Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Jenny, your sister must be blind... your creations are fantastic.

Ruth, I think that sometimes we just have to give it a try, and see how it goes. If your bears sell, than it means they are 'sellable', meaning that somebody out there is willing to part from their money to own one of your creations. I also think that you don't need to commit to any serious 'business thing', at least at the beginning. Just try it out and see how it goes, you might just do like many of us do, sell some of your bears, be proud of it, and earn some money for your teddy bear making to go on....or decide that it goes so well that it can be a full time job.

You could try selling from e-bay, etsy or even Bearpile. I'm sure there are many other venues, I'm suggesting what I also tried.
Good luck!

Jo, your dogs are both gorgeous!    

Well ladies,
you have all been very helpful here!
Some things I am already doing....or trying to. I try not to do too long sessions of the same thing. I only do one creation at a time, but as it is not a full time job I can just leave it be when I feel it is too much....and do some house cleaning instead! 
I have started using masks when I trim or scissor sculpt, especially if I'm using faux fur which is a lot worse than mohair in that department. It is a bit uncomfortable, but I feel very virtuous and safety conscious that way
I have a room that is becoming more and more my 'teddy bear lab'. I have a long table, a section of the wardrobe and a cabinet are now full with my things...my next step is a chair. Meaning a chair that gives me the best comfort for when I am sewing.
Lisa: what kind of chair did you buy? Is it a special brand?

Then again...Becky...: when I have really overdone myself...ibuprofen it is, yes....

I have done the striped tail of my racoon using pastel shading. To make the stripes clear and neat I put paper tape (the one that you also use when painting the walls to protect things you don't want paint on). Starting from the tip of the tail towards the body. One ring of shading with the clear ring beside covered with tape, and so on. At the end you can blend a bit better if some areas look too defined. I hope I make sense to you.
Here is a picture of the result. You could do it also with oils.

Jenny, it is interesting how this experience of teddy bear making can influence our lives on such different levels. Every one of us have a different story.
I also have a university degree in foreign languages that I never really used for any job. I used to own a shop and sold artificial flowers, did flower arrangements and such things. Then I met my husband, he was from another city and after some years of back and forth from the two cities sold my shop to go live with him. We had two children, I had a part time job as a secretary in a sanitary district...when our life took another turn, my husband lost his job and found a very good one in a different country. So, from Verona, Italy, to Rheinfelden, Switzerland.
My life has changed on so many levels: now I am a housewife, and basically my job is to care for the children, and learn German! And as I found more and more time for myself, I got back to an old passion that had been left behind for some years. Yes. Teddy bear making. To me, making teddies, and entering this magic 'bubble' is a window into another world. It is also a goal, a broadening of my perspective. I don't mean that it is a social life, but to me it is a little something that defines who I am. I'm not only a mother and a housewife. I also love creating teddies, and sharing this process with other people.

Well, I hope I didn't bore you stiff with the story of my life...  

Here is a topic that I was meaning to breach for some time now.
Making teddy bears can be very stimulating to our mind while very tiring to our body at the same time.
Our hands hurt from pulling and handling tools, we use substances and materials that are not supposed to end up into our lungs...and our back bone....well, MY backbone is the real topic here! 
As I hand sew, I spend some hours sitting and basically doing damage to my back. I often find that after a long session of sewing my neck and sometimes my shoulder hurt. Neck stiffness bring awful headaches that can knock me out for a couple of days at times. Sometimes I have aches in my left hand, which is the one holding the pieces while the other one is sewing. I think it might be a common issue and I would like to ask for your advice.
Do you have a special chair that you use for when you do the sewing? Or do you have tricks that help you avoiding to wear out your body? Or maybe you know about the best 'position' to help prevent those problems?

Any input would be very very welcome....Thanks!

Supai is just wonderful! I'm sure the doll people will love him just as we 'bear people' do.     

Your collectors are right, your mink mice are gorgeous!  

Well, what can I say?
Thank you so much TT for the wonderful slide show, I feel honored!    

Your bear is very cute! Congratulations on your prize!  

What an adorable bunny!

She's as cute as she can be!  

Hello!
After two girl pigs I finally have a male piggy!

For more pictures or info he is now on bearpile:
http://www.bearpile.com/item/58605

Thanks for looking!

Very lovely, and a nice colour!

Thank you Birgitte!

Wow, a great job! I can see why it must have taken you hours and hours.

What a beautiful sweet face!

Thanks Becky!
Black is not easy to photograph as other colours, but to me the most difficult is brown. My brown creations always have a hard time getting their real self on the photographs. Well, I'm no professional photographer of course, but I hope to figure out how to do it in the future!

Brigitte, not your fault. It was well explained, but I never thought of this as I almost always use black eyes! 

How cute! He has lovely colours and a sweet face!

Birgitte, I'm not sure I understand the question. Do you mean larger pupils in glass eyes that have the black pupil and then a coloured iris?

Thank you Peter and Thelma!

Hello! I hope everything is fine with you!
I'm back from a month long holiday....and this is Alice, a lady skunk that was born in Italy!
I hope you like her!

What a splendid bear!