Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Hi,
my understanding is a true miniature is 3 inches or less. at the Sydney Teddy Bear Fair back in 2002. The catergory was Open Bear  3" & under.The next size up was a fair bit larger.

A couple of online miniature groups used to allow up to 5 inches.

I read somewhere that a miniature is based on the 1/12th doll scale ie those beautifull doll houses we see,the dolls for instance are 5 to 6 inches tall  which represents a 5 to 6 foot person ie 1 inch equals 1 foot in real life
therefore a miniature bear that is 1,2,or 3 inches tall would reflect a 1,2,  or 3 foot teddybear in real life.
Unfortunately I can't quite remember where I read it ( possibly one of my miniature bear books) or else one of the Dollhouse miniature groups I belonged to. They were a great source for miniature accesories for teds.

Hi Sarah,
actually it is hard to tell from the avatars how big the bears actually are. I tend to think moreso with mohair bears. They could be anywhere from 3 inches to 3 feet tall.

I'm wrapped that Intercal added this mini section. Great to find so many mini enthusiasts.

Actually be interesting to know the size of some of the avatar teds.

My little girl, Misty, is 3 inch mohair with a uv muzzle.

Hi,
I'm going thru a bunny phase at the moment. Finished my first one recently , now I've started making him a little mate.

Hi,
I also use ShrinkIts.

Wow,
that's amazing. Thank you Intercaltg. W were only discussing yesterday,  how great a mini forum would be , and here we are. SUPER.

Hi Catherine,
I used to belong to 4 of them. 2 for selling, 2 were chat groups. Not really worthwhile anymore, they've become very quiet.

Be great if we got a Mini forum on this site. It appears quite a few of us make mini's.

best wishes
Rikki

Hi,
I sold on ebay for just over  2 years. (2000/03) Teddies seemed to be a very popular collectable during this period. I used to try and auction 1 bear per week. I think I only ever had a couple that didn't sell firstup, but then sold when relisted.
Admittedly they weren't in a high price bracket  ( range between $45 to $80 USD) but I was really pleased. I stopped making & selling towards the end of 2003 when my husband became ill.
2 years down the track, I can't believe how quiet things had gotten.  All my old bear groups had all but stopped posting, and things don't appear to be that great on ebay.
Haven't decided whether I'll bother trying to sell again, as my collectors have probably disappeared too.
At the moment I'm enjoying trying new things. I think the main thing is to enjoy what one's doing. I certainly would never have made a living out of it as I got too attached to  them ( I've kept well over 50 of them) my own biggest collector haahaa
Fortunately I'd gathered enough mini bear supplies to last me for the next 50 years, even though I do keep adding to it when I find new fabrics ( like sassy's longpile), means I don't have to sell to support my addiction ( haa haa)
If I was planning to sell on Ebay,
first up I'd create a bit of a website to show off my creations ( past & current)
then create an ABOUT ME page on ebay
next create a mailing list for collectors to inform them of the auctions
then advertise on the for sale section of this site.

A friend of mine is a really big bear collector, house is full of them. She even goes on world teddy  tours to find bears.  Collects, vintage bears, modern bears , even the odd toy bear.. I don't think price comes into it, if she likes it, she'll buy it.
My larger bears are mostly toys ( ie Russ bears etc) the budget doesn't allow for good quality mohair bears. Actually one of my favourites is  a mechanical bear called a Luv Cub. They just make me chuckle. My bear collecting friend had one, and I simply had to get one ( 2 actually).

Hi Neysha,
haven't heard of Crayola Model Magic, have to see if it's available here. The sculpey is fairly pricey , and if the needle breaks I have to throw out the whole thing. Thank yu for the tip.

Hi Judi,
he is absolutely wonderful. You're such a talent.  And those beautiful eyes.

Hi Judi,
any chance of an Open Mouth class. Your tiger & ted are fantastic.
best wishes
Rikki

Hi Fran,
how cute.
The only time I ventured into doll's of any type was a craze called Berenguer Reborns.It was about 3 years ago. They were going like hotcakes on Ebay. I tried doing up a couple, but my hubby & son's thought I must be going a bit potty ( mid life crisis) . THe doll's looked like real babies and they really creeped hubby out. haahaa. so I decided to give it up and go back to the teds. Some of the ladies were really good at it .

Hi Neysa,
I'm aware of your method, and I'm definately going to give it a try. Those clear plastic eyes of yours are really tempting, I just have to decide what size I'm going to need.  What's the smallest size eye that you can put the hole thru??
I mainly sew tiny mini's where I use 2mm onyx beads, haven't quite gotten round to finding my niche as far as  slightly larger bears go, though  I used to quite enjoy doing 6 inch mohair teds.  I seem to muck up anything much bigger than that.

Also noticed you have the color coded felting needles.

Hi Denise,
I have the opposite problem, I can't seem to make big bears. I come up with some awfully frightful faces, and I'm hopeless at stuffing larger ones. So to each her own haahaa

Hi Daphne,
don't go overboard just in case you don't like feel, I like it better than just the plain needle. You may be able to get a better guide to times & temperatures, but mine did work at what I gave you.

I originally bought my sculpy to make some mini food /ornaments ( as accesories for my mini bears), but discovered I could pick this sort of stuff up on ebay, far better than what I could make. Also had in mind making sculpy noses & teeth for dogs & bears, but never quite got round to it. Quite a versatile product, but not all that cheap here in Aust.

Hi Daphne,
I just rolled the sculpey into a ball about the size of a marble,
( make it a size you feel comfortable with,) poked blunt end of the needle into the sculptey, stood them them on an oven tray & baked for 20 to 30 mins ( 275 Fahrenheit or 130 centigrade). Let them cool.

http://www.sculpey.com/

I had the sculpey over from some projects I was trying. Here it's a craft store type product.

Hi ,
wondering if you use a Felting Tool for your needles. I was playing around yesterday and found using the bare needle a bit difficult. I remembered reading somewhere about using sculpty or fimo ( baked)  to make a knob/handle. Actually after finding color coded needles, I decided why not colour coded knobs.
I was wondering if it's actually ok to keep the needles poked in a piece of foam for storage ie does it blunt them??
At the moment I have a piece of foam  with a dozen or so needles with sculpty tops. Had hubby excited as he thought I'd baked  him a tray of lollipops ( haa haa) Lucky he didn't try and eat one.

Hi Ginnie,
be interesting to see how you go with them. I really like the idea of the color coding. I have real problems telling mine apart.

Hi Julia,
they look nice. Had a look at the website, bit it's a bit difficult trying to order, and work out prices etc. They are nice looking eyes though.

Hi,
I was doing some browsing to see where I could get some wool locally. ( Australia)
Anyway I came across this site on felting needles. Colour Coded no less, and info on their particular uses.
Found it quite interesting.
http://www.wizpick.com/wizpick_felting_needles.htm

Hi Karen,
how cute, I luv the little face.

Hi Neysa,
sounds like a great idea doing it online. Personally I don't like paying for postage if at all possible. Supplies, bears etc there's no choice, but if it's downloadable ( I use a lot of music software) I always choose that option.

Isn't it wonderful how topics evolve and we all learn something new.
From a simple comment " I don't like using plastic eyes because blah blah blah "
to " wow,  that's great, this method has opened up possibilities"

Hi Fran,
they're wonderful. Is a room box normally in a frame, or is it just another option??
I'm thinking it might be a nice way to display some of my mini teds. We have a place in Morpeth that sells miniature stuff. Do you actually start with some sort of a kit and then buy accessories?

Hi Susan,
I luv mice too. Had quite a few of them as pets in my younger years.

Thank you Neysa,
what a great idea. I luv some of the plastic eyes, and the only thing that's put me off is the lock washer method.. Being able  to sink them, using your method makes them far more useable.
Thank you for the great tip.