Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Make that three green-eyed girls here.  Sounds like green is the color of TEDDY BEAR MAKERS instead.  Criminies.

Yes, Donna, you hit it spot-on.   Everyone was sooooooo enchanted by me and my glorious smile that they just glossed right over the mugs I was selling....  :/:P:lol::rolleyes::)

NO, actually I did have several people pick them up and say, "Oh look!  Mugs!" and then ask the price and put them down.  I really wasn't trying to make any kind of big profit but if they cost $15 just to get made and then even more than that (worked out to about $1/mug) to ship, I couldn't justify selling them for a loss.  If you have a way to get them for less -- and I mean a lot less, like under $10 would be my guess -- then go for it!

Very cute; love the mohair.  And yes, the new avatar is lovely.

Ooh, great idea, Sue Ann... especially since Chico DOES have a store like that.

I've only done one show and everyone brought his/her own table drapes.  I've never heard of shows that only allow fire-retardant cloths, but I have seen those cloths on line (I did a Google search for "table drapes" when I was prepping for my show.)  They do cost in the hundreds of dollars and don't come in a wide variety of pretty colors so it's good to know there are other options available.

Donna, you're kinda close to me geographically.  Just for my own information, which shows require the fire-retardant draping?  Do you remember off the top of your head?

Thanks, all!

Got distracted yesterday but meant to write that those letters are FANTASTIC!  I love decoupage but am not sure I have the "eye" for it like some others (such as your daughter) do.  How wonderful that you have another crafter in your immediate family.

We are going, as a family of five, out to dinner... then to see the premiere of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.  Then late tonight, our local Barnes & Noble is hosting a MIDNIGHT MAGIC party to introduce the new Harry Potter book, which is available as of 12am PST to we Californians.  So even my little 9-year old will be burning the midnight oil tonight, for this special event.  We've had TWO on hold for months, since there is inevitably a battle about who gets to read the new one first; and my husband is always in the thick of the fray!

Good point, Miss Dilu.  I should have said the same as my first impression on seeing this little cute was, 'Wowie Zowie!'

Great work, Amanda!!! ;);)

Sue Ann is dead on in recommending a mid-tone background with dark bear photography and, in fact, I said this same thing in my recent Bears N Buds article on photography.  Dark bears are tricky to photograph well!

For light and mid color bears, a contrasting backdrop works just fine. 

But for very dark bears, you should actually go with a midtone backdrop, in the same general tonal range as your bear, rather than something starkly contrasting.  That's because your camera will tend to over-lighten the light and over-darken the dark parts of a photo like the one you've posted, above, leaving you with a muddy bear that has indistinguishable features.

I think a light tent could help you since it bounces light around in a very pleasing way, and tends to get you illumination in areas you otherwise might not.  Don't use a flash to remedy this problem, or you'll just get harsh shadows and a "flattened" look.

Also, do be sure to set your White Balance to correspond to each and every photo session. 

You can also simply use handheld lights (even flashlights sometimes work!) and/or a large sheet or white foamcore or poster board, to direct light precisely where it's needed.  In the photo above, I'd predict that your light source is coming from above, thus there is very little light coming from front or from below, aimed at the chin, which is totally lost in shadow.

1)  Pick a midtone background.  As Sue Ann suggested, blue is always safe; Bear Paths (www.bearpaths.com) always shoots against mid royal blue and the results, for ANY color bear, and outstanding; Diane really knows her photography!

2)  Place your bear pleasingly.

3)  Throw LOTS of light on the bear, with or without a light tent.  To illustrate what I mean by LOTS... I use 14 flourescent tube lights (two overhead, six per side) PLUS a shop light AND a halogen light AND the closet overhead light, to shoot my photos. 

4)  Set your White Balance for your photo shoot by simply placing a piece of white paper or fabric in front of your bear and then clicking the appropriate button on your camera to set.  Easy cheesy, and I'll bet you'll see immediate good results after this step.

If all else fails you can adjust using your photo editor.  I usually make photo adjustments in this order (these are PhotoShop commands but other programs will have similar ones):

-- Curves
-- Levels
-- Brightness/Contrast
-- Hue/Saturation

Good luck!

Ack!  Darling, Jane!  Thanks so much for posting these pics!

I think maybe that's RASCAL...???

I designed him to stand and look a little bit like Maurice Sendak's LITTLE BEAR.  He was one of the first to go, to a very nice lady who came with her girlfriend, and then returned the next day to buy a second of my bears.  Which she said looked "BALD!", so she redressed it in vintage, granny-style clothing that she bought at the show itself!  She came back to show me how much "better" the bear looked. 

I wouldn't have dressed her that way myself but had to admit she did look so much more charming!  I said I should hire her as my bear stylist!

Thanks for the compliments on my site.  It's a labor of love; I really enjoy the photo editing and element arranging and color selecting stuff.

Sue Ann, I don't find your table cluttered at all.  It's precisely what I was going for; lots of bears, beautifully displayed!  I recognize your little holiday bear and tree from the Intercal photo gallery.  What's on the lower left corner of the table?  Wooden letters or some kind of plaque?  I can't quite make it out...  (and PS, I'm not usually a huge fan of colorful bears, especially those made in cool pastel tones.  But here I see one of yours again -- I've seen them before in the Gallery --  and you manage to make them somehow so warm and wonderful; love it!)

Thanks, everyone else, for the nice words about my bears.  Showing is a lot of work and a little stressful but it was super, super fun to meet all those collectors and so many other talented artists like Denis Shaw, John Paul Port, Lori Leeper, Joan Woessner, Intercal's own "Bear Street" supplier and bearmaker Dale Junker, Susan Arnot and sister, jeweler Stephen of Stephen & Helena Animal Jewels, and a host of other wonderful folk -- artist, promoter, collector -- that make this industry just the warmest place on earth.  If there's a show in your area and you can manage to work up the time and stock, I highly recommend it!  I had a great time.

Hey, wait a minute!  A total screwup!  Oh well, since Sue Ann has already replied, I'll let it stand and not edit or delete.  Criminies...

Here's the picture I MEANT to also include in one of my two, nearly identical, posts, above. 

Where is my head today?  I can't tell you how much it bugs me to have my computer screwups posted to the WORLD WIDE web.  Aargh!

Laughing here...

Sue Ann... Glorious brochure.  Thanks for sharing.  You can be sure that at my next show (whenever that is) I'll be bringing along something similar.  Hope that's okay... !

As for table extras...

When I was prepping for my first -- and, to date, only -- show in Nevada City last April, I asked question after question on other boards and in other Yahoo groups just to get some of the same ideas you're seeking here; namely, what should I bring to maximize sales, marketing, visibility, basically SUCCESS??? 

After some asking, and listening, and studying, and looking, I came up with my own list of "must-haves" for my table which, for the most part (note MUG comment, below), worked out well for me. 

Here's what I brought (in addition to bears and stands to showcase them, and cloths/drapes for the table):

--  Guest book, where table visitors could sign up for my mailing list and/or leave a physical address and their name

--  A copy of the magazine in which my bear had been published in an editorial feature.  I went to a restaurant supply store and bought what was basically a "menu cover" in magazine size.  That way, I was able to open the magazine to the page where my bear appeared, and then hold it open to that page by sliding the magazine, opened, into the clear plastic menu cover, which then covered the pages completely.  The menu cover also kept the magazine cover, plus back page, viewable.

--  A photo album with two pictures (full body, closeup) of each bear I've made.  The pictures were 4x6 and slipped into double-slot pages.  I made sure to buy an album which coordinated with my business colors; it had a pink leather cover.

--  An accordian-fold, self-standing photo frame which had nine small windows (think "Brady Brunch" credits, or a Tic-Tac-Toe board!)  I used this to provide backdrop to a part of my table and to visually showcase, again, some of my work.  This time, it was bears that had already been sold and were not present.  I figured showing off some range and longevity was a good thing!

--  Two self-standing, cheap-o plastic frames which held credit card and layaway information.  I stood one on each end of my table.

--  A vintage (meaning, I bought it for 50 cents at Salvation Army) silver soap dish, and a HUGE stack of business cards to put in it.

--  A copper bucket (actually meant to be a small planter for a houseplant) filled to the brim with salt water taffy (which you can get at Cost Plus Imports, if you have one locally, or at your neighborhood candy shop.)  Taffy doesn't make hands sticky becuase it pops into the mouth in one fell swoop; it takes forever to chew; and it keeps the over-three crowd occupied... and quiet!!!

--  Promotional mugs, as an alternative to pricey artist bears, which I had imprinted with a promotional image (photos of my work, POTBELLY BEARS name, website URL.)  These were expensive to make and ship to my home, plus there was shipping and handling tacked on, so I had to charge about $19/mug to make even a single dollar per mug.  I figured if people fell in love with my bears but couldn't, for some reason, buy one, a mug might be a nice alternative.

NONE of the mugs sold (well, except for the ones my mom bought, but that doesn't count!) 

So if you're going to bring promotional items (pins, stationery, mugs, shirts, etc.), be sure the price point is low, low, LOW and that they're VERY affordable.

--  A vintage painted toy wagon to put the mugs in; it added a lot of charm, and some height, to my table. I also brought faux florals in glass vases; an embroidered mirror; and a needlepoint pillow; just for decorative accent and color.

I received a lot of compliments on my table and felt they were honest compliments.  MANY, MANY people -- including other artists, promoters, and visiting news media -- loved the taffy, as did a whole slew of adult collectors and small children.  I'd bring it again in a heartbeat.  (PS  I also had a garbage can in view, beside my table, for wrappers.)

I would not bring mugs again and would think hard about bringing other kinds of promotional items at this point, too, except for things like Sue Ann's brochures, which are more "advertising" than "merchandising."

Kelly, your mom's art might be an entirely different thing, as it bespeaks "investment" rather than "impulse purchase," which is more the appeal I figured my mugs would have.

What would I do differently next time?

1)  Try to bring more bears; I sold out by the morning of day three (it was a long show so I had a lot of time to sell out.)  I was incredibly lucky.

2)  Bring a sign with my company name.  I used it all over my mugs, my photo album, it was in the magazine, and it was on the credit/layaway placards.  But people still asked, "Who are you?"

Being a little (a little?!?) OCD, I did a practice run with my table setup and have included a labelled picture of that try-on session, here.

Hope this helps!

Sue Ann... Glorious brochure.  Thanks for sharing.  You can be sure that at my next show (whenever that is) I'll be bringing along something similar.  Hope that's okay... !

As for table extras...

When I was prepping for my first -- and, to date, only -- show in Nevada City last April, I asked question after question on other boards and in other Yahoo groups just to get some of the same ideas you're seeking here; namely, what should I bring to maximize sales, marketing, visibility, basically SUCCESS??? 

After some asking, and listening, and studying, and looking, I came up with my own list of "must-haves" for my table which, for the most part (note MUG comment, below), worked out well for me. 

Here's what I brought (in addition to bears and stands to showcase them, and cloths/drapes for the table):

--  Guest book, where table visitors could sign up for my mailing list and/or leave a physical address and their name

--  A copy of the magazine in which my bear had been published in an editorial feature.  I went to a restaurant supply store and bought what was basically a "menu cover" in magazine size.  That way, I was able to open the magazine to the page where my bear appeared, and then hold it open to that page by sliding the magazine, opened, into the clear plastic menu cover, which then covered the pages completely.  The menu cover also kept the magazine cover, plus back page, viewable.

--  A photo album with two pictures (full body, closeup) of each bear I've made.  The pictures were 4x6 and slipped into double-slot pages.  I made sure to buy an album which coordinated with my business colors; it had a pink leather cover.

--  An accordian-fold, self-standing photo frame which had nine small windows (think "Brady Brunch" credits, or a Tic-Tac-Toe board!)  I used this to provide backdrop to a part of my table and to visually showcase, again, some of my work.  This time, it was bears that had already been sold and were not present.  I figured showing off some range and longevity was a good thing!

--  Two self-standing, cheap-o plastic frames which held credit card and layaway information.  I stood one on each end of my table.

--  A vintage (meaning, I bought it for 50 cents at Salvation Army) silver soap dish, and a HUGE stack of business cards to put in it.

--  A copper bucket (actually meant to be a small planter for a houseplant) filled to the brim with salt water taffy (which you can get at Cost Plus Imports, if you have one locally, or at your neighborhood candy shop.)  Taffy doesn't make hands sticky becuase it pops into the mouth in one fell swoop; it takes forever to chew; and it keeps the over-three crowd occupied... and quiet!!!

--  Promotional mugs, as an alternative to pricey artist bears, which I had imprinted with a promotional image (photos of my work, POTBELLY BEARS name, website URL.)  These were expensive to make and ship to my home, plus there was shipping and handling tacked on, so I had to charge about $19/mug to make even a single dollar per mug.  I figured if people fell in love with my bears but couldn't, for some reason, buy one, a mug might be a nice alternative.

NONE of the mugs sold (well, except for the ones my mom bought, but that doesn't count!) 

So if you're going to bring promotional items (pins, stationery, mugs, shirts, etc.), be sure the price point is low, low, LOW and that they're VERY affordable.

--  A vintage painted toy wagon to put the mugs in; it added a lot of charm, and some height, to my table.

I received a lot of compliments on my table and felt they were honest compliments.  MANY, MANY people -- including other artists, promoters, and visiting news media -- loved the taffy, as did a whole slew of adult collectors and small children.  I'd bring it again in a heartbeat.  (PS  I also had a garbage can in view, beside my table, for wrappers.)

I would not bring mugs again and would think hard about bringing other kinds of promotional items at this point, too, except for things like Sue Ann's brochures, which are more "advertising" than "merchandising."

Kelly, your mom's art might be an entirely different thing, as it bespeaks "investment" rather than "impulse purchase," which is more the appeal I figured my mugs would have.

What would I do differently next time?

1)  Try to bring more bears; I sold out by the morning of day three (it was a long show so I had a lot of time to sell out.)  I was incredibly lucky.

2)  Bring a sign with my company name.  I used it all over my mugs, my photo album, it was in the magazine, and it was on the credit/layaway placards.  But people still asked, "Who are you?"

Congratulations are well deserved and that bear is truly wonderful.  It reminds me of a bright, colorful Easter egg.  Which, by the way, I never could figure out how to dye in all those stripe-y ways...

Great work!

Wow.  That really must be unsettling, on top of all the unsettling events of the last week (which no one ever wants to deal with in the first place.)  I'm sorry for you, Jane, and your neighbors.  Psychologically, I think there's inevitably going to be some kind of, "How could we NOT have known?!?" mentality that takes place within the hearts and minds of the survivors left behind in situations like this.  I've heard about it in cases where someone lived next door to a serial killer, or a child molester.  I've seen spouses talk about it when that evil monster was his/her own life partner.

I hope that, like those folk, you do realize on the deepest of levels that neither you nor your fellow townfolk could possibly have known, nor could you have controlled or changed, either this bad guy's intentions, or the outcome of his actions.

I hope you and your townsfolk, and the rest of London and the UK, can find some peace with this sometime relatively soon.  I still feel the shock of 9/11 all these years later, and I was on the opposite coast when it took place.   There is a certain innocence lost that just doesn't return.  I'm sorry for you that it has to hit you, and your family, especially close to home.

Big hugs,

Marie, that bear is darling!  Great toes!

Actually, I think those little shapes behind the pupils are quite charming and sweet.  Keep em coming!

Actually, I buy the premium glass eyes from Intercal; the ones with the new loop design.   They cost more but I swear they are almost all precisely the same dimension for a given size, from diameter, to dome height, pupil size, etc.  And the glass NEVER has bubbles in it, which I have occasionally found with other eyes.  Try them out!

Quality #560, in clear or the color of your choice!

http://www.intercaltg.com/catalog/eyes.html

Beautiful!

Kirsten, what wonderful news... and how welcome.  I remember you telling me you have been trying and hoping for a bit.  I'm so, so happy for you.

Being pregnant was, for me, a physically miserable experience... but an emotionally blissful one.  It was the culmination of all my girlish dreams; the "career" I've always wanted most was MOMMY.

During my pregnancies, I read "What to Expect When You're Expecting" a thousand times a day, from the time the boys were balls of cells the size of rice grains, until the day they were born, keeping up with what was going on "in there."   For a teacher like you -- probably very like me in that constant pursuit of knowledge and valuation of learning -- I'm sure the path you've embarked upon will entail a lot of reading and learning, but also, the contentment of sitting back and enjoying the process.  Enjoying it SPIRITUALLY, anyway... ;)

I'm sure you'll be a warm, accepting, and purely wonderful mommy and wish you all the best.

Of course I must know; when's the due date???

Hugs,

I should probably add, by the way, that there is one other way to do this photo.

1)  Start with a color image
2)  Duplicate that image... desaturate it... and place the desaturated image UNDER the color image
3)  Select everything EXCEPT the flowers on the color layer, and then delete that selection

Intuitively, tho, because most of the photo is b&w, my mind thinks to put the desaturated layer on TOP.  It can, however, be done either way.

Hi Rita & all,

I'm not sure precisely how Kim's photographer created her photo, but I have an idea how you might be able to do it in a photo editing program. 

First, it requires an understanding of, and use of, LAYERS.  Layers are just a way to work with photos that allow you to move things around, change certain parts, and otherwise have a lot of flexibility.  Think of them as a stack of transparencies.  For an avatar -- as an example -- one layer might contain the bear image.  Another layer might contain the business name.  A third layer might contain the background.  A fourth layer might contain the text for the website.  When you stack these layers on top of one another, they form the final image you see.  If you looked at any single layer separate from the rest, however, you would see only the single element you place there... and the rest of the layer would be transparent.  Make sense?

So... to create this effect.  I'll put in BOLD, below, the steps to follow which are actually menu options in PhotoShop.  I imagine there are similar menu options in other photo editing programs.

1)  Start with a color image.
2)  Make a copy of that original image (DUPLICATE LAYER) and make certain it's on top of the original image
3)  DESATURATE (remove all color from) the topmost (duplicated) layer
4)  Working with the topmost, desaturated layer... select (trace a dotted line around, using the LASSO tool) only the flower portion of the image
5)  CUT or DELETE  the flowers on the desaturated layer
6)  If you lasso'd your flowers precisely enough, this should leave you with a top layer that is desaturated (i.e. black and white) which is "missing" the flower portion.  You can think of this "missing" area as a window to the lower layer, the original layer, which is still colorized.

To make the lower layer even more vivid, be sure you're working with the colorized layer in the LAYERS PALETTE, then adjust HUE/SATURATION to get the brightest flowers possible.

This is so much easier than it sounds.  Try it if you're game!

Judi IS the nicest and sweetest.  And honestly, I couldn't for the life of me remember where those pictures were.  Maybe, since there's so much demand, Judi can re-post them here under TIPS & TECHNIQUES when she returns.  I don't want to "steal" them and post them for her...

Wanted to add, by the way, that yesterday it was a sweltering, skin-rippling 100 degrees here in Chico, and my sister -- visiting in-laws in Arizona (she's living in DC otherwise) -- reported Arizona at a whopping 117 (YES, seriously, 117) degrees.

Aargh!

First... Thanks, ladies, for the sweet comments on my writing.  I used to be famous, among my close friends, for my annual Christmas letter, but I stopped writing them the year of my divorce because ... well ... that year, there wasn't much happiness to broadcast, and then it seemed like reviving something from the past.  So I've really enjoyed being able to write for Bears N Buds, and also, to post to boards -- especially this one.  These bearmaking forums also help me to utilize my teaching background (that's my graduate degree and I have an entirely un-broken-in elementary school credential still sitting on a shelf awaiting professional application.)  So it's all good.  ;)

Judi... I DO like mink, and will cast my hand at some point soon into those glorious furs you mentioned.  But as a beginner, I thought I'd better start with something that's much thinner and more pliable (I took Nancy's book very much to heart and respect her advice on this stuff), moving up to the thicker, longer pelt types as my experience grows.

I love the look of fox; looked at many, many of them on eBay.  Oddly, the mink -- particularly stoles -- tends to go for far less than the fox furs.  I didn't know anything about fur, or which was the most "prized" or costly, but after watching (and losing!) so many eBay auctions, I'm really getting a feel for it.