Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

He will be very loved.  I already love him.

Hey, I have a question.  I don't see a newsfeed displayed when I use my facebook as Braille Teddies.  How do I get it to display?

Oh yes.  I hope he likes to hear a lot of piano playing because I'll probably have to play for him when I see him.

I'm getting this little dude in a bear swop with Joanne Livingston.  I'm so excited about it I'm about to burst.  I can't wait to see him.

Thanks for putting it up.

The hat and glasses was my stepdad trying to make everybody laugh.  He doesn't usually wear those.  That picture was taken when we were in Michigan for my uncle's funeral.  I didn't know him that well, but he wanted me to come and play and sing, so we went up there and of course I brought Prot.  I think that was taken after the funeral or the next day.  My stepdad likes to tease me about my plushies and he was goofing off trying to get everybody to not be sad. 

I forgot to mention this, but Prot also has a squeaker in his belly.  He's a great stress reliever.  When I get frustrated I can just squeak him.  I've had a lot of anger since my sister's death, and Prot has really helped me to get it out of my system. 

He didn't originally have eyes because I think he was supposed to be a dog toy.  My Meemaw gave him some beady eyes and she said that would make him look better.  Prot was glad because Hubbie used to call him Blind Bartemeus (SP) all the time.  Imagine my husband who is a blind guy married to a blind woman making blind jokes about my plushies.  Goofball.

Oh yes.  I love this guy and I bet he and the Zotty will have a lot to talk about.  I'm sure all my bears will be gathered around the Zotty to hear stories.  I just hope Corduroy will only tell him good things about me, like how much I love my bears.

This is not a bear, but sometimes I call him a bear as a term of affection.  His name is Prot, but it's pronounced like Prote.  He was named after the main character of my favorite book and movie K-PAX.  It's about a guy who was from another planet, so that's why it's an unusual name.  He's my favorite of my plushies that's not a bear.  He was with me after my sister passed away.  I carried him everywhere with me after that, well at least in the house and on trips anyway.  I love my Prot.

When I was a baby I had a very beloved teddy bear.  When you pressed his paw, he would record about ten seconds of whatever you said and then repeat it back.  I was afraid of him at first, but then I fell in love with him and he was my baby.  In kindergarten I heard the story of Corduroy and thought that was a cool name, so I named my bear Corduroy.  I thought the sun rose and set in that bear.  In first grade he was lost.  I don't know if he got lost in a move or if my houseparent was being a jerk and took him, but all I know is my precious Corduroy was never seen again. 

I looked for almost 20 years for that bear, but I always hit dead air until in January of this year a friend of mine from church saw this guy at an estate sale and got him for me.  He's not exactly the same bear that I had.  My bear's mouth didn't move and this guy's does.  He also has a big ol' hard oval thing in his head that I don't remember from my original Corduroy, but when I held him it was like he had the spirit of my departed bear.  I know that probably sounds weird, but I just felt like I had him back. 

He didn't work at first and I had several people look at him, but they were afraid to take him apart.  Finally I took him to Radio Shack.  At first they panicked, but when I finally found a guy that would do surgery, he found out that all it was was that a wire had come loose and needed to be sottered.  Now he's talking like a pro.  He looks like he's in almost perfect condition, so I don't think he was played with very much, which makes me sad.  Here's his picture, hopefully.

I'm about to post Bob there, but right now I've got to add a gob of photos to the collector's corner here.  Woohoo!!!

Thanks, Becky.  I'm fixing to try to upload the pics of all the bearbears.  Do you guys know of any groups for bear people on facebook?  Maybe I'd go there more often if there's a lot of bear stuff.

I'd like for everyone to see my new facebook Braille Teddies page.  I haven't got the pics up yet because I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'm just letting you know it's there so you can see it.

I had some cool bear related stuff happen today.  This morning I found one of my childhood bears named Hope that I had when I was about 9 or 10.  She was in a huge bunch of bears my Meemaw brought me that she had in boxes in the back of her house.  She's been here a couple months, but I just now saw her and realized who she was.

Then I had an appointment with my counselor this afternoon.  She knows I love bears, so she told me about her dad's bear that she has.  Today she finally brought him so I could see him.  He's about 80 years old and has been loved to death.  The poor guy is almost bald.  I fell in love very hard.  I really neede an antique bear in my life.

It's really hard to travel for me right now.

You are so lucky.

I clicked it.  Red is my favorite color because it's one of the few colors I can see.  I couldn't see it on the pic, but if I could hold the bear up to my eyes I would be able to see the color.

Thanks, Joanne, for the nice description.  I wish I could feel your bear.  Maybe one of these days I'll be able to have one of your bears.

Thanks, guys.  Everybody at my church laughed at Blueboy because of the hair on his chest.  When I told him it was mohair, the preacher's wife came up with the brilliant comeback, "He's got mo hair than the other bear," ROTFL.

Arcto and I would like to have your autograph.

Wow, I have to weigh in on this topic.  I'm one of those people who love soft, fuzzy bears that you can cuddle.  It seems like in the world of artist bears everybody focuses on what the bears look like, but sometimes I wish people would walk through a bear show with their eyes closed so they could see the bear the way I do.  Or maybe I'm just weird.  BTW, I don't know about traditional bears, but I think my bears that I make are definitely teddy bears.

This weekend I went to a conference with a church group and I decided to take my two bears I was trying to sell to see what would happenh.  I sold them both while I was on the bus before we even got to our destination.  I'm so excited about it. 

The bears are Jasper and Blueboy.  Jasper is a white faux fur bear with a plastic nose and safety eyes (sorry I haven't figured out how to embroider yet), and blueboy is made from a fleece baby blanket and he has a mohair applique on his chest.  They're about 10 inches tall and they are what I call my Flattie Bears because they are made from a two piece pattern.  I'll just post a link here because we all know I'm notorious when it comes to posting photographs.
http://www.teddybearfair.com/forum/show … #post16651

*shudder* I have a phobia of glass cases.

Oh how very cool.  I bet you're all kinds of excited.

I've never heard of this lady, but my heart and prayers go out for her.

Rock on and you go girl!