Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
I didn't see auto solve either! 
That's okay though, I like putting puzzles together. Jigsaw puzzles are good for your brain too!
Great pic and fun puzzle. Thanks Deb. I can see myself getting addicted to this site too. 
:dance: 
He is completely delightful and very well made. I love his outfit! Patsy made it herself, except for the coat and boots. He is dressed as a rider in his Drizabone (coat) and Akubra (hat). (I think I have that right) He even has a stock whip which Patsy made for him.
He came with some other fun goodies too - a lovely ATC, some really cool buttons and nifty little australian do-dads, a teddy bookmark, a calender featuring Austalian Icons, and a poem The Man from Snowy River by Andrew Barton "Banjo" Peterson, here is a link if you'd like to read the poem:
http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words … river.html
THANK YOU PATSY! :hug:
Wow, what great creations everyone! Louise, Sophia Lynn looks real. I am always so impressed with everyone's talent no matter what the subject.
In the past I have made some funny little dolls out of gourds and paperclay. Sadly, I don't have them anymore and I can't find any pictures. I think I must have lost them when my computer crashed last year. 
Oh well, they were silly little things anyway.
Oh and another thing I hate, is when you go to get your drivers license re-newed and the person asks you if all the info on it is still the same, you say yes and then they look at it and linger on the weight part, OK so I have not changed it since I was in high school and weighed 100 lbs, and yes my weight has got up a little, OK OK A LOT, the sad thing is if I ever get in a wreck they will look at the ID and go "boy there must be someone else hurt because this ID is for a little bit of a thing, I don't know who this fat whale is that's hurt" Ok I decided I didn't want to go nameless, I reluctantly told her "Oh yeah my weight has changed,.......I weigh 101
:crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
Jodi you crack me up!
That is a great picture, I love it. It looks very cold though, brrrrrr! Winter has arrived in earnest here too - snow, ice single digit temps and all. Yuck 
What were we saying not to long ago about how MILD the weather was???? Ha!
I don't know how you bent those rainbows Bonnie and Lynne,
Um, I don't think you could call what I did bending it so much as warping it! 
I tried all kinds of things in PSE and I'm sure there is a way to do it properly but I couldn't figure it out. Finally I went to FILTER > DISTORT > LIQUIFY - Then I made my brush really big so it covered nearly the entire rainbow and pulled it to the side. Sloppy but the best I could come up with.
If someone knows the proper way to do it I would really like to learn!
What a gorgeous view you have Sarah Jane! And to have wild cockatoos in you yard seems quite exotic to this winterbound American! How funny that they don't like sharing their tree! I suppose possums eat eggs though, so not so funny after all. I love these little glimpses of life in other places. Thank you for posting! 
I agree that shill bidding is absolutely wrong. Period.
Bidding by relatives, if they are bidding with the intent to buy is NOT shill bidding. I guess I can see why ebay has implemented this rule but I don't agree with it. My relatives don't have information on my bears that the general public doesn't have, certainly no "inside information" on my bears. I can't even think what that information might be (?!) or why it would affect the auction? It's not like we're trading stocks here.
So far I haven't had a bear reach $200 but I hate the idea of being forced to use what amounts to a private auctions whether I like it or not. In my personal opinion, I don't think it was a good move on ebay's part. It may be a bandaide for one problem but promotes other problems.
Still, in spite of it's problems, I will continue to use ebay for the wide audience it has. BUT I think Bid for Bears is a great alternative to the ebay monster and I'm going to do my best to have a least a couple creations to put up during the upcoming promotion. I would really like to see B4B do well!
These challenges are always so much fun. Fun to do, fun to see what everyone else has done, fun to read about orange poopies.....
Here is my digital effort. Now for a bear.... that will take a bit longer I fear....
I use right-click to open a link in a new window. That way, I can continue
reading the previous page while the next one loads. I use it ALL THE TIME.
I so this too to optimize my computer time with my slow dial-up. I HATE no right click. I use it a LOT and NOT to steal photos!
I have my dial-up set to load pictures at a very low quality (very fuzzy and minimal colors) to help speed up page loading. I use right click to "refresh picture at full quality" on pictures I actually want to see. (Like beautiful bear photos!) If I don't have right click capability I can't see your photos unless I refresh the entire page which, if it has many graphics, takes ages and I usually don't bother. Sometimes that doesn't even work because my connection on that page will time out before the entire photo loads and I wind up with just a little strip of it. 
aargh! Very frustrating. And time consuming.
I realize those of still forced to live in the digital dark ages with dial-up may be in the minority but it's something to consider.
Teddy Talk is like having your own computer teacher.....It makes life so much easier when you have the right knowledge.
Isn't that the truth!
A screenshot is an image of your screen - you can take one anytime if you just
press Alt + PrintScreen (usually on the upper right of the keyboard)
Aha! I've always wondered how you did that! I knew it must be something simple but never needed to do it so never ask. Thanks teacher! 
What a wonderful cover and a gorgeous bear! YaY for you!! :hug:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
:crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
Too funny and so true! Yep, I'm part of the 80% that sent this onward to friends and family. 
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Jelly bean is adorable Kim. I can hardly wait to see the Schnoozlebee Bears that go with all those yummy looking noses!
LOL! Good one Charlotte! 
WOW! Amazing is the work all right. I wonder how long it take the artist to do one hand?
I saw something similar once before only the artist would paint people stomachs. It stuck in my mind because he liked to paint pregant women's tummys as basketballs, watermelons, etc. too funny.
Thanks for posting these Sonya. They are a lot of fun.
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
I'm so glad your husband is doing better and things are sunnier for you now.
Big congratulations!! :hug: :hug:
Good grief. Talk about sore losers!
Mindy, I'm sorry you were the target of such an undeserved and downright ridiculous attack.
Aleta put it so very well:
I've been sitting here for the better part of a half an hour trying to think of something wise and politically correct to say. However, my anger that someone has accused you, Mindy Kinsey, of such rubbish has me seething. Not only is it a dart at you and the magazine but it's a dart at my work and all those from TT who've been nominated.....and even those who weren't. To suggest that any one of us might have been nominated just because we all belong to a teddy bear forum. HOW DARE THEY!!
I didn't enter any contests this year and joked about it in another thread but seriously there was a very good reason for it. I took a good look at past competition winners and some of the outstanding work being produced here on TT. Then I took a good hard, honest look at my own work. Now I think my bears are good (otherwise I wouldn't even attempt to sell them) but are they 'outstanding'? I constantly strive to excell and improve, but 'outstanding' is what it takes to win and I just don't think I'm there yet. (That doesn't mean I'm not going to keep trying to get there!)
My point is, it is easy to see the outstanding caliber of work produced by TT artists and it is competition quality. Talk about some stiff competition!! There are soooo many talented artists who are members of TT and we have a very supportive, encouraging community here. I don't think it's a bit surprising that so many TT-er's were nominated.
Now I'm not saying those that didn't get nominated weren't good enough! No, far from it! I know there had to have been a lot of awesome creations that didn't get nominated (Benson springs to mind!), and truly my heart goes out to each disappointed artist, but there are only so many slots. Plus, a lot depends on the tastes of the judges.
I didn't mean to be a windbag here, but the accusation is just so unfounded. What would Mindy have to gain by rigging it? Unemployment?
Each of the nominees is OUTSTANDING and deserving. CONGRATULATIONS!
And Mindy - Thank you for the work you do on behalf of the teddy bear world! :hug:
Benson is awesome Melissa. I saw him on your website a while back and was so impressed. I think he is definitely a winner. Who can predict the tastes of the judges? I'm glad your feeling better and trying a gain next year! :hug:
YAY for more TT-er's! :dance:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
deserve it! Well done!:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
It's exciting to see so many from Teddy Talk on the list! No surprise though since there is so much talent here. 
For a few delirious moments last year, I considered entering something myself then, fortunately, I came to my senses! Maybe next year though.......
:dance: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :dance:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Congratulations Yvonne! Merry is beautiful!! Well done!
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Congratulations Tami! Your Fairy Doogles are unique and delightful, and deserve the recognition!! Well done! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
