Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Did I miss something?

Our 'move'? Did we used to have a different format?
Perhaps this was 'before my time'...

And - to show you that people are still here - and logging on and reading - in the time it took to one-finger type out my reply, both Kelly and Janice had responded before I could finish and post.

So Jenn, we're all still here and VERY interested in the (mental.emotional) health and well-being of our fellow TTers!!!!

Take heart! I didn't get the idea that you were leaving, just disappointed and down-in-the-dumps today....

Yes, I've been 'in bears', since the late 80s - things have reeeeeeaaaaaaally changed since then - several generations worth.
There is a core group of artists who were working then and are still working now.

Many have have come and gone.
A few have even come back and gone a second time.
Some who were in the early workshops with me, put on by the well-known names in this business, saw this as a way to make some quick money at bear shows - they were in and out in a year or less...
It's always amazed me to watch the rise and fall of everyone; it's like watch the stock market charting: meteor rises and rocket plummets for some. Slow but steady climbs for others.
And all of this in spite of the continuous cries of "The old days (usually 5 years prior to whatever date is being spoken of!!) were so much better!!

Several old-timers like me have seen the 2 main factions develop: first - artists and collector bases that arose out of the teddy bear show circuits/magazines/newsletters-by-mail/contests-awards and with the arrival of the internet, the second group - sales through personal websites/eBay®/all other online bear sales outlets/webzines/blogs/etc.

The fascinating point is that with the first, the collectors got to touch the bears before purchasing and talk to the artists who created them. With the second, all contacts were developed through the internet. Neither way is all good nor all bad - they are just different.

But the main difference that was discovered through polls and surveys by several of the most recognized and well-respected people in the bear community was that the two groups mostly stayed within their own methods for purchasing the bears for their collections: internet buyers didn't start to seek out and attend shows and Fair/Show attendees were not staying up until midnight to watch their bids through the final moments on a special bear online.

So, it is what it is!
And all things do run in cycles, beyond this just being the summer slow-period. This just happens to be the current one. Jenna, you're hoping for 'what used to be' and that won't ever be again. The old-timers on this list have either moved on to other things, busy with other pursuits or just not posting like they used to. That's OK!
You can post more now - after all, you're an 'old-timer' to many of the members, with almost 2200 posts to your name!! I do see many new IDs appearing and they ask many of the same questions that I did when Marion suggested that I join, gosh I don't know how many years ago... 4? 5? perhaps more.

I also agree with Peter, as much as I dislike FB and Twitter and all of the faster-paced networking, it is the future and it has been here for several years, like it or not. And they too will have their cycles. (I'm still waiting for the 'Dick-Tracy' everything-on-my-wristwatch-TV/radio/phone/internet/etc..... That's when I'll buy into it - if I'll be strong enough to lift the magnifying glass I'll need to be able to read it!!!)

This is an ever increasing, faster-paced world; it will only continue to speed up. It will always seem so as we age: its the *job of the youngsters* to push against the older generations and bring change to the world. And if we want Teddy Talk to be what it used to be then it's up to the current members to keep on posing interesting topics about bear making and problem-solving, together, as a group.

Boy, I sure don't want this to sound preachy - -  but US , all of us, is the group now.
If we've lost the old names and I know who/what you mean... well I think we're still a pretty talented bunch who know the CURRENT techniques and technologies that perhaps some of the ones who have moved on didn't because they hadn't been developed yet when those other members were active here. And our Library, up there in the upper Left corner has preserved most of the threads/topics/techniques from the past so I'd say that we're as strong as ever.

Don't give up so fast. Think of a question that's been bugging you, even if it hasn't presented itself on the bear/creation you're currently working on, and get a new topic started!! That's the best way to keep Teddy Talk viable.

Have you actually ever had this happen or just *borrowing trouble*? i.e., heard that it might and are hoping to avoid it in all eventualities before it could occur and need to redo the whole leg.

Does the cardstock fit exactly inside the sewing line, butting up tightly against the selvedges?
Or is this a foot pad material 'dimensional', like needle-sculpted or have trapunto work, so that it's not flat itself?

What are the dimensions of the foot pad?
Very large feet would need a more reinforced pad than a smaller one (a 4" x 8" foot pad over a 2½" x 5" pad)
In what way do you anticipate them moving?

Just thinking out loud here - - as a miniaturist I'd never used them in my fabric bears but I could see a possibility of them buckling outward with over-stuffing. Or getting ripply if the feet ever were exposed to dampness and the cardstock absorbed the moisture.

Hmmm - - - perhaps other who make standard to over-sized bears might have suggestions.
There are many considerations that would help others answer your question so anything you could provide as guidance would help.
I'm just thinking out loud here - of establishing what you've already done, as background work in the meanwhile.

Katy, as a redhead, I guess you can claim that baby pic!!

The difference between mohair and faux fur fabrics that most of us have found is that the fauxs have a knit backing which tends to stretch and bulge when stuffing firmly, and mohair is woven, which doesn't (as much, unless cut on-the-bias, but most body parts aren't cut this way...) 
So you wouldn't notice much difference in sewing between the two, even with Flatties (are teachers still sending out 'Flat Stanleys?) - - - - - until it comes time to stuff.......

Yes, Mohair is real 'fur'.
It's sheared fiber from a Mohair Goat, woven into a cotton backing.
The weaving process (at Schulte in Germany, anyway) is fascinating and I think I've described it in detail. It's probably in the Library somewhere along with others' descriptions.

AMEN!!! LoL

It was Rosemary who introduced me to  the teddy bear world: she had been collecting artist miniatures from the few shops she could locate in the early 80s - one of which was the first (in the States? the world?) in her own town of Los Gatos CA - Bears in the Woods.
At the time, she and her DH were living & running businesses in CA and in the UK; while in England she and a friend, Laura Turner, started Tedi Bach Hug club (in Irby, the Wirral) I'm pretty sure that they still have a booth at the Hugglets fairs, or did until the past few years but it was the longest running miniature club.

She ran it for a number of years before the constant travel took its toll and turned it over to Pebby Morton, who in turn headed it until her retirement years and Vanessa Littleboy became the latest Hug Mum.

Many many miniaturists grew out of TBH and Rosemary & I are very pleased to have known all of them!
So in a way, this contact is bringing Rosemary back full circle into the bear world again: she's still hand-sewing textiles, but in a different arena. Our Mom's influence and example knew no bounds for her family of 7 siblings; except for our underwear, she sewed and knit everything from the babies' diapers/nappies to our coats and—even twice—a 'fully bespoke' suit for Dad.

Thx for your support of my *Little Sis* who is several inches taller, several stone lighter and in our youth was a Miss Tall Chicago!

I'm always fascinated by your techniques, Kelly. Thx for the peek into your methodology, too!
(and your to-die-for shop/studio-space, though not your property tax bill!)

Like Nancy:

this is where I've found mine.
But just as often, they weren't treated with proper care and (cold) storage during the off season so that's why I found it rather more important to examine a piece in person. I was always trying to go as small as possible: a true miniature was impossible —at least I found it so—as the poor thing just looked like a butterball and there was no differentiation between body, limbs and head! So those were the largest teds I ever sewed, at about 5", and where someone clued me in on having a box fan next to you, pointing away, with a furnace filter on the side toward you, to catch all of the fibers as you cut out the body parts and trimmed the fibers off from the selvedges prior to sewing, before the air and your lungs filled with them!

I'm sorry to have to say this, but 'ranch minks' (you'll hear that phrase used in advertising the products!) are actually raised for their pelts. I'm trying to think of another species of anything (I know there must be more of this type) but cannot come up with any analogous animal right now...
So in a way, as long as their coats are already in use, turning them into a teddy to be cherished and admired gives it a new life and a much better ending! Especially if this can be done with a piece of clothing which had belonged to a family member who no longer needs or wears it, and it can now be 'shared out' as several teddies for others in the family.

I received this e from my sister, who has a custom hat business in the Los Gatos CA area.

"Decided to throw my hat into the ring – not literally – only digitally at this point.   I’d love your votes - and anyone else you can talk into voting;) maybe Anne (our DD) and her girls can spread the word and help me win a 2 week internship in London with Stephen Jones!"  (Her DH is an ex-pat and they have dual citizenship)
"He will make the final selection but the number of votes does count and the hat with the most votes also wins a prize.  Voting begins tomorrow and ends Thursday Aug 18th.  Will email you to let you know how to vote if it’s not obvious.
Tell everyone to vote!"
Rosemary

http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvi … c1489e/239

My problem... I'm not on Facebook or any other network and haven't the slightest idea how to 'vote'. I'd appreciate it if she'd receive a TT vote or two to replace my missing ones!
Her entry -
"Reminiscent of the glamour of the 1950's this elegant hat is made from one piece of jinsin twisted and fanned out to form a sculptural frame for the face. The curved edges are bound in petersham The black coque feathers are hand-cut and positioned to emphasize the curve of the brim and to add movement to the hat. The feathers are removable and the hat can be turned upside down for a more casual daywear look."

I hope no one ever counts on that green Customs label/number on our pkgs sent overseas as an ID number and it giving some invincible shield of protection or assurance of delivery or trackability.

I've asked several of our clerks (never trust the first answer you get) at different times, and the answer has always been the same: they close or roll their eyes and do a 'throw the slip over their shoulder movement.'
Legally—they say—they must keep the slip on file for 30 days, but once the pkg leaves our airspace, it's in the delivery service's hands (DHL, usually) and the receiving country's and the pkg and the label/ID # has no more protection than you can give it sitting at home waiting to hear of its delivery. And the number becomes a moot point; if the pkg has gone missing, a slip that's been discarded here by your local PO is not going to help. It is printed on your receipt however, so if it's some comfort to you, hang on to that until the pkg is reported as having been delivered.

Some pkgs never are delivered: in that case, only having paid insurance will recover the $$ value, if having been fully covered.....

Nope - we don't have any 'Customs' tax here in the US.
So your 'person' here in the US won't have to pay anything and your pkg will be delivered exactly as you sent it, by mail or whatever, without being expected to pay anything to pick it up.

I'm not sure where Gabriele lives; here in the Chicago area, mink stoles and collars can be purchased for much more economically than that. It looks like your bears are in the 'Small' range, right? 6" - 10"? a Shoulder wrap or shawl would be MORE than enough to get a bear or two out.
But I do have to agree with everyone else about the difficulty of sewing mink: it has the thinnest of 'skins' and about the hardest thing you'll ever find to sew through!
And you must use a tri-shaped leather needle so you don't split the skin or cause larger-than-necessary holes to form.

She didn't explain why this is also very important - at least why I consider it one of my #1 points to consider, but from the outside you often cannot see how many seams there are in the piece.
One thing you DEFINITELY want is large sections free from Seams!
So a seller in a shop or online should be willing to show you inside/underneath the lining. Turning body parts which are filled with seams running in all directions is no fun! And you don't want to trust old seaming in a critical area once you go to stuff your bear....
But you'll also need to feel if the skin has any stiffening areas and pull on the fibers to see if it is losing any of the fiber.

Now lambskins - that's another story! Those shining curly locks make BEE-uooo-tifuul Bears! And another feature is that the skin is very thick but I've actually pulled it into two separate pieces and had one sueded piece and lined the furred section and had a curly, napped piece. And even though they're both still thickish, they sew both through, like Paula Dean says "like butt-ah"!!!

To answer your original question, I'd say that, in my experience: No, it doesn't cost more than mohair.

Katy, I don't know if Scotland has the same rules; there are no true 'International' copyright laws, only two principal intn'l © 'conventions: the Berne Convention for Protection of Literary & Artistic Works (Berne Convention) and the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC).
The USA became a Berne member on 1 March 89 and a UCC member on 16 Sept 55.

Here's the link to read more on these two:
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl100.html

And the url for the US Copyright Office:
http://www.copyright.gov/
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#what
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-w … foreigners

Whether or not the pattern designer actually writes out the Copyright statement on the pattern cover, Copyright exists - from the moment that an idea is put into tangible form, a design is committed to paper, a song is sung, a dance is danced... and THE DESIGN remains their property and it's only that individual and/or their estate who can decide how it can be used (whether or not they allow it to be reproduced or licensed for reproduction [reproduced for sale] one or multiples.)

The actual physical pattern itself is another matter. (Doctrine of First Sale)
The US Patent & Trademark Office used to all it the Garage Sale effect; now it's the eBay® effect. The original purchaser is allowed to resell that pattern, whether it be on paper, CD/DVD or whatever, but ONLY under these conditions:
- that they are NOT making copies (reproductions) of it for sale.
- that they sell the original purchase, and
- that they do NOT retain even one copy of it prior selling the original.

Reflecting these guidelines, one may not sell anything made from someone else's design work, be it an apron, a bear or a house, unless one has permission from the designer.
This goes beyond giving print credit, if the designer has requested that no products be made for sale from their work.
That must be honored!
But if they request that the pattern itself not be resold, that's not a legal request and as long as you don't retain a copy of the pattern, stored electronically or on paper or archived in any other way, you can safely sell the pattern: Doctrine of First Sale.

TY - I'll check it out, before "..all the leaves are brown..."
no, wait, that's the Mamas & the Papas...1965...  sorry, drifted into nostalgia a bit there......

Speaking of nasty chemicals - do you know what type of shop I'd go to to purchase lye, or another chemical which will produce the same results? There used to be a product by Red Devil, available in hardware stores, but no longer.
I need it to strip the softer, green parts of leaves away, leaving its vein structures.

Well, I guess that why I didn't mind either one - - - and perhaps what drew me to the "Cosmetology" career!

Hope the rest of you don't mind why Randy and I 'carry on' here!!?
(That was my favorite brother's name, too!!)

And HA! As much as they'd like to say the perm solution is milder and doesn't have the old ammonia odor, a beautician can still smell it!

Too right! How could I've forgotten that one? !!!
I knew another image was niggling at my memory...it was nearer to the end and I didn't go far enough, once I actually went back to write down titles of faves. Thx for reminding me.

LOL, I carried on a hairdressing business here at home for years after quitting the regular salon, and totally forgot about the associated smells. Poor Don; the minute he came in the back door after work he'd start complaining - "Who'd you do today?" meaning a permanent (wave) as the ammonia-like odor smacked him in the face, which I didn't smell at all......
But, No, if he were slathered in it, I wouldn't invite him into the boudoir!!!

LOL - we have a windmill in a cemetery here - same obligatory shot! My Dad won a $$ prize once from a Chicago newspaper competition (Daily News or Trib) and we too have inherited many great negatives
He was as experimental in the developing studio as yours.
I thought that red light and the twirling fluids were stinky but magical.
I'm pleased for you on the # of hits and visitors!!!

Ah Randy, there are far too many criteria to choose just half a dozen images for: commercial value, Gallery choices, family memories, the list goes on and on..

For sheer impact—and I especially favor black & white for this—I choose those with the highest contrast.
Stark, crisp.
And as all basic photography courses teach - what's most pleasing to the eye is balance, though it's usually/always manifested in being off-center, rendered in topics like 'Leading Lines' and the Rule of Thirds.

Based on all of that my overall choices are, in no particular order, but just as the rotated through your album:
Wind Sock, Ghost Kites, Old Boat North Pier 1, 4 July Kids By Pond, White Lily.

Two more almost made my list; they were stark enough but could have had the same brilliance had the sun been in just a slightly better position.
Kite Kid and Life Guard on Duty.
Sometimes one can wait for that shot - or move over 10 feet - and sometimes that's out of our control. Those few minutes or physical move can make or break a good shot from becoming a great shot.
And you have a nice series going, all from the same vantage point, in different seasons - Presque Isle Lighthouse.
Very nice work!!!

Hello - I hope someone can help - I'm usually asking at the 11th hour (literally too, because it's after 10PM here)
I need Mary Lou Foley's (Bayside Bears) mailing address in MA.
I had saved in from a return address label last winter but now when I need it (tomorrow) of course I cannot find it...

If you know it, could you zip me an email at  rkr4cds@att.net?

Everlasting THX!

B

because then it just becomes the thin edge of the wedge....

I love that line! May I use it myself?

There are definitely steps to take -
First, one must join the VeRO® program, eBay's® program to claim lawful Intellectual Property rights, in order to claim correct Copyright ownership to a pattern.
Then the file must be submitted while the sale is Active... and it will take eBay® between 2 - 4 days to act, depending on when they receive your faxed notice and the ending time of the sale.

And finally  -  IF they receive ENOUGH complaints - they MAY put this person OUT OF BUSINESS.
But only if the IP owners act! It's Your property: don't let someone steal it, because if one person gets away with it that act allows others to walk right though that open gate.

The same goes for every uncontested Picassa Album with stolen/posted patterns and other similar sites. It doesn't end and it IS a risk one takes when putting out patterns/information. but it's still miniscule compared to the number of people who are helped by learning through patterns!

Learn from one who has been there, please.

Gosh...1998... your best hope is going to be someone with a collection of old copies, who is willing to give or sell you their 13 yo copy. I'm not aware of TB&F having copies available that far back because things weren't digitized then.
In an effort to clear out & stash-bust, I put all of mine in the recycling bin a few years ago, those which I or a friend weren't in so I know that I don't have that copy or if I do wouldn't have it available to part with it.

I hope you find it!

(BTW- nice shaping w/your Teacher! I know how difficult shaping is in small areas.. any chance we can see a good pic of the teacher by herself? Or even posted over in the Miniature threads?)