Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Just wandering, do you care if you are in the search engines or not? I notice you are using frames to design the site, these are not search engine friendly. If you could care less about search engines, frames are nice.

Don't kill me either, I agree a little too busy, to many things going on in the design of your site.. Problem with that, it will take away from the focus, your bears.

I had a Fuji before the Cannon. Liked the Fuji very much.

If your only sending pictures VIA email then a 1.0 megapixel camera would be fine, the higher the megapixel, the larger the picture. So if you want 4x6 (way large for email), then 3.1 megapixel and up. But for email only and teddy bears where lighting will be controlled, just find anything cheap..

I got a Cannon Powershot S1 IS which is 3.2 megapixel... Very nice cam, do not plan on printing anyting beyond 4x6... If you have a compusa near by, they have good selection of cameras and normally reasonable prices.

http://www.mrsite.co.uk/USERSITES/USERI … C00433.JPG

Nice colors... Good Combo.

Sounds like the old Disney Doll and Teddy Bear Convention. It was war!

I would pay to see it!

Is that what we are zoo animals, something to be gawked at! We are people just like you! LOL, just kidding....

No, it is the German-Irish version of the name Scott!

I like the bear, he looks great! The text is hard to read though.

I spoke with Terrie at Good Bears of the World today. They are now able to take financial donations from their web site. I was wandering, are any artists donation something? Maybe donating profits from certain bears to charity like good bears of the world? If so, I will add you to the home page of the site. I will be sending an email out about this to all the members probably today. The person who wanted to donate 10,000 bears that contacted us, whom we steared GBW, actually worked out. Why Terrie called me, they donated a nice chunk of change. Great!

Info:
GBW is coordinating with the Red Cross to get the Teddy Bears out.

Here are a few recommendation for you or anyone else..

#1: Use firefox as your web browser. http://www.mozilla.org. Internet Explerer (the blue e) is the worst offender, it lets spyware through often. Firefox is more secure, it does not let applications run in your computer. And it has ad blocking and many addons to better the browsing expeirence. Firefox is free, called open source. I highly recommend it. Been using it for, 3 years I guess.

#2: Get SpyBot. http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html (FREE)

#3: Adaware. http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ (FREE Version Available)

#4: Microsoft Anti-Spyware. http://www.microsoft.com/athome/securit … fault.mspx (BETA - Free)

#5: Do not download software to your computer unless finding out about it first. Many programs (not from most commercial comps), like Kazza, some shareware applications contain hidden spyware programs.

Here is the problem, once you have the popups in your computer, putting Norton or Mcafee (owned by the same company btw) will not do a thing. You need to get rid of the popups first. See #2 and #3, these products do a good job together and may be enough to knock them out. Once you got that under control, using firefox will keep them out.

If you are using AOL, AOL has a decent anti-spyware application, do keyword "computer security". But I still recommend #2,#3 and if that doesn't get them all, try #4 also. You do not need to buy #3, look for the "Personal Addition". I hope this helps!

Finally, this is a service my company offered to customers and 80% of the time the above would get rid of the spyware. The other 20% required more advanced work... I have been in computers with over 30 spyware applications running. And once you get one (spyware) in there, more often then not, more are coming. Got to catch it early.

Btw, I do not know Pop-up stopper. But many of the anti-spyware programs on the internet are actually SPY / adware programs! Be careful when getting these programs, stay with reputable applications.

Yes!!!!! I love it.. Oh, you were only kidding.. Sigh... lol

Sport theme - College Mascots. College Fans and Alumni Football fans eat this stuff up. Kind of overdone though. Wander, thinking Alumni's would like the more expensive artist versions, not the hallmark or carnival stuff.

See this - http://www.linux.org/info/logos.html - The penguin, if advertised in the right place could be a hit. It is the Linux penguin which, for those who do not know, Linux is an operating system for computers. Linux fans are die hards and linux gals and gals always have penguins at there desks. Someone make penguins? http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTpasha.html <- See this, just did a search for stuffed linux penguins in MSN. I have never seen a really nice one made, I sculpted my own out of clay for my desk. (Maybe advertise in - Linux Magazine, Linux Journal) --- Just so you know Linux is big in USA, Europe, China, Japan. The logo belongs to the community, the owner of the logo just likes to know how it is being used. See - http://www.isc.tamu.edu/~lewing/linux/ (Actually, I do not think you need permission)

Bull for the stock market.... oooohhh... :)

Hey all, we picked up 5 great bears in Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago at an auction. Problem, I think they have mites or something. Anytime new bears come home we make sure the best we can they are clean before moving into the collection. These guys have something, I think mites or something like that. I have heard you can freeze them or throw them in a bag with moth balls? Any suggestions?

As we speak, they are sitting next to ice cubes in a plastic bag. Wandering what you think?

Thanks
Teddy-Bears.Org
Scott

I can give you some examples from our collection... These are my personal favorites, but, we have a diverse collection, and I think farely large. So don't let my example say I am limited. I like variety of artists/manufacturer bears. But these are some of my favorites.

Sandy's Bearly Bruins (Teddy Doodle Dandy - Great clothing from the 1700's one of my favorites - See http://www.iloveteddies.com/news_page/1040056787.php for a picture - The pic does not due him justice - The texture and dye of the clothing are perfect - well constructed - Very Blonde)

Charles (Steiff - Dark Brown, white tipped - Charles is great looking)

Steiff Buffalo (Last Frontier Collection - Dark Brown)

Zucker Bears (I like the yes/no mechanics - very cool - Tend to be dark brown)

Steiff (First American Teddy - Fantastic! - Very Blonde)

Cheeky ("Cheeky Stars and Strips" - Cheeky, hard to stomach at first.. But they grow on you. Very unique - Blonde)

James (Steiff - The New American - Blonde)

Harrods Musical (Steiff Dark Green)

Holland Bear (Blue Grey)

I think I tend to like the dark colors in bears or absolute blondes. Traditional brown I stray from in my favorites. I think I noticed something, I like the older style bears a little better. Newer bears tend to have softer features as compared to earlier bears a bit more harsher (Sharper). Also, I either like dark colors or blondes.

Here is an artist bear that I am digging right now:
http://www.mutztoots.com/images/dflagbearer_small.jpg (Great, very curious this bear - Very simple, great flag, curious expression)

But Koto bears are great too! We bought a Koto Bear in 2003 at Disney Doll and Teddy. The mom and daughter couple of Koto are good fun. The bears are unique (at least in the states) and are well made. http://www.iloveteddies.com/news_page/1071968390.php (She is the top bear in the pic)

I forgot about this one - Here is some of our patriotic collection - http://www.iloveteddies.com/files/teddy-usa-group.jpg.. Man, cheeky's are so weird! But, they grow on you.

No!!! That is not what I am saying... But... mmm... Maybe that would work to! You see, I said any man on the board would be the pick on! I am only saying, mmm???? Well, I am not the Bear Artist! I am only saying to sell to the other 50% of the market, you have to think like them (maybe).... Not make a bear that stinks like them. lol... Who knows, do an experiment next show. Make a really masculine bear, see if he sells. If not, come back here and call me names, pick on me, the whole nine yards. But if he sells, BE NICE! lol

lol.... No.. I was saying that guys have a tendency to spill drinks on there shirts when they are working! lol.. A guy would leave it there, where a girl would quicly clean it off. So as part of being masculine, you cannot be to quick to clean the spill! LOL

One more thing... From a guy point of view / guy collector, I could be wrong on this. How many bears can a woman bring home and give to her husband? Not many. To make a bear for a man, you must think like a man. Go outside, roll in the dirt, spill a drink on your tshit (and leave it there - do not clean it - important), go fishing, cut the grass, all in one day, no makeup! Now, by the end of the day, you are pretty masculine.. Now think designing a teddy bear. 50% of the market just waiting for this. Not many guys want to put a cute teddy bear on there desk, but put something tough/masculine, could be a winner! Sounds funny and written funny, but, I think I made my point.

Oh, I like patriotic bears and tough animals like eagles, buffalo and the occasional penguin falls in from time to time!

Personally, as an (somewhat - not bear artist) artist, I look at quality and uniqueness. I like to look at a Bear and say "Oh, that <artist> made that." Being able to distinguish the designer of a bear is, I think, very important. But I am a guy, I am not looking for the cute factor! I like the creativity of bear artists and the construction, this is what I admire. Maybe not as sweet of a reason as why some purchase, but, these are my reasons.

I have shown guys some of the bears we have and of course they are uncomfortable at first! But when I sit down and explain the bear making process, what goes into it, and show them moving parts... They tend to get interested believe it or not. I think guys, maybe not all, respect the craftsmanship. And if it is durable, something they won't ruin, they like it even better.

Go some place new, have a couple drinks (or more), unload and have fun. Inspiration Follows.

I, as a collector would like to add to this... Personally, I like defined bears. Bears that you can look at and say, "Oh, this artist made that". I think I am probably stating the obvious, just my personal thoughts.

I never said it was going to be easy! I actually visited the site again and took another look at it, they really go out of their way to make it hard it seems. But, here is the starting point.

http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

Download This (GTK) and install
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/gimp … p?download

Then this (Gimp) and install
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/gimp … p?download

You need to select a download location.

Gimp is allot like Photoshop, it is an advanced image application. If you are looking for something simple, Photoshop Elements? Never used it, but heard it is easier.

What is it that most artists want out of a Image Application? Crop, Scale Images, add text? Anything beyond that? I am a programmer, one of the reasons why I ask. Maybe it could be an app I could write later and offer on the site.

You can try the Gimp which is free. http://www.gimp.org. Gimp is a program very similar to photoshop and it is Open Source, meaning free if you are not famaliar with the term, little bit of a learning curve, but so does photoshop. It does almost everything photoshop does.

This is a new one by microsoft and it is free at the moment codenamed Acrylic.
http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/

The gimp is really worth looking and learning though, it will always be free.

I was at the site tonight and their is a problem on the home page and some of the images did not load.

I spoke with Terrie again and she said people could donate through them "Good Bears of the World" They are going to coordinate with the Red Cross. But I think they need bulk donations.