Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Holey moley, those displays are gorgeous!!! I want to reach into my monitor and touch them. Beautiful!!!!!

omigosh that is the cutest little doggie ever. 

We never go out. My husband is a police detective and usually on-call or working. But at home we each choose a flavor of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and it's a "free" night to eat it all...if you want. Sounds silly, but the kids love it and think they are really getting away with something.

That rabbit is gorgeous!!!

My bears are very small (about 3") and they are solid 100% needlefelted wool. No fillers or base.

When you say you hear of people using styrofoam for a base, I believe you are thinking of what we set on the table when stabbing the wool into itself. You need to felt on something or you will stab the table, your hand or leg.

When I am needlefelting an arm they are only about  1/4 inch in thickness and the needle will come out the back of the arm. That needle needs someplace to go and the styrofoam cube or sponge is the "tabletop."

I know this is a teddy bear site. But when I stumbled upon the works of this woman I almost fell out of my chair. She kindly left a comment about my bears so I instantly looked at her photos. Amazing work. Her sculpture is a must see, especially the tiny babies...out of this world!

Cynthia Malbon
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78071935@N … 532516912/

That is crazy scary! Thank God you are all okay. :pray:  :pray:  :pray:

That is the cutest little bear! I love that face, great expression.  :dance:

I would like to make a jointed mohair and distress the crud out of it. I always drool over the bears I see on here that are made to look vintage. They are spectacular. I would love to try it. It would be scary to start ripping out fur.

LOL! That reminds me of another bad gift. A boyfriend in college gave me an xacto knife with a swivel blade. I should have stabbed him with it.

j/k 

I got a luggage set when I turned 9. I thought it was a hint.   

Yes, I bought one when I was 30. I was pregnant and bought it to put in my daughters room. She never grew attached to it and let me have it back when she was about 8. It sits on a dresser next to my bed. I love that thing!

I wanted a Winnie the Pooh bear with the red shirt and "Pooh" embroidered on the front.

I got a pretend cash register the Christmas I was 5 years old. After I opened it I realized it was broken.    I was very sad since I really wanted it. My mom took it back and let me pick out another gift. They didn't have any more cash registers so I got a Breyer horsehttp://www.breyerhorses.com/.  I remember looking around the store and spotting that little horse on the counter. That was 1972. I got one every Christmas and birthday for many years. I have enjoyed collecting these gems for 35 years and have over 150 pieces. I still add a new horse now and then.

Holy COW! That is awesome. I would love it if my child made something like that at school. My daughter (10 years old) has made several pottery items that I have hung on the wall. I love them so much. Art is really dying in the schools here in the US, which is so incredibly sad.

I don't. I read them, then cut them up for gift tags. It's kinda cool that I still have a gift tag from 1976 that my mom still puts on my gifts. I do save the photos though.

I am in the middle of the last Harry Potter.

I love to read true adventure books...Touching the Void, Into Thin Air, Seven Summits...(all about Mt. Everest).

Unbelievable. The British government needs to drop a helicopter and rescue that poor woman. They need to  get in there in for a few seconds at gunpoint, grab her back and take her home.

Well I made the cupcake before I read the last post...oh well.

So I made this Christmas rabbit and took a picture. Then I made glasses for him but didn't take a picture because the sun went down. So I photoshopped some spectacles on the rabbit to give you an idea, the real ones look much better. He's 2 1/4 inches tall without his ears. My question is...do I make a cupcake for this little guy? I am not sure if he needs a cupcake. Thoughts?

Our outlet mall opened at 12 midnight (150 stores). I shopped until 3:45am and then went home to sleep.

About five years ago I saw Jennifer Murphy profiled in Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine. I had NO IDEA there were artists making such beautiful pieces that were available to buy. I had only seen mediocre bears at craft shows that sold for about $20. I wasn't even aware there was an entire world dedicated to the artistry of handmade teddy bears. I was already needlefelting at the time but I had no idea that this world of handmade teddy bear making even existed. I loved the article in Home Companion and subscribed to that magazine after that. I liked that it always profiled a new artist every month.  It was that article that opened up the world of handmade teddy bears and spurred me to jump on the internet and start poking around.

Holey Moley! It was 87 degrees here in Austin, Texas! Low humidity and gorgeous.

Thank you for not leaving! I love all your posts and have always enjoyed reading them. Thank you for all the inspiration!

Is the cost to replace my entire air conditioning unit in my house. Currently it's 90 degrees INSIDE my house and the humidity is enough to make the bread sweat. I was hoping the unit could be fixed. But that's not the case this time. The unit is seven years old. Yes...a mere SEVEN years old. Our home was built in 2000. All warranties have expired. Needless to say, I am very cranky, sweaty, and uncreative. 

I guess on the flipside, we are getting one of the best A/C units that will be zoned for up and downstairs, have a humidity monitor and cut our monthly cooling bill in half. Which will be nice because we were paying close to $400 a month, which is ridiculous. And in Texas, you run your A/C 9 months out of the year.

So I just wanted to vent that I have to be sweaty for another 3 days and Amana A/C units suck.

I agree with Kelly. It's not people being cheap, they really want the item. I bid (and lost) on a Walton's lunchbox from the 70's so many times I was getting upset. Thing is, it had a sentimental value to me and I could not afford over $100 for that dang box. My husband thought I was nuts. I must have done six auctions before I won a Walton's lunchbox. I ended up getting one without a thermos and in "fair" condition for around $70. I know other folks do big business with vintage lunchboxes but I just wanted it for myself to sit on my shelf and remember my glorious elementary school days.