Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Congratulations to all the nominees!!  Your work is stunning! :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:
Beth

I am pleased to annonce that Lyn has recieved my swap bear--actually she is a dog. I saw on Lyn's website that she has a Norwich Terrier and a Dachshund. I knew immediatly I just had to make her a Norwich Terrier. Dachshunds are so much more common and so much easier therefore to find items and collectables in that breed. So I knew a Norwich would be a little more special as they are not such a common breed.  I so enjoyed making "Muffin". I would love doing another swap sometime in the future. It was a lot of fun. And getting to know another TT member a little better is great!


Beth

Oh MY GOSH everyone's work is beautiful!! I find it hard to believe many of these fabulous bears weren't nominated as they are gorgeous! My eyes popped out my head when I saw them thinking THAT didn't get nominated?!?!? 
I applaud all the non nominated. Your bears are Fabulous  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:
Beth

My swap partner ( Lyn of Brimbin Forest Bears) and I have sent ours out so they should be arriving soon. We each decided a surprise would be fun so don't know what to expect. I just know it will be fabulous as Lyn does wonderful bears.  I so  enjoyed making my surprise for Lyn. We will post pictures once they have arrived--which should be any day now.
Beth

I went back again today --and this time she was turning clockwise at first! I must have a topsy turvey brain.
Beth

I started anti clockwise but like others as soon as I started reading the text it switched to clockwise. then as soon as I looked back at the text it would switch back and forth and not even go in a complete circle. I must be wacky!
Beth

OOOHHHH! WONDERFUL!! Great detail. 
Beth

Having the gift to be able to create something warm, soft, fuzzy and cute is really wonderful.  I am amazed at myself that I can actually design a bear or dog from scratch and bring it to life. And I truly enjoy it!!! Amazing since I never really cared to sew much before this.  Sewing garments or even quilts just isn't the same. I think it is the aww factor and the feeling that I really am creating a little "life" or personality--something that can be loved and hugged that makes the difference.
When I was a little girl I loved my stuffed animals--WAY more than dolls. Each one had their own individual personality. And now that I can actually create them myself is quite joyful and rewarding.
Beth

It is very frustrating when you have others in your household not be consistent or to not even try to correct a dog when they need to be corrected. Makes training that much more difficult. Though dogs are quite smart at figuring out who is a pushover and who isn't. It would be great if you can get a trainer to come to your home. Make sure that everyone in the household is there for the lessons. Dog training is actually more about training the humans than the dog. In the mean time,
one method at getting them to not jump is to immediatly turn your back to the dog when they try to jump on you. Do not touch the dog as this is what they want. Even if you push them off you that touch is rewarding them. Tell them in a calm voice--no yelling--to sit. Once they do sit you can then pet them. This method teaches the dog that he is not going to get any attention unless he behaves properly. Hopefully your dog already knows the sit command. If not, teach it!! Have your dog sit before she gets anything--- meals, a toy, a treat, petting, to be let out, etc.  Make sure she sits until released too. I use the word Okay to release mine. Have her sit, if she jumps up too soon, tell her " No, sit".  Make sure you always say NO sit, and not just sit, sit, sit. Otherwise she may think she doesn't have to sit until you have said it three or four times.
Always remember to be calm, patient and consistent!!
Your girl is a real beauty! Bernese Mtn dogs are wonderful sweet dogs. Hope these suggestions help!
Beth

OMG The list would go on for days!
I think it would be absolutly wonderful to have at least one bear/dog/critter from every single Teddy talk artist!!! How's that for a wish list?

As far as making one--My dream projects are making my own two dogs. I so want to make my mutt Wookie as a pirate. He would then be Captain Wook. here is a picture I took of him as a pirate pup.

Beth

Happy New Year to you too Maria!  :bday:
I hope you get over the flu very quickly!
I have a cold myself. I'm out of kleenex and using tons of TP! I have one very sore nose!
People have already been lighting off fireworks at 10:30 by my house. My poor dogs are NOT happy. Sienna my Leonberger is especially unhappy and she slunk down to the basement after trying to climb in my lap.
Beth

Oh YEAH!!!!! I  have a piece I wanted to enter but have not had time to get it done. Now I can!
Thanks Sarah!
this will be my first contest. I am excited to be able to enter!
Beth

Merry Christmas to YOU!!! Thank you for all the fantastic cute animal pictures of the day! They always bring a smile to my face and are always greatly appreciated!!!
Beth

Beautiful dogs!  Scotties are cute....and certainly stubborn. But lots of fun!
Beth

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!! It is wonderful that you were asked to be a part of this magazine. You deserve it, as your creations are fantastic!  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:
Beth

Wish i could have been there! Looks like everyone had a marvelous time!
Beth

Oh that is a marvelous book!  Your pictures are wonderful. That is a fantastic Christmas present. I will have to look into these. Such a great idea!!!!!!!!!!
Beth

It is wonderful seeing everyone's decorations.
Unfortunatly I don't have a tree up.
Three years ago I went to put mine up only to have found that ALL my christmas decorations had seemed to vanish. I have yet to find them. It is very depressing as I had some that my Grandmother had made and most of the others we have had since I was a kid, inherited from my mother as she passed away in 1993. I will probably do another search for them this year.
But as I work retail and I don't have kids Christmas isn't really all that fun for me anyway. 
Beth

I am going to try Bid4Bears!!! I find it very exciting that there seems to be a fair number of people willing to give this venue a try. I am just a very small fish in a big pond here as I don't really have a client base built up to bring over but maybe I will have better luck there anyway. My bears don't seem to be selling to well on ebay anyway. My dogs  and other critters do well there but like Krista, I list my dogs in more than just the one category. I will most likely still list my dogs on ebay until I get myself more established--or until they ban me too. But who knows-maybe I will do just as well on B4Bs.   
I am so disapointed with how ebay is treating small sellers. I really really don't understand thier reasoning for trying to get rid of small sellers such as myself. Maybe we don't make them tons of money- but we do make them money. And when you add up all those sellers--there must be hundreds of thousands of us--that seems like quite a bit of money ebay will be losing when we all go away.
But I will gladly go to a site that does want us!
Beth

Bobbie, Thank you for reposting all from your other thread! I am a computer dumm dumm    so didn't know how to get it over to this thread. otherwise I would have as this method is fantastic.
Beth

I am all for going to another site too. Team Bear sounds like a good idea to me.
Beth

I have been wondering about this and apparently others have too. A few of us had begun to discuss it in the open/close eyelids thread. And rather than continuing the conversations there I figured a new thread was in order for the subject.
Would people be interested in getting/giving critques of their work?/ others work? I feel this can be a real asset for us beginners.  I do realize as Bobbie said in the other thread that you need a THICK skin for a true honest critique. But for myself I feel this is one of the best ways to really improve on yourself. Knowing where you need to improve can be so helpful. There are times when you look at your own work--and know something is not right but can't pin down what is wrong. Where someone else might see right off what is wrong.
I used to frequent the art doll scuplture group on ebay and they had a weekly thread for critiques.At first it was merely everyone complimenting others work as they were too scared to give any actual criticism. But eventually There was a scale of critiquing--I don't really remember exactly how it worked but something along the lines of having just one part of a doll critiqued all the way to having everything critiqued-including the actual auction. going that far might not be necessary here.I myself would love to have just the actual bear/animal critiqued--though if my pictures are crummy I would like to know that too.
Now the way Bobbie and Melanie Jayne were discussing would be an even better way as it would be anonymous and private. I'm just not sure how that would be done here. As they had discussed pictures are sent to several anonymous people who then carefully look over the photos and critique away. This sounds great,just not sure how the logistics of it would work. Ideas? comments?
Beth

Rather than continue to hijack this thread lets start a new one for critiquing.  I must say though,Great ideas for Critiquing Bobbie and Melanie !
Beth

I have been curious as to how this is done. I certainly understand someone not wanting to share thier hard earned trade secrets but I also think it doesn't hurt to ask how something is done. I am ever so grateful that us newbies are so lucky to have such a wealth of knowledge to learn from. From all those that do share thier knowledge- :hug:
Of course if you work to figure something out on your own you will feel wonderful for the achievement.
Bobbi, I just had to comment on your bottom of the foot photos. I usually have a close up photo of at least one of my bear's feet in my auctions. I can't say that I am doing this because anyone else is doing it --ie copying someone. Actually I don't really notice other people doing it. It comes from my own personal desire to do so. I used to sculpt art dolls and showing their hands in close up was something I always did as buyers wanted to see how well hands were sculpted.  That habit just naturally switched over to showing my bears/dogs foot.
I don't say this in anger or to ire anyone but just to say that sometimes more than one person can come up with the same sort of idea. 
If mine are flawed so be it. Actually all the better to show it in photos for buyers to see.
Which brings me to a subject that has been on my mind for awhile. Has anyone ever asked for critiques of thier work? The art doll group I used to frequent had a critquing forum. Perhaps I'll make a new topic asking if that is something people would be interested in.
Beth

That is fantastic! I really love the FURniture!! Mine certainly is!
Beth