Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I have some books with Lisas work in them, wonderful ! I do have many , many other doll books by various teachers like for one,  Jack Johnson, he sculpts the face, hands, shoes, etc.... but does a realistic body with armature using the heavier knit...There are many kinds of knits to try.
I met lots of doll artists at the big Anaheim show I use to go to,I even met one from Holland  that made felt dolls like the Linci's.... there was so much there to see it was brain overload...but I loved it ..
That doll maker was very dissapointed in the show that year, she did not speak our language but her German friend spoke both languages.( She has a shp in Germany)  She was very interested ( almost desperate ) in making bears so I explained how they were put together, drew pictures of the joints, etc., gave her the suppliers , my address, etc..

I like Mimi Wimmers work too, she has a web site and carries the doll knit and other items. Sister and Daughters web site I think has classes. I use to make dolls too.. I love the realistic dolls, mermaids and fantasy stuff and the animals too. There are many materials that can cross over for bears as you see Laura has some sculpted character bears that are fun ! Lots of dolls now include mixed media and I do believe bears have been leaning that way more and more in recent years. I have seen the bear artistry move into diffrent directions and become more complex over the years and that is certainly wonderful. We have so many different materials to choose from to create that bear or critter with...we are only limited by our imagination !....Winney

Oh Kim. Now, no one ever babbles around here , he, he,.

I do the same thing, I made myself a "Teddy Artist Log " where I keep track of all those teds just like you do. My bears all have their own registry # which is the day they were born/ finished. ....Winney

Laura, her work is awesome... I have that book, wish I could afford to buy all her books. Her work is so above most anyone elses...its just incrediable...
I have some cotton knit , mohair fabric may be too restrictive as my critters are small. I want the fabric to really give  me the flexability to push or pull it into any shape I need.....sounds like cotton knit or panty hose or maybe even go to a sculpted face  ?
I can't think of anything else...except maybe shell light ultrasuede but that would not be as flexable as cotton knit....I need to also be able to dye it and hand color with color pencils or somethimg like them...Hey, just having someone to bounce ideas off of helps.... I'll take any helpful ideas I can around here !.... Winney

Practicing on cheaper Wally world bears or goodwill bears is a great idea for any kind of facial coloring or painting you want to test or practice skills on...great idea ! ....Winney

If you were going  to make a critter that has a mohair body with a needle sculpted fabric face what kind of fabric do you think would needle sculpt really well ? ......Winney

Oh yes...a taxidermist told me to " NEVER use mink oil on real fur" it will only serve to gum and yuck the whole dang thing up. Mink oil is for boots !..Winney

Hold it on the ironing...I don't know how they did the" glazing" but I was told it's " like" ironing the fur???
I don't think this is something I'd do to a pelt...it may heat up the skin part too much ?? Heck...we need an expert here   OH NANCY  !!!! HELP !!!!!! ...Winney

I used to be Loretta Winney...now I am Loretta Rock.
The name for my business is Winney Bears and Friends by Loretta W. Rock ...  my  bear business nick name I am called  Winney............Winney

I met a bear artist at the Lincoln Coast Oregon show...she makes tiney teensy bears ....even one so tiny it fits in a lipstick container..she told us she sews them all on a machine...AMAZING !!! The only way I can figure out that is the tinest ones are made from ultrasuede , probably the thinnest one... " shell light" ...then she must sew the outlined bear then cut it out. I use to do it this way when I use to make 5" felt mice , some of my mice were velour...Winney

Well...I sure did that wrong ...I ment to only quote that part in the box..he, he...I am interested in a good basic photo shop program. I have some software that came with my Fuji camera and another for Family Tree Maker.. and yet another that came with my Epson cheapie scanner... I do use the Fuji program right now ...Winney

I make other things besides bears too..like Sculpted Santas ( just started at this) and I make other critters like many artists do.
For 20 years or so my business name was Winney's Little Friends.  I remarried so now my last name is Rock . I really did not want to change my business name as many customers knew me as Winey but it also would be confusing and too long to say " Winney's Little Friend's by Loretta Rock "...didn't sound right, I mean now they will wonder who is Winney if she is Loretta Rock ?
Another problem is, when I started there were few bear makers...now there are tons, doing a  web site search someone already has Little Friends, a mouse maker.
My kids did not want me to change my business name because Winney is cuter sounding for bears than Rock.

OK...What to do ? I finally settled  on " Winney Bears and Friends by Loretta W. Rock. or...for short Winneybears and I go by the nick name of Winney. Whew ! Do you know it took me years to finally settle on this?...Winney

Hmmm, Just want to throw some questions in here about real fur ....heat, I understand to bring real fur back into the shiny condition that the furrier somehow "irons " the fur, it's called glazing. It would be good to get Nancy Tilburgs input  on this, her dad was a furrier.
I have heard that silk paints are a good choice to air brush real fur bears..I think it is more of a dye .

I know I have read that some artists have used the silk flower spray paint...oh, yes that would be the lady that made the Rainbow bear famous...Sally Winey. Ok, but she sprayed mohair bears not real fur, and it is for overall color and not like airbrushed for controlled areas of paint.

The last thing I will mention is their are some pet spray colors called "Pet Silk", you can do a Google search. It is for pets who have real fur like pelts...however I do not have any feed back on this from anyone that has tried it. I know Nancy Tilburg was going to try it , Id like to too just to see how it works but again it is for overall color...Winney

Clever Dilu..using a straw to blow up the bag...Winney

LOve him..he really has character , love his cute face and the body shapes come off as a little cubby boy...Winney

This topic is exactly what I wanted to read about...as I am making a small vintage type baby but..he won't be distressed too much as this one was taken care of, he, he....

Use a foot grader...on the fur to wear some bald spots in it...( that thing is for feet, looks like a cheese grader).
Some people make the bear first then distress it...when you think about it, that's the way old bears got distressed.

Using tea bags by hand  here and there for stained spots works ...I heard coffee grounds makes a different color.Let it dry naturally on the made up bear....

This comes out of one of my books;

Boot button eyes can be made by sanding them all over with emery paper( nail  board) to rough up the surface then give them a sealing coat of varnish diluted with an equal amount of white spirit, let dry over night. I think I'd stick with acrylic varnish..it's a lot faster.

Worn patches of fur usually on the head, arm ,chest areas. You can shave the fur with small pointed scissors, snip it away a little at a time until it appears as you want..always clip in the direction of the fur.
I will add the ears especially get worn so plucking them will do here...dangeling threads work too with an odd color of a old repair that came loose.

The addition of one or two felt patches OVER the original ones...Don't try to match the colors exactly and don't stitch them on real neat ...you want them to be noticable but not too glaringly so ...put the patches where obvious wear would normally be.

Worn bears that have seen a lot of use often have a repaired seam or seams. Use an overly too thick thread or wool in a slightly prominant color, take uneven stitches to give the effect of a rushed repair..(I have seen ears like this too)

General discoloration of a sort that comes with age especially on lighter mohair. How to simulate this is to sharpen a soft pencil into a saucer , remove the wood shavings and leave the graphite . This can be scrushed with the bowl of a spoon. Use your fingertip, apply very small amounts to an area gently in small circular movements...gradually increase the movement size to blend in the discoloration with the other surrounding areas.

The nose...Over many years the emb. nose will be unravelled and need repair so simulate this by emb. the nose sort of unevenly , with irregular gaps in the threads...don't exaggerate the effect as it will look less convincing.

I read to stuff the limbs around the joints and pads  as usual  with polyester.... then add a small amount pellets to the middle section between the polyester.
Stuff the neck and shoulder area  with polyester just enough to support the arms and head .

I have heard some artists stuff mainly with excelsier..I use the fine excelsier in the nose to make it rock hard to support nose emb. ...but exceilser comes in regular size too. When an excelsier bear gets old they get scrunchy and really sag...so I asume you could simulate this by beating  up your poor bear...give him lots of " drop kicks " . If you have small boys in your house they could help... Winney

I know what you mean..I was on this morn  and read all of the posts..now, it's 5:14 and there's a bunch more !
                                                                                                                    .............Winney

Great tips Shelli... I was just going to suggest including the shipping to the total  cost of the bear.. Neat thing to hit the newspaper office up for such cheap packing materials.

I was surprised to find that most printers of business cards , etc .will practically give away the " falldown " card stock from trimming cards ..they have so much of it they usually just throw it away..so why not ask for it? I have a bunch I have used for everything from garage sales to phone notes to neat hand  made cards my grandkids make to  bear tags...I bought 3 different pairs of craft scissors at Michael's to cut fancy edges on my tags..pretty.

I want to mention too a neat  package idea I saw at a bear show. A bear maker made some custome made bear bags for her customers to take their bear home in. Her bears were the country / antique type. She bought plain brown paper bags with the handle...then she cut some shapes like bears , etc. out of a potato and used the folk type paint ( acrylic) and potatoe stamped colored  bears onto the bags...she used red and blue .Then tied several strands of  shreaded raffia onto the handle to make a bow along with her business card (punched hole to tie on) ... is that clever or what ? Reason I mentioned it is because your bears are an antique type....Winney

Yikes ! I have to do that too...deleate the temp. files , they can fill up real fast. I had planed to do this every FRi. or Mon.  but you know...I get busy doing" stuff ". Oh it's so nice to hear we are all missed, by golly I feel the same way about my PC and this board and my ted friends, can't live with you all...Good to have you back Dilu...Winney

Marion, here's another  one for gaining confidence in places where no one knows you...

"Walk in there like you own the place " no one will even know the difference. Just try it once for fun , let's say in a strange resterant. People may stare but just stare back and SMILE...no one will know what you are up to...he, he,
                                                                                                     
Oh Laura...you picture is back up ! I love it...that bear is so exuberantly silly , shows the playful side of you and I believe it has a tad bit of your eyes ! Good sculpt and very unusual bear.... are you keeping her ?
I have a few bear heads I sculpted, my family said " Hey mom, look just like a baby seal ".I think I need more practice.... Winney

Yup...the permanant markers do bleed into you fabric if you use fray check but.....I found this out accidently as I was reading the back of the fray check bottle...you can remove fray check with alcohol ! NOw, why would I want to fo that ? I didn't at the time except....story coming here;

I made my grandaughter a cute easter dress, green grasses with bunnies and colored eggs all over it with a big white cross over collar with lace on the edge. It came out prefectly except...I marked the buttonholes down the front with a fine perm marker ( I could not see for the print was busy) and then made the white button holes over the marks.
Eyerything was OK until I thought ; " Ya know how kids wear out buttonholes, better fray check them ".

So..I fray checked them good...Oh NO !...up came the marker ink and turned the botton holes gray ...Yuck !
So I laid the dress onto a white towel on the ironing board then doused the butonholes with alcohol then rubbing gently with a another old white kitchen towel  and ...PRESTO ! all the ink came out and onto the toweling
! Well..I was amazed but very happy . I waited til the holes dried then fray checked them again...You would never have noticed anything happened to the dress.... Winney

Jane ...that bear has your eyebrows !  He has a wonderful open mouth .Wish I had your curls too...Winney

Hey Penny, You are 35 and still having zits? That's what I thought I had when I was about 25...went to the dermatoligist and he called it " adult Acne ". He said its usually the adult women that get it  because what causes it most of the time is ...women like to put on the moisturizer on  to banish wrinkles but they don't do the other 2 things that make for healthy clear skin.
Another thing is many women ( like me ) the skin dosn't get rid of the top skin cells ( slough off ) like it should so...they get a build up of dead cells on top  and underneath the skin breaks out ,looks awful...Here's what he told me;

The 3 parts to healthy clear skin are...Clean with a non irritating facial soap or cleaner
                                                      Remove the dead skin cells  then rinse with plenty of water
                                                      Moisturize

HOw to remove the cells...Get a small facial scrubbi pad , use with the soap and GENTLY move it in circles all over the face . I say gently because I did this once and ended up with " rug burn ".Then rinse with plenty of luke warm water and pat dry.

I do this once every 2 days if I have not done it for awhile then I do it once a week. Wowl.. you will really notice how much better your face feels and how soft it is , it looks more youthful too.I use Clariton facial soap, lasts a very long time.
Penny...if this is not your problem then you may  have an allergy...milk does terrible purple and red zits to the face if you are allergic to any milk products. My son insists on keeping his runny nose and sinus problems and some zits every now and then ....,,,because he has to have his ice cream ! LOl... Winney

Yes orange too...how did I forget that? and yellow too ....let's get out the paints !...Winney

$10. to $15 per inch. for the bear only, add more for accessories and the time to make them.

Don't forget, it often takes as long to make clothes as it does to make the bear so if you are adding clothes, figure it out first before you do it so you can see what it costs, material and labor. It may work out better if you can modify the clothes in some way to cut down on costs and still have a nice bear in the end.
I make fashion bears fully dressed and found I had to modify the costume so it isn't so time consuming in order to keep the finished bear within a certain price range....Winney