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Simply adorable Estelle 
I just want to add a picnic basket to the top picture laden with cream teas and sandwiches. 
This is a great topic Danni and I can totally understand where you are coming from.
I've been making bears for a year now and I am starting to feel that my trial period has ended and I'm looking to move on a bit. I have only ever sold on ebay or commissions through ebay contact. Like Claire, I have 2 young children and a family business which I run with my husband. I would never get the time to attend shows (still never been to one, even as a visitor!) and I don't have the confidence or desire to approach shops.
Therefore Ebay has been really easy for me I used to start my bears at £29 GBP and have recently moved the start price to £38 GBP. Occasionally I will add a BIN for around £60 which has seemed to work a few times. I would be devistated if a bear only met the start price and I am generally happy with the prices they usually achieve and I consider myself very lucky to have a small group of repeat customers. To be perfectly honest I really don't have a clue what my bears would sell for in a shop- I suppose I should really try and make time to do some proper research.
Regarding a website, I don't really have the time or knowledge to get one set up and from what I read a lot here, I'm not convinced that it would generate any more sales or push the prices up. I'm quite happy with the free web gallery that I have which people can look at to see the quality of my work.
All I can hope for is that in another 6 months I will have improved my bears enough, get my name out there a bit more and be more confident in trying to achieve a slightly higher set price.
I think I'm even more confused about pricing now :redface: 
Fantastic bear Julia
You are sooooo lucky to own one of Judi's bears.........Thanks for sharing your lovely picture
That's fantastic :clap:
I'm so pleased it turned good in the end after all that stress she caused you. PHEW!!!
Hi Estelle
I love the photos. Hope you can keep warm tonight, I've just seen the weather forecast. Some areas predicted for -8 to -10 
I'm on the South Coast near Brighton and we haven't seen any snow yet, it's just very cold. We always seem to miss the snow when all of the rest of the country is grinding to a halt 
My girls would just love to wake up to a white garden in the morning.
Keep warm
Fran
She has a gorgeous expression. I've just had a peek at your auction and I love your pictures.
Hope she does well for you
Health and happiness for 2006 x
Brilliant news Irene
I'm thrilled for you and I can tell from your post that you are overjoyed. It's not surprising that you sold so well, the bears on your website are just adorable
I hope you go on to sell many, many more in 2006
Joyeux Noel
Oh Marion, I am so sorry to read of your sad loss. Gracie looked like a wonderful companion.
I know the pain of losing a dog and how much you feel their loss.
I'm thinking of you x
Estelle, you must be very pleased with him. He's wonderful
Oh dear, says she who is just about to list a bear this evening
We are going to a restaurant for Christmas dinner this year with my family. We did it last year and it took so much pressure off spending all morning in the kitchen when I really want to be with my girls as they open their pressies.
It will be strange without Grandad who I lost a couple of months ago. I have spent every Christmas day with him for as long as I can remember.
When we get back completely full up we will open the rest of the presents and see what delights are on the TV and we will probably go for a walk across the South Downs with the dogs.
I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas XXXX
Oh Fran, she is wonderful. Why wouldn't you be happy with her. Great name too 
Danni
Sorry, I have no experience of selling my bears through a shop but I can appreciate how upset you are with this particular outlet not paying and being damn right rude to you.
I don't think I'd be happy to be doing business with these people even if they did eventually pay up. Could you not request they return your bears if you feel you are getting nowhere with your payment requests?
I keep thinking about this and wonder how genuine it was. If it was, it would have been bargain of the century. Because it was in ebay's Main pulse page , about item no.3 most watched on the whole of ebay, I guessed it would surely get more bids and people were just waiting until the end to bid. I was really shocked when it ended at that price.
I thought it a bit odd though that the seller also put it in a 2nd category of wait for it - Horse Brasses????????????? Am I missing something here??????????? :wacko:
I checked for similar items on ebay to this one and saw that this type of machine usually went for over £2500.00 :o
Crazy 
Out of curiosity, I have been watching this item on ebay tonight as it was in the top 10 most watched items on the whole of ebay UK.
If this is genuine, somebody got a bargain and I bet the seller is feeling sick .
No snow here yet on the South Coast but it's vvvvverrrry ccccold. The snow usually misses us anyway. :(
My fingers will hardly type because they are so cold and I've been wearing my coat and scarf indoors, even with the heating on. My family laugh at me as they don't believe how cold I am. I feel like I should have a carrot nose and twig arms and maybe they'll give me some sympathy then.
brrrrrrrrrrrrr
Hey, Well done Helen :clap:
May you go on to sell many, many more :dance: :dance:
Many congratulations to you and your family :clap: :dance: :clap:
Brilliant news. I bet you can't wait until tomorrow!
Kate
x
Hi Jared
I think Harley is wonderful. :love:
I love all the accessories and I think the shading on his paws is gorgeous. What a lucky winner!!!
Kate
x
Yeah, come on Jenny
Penny wants to know what colour booties to knit. She's been sitting at the computer all day ready to get clickity clicking :D
CONGRATULATIONS
Kate
x
Truly amazing :clap: :clap:
I'd be so scared of ruining what would have already taken me a very long time to get the lion finished to the first stage. It really is astounding what a difference airbrushing makes.
Thank you so much for sharing these pictures, I find them really fascinating - boy, I wish I had an ounce of your talent!!!! :)
Kate
x
Hi Karen
I agree with Amanda and Dilu. I've used oils on felted mohair with good results as long as you only use the smallest amount and almost wipe it all off. I found that if the felt went a bit fluffy I could just trim it back.
For you gals in the UK, I don't know if any of you have a shop near you called 'The Works'. It's a great shop for picking up reasonably priced artist materials like oil paints, paper etc but I just discovered their range of artist brushes. They come in single packs about 99p each and the scrubber brushes come in tiny sizes, perfect for applying oil shading to your bears.
Kate :)
x
Oh boy Shelli
Your tags are really stunning, just like your bears :)
Kate
x
