join the growing ranks of participating artists.

Because this originated at the Edinburgh forum, Edinburgh has offered a percentage off mohair used in this bearmaking endeavor.  Check their site's HOME page for details.

Thanks for your consideration!

Click here for more about TEDDIES 4 CHARITY, the bearmaking and auction effort:  http://www.northcountryteddybears.com/T … /index.htm

Click here to view the NCTB forum.  Go to TEDDIES 4 CHARITY to view all discussion to date:
http://www.northcountryteddybears.com/phpBB/

I've been tossing around the idea of doing an inset muzzle of another color or even fabric type on a future bear.

I'm sure I could figure out how to simply slice off the "nose" part of the existing pattern piece; add the appropriate seam allowance; and stitch together.

What I'd love help and advice about, though, is precisely WHERE to slice off the "nose" piece.

I've found that sometimes, it takes a lot of trial and error to get proportions just right and I'm afraid that I will slice off too much, or not enough, or at the "wrong" angle, and end up with something that looks... not right.

Does anyone have any suggestions, or maybe even any pattern pieces with inset muzzles, to share?

Obviously, the gusset would be "sliced", too.  Or... would it?  I guess it depends on look you're after.

Looking forward to hearing your input!  And thanks in advance.