Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I'll be in too! Nothing like a bit of pandamonium to make life interesting! It'll be fun to see what everyone come up with.

Um Doesn't he pee on people????

Thanks Jane I'll get in touch  I'm starting to feel very welcome at Hugglets so I'm really looking forward to meeting you all 

The surgeon's knot is like the beginning of a granny knot or reef knot (the first half) only you go through the loop twice, it locks against itself and secures whatever you're tying, you then finish the knot with one or two more on top before sinking it in. Hope this explains it to you 

Very cute Kim, you've definitely got the Bully "look", we had one living next door for a while. He was a great big sook, only down side was the slobber !:rolleyes: I guess  your little guy doesn't have THAT problem 

You could try leaving a bigger opening, I've found that it helps as you can manipulate the stuffing tool around with more room to move. Your bears are lovely, by the way. 

Hi Karon , Have you got any contact details for Bear Basics? I would need to contact her very soon, as we leave on the 2nd of August.  Where are they as well?   

Hi Karon
How long ago did you see the pattern? I've had a couple that would fit your description, one was from Serendipity which is probably no longer available, the other is available through Bear Essence in Melbourne, which is probably the one you saw if it was in the last year or two. As for doing workshops in England, I'd LOVE to, I just need someone to  organise things as I'm not very good at such things.   I usually do them through  bears supply stores who put the kits together, so all I have to do is rock up on the day! Let me know how you get on with the pattern, I'll be at the Hugglets show in London in Sept if you visit be sure to come say Hi Hugs Linda

Have you ever seen such cute feet?

Looks alot like the skies around here all Autumn, we have alot of foresrty going on and at times thier burn offs leave us choking, not to mention the asthma suffered  by my husband!! We do get some stunning sunsets as compensation.  They claim their practices are carbon neutral, I can't see it myself, they rip up the forest and chip it then burn the rest! Carbon neutral yeah right.

It puts a whole new light on the term "hat hair"

I'm a bit of a "dead things" collector myself I have some very beautiful swallows skulls and wing bones that were retrieved from inside a wall we were rebuilding. There were some dessicated rats in there too, way way cool. I like moth wings and skeletonized leaves, Tassie's a great place for road kill, I had an American biologist visit a while back he was real keen to take back as many of our native animal's skulls as he could and we had found a Tassie Devil which he loved! I don't know how he went getting them into the US though. I don't know about hanging dead things on my walls, I'd find that a bit creepy, I tend to go for small and very delicate things, I love their fragility. I have the coolest dried frog, it kinda reminds me of an Egyptian mummy!

I may be up for one at some time because I have 2 sisters with Crohn's disease, I keep a close eye out for any symptoms. It was good to read such an hillarious account! Though I rather think it was a  completely different experience for one of my sisters as she had a temporary colostomy at the time........imagine dragging THAT around!!

Hi Millie, I've used the same technique as jenny and all the supplies should be available from an electrical supply store (one the tradies use) The clips are called crimp lugs and you should try to get solid core copper wire.  You can make the armature any length you like rather than being dictated by what's available commercially. The loop in the crimp lug fits over your joint pin or bolt and should sit nice and flat against the disc if you put it on the right way round. Have fun and remember don't stuff too tightly around the armature or it won't work. 

Oh boy Kelly, I remember feeling one of Ted's bears years ago, I couldn't believe how hard he got it! I was almost convinced there was a concrete form under the fur!! Personally I prefer my bears to have a little bit of huggability, so I don't stuff rock hard. a matter of taste, really. Sounds like you could have had a bowling competition at that show, with the lanes down the middle of the hall! (I've been to a few  shows where we could have fired a gun down the middle of the hall!):)

I'm sure that after one of my workshops many men are missing their files from tool sheds or are sent out on a mission!! Ha ha.

I don't use what most people would regard a stuffing tool, it's a round file I "borrowed" from my husband's chainsaw bag about 20 years ago. It does me for turning through and for stuffing. It's very effective at getting the stuffing  just whereI want it. I use the same tool for all my bears, my minis and my big boys too. I travel around Australia alot, teaching, so like to keep my tool kit to a minimum,  if something can multi-function so much the better! Hugs

I'm a bit of a doodler, and my designs often come from these "mindless" amblings of my mind which often occur when I'm speaking on the phone. I  also have loads of books, calendars etc with photos of real bears from which I get alot of inspiration and of course there's Ralph. He's my big hairy dog who is very bearlike in appearance and manner, I modeled my sculpted leather noses on his!! I start with a simplified sketch from which I work out the pattern pieces, I've been making bears for about 25 years so pretty well know how things work, I make all my new designs in mohair, as using calico or felt doesn't really give a real sense of how things will work when the fur is there. That's about it really, a little bit of tweeking after the first one and I'm usually happy. Hugs