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Hey! Hey! Hey! I'll take no credit for the rolling bears - that was Sonya - because she was having a giggle fit trying to see your red slippers. It turns out that Dorothy and I have a lot in common, and hopefully will be roomies at Nevada City. I'm still in San Diego, but am starting towards home tomorrow. It will probably be next weekend before I get there, as it is a really long trek. We had a great time in San Diego and really hope to be able to work out the logistics for Nevada City.
Luann
Every year my husband's family has a dinner and gift exchange. This year's dinner was on Saturday and I was working at an art show selling my bears and missed it. My husband brought home the "gift" that his stepmother sent home for me. To my surprise, it was a catalog from a general store. (It is last year's catalog and the mailing label indicates it was sent to my father-in-law.) Hmmm, I'm actually glad I didn't make it to the dinner, because I don't know what I would have said when I opened it because I was completely stumped. She did include a letter opener as well that we finally figured out was not actually a butter knife. Weird, but pretty typical.
Luann
Hi Carolyn. I have to ask - What is a flat white coffee? Sounds interesting, to say the least.
Luann
Hi Jennifer. That sounds really high! Are they replacing all the duct-work too? I know you live just outside of Austin, but are you on City of Austin power? They have all kinds of programs with rebate incentives for installing new energy efficient heating/cooling units. They also offer low or zero interest rates as well. I had them come out and do an energy audit and got some really good tips from them on saving energy.
My house was built in 1982, and my cooling bill for this past month was $133. (That was electric only, no trash, water, etc.) Also, my house is single story, so that will make a little bit of a difference.
Working in the construction industry, I have to admit, I'd be the first one to get more than one estimate. There are also lots of other things that can be done. We added extra insulation to the attic, put in a programmable thermostat, and had solar shades installed over the windows. During the day, I keep my blinds either closed or turned upward so that I can still get light in the house, but not full sun. There is a ceiling fan in every room of the house except the bathrooms. They run 24/7 year round. We have vent in the attic and on the roof to help get rid of the hot air.
It's a bit late now, but the weather is supposedly cooling off here this week. It is now supposed to be in the mid 80's, so that should help a bit.
Luann
Hey Bobbie. I have 2 or 3 sewing machines set up all the time in my work space. All of them are at different heights. One is set in a cabinet, so that it is level with the table top. For the others, I have a chair that I can raise or lower to the correct level. It makes a huge difference. Instead of hunkering down or straining to reach up, I can adjust to whichever machine I am using. Having a good chair certainly makes the back and neck feel much better at the end of the day.
Luann
Am I reading this right? You are using a 5/8" disk for a bear that will be 8" - 10" when finished. That just seems like a really small disk for that size bear. Then again, I don't know what the finished bear looks like. Will it have real thin arms/legs?
If I'm using T-pins, you can probably get away without using washers.
Luann
Ali - your post is one of the funniest things I have read in a long time! Thanks for giving me such a laugh. You are so right, though, who wouldn't want both of them? Good thing Sonya lives so far away from me. We are actually talking about getting another dog. We've been without one for a few short months, and this is the longest time I've ever been without a dog (or two) in the house. Can't wait to see what "follows me home". Ha!
Luann
I was going to suggest the monkey pattern by Jennifer Laing as well. I does look much harder than it is, but it really goes together as easily as a bear does. You can really change it up a lot with needle-sculpting, toes, etc. I've made a couple of them, and each one is more fun than the one before.
Luann
Thank you to everyone that wrote. After reading the responses, I couldn't get into my e-mail at all, and was about to pull my hair out. (what is left of it) Anyway...I figured it out! Thank God, because I was ready to start firing the BB gun at the computer.
Somehow, the e-mail setting had been changed to HTML. It only took me nine forevers to figure out what was wrong, but now it's fixed.
Now, all I have to do is figure out the difference between "plain text" and "rich text". Once I have that mastered, I'm going to consider myself as computer literate. Ha!
Thanks again!
Luann
Can someone help me with a computer problem? Every time I send an e-mail, it arrives at it's destination completely blank! Doesn't seem to make any difference if there is an attachment or not. On a rare occasion, one might go through. I just sent out a bulk e-mail and already have had several people write back and say it arrived blank.
Suggestions?
Thanks so much!
Luann
How about an almost "instant" chocolate pie? Just add about a half a cup of Nestle's Quik Powdered chocolate mix to a carton of frozen Cool Whip and mix together real well. Put it into a graham cracker crust and chill. Great dessert for for when unexpected guests pop over or if you have to take something to the office and forgot.
Luann
I'm so sorry I forgot to add your name Janet. I knew I would forget someone.
Charlotte, you should come visit at the show since you are so close. It would be a great opportunity to get to meet a lot of Teddy Talkers in one place.
Luann
Oohh Millie! Move to Texas! You'd love it here! Not that I'm biased or anything. I was born and raised here, and everyone else just got here as fast as they could. There are lots of bear people all over the state, myself and Sue Ann among them. We even have two bear shows here, and a yearly 3 day bear retreat as well. It would be a blast! I think there are quite a few Teddy Talkers from Texas.
As for Albuquerque, we are really excited about this year's show! This is the 9th year in New Mexico for the show, and this year, we have a lot of really wonderful artists coming. Sonya is joining us this year, as well as Debi Ortega, Tammy Hendricks, Dale from Intercal, Sue Johnston, the list goes on and on.
We're looking forward to seeing everyone again!
Hugs,
Luann
I'd give it a bit more time. About 6 months ago, I sent a pretty big box (about 35 pounds) to South Africa and it seemed to have vaporized. No one knew anything about it. Neither the post office on this end or the one in South Africa had any info on it. I tried checking on it daily through our postal system and my friend checked with her post office almost daily. Just as we were about to give up, she made one final trip to her post office, and still - no one knew anything. She had seen a box sitting in the corner everyday that she had gone in and it was still there on the last visit. She inquired about it, and it was the "missing" box. The corner of the box had been damaged, and they just hadn't gotten around to notifying her. A month of worrying on both ends came to a nice conclusion.
Best of luck!
Luann
We've decided to offer free admission to our Albuquerque Bear Show for all members of Teddy Talk. I'm extending the free admission to non-member friends of Teddy Talkers as well, but do want to encourage everyone to join Teddy Talk. I've extended this same invitation to members on the Edinburgh site, and a couple of the Yahoo bear groups I'm on.
Hopefully, we can bring a new awareness of bears to people who have never been to a show before. I'd like for everyone to bring a friend and show them how much fun the bear world is!
We've also contacted several sewing shops and emphasized that sewing doesn't just mean clothing - there is so much more that can be made with fabrics (mohair). Hopefully, this will result in the sewing shops offering bear classes, and sparking new interests in bears and their own business at the same time.
Luann
I started to post this under the show column, but wanted to be sure that the bulk of the members of TT saw it.
We would like to offer free admission to the Albuquerque Bear Show to all of the members of Teddy Talk! Anyone that is a member of Teddy Talk that would like to attend the show can e-mail me privately with their snail-mail address and I'll send you a postcard with the free admission. The show is Sunday, May 20. (Full details are on my website at www.lulubears.com)
If you have a friend that would like to come, but isn't a member of Teddy Talk, encourage them to join Teddy Talk and see how fun the bear world can be. (I'll still offer the free admission to non-members of Teddy Talk, but they do need to e-mail me so I can send them a card.)
In light of all of the hard work that the participating artists have put into making new bears for the show, I want the world to see their creations!
We want to turn the bear world up on end again and get as many people involved as possible. I'm hoping that we can get a lot of people to come out to the show and feel the excitement that the rest of us do. Tell your friends - as this is the only bear show in the entire state of New Mexico. There is no bear show in Arizona or Colorado and only 2 left in Texas. This is a great opportunity to see the works of some very talented artists, including a number of Teddy Talkers! Y'all come!
Hugs,
Luann
Hi. I tried to PM you, but your box is full. Can you PM me with what the surprise is, who it's for and how we can help? Thanks.
Luann
Hi Ellen. Good for you realizing that the exhibitors need to help the shows as well as the promoters! I am curious as to what made you realize this? I know that when I first started doing bear shows many years ago, I didn't give much thought to doing any advertising myself. Once I started selling bears, I saw how important it was that I let the collectors know where I would be next. In some cases, if I hadn't told them about a show, they wouldn't have known about it.
I know of one collector couple who had returned to the same show year after year and only knew about it because I was keeping them informed. They bought bears from just about everyone in the room every year, yet were never notified by any of the other artists or the promoter. They still keep returning after all these years, but somehow are still not on anyone else's list. It's scary to think how many collectors would actually show up if we took the time to send them something as a reminder.
I suppose that as artists we always seem to think that the collectors who purchase a lot of bears from various artists are on everyone else's mailing list. Unfortunately, sometimes they never end up on anyone's list and miss the shows completely.
Hugs,
Luann
Hello again. I got an e-mail from Tammy today and she says she doesn't use hinges. Soooo.....the mystery remains.
You'll have a great time with Tammy. She's a real cutie and full of fun and laughs!
Luann
Tammy Hendricks will be at the Albuquerque Bear Show next month. I'll ask her if she would mind sharing how the technique is done. I need to e-mail her about a package I sent to her recently, so maybe she'll share through the e-mail.
I'll let everyone know the outcome.
Luann
Wow, was Daphne ever right when she said you can't just pick a date and a venue, call it a teddy bear show and expect people to come! As promoters, advertising is probably the single most difficult aspect of shows. It's difficult to gauge which day(s) of the week to advertise in the local papers. You also have to decide which section of the paper to advertise in. If you advertise in a bear magazine, will the ad come out too early for people to remember it?
When I sign up to do a show, I add the show to my website. Even if you don't live in the area that the show is being held, or have established customers, mentioning it to other bear groups may reach someone that didn't know about it before.
If you've been doing a show for a couple of years, by all means, send out postcards to previous customers. Just because your customer bought from other artists as well doesn't mean they ended up on a mailing list that will notify them of the show. Some customers don't sign up on mailing lists, and expect their information to be picked up from the sales ticket. See if the promoter will let you offer a discount. We always send out a lot of free admission passes to customers that have returned year after year to the show - regardless of who they buy from. If they are coming back every year, they are buying from someone and free admission is a nice bonus for them. We offer senior citizens a very low admission fee, and they all like that.
All too often, we read reports about how bad a show was or nothing at all is reported. When you do a good show, tell EVERYONE! That buzz is what keeps people interested. No report at all leaves them wondering if the show is worth bothering with. This snowballs into show after show being cancelled, which is really a shame. If we don't support the shows, we will wake up and find there aren't any left. Our only venue to sell our creations will be websites or auction sites.
I personally feel that shows are the single best way to sell bears. If I were to list 10 bears on e-bay all on the same day, and take 10 bears to a show, I'm completely confident I would sell more at the show. The added bonus is, I get to meet the collector and they get to take home the bear that very day. No waiting for the auction to end, biting nails to see if anyone is going to bid, worrying about bids being placed at all, etc. When the collectors go to a show, they know in advance what the general price range of the bears will be and usually end up going home with at least one new bear. They like the interaction between artist and collector.
Shows are a great way (especially for new artists) to build up their confidence, see how others price their work, get to meet collectors as well as other artists and see what else is being made. It's a wonderful way to build lasting friendships.
Luann
I just went and read the article and it was really great. What stuck with me was the part that Jodi indicated that people don't know her now, but that's okay. Now that's an attitude that I really, really admire! I can't tell you how many people I've met that spend more time trying to become "known" than they do working on their craft. In years past, all the bear artists were "known". The reason is because there were so few of them, that if you joined the bear world, you HAD to have heard about them, seen them at shows or read about them in magazines. In today's bear world, when you bring up the name of the early artists, no one knows who you are talking about. I've never worried too much about becoming "known", but certainly don't admonish those that are. Good for them for being fortunate enough to be in the public eye and have their work so sought after.
After all these years, neither myself, my bears or my shows have ever been mentioned in a US bear magazine, but I'm still having a blast! Our shows are full every year, I'm still making bears that I love and most of all, still having fun doing it all. That's what counts for me. From the very beginning, I always said that when it wasn't fun anymore, I'd quit. So far, so good. Seems like that same plan is working for Jodi. You go girl!
Luann
Hi. I buy boxes from a company called Uline. They have just about every size you can imagine and have same day shipping if you order by 6:00 p.m. You can go to www.uline.com and see what all they have.
Luann
