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I would take the order for the bear as a huge compliment! While it is tough to move forward sometimes, it seems as those he does appreciate and admire your work enough to commission you for one of your pieces. With all of the bear artists he could have approached, he chose you! He obviously knows that you take great pride in your work and will present him with a wonderfully finished piece. Congratulations on taking the high road and doing this special bear.
Hugs,
Luann
I've signed up for the airbrushing class, and can't wait for tomorrow when it starts! Wahoo, I have my new compresor all set up and am ready to airbrush!
Luann
Hi Carola! This has nothing to do with a bear club, but when I saw your post, I instantly recognized your name! I met you about 2 years ago up in Kansas when we set up our bears in the mansions. I bought two of your pieces, and had set them out just yesterday, as I'm re-doing one of the bedrooms. One of them was a little burlap bear with yellow/orange pads and a matching hat, and the other was a blue bear - laying down. I also bought a chick from the lady next to you. Ah, travelling down memory lane. Ha! What a small world.
Luann
Hi! I live in Texas too - Austin. If you are close by, we are trying to get together for a bear class in a couple of weeks. If you are near Houston, I'm going to be doing a class over there the 6th and 7th of October. I also know an artist in San Antonio that you might could get together with for a class. Hopefully between all of us, we'll be able to help you out.
Luann
Wow! Branson and Kelly are adorable! You did an incredible job. Luann
Hi all - I posted earlier, but I think it vaporized somewhere. Anyway...here is the fox I made yesterday when I got together with my friends. This one is made of mohair and not synthetic, but was really fun. My friend took photos of all of them, but hasn't e-mailed them to me yet. At any rate, they all turned out cute. I think Scotia turned out just adorable, nd I love the pad detail. Great job. Hugs, Luann
Thanks Eileen. I had a blast making him. I was a little nervous about doing the tips of his ears and coloring in the face, but it was great fun.
Luann
Here is what I made for the challenge. I received the rust colored fabric in a swap, and already had the black and white pieces. This was so much fun, I'm getting together with some friends and we're all making one tomorrow. Enjoy!
Yep, same picture as yesterday. I've been trying to figure out how to do an avatar like everyone else, with my photo placed "behind". Still working on it, but it will happen.
The bear in the photo is actually the first mohair bear I ever purchased and is still one of my absolute favorites! My daughter and I trying to take some photos for a magazine, and realized they were all way too serious. Once we started goofing off, this photo was one of many from the end result. Might as well have fun with the bears if you're gonna have them around!
Hugs,
Luann
Thanks for the message about the avatar. I may try and play around with it this weekend and see what I can come up with.
Also, thanks for the mention about the Bear Creations article. It came out in Australia about 2 months ago, and I just received my magazine last week. It was nice to get to finally see it, and I was pretty excited to finally get to really see it in print, though one of the girls had scanned a copy for me when it first came out. It's been about 10 months since I sent in the info, but I was still excited about it.
Hugs,
Luann
Okay, I finally got a photo of myself up, but appear to be one of only a few that just has a photo. Seems that everyone else has posted something entirely different, with graphics, their business name, etc., all incorporated to look more like a "card". Are these made using computer graphic programs, then scanned in as jpgs? I'd like to incorporate my logo, bears, etc., as well, but want to be sure I'm on the right track first. Thanks for any help that can be offered!
Luann
I've just attempted to upload a photo for my avatar. Let's see if this works! Luann
I tend to watch the 3 day auctions. A LOT of bears can come along in a week's time, and there is already a huge number of bears on e-Bay. I'm one of those people that takes forever to make a decision on a bear, but know the minute I see it if it's one I must have or not. Once I've decided, I don't want to wait for seven days for the auction to end, and then another week or so for it to arrive in the mail. Hugs, Luann
Okay - so what ideas does everyone have to get those collectors back to the shows like before? (of for that matter, the artists) I know that as a promoter, I try something new and different every year. While we certainly don't have door-busting crowds, we are still able to attract collectors that buy - some making 3 and 4 trips to their car. Even then, the artists seem to equate a "successful" show with lines of people waiting to get in rather than the number of bears being sold and collectors happy to be there.
Luann
Hi all. I am one of the promoters that has offered up tables at my shows for INTERNATIONAL artists only! I do not offer a group table for artists that are not international. My reasoning doesn't seem to make sense to anyone but myself, but I'm ok with that.
Two shows that I participated in religiously for over ten years were hugely successful until the promoter started offering group tables. (One show is now defunct and the other is hanging on by a thread.) The minute the group tables appeared, the number of tables sold went down, and the number of collectors through the door has almost disappeared. One year, the promoter could sell ten tables to ten individuals, the next year, all of those artists got together and bought one group table. (They've been doing the same ever since.) The promoter lost nine tables and ended up with one table - jammed, cram-packed with so many bears the collectors were afraid to touch anything. If they did touch something, they risked something else falling off. Some items end up not being marked, thus the loss of sales. This frustrates the customers, and the artists. Additionally, we've seen everything from purses to quilted wall hangings show up on the tables. Seems to me, that if it has a bear on it, it must be okay to put on the table.
The collectors, who had been coming for years, walked into a room, expecting to see lots of tables full of bears, and instead, saw a room half the size as in previous years. Instead of being able to visit with artists whose work they might want to purchase, they encountered group tables where they might or might not be able to visit with the artist whose work they wanted to buy. All of the artists participting in the group table live less than 4 hours away from one show, and in the same town as the other. Customers know this, and have expressed to us that if the artists can't be bothered to travel 3 or 4 hours, (or even across town), then why would they (the customers) bother to buy their bears. I think the bottom line, is - we teach people how to treat us, and we have forgotten our customers. Where would we be without them?
Other artists that I've worked with also resent the group tables. Who would be willing to pay full fare for a table knowing that you could split the cost of a table with ten other artists? Believe me, a lot of artists are willing to spend WAY less, send fewer bears and then HOPE for sales. I think an artist is the best salesman for their own work!
Jodi brings up some very valid points, in that this is a HUGE responsibility for the promoter. Keeping track of who is sending bears, when they want them shipped back, what method they want them shipped back, keeping track of what was sold, doing the books, etc., is no easy task. We have always had the artists pay a small fee for showing their bears with us, and take a 10% commission. If no bears are sold, no commission is taken. If you don't receive enough bears to fill a table, that's a table that could have been sold at full price to another artist. If you receive too many bears for one table, you have to be willing to set up another table. (After all, they did send you bears, and they should all be displayed, regardless of how many tables it requires.) It really does take one person dedicated to watching that table, as you are dealing with more than just one artist's work. Sales on thoses tables almost always require acceptance of credit cards. Bags, tissue, charge card fees, etc., must all be taken into account. These bears need to be packaged no differently than our own would be for the new owner. But, it's silly to ask the artists to send bags, tissue, etc. While I feel like our fees are very reasonable, and have always had a great response, I worry every time I send a box of bears back. If you put the value of the bears on the package, the artist will incur customs fees, which can be excrutiating. If you mark the package as a gift, and the package is lost, everyone loses, and no one is happy. Every time you hire another person to help, that drives up the cost of the tables for the remaining artists. Table fees, travelling expenses, etc., are high enough without adding on more. Additionally, the promoter incurs the responsibility of paying not only sales tax on the bears, but income tax, and self-employment tax as well. The international group tables have worked well for us in the past, and our customers love it, so we will continue to host them.
While I do feel that some of the artists are selling themselves short, we are also selling our customers short. We tend to forget that collectors are on these forums, as well as other chat lists. They know exactly what is going on. When we report all of the bad things going on in the bear world, write about lousy shows, etc., they see that. It's discouraging to them, and has a ripple effect on the artists and shows. It's rare to see someone post about what a good time they had at a show, but we seem to get more responses when we have something to grumble about. Shows are where the majority of us all started selling our bears. We've branched out to selling our bears on websites, e-bay, chat lists and other auction sites. While that works for some, it won't for others. The same goes for shows. I still think shows are the best way to really get out and meet collectors. I pick and choose the ones I do, and if I'm unhappy with a show, I tell the promoter. They are the only ones that can change it - and if they don't, then I have a hard time feeling compassion for them when they go under.
Luann
I've sent a number of bears to Australia, and have not had any problems with customs. I make sure that I list on the tag that the bear has steel beads inside, and also attach a tiny plastic bag with a sample of the steel beads. I think it mostly depends on the customs agent that happens to get the package more than anything else.
Luann
Hi Daphne. The link to U-line didn't work. Do you have the item number, and I'll look in my U-line catalog to see what it is you are looking for.
If you want really fun, nesting boxes, go to www.lang.com and look at their boxes. Their 5-stack gift boxes would easily accommodate a 15" bear, and some of their hat boxes will too. These boxes are exceptionally well made. I've had mine for year.
I don't know if you might have Ross stores where you are, but ours always have the nesting boxes.
Hope this helps.
Luann
The messages indicating items have been re-listed are fine. (at least in my case). I had been watching several items, but they didn't get any bids, and when I got the notice that they had been re-listed, I contacted the sellers directly. This may be a good opportunity to possibly get things that we missed out on the first time around without having to do another search.
Luann
Hi. I don't have a Singer 99K, but do have a Singer Featherweight. They are fairly similar to each other. I have sewn just about everything you can imagine on my featherweight, and it is a a wonderful machine. It sews all thicknesses of mohair without any problems, and I use it for the majority of my bearmaking. I would imagine that you would get similar results from the 99K. The featherweight makes perfect 1/4" seams, and is very easy to use. Best of luck to you.
Luann
I am game for this challenge. I think it would be a great way to try something new, especially since I have not completely convinced myself about the anime style. Maybe this will help.
Luann
Okay, here I am once again! With all of the new changes apparently being made to the magazine, I can see where a date on the magazine can be helpful. On the other hand, as a person who purchases them on a regular basis to re-sell, they are much easier to sell BECAUSE they are NOT dated. The only information in the magazines that is dated is the list of shows. You can kind of surmise from the show listings how old (or new) the issue is. Otherwise, the content doesn't have to to have a date associated with it. For people that buy them from me fairly regularly, I keep an index card with their name on it, and write down the issues they have purchased. If they can't remember which ones they have bought, we can always look back on the cards. I suppose anyone could use this same method, and keep the card to refer to in their pocketbook.
Luann
Hmmm. Not sure about how long it takes them to get to Australia, but I know that everytime I read a post on an Australian group I'm on about the current issue they are reading, I quickly figure out we are close to 2 issues behind. Several times, people have been kind enough to scan articles and e-mail them since it will be so long before we actually get to see them.
As far as I know, none of the Australian magazines are available anywhere within several hundred miles of me. For a lot of people, I'm their only source other than e-bay. It's not much different than the bear magazines published here in the states. We aren't able to get Teddy Bear Review or Teddy Bear and Friends at any of the local bookstores. Haven't been able to for a very long time. I don't know the reasoning behind none of the stores carrying them. Maybe the magazines themselves have decided to go "subscription only", which is a shame, because people are always asking for them. We even have a book/magazine store here that will order anything you want. He is unable to get either of the US bear magazines for us.
I also love the other Australian magazines, especially the ones that deal with needlework, crafts, etc. It has always seemed to me that the Australian artists "see" things differently than we do here in the states. Maybe that's why I'm so fascinated with their publications.
Luann
Hi Susan. I actually have every copy of both Bear Creations as well as Doll, Bears & Collectible since they started. I buy them to resell and have them on my website. I live in the states, and unless you get a subscription, they are very difficult to find. Some of the quilt stores carry them, but are charging $12.95 per copy, which is absurd. They should be charging the cover price, but you can't do anything about their pricing.
I had always used the number of patterns in each issue of Bear Creations as a selling point. You could purchase one magazine and go home with 5 or 6 different projects, as well as all of the other info packed into the magazines for basically the same price as one pattern. I saw a dramatic drop in my individual pattern sales when I started carrying the magazines. (I have a feeling that those who were purchasing individual patterns were "sharing" with others.) I think the idea of fewer patterns in the magazines will have an effect on the number of magazines I sell for a bit, but the customers can now be directed toward all of the new features coming. One nice thing about Bear Creations is that we don't read about the same artists over and over and over. They always seem to find new and different artists, and I'm pleased that they are trying out some new ideas.
I haven't advertised in the Australian magazines, as I'm not sure that it would be beneficial to me, since I'm in the states. I may check into it, however. Interesting topic.
Luann
I am on a dial-up connection and tried to look at your new site. The video never came up, thought I waited for quite a while. I finally gave up. This may not be a problem with those that are on high speed connections. Just like when perusing e-bay, if it takes forever to load, or there are tons of photos, I back out and move on. I will try to get it to reload again in the morning. Sometimes it goes faster very early in the morning. Maybe no one else is on that early. Ha!
Luann
