Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Dilu... Are you talking about the Lincoln Teddy Bear Convention held every year on the coast in Oregon? I go every year ..Oh .. that would be neat meeting more teddy friends !.........Winney

Oh,,,I'd love to see him Judi.....I am getting slowly attached to those quirky little bears.... Winney

Yes...and Judi, quit putting up this CUTE CUTE CUTE bears for you avatar...now, I WANT THAT ONE TOO !!! Oh, am I shouting ? Sorry, can't control myself, he's to die for, what a face ! He wants me, does that help ?....Winney

Oh,,,I'd love to see him Judi.....I am getting slowly attached to those quirky little bears.... Winney

Hmmm, this need some real research...might go to the different brand named art pencil web sites and read up on just what their pencils do. I should think some types could be heat set with a blow dryer ? Of course they probably don't know what to advise for bears, but.............

Idea !!! What do fabric doll users use ? They have to not only be color fast but after all that work they would not want any of it to rub off .... A good place to ask is at Crafty Cottage or Sisters and Daughters web sites...Winney

Wonderful idea....I think there will always be collectors because... new collectors are being born everyday. It's just me that gets older, LOL.... so I become an old bear maker.
New trends. Yes I have just recently " caught on" that there has been a new trend going on...those big headed bears that look like caratures, they are like the Japanese " poor kitty "  cartoon figure. OK...so I just got one of my ted magazines that featured this kind on bear art.Maybe even some of us make these kind of bears ? Oh and the recent needle felted bear is another kind.

I have been making bears since 1979 so I have noticed the  genealogy in bear trends...
antique, country,folk bears,  floppy, realistic, polars, the sculpted nose, shaded faces,  tea dyed, batike, hand dyed,  rainbow,  distressed,diffrent bear pads, armatures, pandas, colored or hand painted eyes, real fur bears, other fabric memory bears , bunnies and elephants, needle felted , on and on. I have ted magazines that go way back...if I looked thru them I could probably get the trend genealogy in order. Whew !

I am sure bear artists will always be coming up with something new, just when we think that everthing has already been done.... a new kind of bear  appears and we marvel...Oh, I love it ! now, why didn't I think of that ?

I believe this is some of what drives the collectors search; quality, creativeness..and that something else that sets the work apart from the usual....uniqueness. If you do what you love, follow your own star , no one elses work is quite like your own , you can develope your own uniqueness because it's already in you....Winney

Good topic Shelli ...me toooooooooo ......... Winney

I forgot to say..I was working on tinting a bear's embroidered ( reg. thread)  yesterday with watered down acrylic and discovered DON"T use a stiff brush to apply it because it brings up the " fuzzies ". It's either from the floss or the felt under the floss messing things up on what would have been one of the best nose I have ever made...Agh !

I also figured that I may need to do 2 layers of embrodiery floss using  dots of Elmers pen glue to stick down the first layer so it cannot " seperate " to alllow any  ( felt ?) fuzzies to come up to the surface AND use very little glue on the second layer, mainly on the top and bottom EDGES only....worth a try.

If I use oil pastels on the nose to shade I know that the oil refuses to stick to the nose in places where there is any glue exposed....even if that area is real small it shows up like a sore thumb after it is shaded ...Agh  again ! 

Try everything is my motto...altho that takes a bunch of time away from producing anything for sale it is time well spent to know what you can do with various materials...............Winney

Hi Shelli, We had this discussion some time ago about oil compared to acrylic...
I don't use either " paint" but am using the oil pastels right now.I want to experiment with the pencils too...hmmm, I'm not sure but I think they make oil pencils too??? I'd have to go to a regular art store and see.

I know when acrylic paint DRYS you can't get it of with anything , it's there forever ....unless they have made a remover since I have painted with them. There is a cleaning solution for removing acrylic "set up "paint on you rbrushes....this may work on other items.

They do make a retarder so if you need to extend the drying time for blending you can...
If you dropped a head into a pile of acrylic as long as the paint is still wet all you have  to do is rinse the head off.

They act the same way as oils when you are painting and you can thin the paint to a watercolor consistancy with either water or gel medium that is sold along the paints at the store. There is  no odor at all with acrylics.
The only way to see first hand on how they really  compare is to test them for your self.. I'd like to test all the various products we talk about for shading , some may be best for some applications and others may work best for other applications... Winney

Wahoo !! Your welcome beary much !:D When in doubt I can always figure out something ...usually by doing the strangest of things to get what I want....even if it means doing it over and over and over again  ....... Winney

My favorite part is....fussing over the face. Clipping, needlesculpting, shading,making the lids ( recently) oh yes..painting those eyes and now...even embroidering that nose, practice. practice...it's getting better and better...yahoooooo. I like creating the face and coaxing that little critter to life...so I talk to him while I am doing it , even if it is telepathic,he can hear me or should I say...he can feel me. Stange goings on here..LOL...Winney

Hey..I have  an idea how you can get that... maybe...Do the arm shape in muslin with the front / top side  of the
" hand " just the size you want it...OK?.stuff it then.... looking at the "pad " side draw the paw shape  the size you want with a  felt tip marker ..OK???
Isn't this method an original ? LOL...IT's my crazy way.... Well all you gotta do now is add a seam to both pieces, the pad and the pad hole. Will that work ?.........Winney

Hi Sue..No, quit slamming that bear Sue !, LOL
Yes..I had the same problem..what I do is put down a layer of wool felt first in the foot, it helps to obscure the cardboard line.try two pieces if you need to you can glue them all together to keep any layer from shifting. Do whatever works for you.

I make 20" tall fashion bears and they do need to stand up to model their attitude off, LOL.  I put a layer of felt in the feet and then zinc coated BB's . I found if I put BB's only up to the ankels..she buckles on me right there at that point so...I read recently to fill 1/3 of the leg up ....that will probably work real well except BB's get quite expensive so.... I plan to try a combination mix with poly pellets too. The BB's will probably end up in the feet eventually  as they are heavier than poly pellets. Oh yes...line the leg with muslin for added protection ...Winney