Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Welcome! :):)

Glorious! Will she be a TOBY/Golden Teddy entry for you for 2006?  She's certainly up to the task..!!!

For those interested in laminating... I also laminate my tags.  I know that the heat-press laminating method is the most tried and true, but did you know you can buy a cold-press laminator by Xyron at Michael's (or any number of craft or scrapbooking stores?)  The Xyron "machines," which operate with a hand crank mechanism, come in a number of sizes.  They are easy to refill with cartridge-style laminating plastic and if used only for hangtags it lasts a very long time.  They are small and portable and you can't burn yourself or ruin your furniture with the heat and steam of a typical heat laminating unit. 

Interestingly, you can also buy cartridges which allow you to make stickers and/or magnets out of any old piece of paper or photo you might have lying around.

Check out this link for more information on this fab little device if you're in the market for a laminator and want to view all available options:  http://www.xyron.com/products_list.php/ … 9159caffa9

You can also VIEW A DEMO of a XYRON in action.

Hope this helps...

I put out a cute little brass pot of saltwater taffy at my first show, and did that on the advice of more experienced exhibitors who suggested strewing little wrapped candy bars about, etc.  It really made the kids happy! 

I didn't have much of a problem with kids touching, and my bears are pretty big and sturdy even if they had.  Plus, I have to admit one of my favorite sales was to a little girl named Rachel; she walked around the show cradling that bear like a baby for over an hour.  It absolutely made my heart sing!

Hey, thanks, all. :):)  PS  The close-ups were only possible due to my camera's very nice Macro feature.

Here are a couple of pictures of eyes I painted using the technique Laura refers to, above.  (and PS:  Thanks to Laura for ALWAYS remembering to give credit where she thinks it's due.  We owe a lot to Laura for REMEMBERING all of this stuff and sharing it so freely!  Thanks, Laura!)

Traditional wisdom probably suggests that one should start painting the radiating lines and then move backward and outward in layers, from the "front" of the iris to the "back".  But I found an alternative method works equally well.

As Laura suggested, you simply paint your eye in concentric circles of color, or using blobs and then blending.  I generally start with a sparkly or glittery nail polish that's translucent, for that initial glimmer and "pop" right at the front.

When you're done with your colors, take a sharp implement -- a large needle works perfectly!  I sometimes even use the "eye" end -- and then scrape the paint OFF in radiating spokes, beginning at the pupil and moving out toward the edge.

As a final touch, coat the entire backside of the eye in black (or another VERY dark color) nail polish.

The effect this gives is to fill in those radiating spokes with black, creating a very realistic eye with minimal effort and painting experience/skill.  And, as a wonderful bonus, the nail polish seals up any acrylic paint you might have used, which could otherwise run and smear all over if you insert it into a fray-checked awl hole where the eye is intended to go.

Have fun!

Dilu, I wanted to use your comments as a spring board, just to let everyone know "officially" that posting brand names, classes worth taking, or references to other websites here, amidst and among all the other things we bearmakers discuss, is just fine. 

The intent of the Teddy Talk General Discussion board is to be a place where we share ideas, tips, techniques -- and also, resources!  As long as that sharing has in the mind the assitance of the individual bearmaker, and the growth of the industry -- which I think we're all in favor of here! -- and as long as that sharing is respectful and polite in manner, there's no reason why you can't mention, in this example, Judi by name as an instructor... or her host site, North Country Teddy Bears, as the place to find her course and sign right up for it!

Thanks for allowing a pleasant segue into this subject area...!

On this same note... I once added a beautiful artist bear to my collection that held a vintage China fabric doll... that was absolutely saturated in cigarette odor.  I mean, so strong, that when  opened the box, a giant wave of stale, smoky air hit me dead in the face.  I was bereft, as this was my most pricey teddy acquisition to date, and I really wanted to keep it... but not smelling like that.

I immediately rid teddy of her China doll -- that wasn't really much of her appeal to me in the first place so it was an easy choice to make -- and then put teddy into a large plastic bag with about ten fabric softener sheets.  I left teddy in the bag in my garage for about two weeks -- could have probably left her there much less time, but she was from "Santa" for me this last Christmas, so she needed to keep out of sight anyway! -- and in the end, she smelled just delicious, without a single molecule of smoke odor left.  Worked wonderfully.

Ellen -- glad you mentioned that about plant materials (lavendar.)  I didn't actually think of that but wow, what a bummer that would be!, to send a bear and have it nabbed or turned back because the potpourri within it is qualified an imported agricultural product!

Laure... huge bummer about the Crystal award. 

I hear ya.

I love the idea of a smelly bear; I like powedery smells and softener smells and soft, flowery smells.  But I'm not a big perfume-wearer myself.  I like to smell like... me.  I can only HOPE that's a good smell...!

Laura, I think you really hit on a good compromise when you said that if/when you make a perfumed teddy, one should probably just ADVERTISE that fact.  Many people would love that!  Others might need, for medical reasons, to avoid it like the plague.

I'm sure for that GI in Iraq it was like coming home, or at least moving AWAY from all that smoke and gunpowder.  But for my dad, who sneezes when he even looks at perfumes, pets, and kapok, it might take away from his experience.

Knowledge is power, I always say!  I guess we should just do what we want to do! in terms of smelly vs. not-smelly cubs, and just be sure to let the person on the other side of the transaction know what they're getting in the process.

Do you ever worry about the perfume, allergies, etc?  I've always seen people write, "Comes from my smoke-free, odor-free, sanitized, vacuum of a home." in selling their bears.  Made me think it's better if they come with a neutral odor.

Made me a little hesitant to stuff one with, say, lavendar -- which I adore -- or to use fabric softener on it.  I have a tiny little one from JoAnne Harnden (Hucklebeary Patch) and I have no idea what she put on that tiny girl but she smells like a vanilla baby, all powedery and sweet.  Love that bear.

But, again, have been chicken to try that on my own pieces.

Thoughts...?

New member and bearmaker crisw is asking...!  Hope you'll share what you know.

crisw, I'm gonna create a new thread for your question so it gets more attention.  I know many people have thoughts on this...!

Dilu, you just absolutely made my day... week... month... maybe year.  Thanks so much for saying those great things.  I love the community of bearmakers to which I belong.  I'm glad it somehow shines through!

Use at will!  But thanks for asking anyway.  It's always nice to be politic about such things....

You're most welcome... thank YOU!  And did you notice your avatar is a click-thru link on that DESIGN page, too?  A little extra publicity never hurt anyone...

Thanks, Miss Judi!

Quy, the behind-the-scenes-tech-genius-guy, added the Spell Checker on the sly last weekend.  He didn't mention adding it specifically for patchy Dilu, but then, he's a politically correct kind of guy as far as I can tell...!!! :P:P:P

Actually, as we were starting the board up and tossing around ideas about how to make it friendly and fabulous and fun, Dale mentioned that it might be nice to have a spell check feature.  So we have both Quy AND Dale to thank...

Yay!  I've never gotten to the point that I've run out so I've not sought this particular bearmaking "essential" on the web.  I'm glad to know it's available and easy to find.  I might just have to check into that myself...!

Wasn't me.  I use floss.   I have, in the past, used Sculpey, though.  I like the fabric look of the floss better, though; that's why I worked to learn how to embroider with it.

Judi?  Laura?  Anybody?

If you use oils to shade you can get incredible control, and very sheer layers, by using a DRY BRUSH technique.  Am I starting to repeat myself and bore people yet?  Just load your brush lightly and then wipe, wipe, WIPE until you don't think there's any paint left on the dang brush at all.  It will be just enough to start you off with a wash of color.  Keep on layering it until you get where you want to be, even adding white or cream if you get too dark or want some highlight, and you will see just how simple it really is.

If you're using acrylics, maybe someone else here has some technique suggestions for loading the brush and applying the paint...?

For sure, in either case, work slowly in sheer, light layers, and always brush through with a dry stiff paintbrush or wire brush when you're done, so you get rid of any "crispy-crunchy" feel the paint might have left behind.  If you use oils and work sheer enough, tho, there won't be any of that at all.  Just a wonderful layer of tint!

Yes, you can buy it.  Very simple!  Often I find mine in tiny rolls, in cello-packs, in the jewelry section at fabric stores or craft stores (JoAnne's, Hancock, Michael's.)  It's almost always available in black; sometimes, ONLY in black.  You can use real or fake leather cording, square or round; I use real, just in case anyone is interested to know, and I use round.  And I use both the 1mm and 2mm sizes.

The somewhat more interesting, NOT black cording needs a bit more detective work to find.  Occasionally JoAnne's or Hancock's will have something in a beige or brown color.  I grab it at Britex in San Francisco when I'm down that way; they do not have web ordering last time I looked.

You probably need about a total of 3 inches of cording, per eye, per bear (so --  six inches of cording per bear in a 15"-ish size.)  That's waaayyyyyyyyyyyy longer than the actual finished lid will be in length, but you need some extra for "play" and insertion into the head.  That is, if you use a method similar to mine.  There are many ways to slice this loaf of bread, so to speak. 

You can probalby see that, in using such a very small amount, a yard or so of cording can last a long time.  Having said that, I buy it by the mile, just about.  I know I'll use it; it never "wears out;" and it's easy to store.

Hope this helps!

Laure, a "reborn" doll is a manufactured doll that someone has removed the original face paint and sometimes, also, hair, from, and re-finished with new paint and re-rooted hair.

If you search "repaint" on eBay you will see hundreds of repainted fashion dolls... "reborn" is usually the word more used for repainted baby dolls, often life-size.  These "reborn" fashion and baby dolls often sell in the very high hundreds; some regular sellers with collector followings can make $500 or more per item.  Interestingly, although the artists take time to style and shoot wonderful, fully-dressed photos of their repainted dolls, the fashion dolls are usually sold NUDE.

There are so many wonderful artists to choose from but for just a quick peek at an artist who does fashion doll repaints, check out www.illustratedgirl.com.

For something just one step further -- repainted dolls that are also elaborately recostumed and accessorized, often as fairies -- check out www.oneandonlydolls.com.

There is also a very large market for custom clothing for these dolls, especially Helen Kish's little girl doll, Riley.

Wow, Eileen... sounds like your family is REALLY close! :P:P:P:D:D:D:P:P:P

PS  I KNOW it's a typo!  I just couldn't help myself!  When something like that falls right into my lap, it's just too hard to turn away...  <giggles>

Hi all.  This topic truly fascinates me.  I've often read to insert/exit eye sculpting stitchery behidn the ear.  The problem for me is that I sew my ears on LAST, and always choose where they will go based on the facial expression I end up with.  So THAT'S no help at all...!

I tried, early on, picking a center point at the lower back of the stuffed head, right at the edge of my disk.  I'd insert and exit for both eyes there.  Problem with THAT method was that my bears always looked just a little bit 'wall-eyed,' which was... well, creepy.

Finally, I've settled on the following.

Follow your L or R gusset seam down to where it meets your hardboard disk at the bottom back of the head.  Use that point for entrance/exit of your eye sculpting stitches.

This does produce two little dimples in the lower back head, but they're generally quite well hidden by your mohair and/or the placement of your head (it's right at the spot where the head butts up against the body.)  Don't cross over!  By that I mean, use the L gusset line for the L eye... the R gusset line for the R eye.

This is an easy way to get both eyes well secured through the head and looking pretty darn straight on.  You don't need to know where the ears go to do it, and you can be 95% positive your stitches will be well hidden.  I say 95% because I haven't tried this on very sparse, very shortpile bears, because I tend not to make that kind!

Hope this helps...

Oh, and Laure... your eye method sounds great.  I just simply use a strip of leather cording.  Put superglue gel on one end, insert into awl hole in head.  Put superglue gel on other end, insert into awl hole in head.  Put superglue gel across eye, adhere "loose" cord there.  Voila!  You have an upper or lower lid!  Very simple and, as far as I can tell, very secure!  I also use black elastic cording for lids, which can be stitched right through the head in one long piece, but it's very hard on the hands and awl holes are still required to pass that thick "thread" through, so I do this less often.  It does seem particularly secure, though.

TTFN,

Laure... Chocolate is the answer.  Buy a LOT of it.  Have some coffee, too.  Polarfleece helps.  Maybe a kitten or two...?

In seriousness... I've been playing a lot with PhotoShop lately and have a fairly good grasp of the Coffee Cup software to which you refer (gee... I wonder why...?)  

Want me to give a go at creating a template for you, based on your old site?  I really enjoy doing this and would love the opportunity to get some of my work onto the web so I can build a small portfolio of work for show.  No need for elaborate credit to me should you use it; just nod "yes" if anyone ever asks if it's my template at work!

Before using Coffee Cup I literally had zero web design experience and not very sophisticated PhotoShop skills but with just a few hours (yes, some SERIOUS few hours... several days worth of a few hours) investment of time I figured out how to do everything and anything I wanted on my site. 

It does have some limitations, including the fact that it saves files in a proprietary .vnu format which can't really be "read" by other programs.  But a programmer friend of mine who looked at it told me she was surprised to find that it writes in JavaScript vs. html, which she said is a more "sophisticated" programming language.  Whatever THAT means!  

She told me that one could always VIEW SOURCE from the published webpage, a page at a time, and then copy and paste the code if one ever wanted to move to another web design program. 

It also take times and practice to get things just EXACTLY as you want them, and I haven't figured out how to create forms, for example (I think it's something I'd have to get the html for, and then insert "as html", which IS a function this program has, but which I don't really use except for my stat counter)... but it's all do-able, and with a template already in place, you can click on the different features (shapes, text boxes, buttons, etc.) and figure out how to jmake changes/additions from there.

Write me!  info@potbellybears.com.  I'd love to help out.  I really like this program a lot and think once anyone gets the hang of it they will find it intuitive too.