Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Ebay is going totally insane!! I really don't understand their reasoning for anything anymore. If all the artists have to go elsewhere to sell --ebay won't be making ANY money from us. So they will be making LESS money than they were.   Aren't they in the business to make money?????What is their problem????
Beth

I am so sorry to hear of your losing Harley! It is so sad it had to be on your birthday too. My heart goes out to you! Losing a beloved pet is sooooo hard.

Beth

Iva, what an adorable baby!!!!
Peta, I finally got my info emailed to you just now.
Beth

I had a real disaster yesterday. I had finished a new alpaca Boxer dog and was going to heat set all the airbrushing I did on him. Well I preheated my oven and put in the Boxer. I then went to take a very quick shower. When I opened the bathroom door I smelled something burning! OMG!  I accidently turned the oven to bake instead of turning it off! My poor Boxer had a crispy burned black arm and one of his glass eyes broke in half. The blackened fur just crumbled away when touched. My oven runs hot too. When I opened the door my oven thermometer said 400 Degrees! Way over what I had set it for. I wondered if anyone knows what the highest temp alpaca or mohair can take? What temp does everyone use when heat setting in the oven? Luckily I was able to save the head and body. But I had to start over with his arms, legs and one ear.
Lesson learned: Turn OFF the oven to let item sit in COOLING oven. Don't set to bake to let item COOK in oven!
Beth

Thanks for sharing the wonderful photos! I can't wait for the day when I can actually go to a show. But seeing photos sure is great! So many wonderful bears and critters. You brought home three fabulous critters! I also love those dragons you have!
Beth

I would love to join in on this challenge. I can't make my mind up whether to do a fox that was given to me the day I was born , a bunny I have had for just as long (these two are OLD), or one of the dogs I dearly loved (and still do). So many to choose from. I played and loved stuffed animals much more than dolls. I will take pics when I have a little more time and then maybe I can get help deciding.
Beth

I went out and bought a small beard  trimmer at Wal Mart the other day. It has that little tiny 1/4 head attachment. It works great. Best of all it was on sale and I didn;t even know it. It was only about 16.00 including tax! I had been trimming with just my fiskars scissors. So time consuming. This little trimmer makes it a much speedier job.
Beth

What a marvelous piece!!! Congratulations on the nomination! Looks like a winner to me! :clap:  :clap:  :clap:
Beth

This new way is not better for anyone! I wondered why the same listing seems to appear over and over on the same page. I don't mind seeing a listing twice the old way--with the first being on the first page and then the second later perhaps several pages later. But I find it ANNOYING to see the same thing just two listings apart. and I certainly don't think it is worth $25 extra to have your listing show up like that.  Ebay is getting really stupid if they think people will pay extra for that! They are going to lose money that way. How is that better?
Beth

He is a sweet looking pup! He does look like he has Great Dane in him.
If you do a DNA test I would NOT recommend doing one from BioPet Vet Lab/Biotech corporation. It was sold in the store I work at and has had lots of complaints. The owner of the store did her dog and the results seemed totally wrong. She gave me one to do on my Leonberger to see how it would come out. As Leonbergers are rare breeds and not in BioPets data base. It should have showed Saint Bernard, Great Pyrenees and Newfie as those are the breeds that were originally used to make the Leonberger. Well the test said she was Great Dane, Westie, Pug, Irish Setter, Yorkie and Beagle!  Seems like they just threw darts at a chart to come up with that!
From my understanding the blood test type of Dna testing is more accurate than the cheek swab. More expensive but more accurate.
Beth

Sounds like fun to me! I would love to join in. I too think a Feb/March deadline would be best. 
Beth

Gorgeous photos! We mainly just have yellows here in the mountains--Aspen wich are beautiful but I would love to see the fall back east again! Those reds are stunning!! We do have some beautiful red maple trees throughout the city but not that many. I just ooh and ahh over the few I do see.
Debra, A sleepover in Vermont would me marvelous!!!!
I do love the fall!!!
Beth

Wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing them. Looks like there were lots and lots of fabulous bears.
I wish there was a good Teddy bear show near me. They look like such fun!
Beth

She is adorable! I LOVE her name. I always love hearing unusual names.
Hope your chest infection doesn't last long! That can be very tiring. Good thing puppies take lots of naps.
Beth

I highly recommend the Halti or Gentle Leader over a choke chain. Most people really don't know how to use a choke chain properly and they can cause damage to a dog's throat. If a dog is choking and pulling with a choke chain it is not being used properly. As Debbie said you need to pop and RELEASE immediatly. It is that release part that most people have a hard time with. And as she said the collar MUST be on correctly. If it is on backwards it wont release and will only choke. Try putting the collar on your own left arm. If you pull and release and it doesn't loosen immediatly it is on backwards.
On the other hand I do  think you should talk to the dog while training. Give the command only once but do talk to the dog with lots of encouragement.
Most dogs hate the Gentle Leader or Halti but eventually get used to it. My Leonberger is 7 and still tries to rub it off but she knows that she has to wear it to go for a walk. My other dog acted like a bucking bronco the first time he wore it. I thought he would never get used to it! But to my surprise the very next day he was perfectly calm and never had any trouble with him wearing it since!
And the dog whisperer is right--it is harder to train the human than the dog. I was a dog trainer in the past and found that to be sooo true. Give a dog to a stranger and he will usually work better for the stranger than the owner. Good Dog training is actually training the owner how to train the dog.
Good luck with Dakota! The best advice is to always be calm, patient and consistent!!
Beth

Oh that is marvelous!!
Beth

If ebay wants to have a site mainly for wholesalers why didn't they just make a new site for that instead of trying to drive everyone else out? That way they could have had their cake and eat it too. It could have still been linked to the ebay name.  What total stupidity!!!!
I haven't tried Bid4Bears yet--I am pretty new to the teddy bear scene but I think I will try it.
Beth

AWWWWWW!!! such a cute puppy! Berners are such sweet dogs.  Makes me want another puppy!! But I already have 2 dogs
I've got a Leonberger so know what it's like to have a REALLY big dog--with LOTS of hair. Though most Bernese Mtn dogs have more hair than Leonbergers. I can attest to that from what I see and deal with at the self service pet wash I work at.  My other dog is a mutt that is supposed to be a Great Pyrenees mix but he is not that big. He is about half the size of my Leo.
I bet you are having loads of fun with Dakota!!!
Beth

WOO HOO!!! Congratulations Krista!! Major certainly is fantastic!  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:
Beth

Frodo is such an adorable pup! I swear when I was looking at one of his pictures his tail wagged.
Makes me want to hold a pup in my arms and cuddle up to a little pup again. My two dogs are way too big to cuddle in my lap. Though Sienna my Leonberger did try to get in my lap while I was trying to put my shoes on today and gave me a great big furry doggy bear hug. 
Beth

Oh what a wonderful tip!! I am going to try that as I keep buying synthetics even though I like working with mohair so much more. 
Thanks Laura!!!!!

Beth

You did a superb job on this mural! I am a big Star Wars fan too. BRAVO!!!!
Beth

What wonderful pictures!!! I love them all!
Beth

I am a beginner at this . I felt lucky to get one done a week but I am getting faster. Faster and better. I look at my some of my first bears and want to redo half of them.  I don't make new patterns for everything but as I don't have too many yet I find I am making  a new one every couple of bears. And am finding I will pretty much have to start from scratch for most dogs as they can all be so different. But I am having fun experimenting with making different patterns. and am so happy when one works!
I work a 40 hour job so do most of my sewing on one of my days off. Then I work evenings at stuffing, jointing etc. And I take whatever I am working on to work to work on on my breaks. I don't usually get much done there but every little bit helps.
Beth

Judi You do the most amazing work!!! This little tiger looks sooo real! His face is superb!!! I too have looked into the face of a tiger--actually years ago I took a course on exotic animal training so I was very up close and personal. I did such things as taking an adult tiger for a walk and run and playing hide and seek in the woods with a tiger cub. That was fun!!
I love your picture of the lamb with the tiger! It would have been fun to see your dog reacting to him too! It is no wonder the dog reacted as the tiger looks so real!!
Beth