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Hi Pat,
Thank you for your suggestion. I am wondering whether the box has to be enclosed, bit like a plastic bag, then sprinkle some baking soda in? I may try this.
Hi Geralye,
I think with Febreze, it puts some other perfumed smell into the item and I certainly don't want that.
I have noticed though that they do a Pet Odour one, wonder if that would work?
Many thanks both of you.
Hugs
Marilyn.
Hi Marilyn
Lavender wipes from M & S are perfect for this. I know that some old bear restorers use them on old bears - they are brilliant. They are like baby wipes, but are intended for use on delicate upholstery. You will notice a lavender smell for a couple of days, but when that fades, the bear will just smell nice and fresh. I agree about Febreeze - I really dislike the smell of that.
Hugs
Dawn
He's great. Part of me wants to know what you used for the gruel, and then part of me doesn't lol
LOL - Acrylic paint!!!! 
Here is Oliver, looking for a new home for Christmas, he is on ebay for just three days with a very low starting price.
Oliver is 14 inches.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? … RK:MESE:IT
Thank you for looking.
Thank you for all your lovely comments. 
I love these - a very pretty reminder that it is not always cold! 
I would like you to meet Minty - a very traditional 16 bear from the Hugs Unlimited Big Boy Collection. Minty has a growler and a very gentle expression - perfect for telling all your troubles to, or just for giving lots of hugs to! Minty is available on Bearpile http://www.bearpile.com/detail.cgi?id=1386&item=41308
Aww, so sweet.
A friend of mine once told me that teddies share hugs between them, and that a hug from a tinyest teddy is just as important as a hug from a larger teddy. I wonder if that's true.
I used to worry that not cuddling my favourite teddy would result in that teddy feeling left out, and would spend ages cuddling all my teddies at one point to make it even.
But it's OK, the men in white coats have yet to catch-up with me.
-- Thomas Adam
Why on earth would the men in white coats want to see you - they are too busy chasing those who have been damaged by not having a teddy bear!!!! :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
Oh and by the way a little bit of me still believes what my dad used to tell me when I was little, that my teddy bears come alive at night. :hug: :hug: :hug:
Hi Thomas
I truly believe that they store them all up, to hugs us back when we need it.
I prefer to see and advertise the prices of my bears, hadn't realised that about the addresses having to be on the site though Dawn, oops! Better get onto that. As for the place being empty on fair days, they'll have to get past the pet flatmate first, and I think he might bite if provoked ;)
Hi Katy - you only need your address on the site if you are actually selling direct ie. you have a shopping cart and a pay now button etc. If you just have your prices on with an 'email me if you are interested' you don't need your address.
It's not just the house being empty on fair dates, I feel quite vulnerable at having my address for all to see when I don't know who is looking at my site. 
But maybe that is just me!
Hi Daphne,
Obviously you have to show the price if you have a Paypal button system on your website and I had wondered about doing this myself recently, wondering whether the "Buy It Now" way of working would be advantageous, but then wondered whether it took some of the "customer contact" feeling away if you see what I mean. Some things can seem too mechanical or techy and I personally do like the customer contact side of things.
Hugs to all,
Marilyn
There is another reason not to have the Paypal pay button. If you are in the UK, and have an ecommerce site i.e. one that you can buy direct from, you have to have your business address on the website. If, like most of us, you work from home, then this can cause serious security issues. After all, we normally have a list of fairs on our sites which are effectively saying our house will be empty on that day.
If you don't want to put your address on the site then the email option is ideal.
Having said all that, I'm with everyone else, I prefer to know prices in advance and I am always very open about my prices.
Marilyn - your bears are so gorgeous that I think they will always find homes no matter what.
I can't believe where the time has gone. It only seems five minutes ago that Wendy was calling for entries - now the awards are almost upon us.
I am very excited about the British Bear Fair this year. The show is full and there are lots of really wonderful artists exhibiting.
I can now also reveal the celebrity who will be giving out the prizes is star of TV and Teddy Bear Times, Victor Watkins. Victor works for WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) and he is directly involved with the rescue of bears from illegal zoos, and those that are kept in little cages behind restaurants etc.
As well as giving out the prizes, Victor will be on hand to talk to visitors about his work with bears. Victor is the star of the TV show 'Sanctuary' which was shown on the Animal Planet a couple of years ago.
I look forward to seeing many of you there.
Hugs
Dawn
Aawww wow Dawn I absolutely love him and this pattern.
Keep this up for sure hehe. Completely fab.Richard
x
Thanks Richard - hope to see you in Brighton on 12th December? 
lol - It's amazing how many people you can miss isn't it? Sorry to anyone I didn't get round to saying hello to.
Dawn, Henderson is GORGEOUS!
I love his face, it gives him real character. The set of the eyes with the shading works really well as it seems to give him a comical/quizzical look?
Great to see you again on Sunday.... Is the Robin still going or have his batteries finally run out?!
Hugs,
Julia x
Thanks Julia, it was lovely to see you too - I am happy to report that the robin is still going strong and that there is an industrial sized box of battery replacements to make sure that he will sing well into the new year! :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
Here is Henderson, now appearing on Bearpile http://www.bearpile.com/detail.cgi?id=1386&item=40973 Henderson is a huge chunky 20 inches and is very big and fluffy. He is the first of a fairly new look for me. Thank you for looking, I would love to know what you think of my new look face.
Aww.
I watched this at work yesterday -- great way to spend the afternoon, and so many teddies.
Thanks to whomever created the video -- I wish/hope more venues to do this, it's great for those who can't attend such places, but can at least see all the great teddy bears.
-- Thomas
Hi Thomas
It was a local on-line TV station. Coast TV - they heard about the event and asked if they could film it.
Hugs Dawn
Hi Aggie,
Just thought that I would like to help clear up this matter to put your mind at rest.
The way I see the rules for category 1-8 is that there are two choices
1...You must have been born in the uk (But you can trade from the UK or anywhere else around the world i.e France in your case).This would include you so you can enter the competion.
2...You have to be living and trading in the uk.
Correct me if I am wrong Wendy.I have tied myself in knots trying to explain myself
I am through to the final in the miniature category and understand that as they had so many entries this year they thought it fair to have two 1sts etc.They wouldn't have known beforehand that there would be so many entries this year so next year they will change the categories to miniatures dressed and undressed.Maybe the past few years there were not as many miniature entries to warrant the two categories.I have noticed myself this past year that many artists are making miniatures that used to make larger bears.
Hope I have been of help to you.
Laurie :hug:
You are absolutely right Laurie.
There have been no complaints at all from anyone who has entered the competition, so I am slightly at a loss as to why someone who did not enter has a problem with the category. In my opinion, it would have been far worse if several artists that had made exquisite bears had been excluded because the category was too large to accommodate them.
Each of the first placed artists in that category will know that they have been up against very stiff competition and that they have won a lovely award that says 'British Bear Artist Awards 1st Place' etc., that they can display on their table with great pride. They will also know that their entry will have been judged by three different judges all with years of experience in the Teddy Bear World.
Personally I am really looking forward to the fair in its new venue at Brighton Race Course. The fair is now full, and I think it is going to be a wonderful day out for collectors and exhibiting artists.
I'm really looking forward to it. I am also happy to report that Katherine has very kindly given me some space to sell bears for WSPA so I will have some lovely bears that are all ready to do their bit to feed some real bears!!! Thanks Katherine.
Hugs
Dawn
I'll have to tell my friend Jo her dragon made it onto the film, she's famous
It was a lovely fair, so glad I was able to make it in the end.
Lynn has booked the venue for next year - 6th November, I think she will have booking forms at Sheffield - maybe see you behind the tables next year. x
BTW, it's a shame he didn't capture the guy that bought your Paddington from the WSPA stall, he was clutching him so tightly in case he ran away!
I know, it really was love at first sight wasn't it. I think the filming was done around lunch time - most of the people were in the cafe then . I'm glad you had a good time. I really enjoyed myself, sometimes the more intimate fairs can work just as well as the really large ones. The atmosphere was brilliant - everyone seemed to be smiling all day. Thank you for helping to sell the big Fluffy guy. I wsa expecting to maybe sell smaller bears, but it was the biggest one that got most of the attention. Zapyrus is looking forward to seeing you in Sheffield.
Hugs
Dawn
Damn you, Dawn, for showing us this video !
Now I feel awful that I wasn't there :crackup: .
Seriously, I am glad that lots of bears (for the WSPA and yours of course) found new homes and that there was a good crowd. (On the video it often looked like there weren't many people, but they did a great job on filming the bears :clap: ).
Hugs, :hug:
Peter & the bears
It was one of my favourite types of fair Peter. It never got over-crowded, however, the people that did come were all very serious about bears. They were very friendly, and I didn't see a single person leave without buying a bear. People cam in steadily throughout the day. There was also a lovely cafe there so a lot of the people were in there tucking into rolls and chocolate while the filming was going on.
Everybody came round all the tables several times which meant that there was time to really talk to the collectors, and for the collectors to choose their bear without feeling pressured by time constraints.
Everyone that I spoke to had a great day, and without exception everyone wants to do the fair again. I have a feeling that this fair will grow into a very busy fair, whilst keeping it's intimate quality. The venue was beautiful.
I had a particularly good day for WSPA and had to smile as one woman kept coming back to see a Hugs Unlimited Panda, but couldn't make her mind up between him and another bear in the show. Eventually, she chose the other bears - however I was surprised and delighted to find out that the other bear was one of the more expensive bears on the WSPA table that Chris was looking after.
Hugs
Dawn
Hi Clare ... Bit of a shame she's no longer making bears, I have one of Catherine's big bears in my collection.
Hi Dawn ... I know the feeling. Like Sue Ann, I am beginning to feel a little on the old side too! LOL!! Who else from the UK has been around as long as you and is still actively making bears?
Hi Again Linda ... you recupertated from Woodend yet? I guess we could call you the Granny from Downunder...or is that Loris? Just as well we are all still young at heart. :lol:
Hi
There are a few that I definistely know who were around before me and still making bears - HM Bears who I consider to be true pioneers of British Artist Bears - they rode round the US in a camper van promoting their bears in the late 1960s early 1970s and are still very active on the bear fair scene today. Sue Quinn, and Pamela Howells - I believe Pamela has attended every Hugglets show there has ever been.
I find this whole subject fascinating - I have started writing some articles about the 'early pioneers' in Teddy Bear Times.
Hugs
Dawn
Here is the film of theScottish Bear Fair on Sunday - as you can see, a wonderful time was had by all, and there were some fabulous bears there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiIBE9iqy-M
Hugs
Dawn
P.S. There is a funny looking woman at 7.04 !!
I was reading the "professional bear artists" posts and found it very interesting. I then (after reading Bobbie's post) got to wondering just how many of us are still around?
More to the point how many are still around on TT reading my post?
Hiya
I have been around 25 years next year! I remember a lot of people from the old Yahoo forums.
Suddenly - I am feeling very old!!!!!!!!!!
Really pleased you could make it after all Katy - it was lovely to see you there. I am very happy to report that I had a brilliant day both with the WSPA fund-raising and with my own Hugs Unlimited bears. The venue was lovely and the collectors were out in force. The fair had a wonderful atmosphere and there was a great buzz around the room. I can't wait to go back again next year.
