Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Hey ! I even have that book!  Kinda embarrassing, that...!  It's a great book with lots of useful information, that's for certain.

I just took a peek at it, though, and I want to do a much larger pawpad than the one Nancy shows.  I've even tried working backward starting with the pad pattern piece.  But the hand ends up needing to be GiNORmous, like one of those humongous male crab claws that are so big the little guys can barely cross the sand!  Maybe that's just how it's "supposed to" look, but I've never SEEN it that way and before I cut into precious mohair, or make a muslin practice arm which won't really look like the end result anyway, I was hoping someone would write and say, "Yes, I've done EXACTLY that, and here's the example, in picture form."

Yes, I know.  Shelli = crazy girl.

Thanks for the book reference!

Amen to that, Gail!  Welcome!

Okay, so here's a quick diagram (note that it's NOT a real pattern piece and is certainly not to scale; that's the entire problem I'm describing here!  So don't try to use it "as is.") 

I've got the idea of how to do this pretty much down, but I keep ending up with a GIGANTICALLY huge "back of the hand" portion of the pattern.  Either that, or the pawpad needs to be made so small in order to fit, it's, like, the size of a quarter... on a 20" bear!  Aargh!

What I'm looking for is help with proportion, examples, references to websites/classes that discuss this, or to books I can consult.

Thanks in advance.  I realize this is a more advanced pattern construction technique and I may come up empty but it doesn't hurt to ask!

I'm on a mission to figure out how to make turned-down paws.

I already know that by wiring the "typical" arm with strong, plastic-coated wire, I can simply twist the arm at the wrist for this effect.  But that's not what I'm talking about.

What I want to do is to create a pattern which allows me to insert the "hand" part much like I would the "foot" part, so that the paws face NOT each other, but the bear's... knees, I guess.  DOWN, in other words.

I have a general idea of how to do this but in trying to create a pattern piece for this kind of more advanced arm configuration I'm just stumbling around like a dodo.  The "hand" part seems to want to be, like, ten inches long to accommodate the circumference of the inserted pawpad. 

Am I making any sense at all?  Someone... help!  I'll try to post a picture of what I'm talking about later today.

Doing these little banners is time consuming but fun and very, very rewarding.  If you find a photo you'd like worked into a banner, Judi, let me know.  I'll see if I can squeeeeeeeeeeze you into my frenetic schedule of internet addiction and teddybear stitchery and creation. 

;)

Actually, maybe you can be my free advertising (which, sorry to say, I don't have the resources of TIME to offer to EVERYONE!  Judi is already a good friend and peer.)  If people like what I do with a few banner examples, like mine and yours, maybe I can turn this banner/internet logo design thing into an offshoot of my bearmaking career and even get paid for doing it.   I certainly love the process of fussing over every little font, color, and shadow, and the end product is very rewarding indeed, so if this could become an income supplement for me, that would be terrific.  As with most everyone else on this earth, and maybe even especially for those of us living in high-cost-of-living areas like California, every little bit helps.

Oh, thank you!  Today I have decided that my other missed calling in life ('Shelli as Obsessed Bearmaker" was the first) is obviously "Shelli the Graphic Design Queen," so I've been playing with PhotoShop all afternoon instead of making bears.  Oops!  Very fun stuff, that!  Now, if only I could actually remember... after all that clicking and selecting... exactly how I did what I did, so I could skip the fumbling around part next time.  :D

If anyone needs some tips or pointers on logo/banner design and/or PhotoShop, I'm certainly less than expert but am learning the ropes slowly, so I'm happy to help out if/where I can.

I can't remember where I heard it -- for some reason I want to say it came from a movie, from the mouth of wonderful, talented actor Morgan Freeman -- but I once heard this most marvelous quote.  It went something like this:

"You can either get busy living... or get busy dying."

I love this sentiment, and always admire people who face any kind of difficulty or adversity -- disease, tragedy, whatever -- head on, with the attitude that it's always better to look at what's possible and realistic and DEAL WITH IT, than to look at what's missing and impossible and dwell on it.

I can't believe anyone would say you "look" or "don't look" diabetic, Judi.  Just a few years ago I took anatomy and physiology and learned more about this very intrusive, time-eating condition myself, from a medical perspective, for the first time, in an academic setting.  And while I remember a lot of talk about syringes and pumps and insulin and pancreatic failings and appropriate blood glucose levels, I don't remember a single thing about the diabetic "look."  Man, people can be... less than sensitive, sometimes.

I think you're a fox and I don't just envy, but covet, your slim dancer's figure.  I know, I know... coveting is bad.  But hey... admitting the problem is half the distance to overcoming it, right?!?

Laughing here...

Takes me forever to get my bears made, too.  I make about two bears a week working at top speed, which I often can't do because I'm mom first and bearmaker second (even though bearmaking IS my income producing job.) 

I was overwhelmed prepping for my first show in April (Nevada City, CA) and I only managed to get eight bears made for it.  That took me about six weeks!  So the very slow pace at which I work will also be a limiting factor in my ability to attend shows as well.  Nevada City is a great venue and relatively close to me, and a town so full of charm and great eating, that I'll probaby make that one a "for sure" annual event from here on out.

Beyond that, I'm still looking at how my timeframes fall into place.  This April looks different than last April because I had only just started in the industry back then.   Now, with regular eBay listings (and some to come soon here to the Intercal board), plus retailer commitments, I make more bears per month but have less opportunity to build inventory with them because they're otherwise committed.

So... yes... <sigh>... no easy answers to this one.

My turn... so it is. :D

I'm afraid that the already-mentioned, perhaps expected answer is my first-impulse answer, too -- I love, love, LOVE working on the facial details of my bears. 

It starts getting exciting right around the time the head is stuffed and closed, with that silly, silver cotter pin dangling beneath.  I start getting REALLY fired up, though, once the nose and mouth are embroidered... and the eyes set deeply in place.

But when I add those eyelids and then, finally, complete all the needle sculpting and shading...   Well, that's the part that just gets me so pinpoint focused on what I'm doing, I swear I could tolerate a tornado swirling around me and not be distracted from my bearmaking one iota.  That's the part that keeps me up until 2a.m. because I just CANNOT walk away!

There are other wonderful parts of bearmaking, too, though.  I really enjoy researching about period costumes and hope to grow my work in the direction of the occasional "dressed" bear.  I've found that I can actually design a fairly nice pattern!  I've been able to participate on boards like this one, where I can use my teacher training (my Bacherlors degree is in Psychology but my Masters is in Education) in ways that (I've been told) are truly helpful, and to share what I've learned with an audience that's mature and capable and passionate and really, really wants to learn and will try, try, TRY again until they can get to that place where they want to be.  Elementary school children, I probably don't need to mention, aren't always that way... :P

It's also been wonderful that bearmaking has allowed me to "check off" so many "boxes" on my imaginary resume.  I've been home with my sons for over a decade now -- the "job" I always wanted most, truth be told, and am still delighted to have at the very center of my life -- but it was, nonetheless, very difficult to look a return to the work force in the face a year ago and feel confident with only "room mom" on my resume of qualifications at that point in time.

Now, thanks entirely to bearmaking and the connections and friends I've made in this industry, I can claim to be a columnist; an award winner; a help advisor!; a teacher; a published "artist" (that's a wonderful thing to call myself, truly); a website designer; a businesswoman; and -- I hope -- a helpful, present, proactive friend.  So that's really something.  And I mean it, right down to my toes, when I say I'm just incredibly grateful, grateful, grateful for all these gifts I now have in my life.  Grateful to my collectors; to my fellow bearmakers; to editors and publishers and shop owners... and nominating committees and mohair suppliers... to all of them, and to my family (who tolerate endless mohair dust bunnies and pattern pieces strewn left and right),  for their belief and trust in me, and their validation, and their support.  I'm grateful in ways that I simply do not have the words to express.

So yeah... the physical act of making those little faces is my favorite part of bearMAKING.  But the best part of "BEARMAKING" is that it's just brought so many gifts into my life.  Even if my arms fell off tomorrow all this bearmaking time, everything that encompasses it, would continue to be something with which I just have such fond remembrance.  I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop but so far, it's just been a delight.

And of course, I'm sure you'll both agree and have heard similar things yourselves... it's just absolutely warming when someone writes or calls to say that my teddy bears have touched them at the heart level. 

Anyway, that's me, waxing rhapsodic about all things bear.  But the truth of it is that my "favorite" parts of bearmaking exist on a lot of levels.  Between my wonderful family and my incredibly fun and rewarding career, I feel like the luckiest girl on earth.

It's great fun to share about the rewards of what we do, and learn something interesting about each other in the process.  So jump in and spill it... What's your favorite part of bearmaking?

I have many things to share on this topic myself, that reach into many different pockets of my life...  but I'm gonna hold out on you until I get at least one reply and this becomes something more than Shelli's monologue.  Anyone who knows me knows that's an easy place for me to land... ;)

Who will be the first?

Well hello Miss Judi Paul!  It's already become a warm and friendly bunch and we've hardly begun!  Thanks for joining in and saying hello.

Looking forward to many more chats with you here.

PS  Love that needle felted avatar cub!