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Thanks for your kind words Brenda!
Wishing you tons of luck on winning Emmett and selling your new bear (ebay is quite strange these days!!)
Bear hugs,
Kim
Your very welcome! thank you for entering and good luck to you!!
Bear Hugs,
Kim
Hello Denise and thank you for your wonderful compliments on Emmett!
Yes! You are more then welcome to enter, even if you are in another country.
I will also pay ALL postage costs for Emmett WORLDWIDE!!!
Good Luck to you should you decide to join in the fun!
Bear Hugs,
Kim
Hey Ladies! There is an easy, for computer illiterate people (like me) way to do it...trust me, I do it now all by myself!! I have absolutely NO computer smarts!! Its call 50megs.com. You can get free space, but it has advertising at the top, or you can pay a small fee to get rid of that. My site is upgraded quite a bit so I have more space, but thats not necessary when you are just getting started. The best part....I can edit my site all by myself! it has these wonderful little "edit" buttons and thats all you need!!!!!!
I have never understood all the html stuff...acckkkk (Shelli, stop laughing at me!!!)
Good Luck to you!
Bear hugs,
Kim
I have emailed everybody who has entered into the drawing to see what their thought are on holding the raffle on Feb 14th instead of waiting until the 28th.
Wouldn't that be a wonderful Valentines treat to find out you won the bear?!?!!
Please let me know your thoughts......
Bear hugs,
Kim
Zip Lock baggies work WONDERS! I cut all my pieces out at one time, then I put them in a zip lock so I dont lose those darn ears!
When I make new patterns, I use computer printer paper and then run stripes of clear packing tape across the piece of paper and THEN I cut them out. It makes it rigid enough to use over and over, yet I'm still able to make "notes" on it.
I always start with the head and normally finish it before I even start sewing the body. I always save the feet for last...hate 'em, hate 'em! Its not that they are that hard, just a little more time consuming.
Ears drive me nuts! It can take me an hour to place my ears sometimes....they just dont look even and I re-pin them, and pin them again and again until it looks just right. A good way to check if your ears and eyes are even is to face your bear into a mirror...a mirror never lies (unfortunately). This sounds silly, but it works!
It baffles me to hear some of you say you do the face and then joint the head. Doesn't all your stuffing fall out or shift when you do that? I have to joint my head right after I stuff it and then do the eyes, nose, then the dreaded ears are last.
I reward myself after each step. I figure tracing and cutting out is one step, pinning them is another step, sewing is yet another step etc.....I make myself a cup o' coffee or treat myself to something small as a reward, or maybe break away from my sewing room for a bit to do a small chore or come here and chat. I could never just sit here for hours on end working...I would go nuts! Maybe thats why my production is so low...hummmm....*laughing*
Shelli...you would DIE in my sewing room! Its always a disater area and it drives me crazy! I call my sewing room "the drop zone". Everyone enters our house through a side door, which of course leads into my sewing room. They leave all their books, backpacks, coats, shoes...you name it, they leave it in here! Every once in awhile I simply go postal and freak out about it, then it stays clean for awhile and then its back to the same ol' same ol'.
I cant stand it when my sewing table is piled with stuff. Im one of those people that when I get on a roll and just go with it and before you know it, you cant even see a desk anymore. Then all of the sudden, I have to stop everything and clean it before I can go on. I keep telling myself, if I clean up as I go, this wouldn't happen.......I never seem to take my own advice though *sigh*
Well, this was my "reward"...back to work I go!
Bear hugs,
Kim
That is hysterical because it is SOOOOOOO true!
Has anybody seen that Verizon commercial where they are sitting at the dinner table and the Dad needs the salt, so he text messages his son, then he needs the ketchup, so he text his daughter.....*laughing* That is, in a round about way, my family. I actually "call" my kids to dinner by picking up the phone!!! Hey, it saves me hollering at them..tee hee
Thanks for sharing
Bear Hugs,
Kim
PS I didnt notice the 9 thing and had to scroll back up too.....
Thank you to all of you who have participated so far! I'm wishing you all LOTS of luck!!!
Bear Hugs,
Kim
Thanks everyone! It should be LOTS of fun, especially if you should win!!!! Whahoooo!
Kim
Hello to all!
I just wanted to do something a little different and fun, so I have come up with the idea of doing a teddy bear raffle for one of my bears.
Please keep in mind this is not associated in any way with TT, just something fun I have decided to do through my website.
Its a very simple concept and very easy to enter if you wish to, as well as a great way to win an artist teddy bear!
I wanted to come up with an idea to enable other artists, bear collectors, and bear friends to win a teddy with a minimal amount of money out of pocket, as well as find sweet little Emmett a new place to call home.
So here is how it works.....
For each $1 entry sent via Pay-Pal, I will enter your name one time into the drawing. If you send $5, you will be entered 5 times, and so on....
(friends-fur-life@comcast.net)
On February 28th at 5pm PST, I will draw one lucky winner and they will be
notified that night. The following day, the bear will be sent and all
shipping costs will be paid by me!
It doesn't get any easier then that, so come on and join the fun!
Who knows....maybe Emmett will be coming to stay with YOU!!!
Here is some info on Emmett:
Emmett is 18" tall and has been made of a tan Schulte mohair with wool felt paw pads.
He has the sweetest face with expressive BIG German glass eyes. His nose and mouth are hand stitched and I have hand painted his facial features in black and brown tones.
He is fully jointed with hardboard discs and locknuts and has been stuffed with a combination of excelsior and pellets.
Emmett like to show off his softer side with a floral print collar under a light green ruffle. I have added burgundy french knots on each point to accent his deep burgundy ribbon.
Emmett is a ONE OF A KIND BEAR!!
Many Thanks & Bear Hugs,
Kim
Hummm...good question! I always just chuck my scraps in a basket with the intention of using them someday, but I never do, or the idea of I may need a small piece for an ear and I will wish I had kept that tiny piece of mohair for such an emergency *smiles* I keep all pieces big enough for an ear...how silly of me!
Normally, I just end up giving them to someone who make small bears.
I dont give my pets the fun furry leftovers either. My sweet little mini dauchshund has been known to run off with an entire head, so stuffed animals of any kind and mohair are a big no-no for my pets.
Lampshade...now that is an interesting concept, but I really like the shoe insert idea. We do a lot of winter camping and even though I have great boots, my toes still get cold! I may have to try that!!
Kim
I 100% agree the market is on the downslope, at least for now. So much so, I sadly think I have to throw in the towel and get a "real job", which will leave little to no time for bears.
Trust me, I have tried to come up with creative ways to market my bears and I tell people about artist bears whenever I can. Most people think when you say "teddy bear", they imagine something similar to a Russ or a Gund or maybe a beanie baby.
Before I started making bears 10 years ago, I had no idea what an artist bear was and I was amazed, and still am, at the work that goes into making them.
I have worked with the Panda Project (pandaproject.org) in promoting awarness to the decline of pandas, I have given bear making demonstrations at my children's school, I have given bears as gifts to teachers and friends, I have advertised in the magazines, I even go so far as to bring my basket of bear stuff with me to work on and pass time when my children have Dentist/Doctor apts. It definately peaks people's interest and they ask questions, but thats about as far as it goes. I have tried to come up with promotions....my latest brain child is a bear raffle, which I will post on a new thread so you can check it out. I honestly dont know how much more I can do! I really want to be in this for the long haul. I thought I had found my nitch and I would be a teddy bear artist forever, but now I am second guessing that. Dont get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE what I do, but if you dont have buyers...............
Im open to ANY suggestions to keep me doing what I love!
Kim
Same for us Aleta
We got about a trace at best, yet the schools had a 2 hour delay...go figure. I guess its the best of both worlds for us parents though...we get to sleep in like its a weekend, yet we still have some quiet work time *smiles*
Oh that explains it...you had it in a hospital cafeteria?? Judi, Judi, Judi...we all know that hospital food/drink is awful! Go to an actual Starbucks and order a white chocolate mocha, non-fat, no whip and NO foam! Yummmmm!!
That is my drink of choice. The frappacinos (sp?) are pretty good too...I like the caramel ones during the summer and hubby likes the strawberry ones, but then again, he hates coffee.
Oh Paula you should try it...its soooo much fun to distress a bear. You never know what your gonna get *smiles* I always distress mine before I cut it out so the worn spots are random. Once the bear is done, I fine tune my worn areas to make him look the way an antique bear would look....
Kim
Hey now...are you all bashing Starbucks?? This is a Starbucks junkie your talkin' to here *smiles* For the holidays, EVERYBODY gets me Starbucks giftcards...Im THAT bad!
Remember, I live in Seattle. The Starbucks capital of the world. If I drive 5 minutes from my house, there is a main interesection and 3 of the 4 corners have a Starbucks on them...we LOVE our coffee!
I get alot of razzing from friends and family about my "habit", but you know what...it paid off for me in a BIG way! I had my second home on the market for 4 YEARS! 4 YEARS of paying double mortgages each month...guess who bought my other house.....yep, thats right, my STARBUCKS barista!! Makes me love Starbucks that much more....*grin*
Hugs,
K
Oh you guys are killin' me here! I cant stop laughing!
Women are the worst when it comes to the bathroom....what slobs! Paper towels everywhere, water dripping off the counter onto the floor....it just makes you wonder if they would you do that in your bathroom at home??
I NEVER touch the door handles of a public restroom.....ackkk, ugghh and a BIG fat ewwww! Paper towel or hand tucked inside the sleeve if they are out of paper towels. That seems to always happen to me...out of TP, toilet seat covers or paper towels, and of course, you never figure it out until its too late!
Kim
Thank you for your compliments on my bear! Im a sucker for a good ol' tattered ted! Love that true blue, well loved and has a million stories to tell, (if only he could talk) look.
Bear Hugs,
Kim
Sandra...you have to say "no foam"....thats what I do. I hate paying for foam...I want coffee, or in your case, hot chocolate.
All VERY valid points ladies! Keep 'em coming and lets hope we all learn something from this.
Humm...whiskers in the sink....ya, thats a big one for me too, and even worse...hair!! GAG!!
*laughing* The last big storm we had here, my husband went out the next morning with his chain saw. We knew there would be TONS of downed trees that we could gather some firewood for next year...well, pretty much all the trees fell on powerlines, so they were a big no-no to touch. We did find a neighborhood that had a tree across their only way in and out so my husband went and knocked on the door of the house that had the majority of the tree laying in their yard. He offered to help them get it out of there and they accepted....He wasn't expecting anything in return...ie: firewood or money. He just does these things to be helpful. Anyways, it was soooooooo cold and windy that day and we were out there for 3 hours while the man of the house and his 16 year old son sat in their house all nice and warm and occasionally came out to see how we were doing....I found it quite humorous, as I could have never done that. My kids were even helping haul off all the limbs of the tree for them. I would have been out there helping had I been the homeowners. The bright side, it turned out that nobody on the street needed wood to burn, so they allowed us to take the whole tree. It was a win-win situation for us, but initially we thought one of the neighbors wanted the wood, which was fine too and hubby continued to cut the tree anyways. Its all about helping other and being kind. I fully believe what comes around, goes around.
Hummm...I have never had the whole grocery store thing happen to me. I'm not quite sure how I would have handled it, but Im sure your housemate had the right idea. Sometimes its better to walk away and request a raincheck, then to cause a scene.
Kim
Ok, we all have 'em, so lets hear 'em! Maybe this will give all of us a clue as to what people dislike about others in general....no bashing other artists allowed!!
1. People who dont say thank you when you hold the door open for them....like its your job to do it...sheesh!
2. People who dont wave a simple thank you when you let them cut in traffic....its so easy to do, everyone should do it!!!
3. Husband who dont know how to load their dirty dishes in an empty dishwasher...arrgghhh!
4. When someone gives away the end of a movie you have been dying to see (Mom if your reading this, your guilty!) *smiles*
5. Cold Starbucks coffee...ugghhh!
6. People who dont have their forms filled out when they go to the post office and tie up the line while doing it right there...The PO is one of my least favorite places to go. I want to be in and out quickly!
7. Boys and the toilet seat...I dont think I need to say anymore
Are you guilty of any of these things?? *grin*
Kim
Aleta, are you getting ready to have a lemon drop or two?? *smiles* Yummy...count me in! I'll bring the lemons!!!
Hugs,
K
Oh Im so jealous!!! I have always wanted to see a moose up close and personal...ok, maybe not that close, but I have never had the opportunity to see one in person *sigh* I lead such a boring life.
Where did you take this photo? Are you lucky enough to have them living close by you?
Signed,
Envious in Seattle
Thanks Tami!
Thats pretty close to the way I did it before, but at that time, I had no idea what sculpting was, so it was just this droopy scarey looking mouth....I wish i still had a pic to share..I know you all would get quite a laugh out of it.
Kim
