Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I had a bear from there named Slippy.  He was just called the polar bear.  I put a music box in him that played the Brahms Lullaby.  He disappeared to I have no idea where.  I'd give anything to have him back.

UsBears, Arcto says he forgives you.  Also, I heard you have bears from Build a Bear.  My bears TC, Jed, and Dexter say hi to them.

The term flattie came from a term I coined to pick on piano players who only like to play in flat keys.  I'm a sharpie because I prefer sharps.  I used to call the piano player at my old church Flattie because he absolutely REFUSED to play in sharps.  It was a term of friendly teasing.  I call my bears flatties in his honor.  Sorry for the musical geekiness.  Hey, maybe I should name this flattie I'm working on Adrian after him.

Can you describe the way they feel?  Are they similar to Joanie?  I'm just trying to picture them.  Of course I'm holding her.

What is he, a teddy bear or a paper doll cut out or what?  Are my bears as flat as that dude?

I've never seen a bear that looked exactly like Arcto.  I think I'd freak out if I did.  With manufactured bears you have to see them the way I do to appreciate them.  When artists make bears, everything in their hearts is revealed visually, but the only way to find out what a manufactured bear's character is like, you have to get to know him, and of course once you cry on a bear, he's irreplacible.

Well, I stuff my bears softly because they're for hugging, and I think my bears would cry if someone called them soft sculptures.  They're cuddly, squuzzy, loving teddy bears.

As of now I've only made one flattie bear out of mohair.  Everybody says it's so much easier than my faux fur, but I really didn't notice that.  It was easy and nice to work with, but so is most of the faux fur I've used.  Of course I've had some pieces that would make a preacher cuss, but most of what I get from the fabric store is pretty cool.

Oh, BTW, some of the really goofy-looking eyes were where I got my husband to help me.  He doesn't have sight either.

Oh, UsBears, you just made my bear Arcto cry with that jab at manufactured bears.  Man, you were doing so good until you made him cry.  No, manufactured bears don't have the soul of the artist, but they are brought to life when someone adores them.  Sorry, pet peeve.

Well it'll probably be a long time before I sew with mink since it's apparently a pain in a very uncomfortable region of the body.  I'm having enough trouble figuring this out without adding more.  I guess I should at least be able to put together a full bear before I use difficult fur.  BTW, I thought mohair was real fur.

That it does, but I have such a passion for bears that I say hang eyeballs.  I did give my stash of fabric to a lady at church and my book of patterns from Joanne, so hopefully there will be a non-flattie Braille Teddy very soon.

Joanie and I are both drooling majorleague as we read your post and look at your web site.  I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE your bears, Becky.

I wish I could feel them.  I saw a mink bear the other day and he was soooooo soft that I just kept petting the poor bear like a puppy.  Now I'd love to have a mink bear.

Us Bears, well put.  I may put that on my little cards.  I definitely let people know I'm blind when it comes to my bears because one, it explains the reason they kind of lack in the visual appealing department, and two, because usually the world of artist bears is so visual and I think it adds something to the bears to know they were made by a blind person.  I'm so new to artist bears and collector bears in general.  I didn't even know there were artist bears until last year when I joined Teddy Bears Forum.  I knew people collected bears, but I thought they saw them like I do.  This is why I was shocked as to why anyone would want a hard bear. 

Since I now have a few artist bears and one antique bear, I realize they are very cuddly, just a different kind of cuddly.  I hate to tell you this, but sometimes I get a bit annoyed with visual collectors because if a bear doesn't have a certain label or look a certain way or whatever, they would just walk by without a backward glance.  I wish more people would hug bears with their eyes closed, although of course that wouldn't work for this forum, lol.  I wish people could see all bears the way I do, whether they came from the greatest bear artist or Walmart or whatever.  Hey, let's have everybody go to the next teddy bear show blindfolded, or not.  I can just see the visual people trying to navigate in the dark.  Hahaha.

BTW, Usbears, I had never sewn anything in my life except a pillow case in girlscouts several years ago until I made B.G.B., and never gave a flip about sewing.

I love bringing joy to people.  That's why I started making bears in the first place.

Joanne, at least your bears are loved.  These poor little dudes are just sitting in a box and never even thought about.  People who are visual love with their eyeballs, but it is still love.  I just put so much love for my mom and sister into those bears and they don't even pay attention to them.

Y'all started out with jointed bears???  My first was a flattie, of course, and they've all been flatties since.

It's okay.  I was just hypersensitive at the time because I have a lot of manufactured bears and my favorite bear in the whole world is just that, a soft toy made in China.  I understand what you were saying now, though.  Sorry if I came off like a straightie.

Is it crazy to wonder how your bears are doing after they've been adopted?  I made bears for my mom and sister both.  My mom put her bear up, I have no idea where.  My sister has her bear in a box because she has been moving a lot.  This really upsets me because I made them to help my mom and sister heal, as my own precious bears have done, from the loss of my baby sister.  My desire is that my bears will have the same relationship with their humans as I have with Arcto.  I know that may not be possible, but I at least want them to be loved the way I would have loved them and do love them.  I know that not everybody expresses their love for their bears the way I do, but to just stick them in a box and never think about them again?  I just feel bad for them.  I know my mom and sister aren't into bears, but I was really hoping the bears would be able to take care of them.  They haven't even named their bears *cries into Arcto's fur*.  Am I crazy?  At least I know my Meemaw adores her bear.

I always carry at least one of my bears everywhere I go.  I had a bear named Becky that I was going to keep, but there was a little kid at church whose name was Becca.  She fell in love with that bear.  Something, maybe it was God, told me to give her the bear, so I did.  You should have seen the reaction of the little girl when I told her she could have her.  I hope Becca and Becky will have a very close friendship.  It makes me so happy that my bear will be loved.  Have any of you guys ever given a bear to a kid?  I'm not referring to a bear they can't play with, but a nice cuddly bear that you made.  My dream is that my bears will be able to give love and caring to their new mommies/daddies the same as my bears in my collection have given me.  I made a bear for my neighbors' unborn baby and I would love for that bear to be the one he carries around throughout his childhood and becomes his lifelong companion.

Karenaus, I'm just reading back through the archives.  When I first joined TT and saw this post, I thought you were criticizing manufactured bears, but now I have finally understood what you were talking about in this post.  When I try to sell my bears to people who aren't used to artist bears, they freak out at the price I'm asking.

That's true.  At least he'll be able to come back as a teddy bear.

Lol.

You can name your ber Lester.  My Lester was named after Lester Flatt of Flatt and Scruggs.  For those of you who don't know, they were some of the pioneers of bluegrass music.  I tend to name bears after musicians or book and movie characters.  Some people say he looks old, like maybe 80s or 90s.  That would be cool if he was because I'm obsessed with all things 80s, especially the toys. 

Becky, I don't think you disrespected Lester.  It doesn't matter to me where he was made, I'm just curious.  All I know is that he's a faithful old bear and he's always there with a hug whenever I need one.  I don't sleep with him anymore because it was always uncomfortable with my husband and several other bears there, but he's my boy.