Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Yeah, our aussie dollar has fallen dramatically too, we're a lot like Canada it seems.  The good news is, we get to sell our work for less USA dollars and still make our usual profit, there is an up side    I'm kicking myself too though, I was going to try out some of Stephanies sassy products when the dollar was so good...even Intercal, for the experience, as I always buy from Aussie retailers...but, will wait for the next rise...drat, I just realised I didn't renew my sub to TBF either 

Yay, smiling is always good    that poems so cute  :hug:

awww, lovely Lynette, congratulations  :hug:  :hug:

I'm sorry Kathy, I was voting as often as I rememberd too    glad she got some cash out of it though      hugs to you both  :hug:

Yes!  The card exchange, I'm ready and waiting to go this year 

Lovely art work Rita, I used to love those characters from the Muppets   
Jane, tehe, lucky Sarah!  you got the height right too 
I have sooo many hobbies, but a lot have fallen by the wayside...I love photography and photography/web site design, collecting, shopping....lol

Lovely photos, thanks so much for sharing Laura  :hug:  I love the bunny you adopted    awwww     I love Amy's costume 

wow, great remakes!!!  Love the bunny Edie, and Jane, wow!  what a transformation!  I'm trying to think if I have any......I know I have bears that I want to remake from my collection, add finishing touches that I wasn't aware of back in the early days....

My sister fell in love with tiny Izabelle first time she saw her in June, so, I've been keeping her for her birthday.  She came over on the weekend and was so surprised, I was sure she knew she was getting her, but, nope...guess I'm a bigger secret keeper than I thought I was    tehe.  It was really nice though, this is my big sister, many of you know about the members of my family by now lol    She's had a really rough trot this year, she is usually the healthy one, but shocked us when they diagnosed her with two malignant tumours in her liver, so she had a big operation and they removed a big portion of her liver along with the tumours etc etc...recovery is a long process but fortunately they got it all.  So it was extra nice giving her this token of my love  :hug:

Thanks SueAnn and Ming, isn't it amazing how we all work differently     Well, the ears and nose went in yesterday, I'm zippy with ears and nose on a small bear, but big...the task is daunting!  I think it was a tad easier with my feet raised, I'lll try the bed way next time Ming...lol....that sounds good too, if I can cross my legs 

ahhh, so you're still waiting then!  I thought you'd be celebrating this weekend, so Tuesday it is, exciting for you      I'm thinking of you and sending you lots of supportive hugs Lynette xx :hug:  :hug:

Wonder if he'd rent it out to me while he is away?  with the maid of course    Thanks for sharing Rita, ahhh to dream 

Steiff, I'm not too original I guess lol, I love the early bears the most, and I especially like the history, how Margarete Steiff started the company, even if it wasn't bears originally....it was her, a single woman with health problems back in those tough times....I look in the mirror and see that I too can do anything with my craft that I love, shes inspirational     May too get my nephew involved one day 

Lisa what a treasure of a painting!   

Yipppeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Congratulations sweetheart!!!  Doing the happy dance for ya  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:

thanks so much ladies for your support  guess I'm not the only one, which sadly makes me feel a smidge better....still deciding what to do....I checked out the conditions properly and I only get the final value fee back, so if I relist, and don't get any bids again, or another non payer....I loose a second lot of listing fees....so....after all that....I may just keep the bear!  I've almost paid for her LOL
b4b....yup Kim, Wendy, probably my bet from now on....    I do want to keep making my new range of OOAK bears for auction or something sort of direct sale, instead of the plain wait for orders to roll in...so, that looks like my next plan of action....i think...

Jenny you too!!!  Its so weird, I remember all these bears being bid on the same week that mine was listed......and Jenny, I google earth'd my bidders address, the suburb exists, but not the street!  I feel like such a fool that I waited a week without even looking into it!  I'm glad, but also not, that it hasn't just been me....since its my first time on feature etc, second time listing, its been like arghhh....noooo!!
Okay, so you got total fees back?  I got to read into this more, I didn't get total.....maybe I pressed the wrong button......I'd like the whole thing to go away and sell it privately too since I know the second bidder and not give Ebay any more of my money....
whats shield bidding?  I know shill is bidding on your own stuff right?  will have to look that up....
edited to add...Peta, good idea about taking away 0 feedback bidders if they don't respond..I didn't know how to work that one, and I worried I'd loose customers by not letting first timers bid......but the email idea is good...actually, now I think of it, my first bidder was a newbie too, and emailed me and asked permission...that worked smoothly and I asked her if she could pay right away etc...it wasn't hard to do....thanks for all these comments even tho this isn't my thread   I'm learning lots 

Lynette, I know, evil is right!  lol, taking advantage of us beary nice people  .....and Millie, I agree, who does stuff like this??  Who has the time??    Since it happens so often I wonder if it is ebay itself making us pay more fees when we have to list over?  I don't know, the whole thing confuses me!  Thanks Peta, I'm not sure what I'll do yet...I'll have to write to her still....just so much wasted time...don't have enough to spare as it is...sigh.....Kathy, thank you  :hug:  funny, I've been doing the same experiment....tried b4b, and now Ebay, and I was so sure that Ebay would win....now, I'm not so sure...I get mailing list joins and interest through B4B, not much of anything on Ebay except for the excitement of that final high bid! Its been a huge let down.....actually, I may relist this one on B4B if my customer isn't interested anymore....thanks for giving me that idea Kathy    she is still telling me she wants to stay here now tho, and I'm a big softie    ....lol

Yes that does Paula, thank you!  :hug:  I didn't even think of raising my feet, just my lap, which is tricky lol, and I have been holding the bear the other way, feet into my tummy, which makes me hunch even more  , seems crazy now I type it out how hard I'm making things for myself!  I'll have to find something the right height to rest the body on.... thanks 

I'm working on a big custom bear at the moment...and I'm used to working on smaller bears...well, because I have problems with arthritis, I'm finding that its quite painful on my back, neck, ribs to hunch over so long stuffing, sewing in ears, nose...does everyone hold the bear on their lap while they do these things or is it just me?  I've tried lifting the bear higher, but nothing works like a lap for non slip surface etc....any ideas???  With smaller bears these things are over with so quickly that cramping time barely even begins and I move onto another task...this is a little harder!
PS....just mentioning that last time I made a big bear I swore I'd never make another because of the stuffing...but this time I'm using Donna's stuffing tool and it is sooo easy!!! It all stays in place too and doesn't slip around...   Besides the pain from the bending, I'm really enjoying making this one 

Oh so its not just me then...I just posted a topic reading the same as yours Krista...why do people do this!!!!  I too have a second chance to fall back on, but I know the girl as a previous customer, so will offer it to her privately, fed up of ebay...but I was going to do the same thing, offer the bear at the bidders price before the bogus bid was place....sigh...good luck Krista, hugs!!  and you too Kim hugs! this stinks!

Really and truely...which doesn't happen too often to me...grrr....okay, listed my bear Blossum on Ebay, this is a new venture for me..expanding my horizons and all that...Ebay looks like fun...*haha*....anyway, a lady from my mailing list asks to bid, sets up an account and is the highest bidder all week, she's very excited over it writing me during the week with "I'm still the highest bidder" (so cute), its all very fun and exciting for me, until the last 2 days, and another lady wins it...no history except for one other bid on another item....get her address etc from the USA, she seems legit even tho she is a new user....so, waiting waiting...I'm new at the ebay game...so after the allotted 7 days I gave her to pay, yesterday I went to file a report and let Ebay contact her....she's no longer a registered user!!!!!!!!!!  The very next day she quit....WHY!!!!!!  Why stuff me around.....I'm so infuriated...not only the time and expense wasted, Ebay only gave me back the final fee charge, is that right?  I can't relist using the same auction space for nothing???
On top of that I can't belive I waited over a week thinking she would write, writing her from every email address...thinking it would come about....I'm so trusting that it kills me at times how stupid I am!!!  So disappointed with...people....
so....I don't know whether to just keep the bear now, I like her and she's been sitting here waiting with me for so long now....I feel defeated... I suppose I may offer her to my mailing list client who had highest bid and if she still wants her...but isn't that just where I started, selling to my mailing list...grrr......sigh.....I feel like I don't want to try Ebay again, its gotten me nowhere but a bigger hole in my pocket and more wasted time....anyway....live, try new things, and end up back where I started...sigh!    It seemed like a good idea at the time lol 

Congratulations Maria  :clap:  :clap:  :clap: Outstanding work!!!!!!!!!!!

lovely Denise, gorgeous design, and isn't Penny adorable!!    

Congratulations everyone, and especially to Kelly with your cover shot  and thanks so much Sue Ann, just waiting patiently for my copy to arrive......

Thank you Tami, I'm always careful, but its good to remind ourselves how serious this is......

reading the other stories too....so important to be careful isn't it...needles are a big worry too since I drop so many, yikes!!  snakes are out here now too, which I'm in half panic about each time Pip goes out to the loo now