Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

>>>>>>Presuming you don't have a paper pattern yet... Your neck piece pattern should be in the shape of a wedge.<<<<<
The 'wedge' description didn't register with me when I started these. Another way to describe the wedge is like a tube like a frozen orange juice concentrate: instead of only removing just the metal top lid, the cardboard sides would be cut into, with one side of the tube lower than the other.
The other end of this tube can be flat or angled also.

>>>>>>>>I close the wedge by capping it, NOT gathering, although some do the latter.  I find that gathering a double-jointed neck makes for the dreaded "bubble neck disease", where there is a visible indentation where the joints meet and the center of the wedge section seems to puff outwards.<<<<<<<
Capping seems to be the best option for most. Depending on the length of the nap (removed if using self-fabric for the end cap) the ultrasuede works best as a surface that can stand up to much abrasion with many turnings. If tightened together very well, I'd worry about some of the mohair backings wearing through.
There is a bear maker who gets top $$ for her work, and her necks always look as if she used disks too small for the tube (way too small). Now I wonder if it isn't instead because the fabric is gathered instead of being capped. They look awkward and I thought it was only me who was seeing this bubbled neck instead of a smoothly extended line.

You definietly don't feel anyone else moving  - human or pet - unless you come into contact with them. In this respect the memory foam rates the top marks.

Buster's Wonderful, Patty!

Wendy, that's a good suggestion; perhaps we should post an accompanying phot of the fiber before beginning. I'm game and will remember to do it.

One of our sons has Fibro and his bed is a TemperPedic.  (Funnily enough, I think the pet beds of the same memory foam are Thermopedic) I think that bed is to hard/firm.

We got a Select Comfort about 15 years ago; while we like it it too seemed to firm. We added a 3" (the thickest available about 4 years ago) TemperPedic mattress topper (About $350 at the time) and also have an egg crate mattress topper. Now the sheets hardly fit over it but it's a dream; firm underneath but molds to the body.
I too have spine problems and must sleep flat on my back. That necessitates pillows under my knees (to flatten the pelvic area spine and keep me from rolling onto my fave position - side) and a mostly flat small down travel pillow from The Company Store, to keep the neck & head in one straight position.

I would caution you to find out the exact sizes. We have an antique double Eastlake bed, but the double size of the Temperpedic mattress topper is almost 3" less wide on both side edges. Who knew??  I feel as if they cheated us out of 6"!!!! Did you know that a crib is almost more than 28" wide and half of a double is only 22"?

If we took the complete bed frame out of our tiny room, a Queen mattress/box spring has the same measurements as our current bed frame so it would fit but have to be on one of those unseen angle iron rail systems. I like the look and heigth of pur bed - almost hip bone high and I'm 5'8".

The room is only 10 ' sq (we're still in our 'starter' home 40+ yrs later) so it's out of the question to get a new Eastlake frame, even if I wanted to give up the current bed. The door barely opens past it while still allowing the minimum to get in & out on the other side and have room at the bottom for the matching dresser.

I doubt we'll replace the whole bed, but if I had it to do over again I'd get the exact measurements and order the Queen Temp. mattress topper if the Double is still narrower than a standard Dbl.

Good Luck!

Thank goodness for Toby - I salute Organized People!! She reminded me recently that she'd bought a Proportional Scale from me when I sold these as part of my product line. I have mine.. somewhere...

When this topic started earlier this week, I began to search for mine. Serendipitously, I found my old sketch that I've posted in the Bent Leg topic, and I know that I'll find my scales as soon as I'm looking for the next lost/misplaced item...sheeesh.....I'm too old; there's no hope for me!

The C-Through Ruler Co:
PS80 Proportional Scale by The C-Thru Ruler Company, Bloomfield, CT. Distributed by C-Thru Custom Products, 860-243-0303.

The prices run from $4 to about $10, depending on size and source. One of your best investments!!

Calculates enlargements and reductions of just about anything from photo to quilts. Provides the number of times reduction as well as the percentage of enlargement or reduction. Calibrations for fractions below an inch are printed in a second color.
http://www.artcity.com/ctr-ps79.html

Not having one in front of me, I'm going to describe its use in reducing as well as enlarging from memory of past use, in bear-making, sewing, knitting, etc...

The tool is of heavy plastic; 2 dials grommeted together. I think it scales everything between 1/8" up to 90", both reducing and enlarging. When you have a known size, say your bear measures 10.75" tall and you'd like a 3.25" bear, or the other way around, you line up one of the numbers on one dial and the other number on the other dial (outer or inner depending on if you're enlarging or reducing) and in the little cut-out window in the inner dial, the exact percentage that you set your copier to is shown.

Depending on how much you need to change, you may have to do the copying in 2 steps. Most of us don't have the huge 4' beds of the industrial blueprint services copiers at our disposal!

I've sometimes found these scales at Michael's and Hobby Lobby. They're available online from many sites; finding them locally saves shipping. My smallest one was 5" across and I think the largest is 8". The smaller I packed for teaching and found the larger one was easier to aging eyes to use in the studio!

In case you hadn't noticed this, some copiers don't reduce or enlarge evenly. They may actually render something a bit narrower or wider than a true reduction/enlargement. I always made 2 copies: one set with the pattern template pcs set North to South and the Other from East to West. Laying them on top of each other on a window pane will show any difference and you can draw a new line half way between any differences.

Yes, I agree with the creators of our larger-sized furries. We miniaturists don't allow true seamlines with selvedges because we know we're going to stitch right next to our cutting lines. Reducing.enlarging patterns need removing the selvedge and adding it back on.

Another good question, Patty! Good basic info that isn't usaully discussed.

You say that you have 'a' cotton carder from your grgrandmother; this would seem to refer to a drum carder, with its infeed tray and a large tubular drum, covered with carding cloth. This is a fantastic find, as the cloths are very fragile and likely to rust or have the pins/teeth break. They can be realigned but the whole cloth covering should be replaced if they're rusty of broken off.

Yes, fiber should be refluffed just before use, even if it's been carded originally. Most of us purchase ours and storage and/or shipping allows it to settle down. The easiest beginning starts with fiber that's all evenly fluffed up just prior to working it, whether spinning or needling. A bit about what we use later, first to distinguish what you really have.

I ask about having a drum carder because hand cards are plural (2) and are referred to aa hand card(er)s or a pair of cards.

Also, having cotton carding cloth on the surface isn't appropriate for wool as there are many more teeth per sq inch and they're made of finer gauged wire. Pulling wool through the teeth will damage the teeth and not be as effective as using wool cards, of which there are at least 2 different sizes of gauges.

If you were to work only very finest fibers like angora rabbit, merino, alpaca/llama, etc.. what you have would work, providing the equipment was in good condition.

I have a vintage set of cotton cards (eBay) which have seen much use and have a few rusty teeth but I love them (admited Tool Junky here!!)

I use 2 pairs of Ashford cards, the standard and a set of student cards - slightly smaller. In my kits I recommend ppl look at the website
http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/hand-carding.html     
to see how to use them. There should be enough fiber loaded onto the first card that the teeth do not meet/engage with each other. This bends and twists the teeth out of place.
The cards produce an oval cloud of fluffed fiber called a rolag; spinners set these aside and draft directly from the ends of them when spinning thread or yarn. They cost between $40 - 70 depending on where you find them.

In place of them I recommend using a pair of pet grooming brushes which cost $5 each. On a NFing/wool list I mentioned having 'discovered' this cheap substitute, and was promptly shot down by the spinners and wool producers as them having been used for ages by spinners. What I meant was that I brought it to us bear people, new to the wool world, as there was no prior info about it in the 25 year history of hand needle felting. If the spinners used them they sure weren't talking about it! That's what's so great about this list - the free exchange of help, info and no put-downs!!!!

On the fiber you speak of, you more than likely have Top, a put-up that has been carded and combed, (I have several styles of combs too...) which removes the shorter fibers in the fleece, leavinglong fiber suitable for spinning worsted yarn. You can needle this type of fiber, but you'll work a lot longer & harder because of the fibers' length and smoothness. Top tends to have a sheen to it - making it very eye-catching and attractive in ads - due to the nature of the individual breeds of sheep that are used in this way.

What needle felts easiest are those with a matte finish, at least a moderate amount of crimp, about 3" in length and an un-aligned appearance. While it's possible to change the alignment of the fibers, that adds another layer to the work time - and this takes longer than creating fabric bears already! Knowing the breeds of sheep that have better DRY felting fiber is half the battle won. All fiber can be worked but there are better choices, given each of our different styles of working. Those that mix up the fiber by hand, (in my opinion only!!!) don't work the fiber long enough. The reason becomes visible the firmer you needle. If you're creating a more softly needle work, there is still enough air space between each fiber to not be obvious that the fibers are still aligned. Once you start to really compact the fibers, 'stripes' appear on the surface, showing the fibers laying in the same direction like ribbons. In several cases this would be part of the design, say - showing the strength and direction of a muscle. But then the whole pc would include these orientation lines, on purpose. They aren't appealing when they appear randomly. Rather, they show an unskilled or inexperienced control of the fiber. I've got many images of the differences in these looks, made for my writing.

I think I covered everything in your post - off to therapy -

All of my writing becomes copyrighted by the act of putting it into written form. I'd much appreciate honoring copyrights, as this is material I use in my business. THANKS!

Roving - Sliver:
There's only a slight difference between the 2.
Roving can be a bit thicker and may have a slight twist to it,  and sliver (SLY ver) usually doesn't.
The purpose for this has more to do with the put-up for spinning - worsted vs, woolen style of spinning & resulting yarn.

Fiber that has not been carded or combed is sometines called Clouds, though different wool processors create different qualities with it. I have an excellent one in Maine and a large MI company that produced very unsatifactory clouds.

You just have to shop around and keep trying all that you locate.

Kim - do I know about filthy fiber! This person sold kits on eBay for about 6 months.
Another jump-on-the-current-bandwagon retailer.
They were advertised as realistic style bears - polar & grizzly. Of course I had to bite!
The core was 'prefelted'. Inappropriate down (sheep type/breed) wool was used, a type that never needles down hard/firm. This was baseball sized (the white) which squeezed down to tennis ball size in one hand. Half mis-description and half the fiber type.
The brown fiber was directed to be wrapped around the core to form the bear's shape. Those that have studied with me know how against that I am and why.
But the shock was after I put the brown wool to the side - to see what was left on my photo backdrop.... another compost pile addition. This never even got unrolled; it all fell out during the process of putting it on top of the white for the pix.

Hi - I was looking for something else tonight and Lo & Behold! Found a sketch that I couldn't have located yesterday if my life depended upon it. Such organization, I have  LOL!!!

I made this a dozen years ago, when I was struggling to put a bear in a kneeling position. Have used the theory many times since for different leg positions.

Picture our skeleton: in most bodies the hip, knee and ankle joints line up.
In this leg template for a 3" bear. I put dots at the joint positions. Then drew a straight line connecting them.
Cut through the knee and ankle joints right up to the middle, leaving a few threads of the paper intact.
Carefully slide the joints back and forth to get the shape you wanted.
Draw new lines to round out the joints (the knee cap here).
Sometimes the individual sections of thigh or calf will be out of proportion (happens more in minis where there's less room to work) and need to be lengthened a bit.
Sew one up in muslin first to check.

Arms can be realigned or redirected in the same way.

>>>>How, what, where does one buy the 'right' felting needles? I've been getting my wool from the local yarn shop and needles from eBay in large lots as I use them when teaching classes. They have the slots but if one were to look for a brand or source what would you suggest? My yarn shop sells the needles with cut barbs<<< 

Great question, Daphne, thx for the opportunity to give more info w/o seeming to be self-serving. You may as well benefit from my adventures into seeking out the best sources. 
No, this question has never been asked in this guise, so you'd likely find only bits & pieces about in in other topics.

I have identified 4 major needle manufacturers in the world: USA, Britain, Germany & Japan/China. I wrote to all, explaining what I do and requested company information as well as purchasing a sample of their product(s).

The USA company, Foster, is located in the state above me, WI to IL, and were first to respond. There are approx 50 different needle sizes/types/shapes available. There may be even more - after I settled on the 8+ that I thought I could use, I stopped counting....

From Britain's Wingham Woolworks, I purchased a sample set and was directed to the company info on their website.

A friend sent me a sample of Germany's Groz-Beckhardt (sp?); they are of the same (excellent) quality as Foster but more expensive. They have a US address in the south-east.

I never did hear back from Organ Needle Co - there were e addies, fax numbers and snails for both Japan & China but I got no responses from any of the contacts I used. 

The WWW's needles I received are of an inferior quality. I believe the barbs are cut rather than 'formed', a Foster term. I haven't yet examined them under a microscope (which intend to do for book research to back up my personal opinions).
Ppl will ask my why their sculpture seems to be falling apart the more the needle it, in an effort to get it more firmly needled in construction or in attaching 2 pcs together. There are 2 obvious answers, but impossible to correctly analyze w/o having the work & tools in hand. 
1 - the fiber is weak and breaks under pressure. Many dietary, stress & environmental factors cause this to happen. Needling puts undue & repeated pressure on the fiber and break them; the more you needle the more they continue to fall apart. 
2 - the needle barbs have been cut into the shaft edges rather than forming them with beveled edges everywhere. Picture taking a whittling knife to a piece of wood,: the initial cuts that curl back from the main bulk of the wood have abrupt, sharp angled edges. Using needles with cut barbs are like taking knives & scissors to the fibers; initially, with the fiber spaced far apart it's not as noticeable, but the more compact the pc becomes (fibers in closer proximity to each other) the more they are shearing apart. 

The Groz-Beckert needles were nice but the pricing info I received from the company over 4 years ago was more than half again as much as the Foster's.

There are literally dozens of configurations of the barb placements. I choose to carry sizes that have barbs placed farther apart for the beginning stages, when one must thrust completely through the fiber mass to bind it all together. Later on, after the core has been formed and firmed, adding more fiber needs needles that penetrate perhaps only half as deeply. And for finishing work, barbs placed mostly near the tip are more appropriate as you're working only the top coat, finish layer. 
Think in terms of what stage you're working in your sculpture and the size choice will naturally occur to you.
I'll not address matching the different fibers to different sizes/styles/types of needles. The only needles I don't recommend or see a need for, are the teardrop shaped ones that have 8 closely spaced barbs on the one existing edge. These were created for a specific use in textile manufacturing - to push the fibers being needled down through a warp & weave fabric and not touch the woven background. The needles are set at a 45 degree angle to the fabric's straight grain, assuring that it doesn't cut through the warp or weft threads. 
All wholesale needles are sold in the minimum bulk quantity of 1000 per size. It's a steep investment to initially supply yourself. However, some of the prices from retailers - including eBay - are ridiculous. To stay in business one must keep the wolf from the door, but the profit margin is out-of-all-proportion to a reasonable return on the financial outlay. Please contact me for pricing - I do offer one of the most comprehensive array of sizes at the best prices I've seen online. I also include printed NFing info with all sales. I sell from 1 to 10,00 to anyone, with near wholesale prices for the entire box of 100 (because I don't have to spend time counting out and repackaging) and offer a special pricing to all fellow listees. I just need to know what list we share.

I've hesitated to give this information, as I've done the research for my book, but as unseen obstacles have blocked my path to compiling the manuscript over the past several years, others have stepped in and have repeated misinformation. 
To set the record straight, because factoids (info seen in print and becomes accepted as the truth) are read and repeated: Needle Felting is definitely NOT an ancient, almost forgotten craft!  Their history has somehow become intermingled with that of WET Felting, which is of course, prehistoric. 
The needles arose out of fairly recent industrialization. I've done my homework for my book and can state that these have been in existence for about 50 years. One of the many first-uses were for automobile headliner & padding materials. Unless Fred Flintstone's car had a headliner that I've somehow missed seeing, it is not ancient or even vintage. 
About 25 years ago, artists David & Eleanor Satinwood (whom I've been in contact with and received permission to quote) gave needles to Wet Felting artist Ayala Talpai, to play around with and see what she could use in embellishing designs on her handmade felt. 

Alan asked another question:
>>>are the finished bears able to be played gently with, carried around in a pocket, and handled or are they strictly to look at on a shelf type.<<< 
Yes & No. 
I personally work my pieces until rock solid, or as firmly as a particular breed of fiber can be needled. After spending 1 - 2 weeks on a sculpture, I don't want it to change shape. But there's a purpose for all work, no matter how softy or firmly it's worked. It all depends on the purpose. If someone would like a Christmas scene of a snowman, Santa and a polar bear or reindeer, it wouldn't be necessary to work as long on the piece as I do. This will be set on a mantle and viewed for 3 weeks out of the year. I would still needle them to my own personal level of firmness but there's nothing wrong with doing a quick sculpting to shape them. Mikki Klug's work is like this and we're fortunate to have artists who freely say that their work is softly sculpted. Frankly, it's a whole lot easier to sculpt like this. Students are often afraid to continue to needle, once they got a cheek to curve or a foot to form exactly like they wanted it to be. But suppose he first person to pick it up squeezes the face or sets it down and pushes the foot out of place? The shaping is gone. I'd much prefer to think that unless it's dropped into a campfire or the house pet gets hold of it - NOTHING is going to change the shape I formed because it's solid from inside out.
So depending upon your end result purpose, short season decorative work to cuddle my teddy handling, all degrees of needling are appropriate. And they should be clearly stated in any text about the piece: if you squeeze it between your fingers and it compresses more that 1/4" - 1/2", it should not be described as 'very firmly felted'. I cannot tell you the number of eBay auctions I've purchased, to test the artist claim of this. I have yet to find one that meets the minimum of firmness.... And several pieces (shipped in bubblewrap and a flat envelope!!) have even had the outer layers begin to separate from the inner base. 

I have a feeling that this is going to fill a page by itself.....

>>>I know a person that has some sheep and goats.  is the wool right off shearing valuable for this?  If I can get some (I have to find out when they shear their sheep)  would you like some?<<<<< 

Before I purchase anything, I always find out the breed of animal being shorn. Then I determine if it'll be useful to me as either research or appropriate for the size and type of work that I do. You've just read those 2 common words - size and type - and I'm not doing them justice, as each of them are a chapter by themselves - saved for The Book!
Secondly, fiber must be cleaned before use. (I purchase only clean fiber as I have neither space, facilities or inclination to spend time doing that.) 3 things come instantly to mind:
1 - Oily/dirty fiber attracts more dirt/dust/air motes, which makes it unsuitable for needling in that state. (And the odor/smell of the lanolin and dirty fiber gags me....)
2 - After a particular length of time, the oils & dirt 'coagulate/evaporate/thicken so that they're nearly impossible to remove. One of my first purchases was an all black Wensleydale fleece, beautiful long pencil-thick curls, 'in the grease' or raw and quite expensive. I left it in its bag for over a year and found a glued-together mass that would not scour clean. I had to throw it on the compost pile  :o(  Lesson learned....
Some animals (some of the camelids don't have lanolin but all animals live outdoors and are incredibly dirty) don't need as much cleaning effort but it's still a time investment and a hazard in storing this in the same building as clean fiber.
3 - Clothes moths are attracted to the 'dirt' surrounding the fibers and to a very small degree, a couple of the protein components of the fiber itself. Once a dirty fleece is discovered, you'll have a hard time eradicating this pest, from both your fiber stashes and your personal clothing storage.
Raw or in-the-grease fibers are sometimes spun into thread/yarn because they handle better that way, but then are cleaned before weaving or knitting with them
If you were to Needle Felt fiber like this, you're just inviting the Clothes Moth to a Party!

So I do appreciate the offer, but I prefer to purchase from small farm breeders and companies that I know the quality and condition of their products. By all means, accept some of the fiber you'll get for free - it's great to practice on!

>>>>I'm wondering if anyone would have those needles around here.  The list says that some have cutters on the and I might get the wrong ones.
You can Google felting needles and price them.(See above comments on needle quality - and write me when you're ready.) Always demand to know the brand name (most suppliers don't know their own products!) as well as the breed of sheep fiber you're buying. It's the minimum that all suppliers should tell you. Be an informed consumer!
There are small to huge sheep farmers all across this country, with a large concentration of them in our northern state bordering Canada as well as up into lower Canada, from WA & BC right across to Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. I spend a lot of time Googling (wish I'd bought stock way back when!). Write to the individuals, describing what you do and ask for a pinch or small sample of their products. You may be as lucky as I have been and receive a small handful -sometimes enough for a whole mini sculpture! 
This will tell you several things: their pricing, the quality of their fiber, how they care for their flocks (cleanliness) and how suitable it is for NFing. 
There are several suppliers that I wholeheartedly recommend, from a very large, 150+ year old company in PA, to small flock owners that do everything themselves.

I think I need a break - new knees are getting restless and I've got to work out the kinks. Anything else I can help with I'm happy to. But I do have to save some stuff for The Book or no one would buy it, having read everything prior to its publication!

Some patterns reduce more appropriately than others. What looks balanced and in proportion can be totally wacko when enlarged or reduced.

That being said however, there's a lot of room for personal interprtation: some like smaller heads, eyes placed where others wouldn't even consider them, etc.. see the current country/primitive styles, the anime & amiguri (sp?) styles.

Keep a supply of fabric like muslin on hand to try out your resized patterns first, though the overall look will change according the the nap length you eventually do the bear in.

Be a cutting edge trend-setter!

You've got a cool sense of humor... Tapestry needles!!!

OK, here's the skinny on NFing.

Using clean, unspun (not yet yarn) carded fiber, like sheep's wool, a felting needle is thrust through the mass (a handful is a good starting place) and entangling the fibers together. As they tangle, the 'spaces' between the fibers are made smaller & smaller, until a compact, firm ball or other 3-D shape has been made.

The needles are industrially produced (for the textile trade) and have barbs (slots) formed (don't use those with cut barbs - they cut the fiber) along the edges of the bottom third of the needle.

The artistry in NFing comes from knowing (after experimenting) which needle size/shape to use with the thousands of different types of animal fiber and when & how much fiber to add to individual spots to build what's in your mind's eye.

Stalking, over there on the left, is a miniature polar bear, has won several international awards and measures 2.5" long & 1.75" tall. Choosing an appropriate micron (thickness) and lengthed fiber, particular needles and sculpting with the fiber like clay results in works like this. The artistry comes in knowing which to choose.

Needle Felting is a needle, some wool & your Imagination!

Thx for all of the PMs - and thank goodness for the individuality of every one of us!

Charlotte - the image is priceless - it exemplifies exactly what I wrote

I'm sure she learned a lot more about how the wool re-acted, and what the needle did in manipulation, by thrusting it into wool than into foam.

All of the points made are valid and I Thank each and every one of you for expressing them.

Me, too Pls!! I've gotten word that my site will 'soon' receive the attention it deserves.

An eternal optimist - B
I'll send you a banner or a logo link, whichever you prefer.

Actually yes. The difference is like black & white.

The word the kit designer used should more correctly be replicate. Duplicate is nearly impossible for most, as every thrust of the needle and/or strand of fiber added changes the pc and no 2 will have everything done exactly alike.

But 'most' kits will direct one to how much fiber to start the basic shapes with, how to connect them, add to them, remove what's out-of-line, etc... That's building from the ground up and teaches you what to repeat or avoid in the future, according to one's own vision of what's in your mind's eye.

This kit would be approaching a building that has been built, sheathed in siding, and you get to paint the exterior surface.

Most likely the kits you've seen WILL result in something resembling a dog/cat/bear...
But this would most likely only 'duplicate' the original. Right down to the color choice of the developer.

Please tell me that this is not a trend.
I debated mentioning the paint-by-number concept, as well as Build-A-Bear. Nothing wrong with either; I've encouraged both, and if they're done by a child or someone new to the concept of painting or teddies, I can see instilling the love of the idea early and hopefully planting seeds of the future, when the person grows and matures into an artist that works from their own concpts, be they 10 or 100 at that maturing stage.

But to needle fiber into a foam shape is nothing like needling into wool into wool. There are few actual beginner's all-wool projects that don't have charm of their own, not matter how much improvement is needed in technique.

What I object to is the fact that this doesn't give that first experience of beginning with your very first basic mass of fiber and needling it into a shape. Applying a fiber surface to a sponge gives no sense of what happens when you needle to compress the fibers into themselves, taking on a unique serendiptious form and working it further until it pleases you.

In fact, it's the very opposite of one of the first principles we teach/learn in NFing - how to avoid embedding your project into the foam!

I'm very proud of the kit line I've created; my kits have been likened to mini-books in themselves. (TY, Tammi! Teddy Boy & the standing Polar are favorite 'kids' of mine!).
This being my third kit line, I've had lots of experience in seeing what it takes to answer questions as though the buyer was sitting next to you, before they even realize they have a question. I could tell you some horror stories about the 'quality' of the fiber and the 1/2 and 1 page instructions I've bought from others, to see how others are teaching this fine new Fiber Art.

But to assure buyers that they're buying the materials to create a masterpiece is just wrong. And I choked on the price...... For $60 one could buy several dozen needles and pounds and pounds of different types of fibers. One could work for a year on the amount of materials $60 will buy, learning a lot about NFing and different fiber-giving animals during that time.

If I ever get these surgeries (2nd knee's fine Cheryl, THX!) behind me, my #1 priority in 07 (besides getting that consarned website operational) will be to finally put together the extensive book I'm writing on all aspects of NFing. Ppl should become informed about how to buy the supplies, how the different sheep breeds' wool will act, where & how to find good suppliers, etc, etc... and how to change/fix things when "It's just not working out like I planned."

There were far too many ppl that jumped on the current bandwagon in the past few years as a supplier, w/o knowing the first thing about NFing, having had no experience of the own to back up the supplies they were selling.
I lost count of the number of ppl who've said - "What a simple explanation & solution!" Too many of them were told by their instructors "That just happens sometimes." The Tennis Ball Syndrome is a prime example - I named this after my first experience with it and worked backwards to a cause and then a solution. The serendipitious nature of this medium is that it doesn't always happen, even when you know what caused it. That marks a teacher from an opportunist.

Don't let my diatribe stop anyone from trying this method!! Heavens! There are more ways to skin a cat...  It is  unique marketing, but does NFing a great disservice. But the high price AND the fact that newbies don't know in advance that they won't be taught how to create ("Begin as you mean to finish" comes to mind here...) from just wool & a needle bothers me no end.

Needle Felting is some wool, a needle and your imgaination!
It's also changeable, fixable and there's nothing wasted.
What a perfect area of skill waiting to be born, for about the least amount of $$ I've ever spent.

Stepping down from my dusty soapbox, in this season of Good Will to all men....

Well, that aluded to deeper - legal - issues, the dark side of having families!
You can pick you friends but you can't....
It's not all Roses but for those other precious moments, it's still worth it!

I'm going to cross-post this from the NFing forum, as it's an important reflection on our artist world and everyone doesn't always check the NFing if they don't work in that medium:

I came across this auction when I was surfing in eBay - something about the fact that results were guaranteed caught my eye.

Not stated in the auction/ad/website but the opinion of the person giving the link.

In theory, any shape could have an injection mold made from it and be reproduced ad infinitum ad nauseam.

This is Art???

Please tell me this is not a trend that will catch on!!!!

http://www.withloverose.com/products.html?src=overture

I came across this auction when I was surfing in eBay - something about the fact that results were guaranteed caught my eye.

Not stated in the auction/ad/website but the opinion of the person giving the link.

In theory, any shape could have an injection mold made from it and be reproduced ad infinitum ad nauseam.

This is Art???

Please tell me this is not a trend that will catch on!!!!

http://www.withloverose.com/products.html?src=overture

Toby, I said the same thing to my MIL and she replied that I wouldn't have appreciated them unless I'd gone through my own kids first. So true!

Actually Gail, you know that life's not all rosey: we've found in several instances that grandparents have all of the responsibility but no Authority! That's even more scary!
Hggzzz - B

Can you see my glowing grins from here!!??? Congrats! We'll expect the next 'installment' of photos next summer, following the wedding saga from the past year. Thrilled Thrilled Thrilled for you!

Any chance you're on a Mac?? Lucky us, we open the pic and the Word doc and just drag 'n drop the photo where we want it!!!

Uuuuuuuuummmmmmmm...... .. ... (whistling tunelessly....scuffing toes.....looking skyward...) I avoiding naming names. Those who recognize the business name would know; you're apparently one who does!
His wife is a bearmaker; he's an Australian journalist and does webwork as a second busuiness, maintaining & creating many (hundreds of) sites. One of my best buds in OZ uses him and her site is one of the few in his long list that is more along the lines of what I want.

When I put out a query on a number of the bear lists about a year ago, looking for a new webbie, he was one of the few that responded, replied in a timely manner and he had a very business-like, up-front approach, quoting a reasonable amount of money for the number of pages I need created (12 - 15, complete with shopping cart). I want a site that I can totally maintain, but going a bit beyond Front Page and a few of the wysiwyg programs.

It's slowly being turned into what I had in mind - I realize now that part of the responsibilty was mine. I gave him most of the pix, banners, text etc in April/May, but never designed an actual page template to show him how I'd like it to appear. He's not expected to be a mind-reader, so while on the surface I can agree with some of the negative comments, it's not entirely his fault.

I hold that the long time lag between discussing this last winter/spring and when the actual work began a month ago is where he dropped the ball. I hope he's kept all of my emails but I feel that I've had to do a lot of the work twice (then & now) and out of a list of 5- 8 points (change to all-white backgrounds, at least one item on each page given a drop shadow, dk brown text, etc...etc...) at least one of the points are overlooked and I must remind him again. That can sure seem like nagging, but I'm a nit-picker... and WILL keep at it until it's what I envision.

He's got the individual logos, templates, etc.. now. I still wish I had the time & energy to thank each of you individually; you gave me the 'courage' to stick to my guns. I cannot alienate or put-the-back up of someone that I need to represent me before the world so I wanted to do this in a non-prickly way.

You're the BEST!!!

Hi - As I've recently written, my site is being worked over as we 'speak'. I've gathered many links in the past but T too would love to add more!

TIA - reciprocally, here's mine
http:///www.BeyondBasicBears.com

There are so many to be listed that I can't use banners or thumbnal; pls tell me privately if you'd like your name or company name to be listed. It will appear under country/continent.

I've just gotten a Reply - so this may happen yet!!

I've given the OK for this one page.