Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

AAAAARRRGGHH!!!   I have been seriously thinking of possibly trying out selling on ebay, but these horror stories scare the bejeebers out of me!!  Sounds like there are meanies out there who make a career out of seeing how much damage they can do to sellers on ebay!  That combined with the stress of wondering if anybody is going to bid on your item is enough for me to back off that plan . . . at least for the time being.  Sheesh!

I use stop-nuts/bolts type joints, mostly.  The ONLY time I don't use them is when I make a wobble head bear.  Then, of course, I will do the cotter pin thingy with the head joint.  For a nut/bolt head joint, I sew all the seams for the head except the neck area, then sew a running stitch around the neck edge.  To make sure the bolt won't turn in the disk of the head, I glue it in with a really STRONG glue and let it dry thoroughly.  Then you can draw the thread up around the bolted disk and you're ready to attach the head to the body!  I have a bolt gluing sessions where I make up a bunch of different sized disks with the bolts . . . then when I make a bear, I already have the head disk ready to go.  I don't do cotter pins because I never could get them tight enough and it was REALLY hard on my arthritic hands. 

Judi . . . Judi's Bear looks just like you!!  I guess that was intentional??!!  Such a sweetie and Diane's golly looks perfect with you - uh, her!! 

My theory has been proven MANY, MANY times over!!!!  You bear people love animals of all kinds and I have appreciated all of these stories.  May we continue to be friends to those creatures that NEED OUR companionship! 

Marie, pincette describes accurately what forceps do . . . "pinch" the fabric!!

Not . . . laughing . . . here!!  Seriously, Shelli, it sounds like a very creative method to me!!

I would welcome a visit from you!!  Austin is a wonderful place and, as a matter of fact, I will be at a bear show there on June 26th.  Please make plans to visit sometime . . . I'd LOVE to see you in person!!

Hooray for the bids, Daphne!!

Ooooooh, Daphne . . . I like that idea a LOT!!

We're happy you are alive and making bears, too, Marie!  Same goes for you, Laure!  Texas is in "Tornado Alley" and I've been close to some, but haven't actually experienced one "up close and personal", I'm very happy to say.

I find that using forceps to turn the mohair right side out is what always works for me.  Do you have any??
By the way, welcome to the board and hope you will post often!! 

UGH!! 

Oh, I agree totally, Laura!  I get sad just thinking about the loss of life for any animal!  My cats will bring in the occasional baby rabbit, bird, lizard, mole, or whatever . . . that they have played with "too hard", so I go out and bury it, telling it how sorry I am that real life is like it is.  I even cringed and felt sorry for a dove that got caught by a hawk right before my eyes as I was looking out a window toward my "back woods".  I had to turn away while the carnage went on.  Know this is life in the wild, but, goodness, sometimes I don't want to know about it!! 

Okay, Danni and Hayley . . . start saving your pennies now . . . maybe you could have a car wash and bake sale!! 

Oh My!!

Oh goodness, Johnna . . . hope there was no damage!  No, I didn't feel it! 

Hmm . . . that's really interesting, Laura!!

Just gotta report what happened last night!!    I know I've posted about the varmints that have come through the kitty door . . . raccoons, possums, next-door neighbor's dog, across-the-street neighbor's cat . . . but I draw the line at snakes!!  Yes, as I was checking to see where all the cats were before going to bed, I noticed that two of the kitties were stalking something in the pet room (enclosed patio).  On closer inspection, I saw that it was a juvenile copperhead snake!!    The pet door was slightly ajar, so guess it had just come in as it hadn't gotten very far.  Paul ran to get some kind of weapon and I went to open the door in case it wanted to escape the cats.  Fortunately, I'm assuming it's immaturity at what to do when cornered served in our favor . . . it slithered quietly out the door and into the night.  Whew!!  I almost died laughing when Paul appeared with my rolling pin!!     Needless to say, we will block the pet door from now on at night!

Oh, buying mohair and eating chocolate will cure most of my ills.  Sorry you still have the problem - I'm glad mine wasn't that hard to fix!!  Take care . . .

Shelli and all the rest of you that haven't shared your pictures . . . where are they??

Cute, cute, Hayley . . . you and the bears!!  Thanks for posting! 

Great, girls.  Any more of you want to think about this??

Rita, there are NO dumb questions!!!  I didn't know what an avatar was when I started on the message board, either.  It's the little photo in the box to the left side of your message.  There is a "sticky" with information on how to get one up called "Creating your avatar" under the General Discussion topic.  Sorry, but I can't answer your question about noses, but there are MANY talented artists here who can.  Good luck! 

Oh, Eileen . . . I had the very same problem with trying to download photos to my computer from my camera about two weeks ago.  I'd done it a gazillion times before, but all of a sudden, it wouldn't recognize the camera.  I went to CompUSA twice before we got it figured out.  I re-installed my camera software and that didn't solve the problem.  CUSA tested my USB cord and nothing was wrong with it.  Finally I plugged the USB cord into another port on the computer and that DID solve the problem.  Something had gone wrong with the port I was using and I have no idea what.  If you have an extra USB port on your computer, you might try that.  Good luck!

Since my bears are mostly sewn by machine, I have to stick to my workroom.  But I have one or more cats to keep me complany, plus I listen to my favorite music.  Since my computer is also in my workroom, I just bounce back and forth throughout the day . . . computer, sewing, sewing, computer.  I do confess to watching one soap opera that I've followed since 1983 . . . "General Hospital".  However, I've programmed everything so that hubby and I watch GH while we eat our main meal . . . so I rationalize that I'm not wasting time (since I HAVE to eat!).   Otherwise, I don't watch anything else on the tube until the 10:00pm news.  I'm lucky that Paul is as hooked on GH as I am or it might be a little harder to pull off!!