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I've not had a dog w/ a torn ligament, but my lab broke his foot. The vet did nothing and said it would probably heal. It did! We just tried to keep him as quiet as we could for the first 3 weeks. We bought a doggy play pen that both dogs could fit in. That way he couldn't walk around much and we wouldn't have the whine fest of the 2 dogs being separated. After that, we let him do his own thing, just took all of his toys away. We x-rayed a few months later and it healed with the exception of a chip that will never re-attach. If your dog won't go in a kennel, try one of the play pens. My dogs hate kennels but were content in there since it is open on the top and they could be together.
Hugs,
Alison
Chloe,
Do you use paypal when you sell online? I don't see why you wouldn't be able to sell your work, and if you already accept paypal and have it linked to a bank account, it really would not be a problem. You would just be shipping from a different location. I'd definitely look into it but I don't see any reason why you couldn't sell here in the USA.
Hugs,
Alison
AMAZING! 
Judy,
I love this guy. There is something quirky about his face that makes him so appealing. Were you going for a certain expression? Because he's telling me something and I'm wondering if he's telling everyone else the same thing.
Hugs,
Alison
Thanks everyone! Judy, I never met a Lorna before. But, I love the novel Lorna Doone. My husband never knew it was a book, he just likes the cookies! It really is a pretty name. There are so many older, beautiful names that we don't hear much anymore.
Hugs,
Alison
Gail,
Marx toy company made a lot of smaller, toy firearms. I made a minuteman bear years and years ago and used their Kentucky Rifle. Go to eBay and search for Marx Rifle. Plenty come up. I think it would be easier to scale your bear to the rifle that you find. Please post a pic when you have The Duke finished.
Hugs,
Alison
I'm HOPELESS! 
Goodness, you do have your hands full. Congrats on #5! I think it's great. My kids are older now and I have recently quit my "real" job. So, I do have a bit more free time to make bears. When the kids were smaller, I would usually work in the evenings after they went to bed. My husband would clean the dinner dishes and I would get to start working. I bet with your own studio, you will be able to work on bears more. Because you won't have to always be putting away things out of the kids' reach, then getting them back out. With your own space, you can just close the door and leave everything there, waiting for when you have a chance to return to it. Good luck to you!
Hugs,
Alison
The pics are wonderful There were several artists who I have never heard of and I LOVE their work. Now, I'll have fun finding them on the internet. Thanks so much for posting!
Hugs,
Alison
Just adorable. I think it's a baby mandrill that has not yet got it's colors.
Hugs,
Alison
Joanne,
All things happen for a reason. I think you got stiffed on eBay so this set could appear. I am really amazed by your work. You have a knack for making a realistic yet teddy-like bear. It's the perfect combination of real and huggable. I think these bears have the sweetest faces and were meant to be sold as a set, never to be separated!
Hugs,
Alison
Hello,
I first want to thank all of you who bought raffle tickets. You helped me raise $180 for Valley Academy, my son's school. I don't have the total number of tickets sold or how much the bear raffle made, but by the looks of the bucket, it was substantially more than what I sold.
Unfortunately, none of people I sold tickets to won. 
But, we did have a happy winner, Rosie Lin, who is a parent at Valley Academy and who will surely treasure the bear.
There was a 2nd grader who purchased 36 tickets in an attempt to win the bear. She was so determined and I was really rooting for her. What a sweet and beautiful girl. It really breaks my heart that she didn't win. Humpf!
Thanks again for all of your support. I'm sure there will be another festival or some organization and I will be making more bears for charity. I think that being able to help others in this way is one of the best things about my job!
Hugs,
Alison
Thanks for the show update. It's good to hear that collectors are still coming out to the shows. I hope to do a couple of shows this year but have been waffling on which ones. I am definitely going to go to Schaumburg in October. Perhaps I can squeeze in a summer show too.
So, you're looking for an easier way out??? Let us all know when you find it. Ours is a business of luxury, and we all have to work on it to keep things going during a recession.
Hugs,
Alison
Hello, Do you have Mettler threads where you live? I think they are just as good as the Gutterman. I use the Gutterman 100% polyester in my machine. It's not a featherweight but it is an old 50's mid-sized singer. I don't have any problems with the polyester thread at all. You might want to adjust your tension a bit. It should typically be on 4, or close to it.
Enjoy!
Alison
I love both of the new bears you posted but this one really captures me. She is really lovely!
Hugs,
Alison
I love this kitty. I just went to your website for the first time after seeing this. I LOVE your work. There are so many members of TT that I haven't even visited everyone's site yet. I think I'm going to make it a point to go to one new website a day. There's so many cute teddies out there!
Hugs,
Alison
Judi,
My son turned 13 on Monday. He's in the 7th grade. His school is K-8th grade. Won't Valley Academy be sad when he leaves for high school? No more teddy bear donations. I'm sure that they will be calling me but I will probably be donating to the high school. I have a 15 year old daughter too. Geeeeeeez, I must be getting old. Good thing I don't feel it!
Hugs,
Alison
Thanks everyone. Ticket sales are going well so far. Plus, there will be lots of kids at the school putting in allowance money. 20% of the ticket sales will go directly back to my son's homeroom teacher for buying anything he wants for the classroom. This is the first year that the school has done that.
Joanne, thanks for complementing his design. This is the best pattern I've ever designed. The arms wrap around the tummy perfectly and every thing just fits! I was telling my husband last night that I must have had my mouth held right the day I designed this pattern. I'll probably never be able to do that again! This is just a shrunk down version of Snickerdoodle, who was nominated for a Golden Teddy last year.
Hugs!
Alison
Tomi,
I love this little bear! Her paws are wonderful. Do you use a trapunto type method or needle felt them? I cannot tell from the pics.
Hugs,
Alison
