Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Thanks, Penny and all!
Snowy Day BearsMelissa - your little ballerina bears are so precious.
Sandi
Mountain Dreamer BearsI love everyone's ballerina bears!! Too cute! :clap: :clap: :clap:
Shelli, what a great pic of your kids! And I can't wait to see your bear. Good luck on the contest! I bet you'll knock their socks off as Melissa said. :thumbsup:
Hayley,
I agree with everything Kim said. I also think art is not so much about original ideas as style and the artist's interpretation of an idea.
Honestly, if every idea had to be 100% completely original, with no one ever having done it before... I don't think any of us could EVER make any bears!
How many 100% original, never before done, ideas can there be left? But, if you put 10 bear artists in different rooms and told them all to make a ballerina bear, you would wind up with 10 totally different bears. Each would have the 'style stamp' of its maker. I know Shelli has such a beautiful, distinctive style that when her ballerina bear makes its debut, there will be no doubt that it is an original Potbelly Bear!
Hayley, I think you make wonderful bears and I'll bet the bear in question is special and distinctively yours. :rose:
Bonnie
ooh and one more thing - check out the bridal tulle on the 6 inch wide rolls. It is the best thing since sliced bread. So much easier to manipulate than the normal width stuff. I used it on the white bear. For that size bear I fold the tulle into thirds - using lots of pins all the way along - put in my gathering rows (two is much easier Penny) and then slice open along the fold giving me a three layer tutu (or four on a smaller bear)
I bought mine from home-sew.com but you can get it at bridal supply places online - they just won't ship outside of the States. You can get it in heaps of colours.
Posts: 8,574Just found this topic......I think it was hiding.....
Shelli, my cats like to chew on tulle too.....and the smart one swalloed about 6" of ribbon, that I had to pull out
You could make it a little easier and gather all the different layers at one time.....I am always looking for a way to make life easier.
Great pics ladies!!
Shelli, if you want a serger.....go thread one and then get the one that threads the easiest.....they can be a bear
Posts: 1,277Okay, totally off the subject of tulle, but right on for goofy cats. I forgot about this and it suddenly popped in my head and I cannot stop laughing.
My sister had a cat several years ago that of course liked to eat weird things. One Easter, this cat was walking around the house when I noticed something peculiar. Apparently he had gotten to the Easter basket grass because he had about 3-4 inches of it hanging out of his butt!! 
Jare Hares & BearsJust found this topic......I think it was hiding.....
Shelli, my cats like to chew on tulle too.....and the smart one swalloed about 6" of ribbon, that I had to pull out
You could make it a little easier and gather all the different layers at one time.....I am always looking for a way to make life easier.
Great pics ladies!!
Shelli, if you want a serger.....go thread one and then get the one that threads the easiest.....they can be a bear
:P
Speaking of cats chewing...
Zippy my little black beast likes to eat thread. Come to think of it so does Teddy. Then they swallow it whole. YUCK!
Past Time BearsOkay, totally off the subject of tulle, but right on for goofy cats. I forgot about this and it suddenly popped in my head and I cannot stop laughing.
My sister had a cat several years ago that of course liked to eat weird things. One Easter, this cat was walking around the house when I noticed something peculiar. Apparently he had gotten to the Easter basket grass because he had about 3-4 inches of it hanging out of his butt!! :lol:
Flying Fur Studios:clap:Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
A cat with fake grass out of his butt. :clap: :clap: Too funny
Reminds me of one time, cleaning up dog poop and thinking something was really wrong because it was bright green. I figured it out when I went into the house and found a bald tennis ball. Stupid mutt.
We once pulled several FEET of ribbon out of a cat's behind. Ewwww.
So... I finished the ballet costume and made custom, matching toe shoes, and they look stupid on the bear. Supremely hairy feet and tight-fitting, tied, dainty toe shoes do not make a good mix, in case anyone is wondering. AARGH! Back to the drawing board! This bear is going to kill me. At least it's been a good learning experience.
Kim-Bee Bears
I wanted to make ballet slippers for my needle felted hippo, margo but her feet were too big, so that is why I did the ribbon around her ankles instead and I was going to add a bow to the top of her feet but it was "too much"
Mind if I maybe steal that idea, Kim? I've been searching for a remedy that puts something on this bruin's tootsies.
In the meantime, I'm gonna go hunt down some wee-one ballet shoes. Real ones. The kind little kid wear, with the flexible bottoms, and no ribbon ties. And maybe try to customize them. Or not, depending on how nice they look with the outfit I made.
I looked already at "real" toe shoes at the local dance specialty shop, but they don't come small enough to fit this bear. And this bear has HUGE feet for a bear, AND in proportion to its size, which I did purposefully. The "real" pointe shoes are almost small enough... but not quite. And I figured a bear wearing shoes that looked like gunboats would not be a great "look".
:)
PS That hippo is AWESOME!
Kim-Bee BearsSure you can use the idea I dont mind - actually you using that idea makes me all warm and fuzzy inside
you might also be able to find Isotoner slippers that would fit (I think they have isotoners in kid's sizes) they come with sequins and such on them and you could attach ribbons to the backs and wrap around the ankles too...
thank you for the comment on the hippo... she is living in KY
Just Us BearsShelli,
Another idea or two....
1.Tie the shoes together and hang them around the bears neck instead.
2.Have the bear holding the shoes by the satin ribbons, so they hang down to the floor.
Guys,
Thanks for the encouragement with regards to the bear. The trouble is, it's not just a dressing style.
The bear I made is an Australian Aboriginal Bear...complete with face paint and Digeridoo. I live in a very touristy area and for ages, I had been trying to think of something truely Australian to make to compliment my koala. I was browsing in a souvenir shop one day about 12 months ago, and was looking at all the miniature digeridoos and music sticks, and it hit me that the ideal think would be an aboriginal bear. So I designed up a pattern and spent some time fiddling with painting styles, because typically, aboriginal face paint is applied with the fingertips in long strokes and spots. It wasn't going to work....really messy.
So I started thinking about alternatives...went back to the souvenir shop and looked again at the miniature aboriginal digeridoos and artwork. These were all painted with dot painting, which is the style the Australian Aborigines use for their bark paintings and cooking dishes. It's not generally used for face painting...but I was willing to experiment. I wasn't able to take any of the souvenirs home to work on similar designs, so I turned to the internet. Well during my searches, I came across this site, of a well known American Bear Artist who does this very thing. My disappointment and frustration was overwhelming. Her bears are very different to mine and her painting is very elaborate where as mine was to be simple...but the idea was identical, and what's more, she calls it her 'signature style'. She makes masks to go with them though...not digeridoos... as yet. She does make other bears besides these too.
I decided to go ahead and finish my bear anyway. But the sad thing is that I feel I can't display him now, even though was so pleased with the result.
So you see..it's something that is quite specific. And I have since discovered that this lady is quite well known for these bears, and so there would be more than one person who would be inclined to think I was copying if I was to advertise him.
So I'm tending to adopt the appr oach that I will just continue on my merry way, and make my aboriginal bears how I like to make them and with my own ideas, and sell them within my own country at shows. After all...I AM in the right country!
It's a touchy one. I have on one hand seen quite a few interpretations of the American Indian Bear...but no-one calling them their signature style.
I also hope to be able to develop a style of painting closer to the real thing, without making a mess 
...so if I can get away from the dot painting idea..I'll have them on the net for all to see! After all, I have since been told of a few other Aussie girls who have made aboriginal bears! Go Aussie!
I do thank you all for your support...you're a loyal bunch and I'm glad ta know ya! :hug:
Hi Shelli
Why not put leotards on the bear??? Just a thought.
Hugs
Gail :hug: :hug: :hug:
Hmmm... Gail.... maybe you're onto something there. Trouble with that idea, tho, is that I custom-fit the costume on the bear; it's not removable. I'd have to figure out a way to get those tights up under the leg holes. Can't quite figure out how to do that...
Really good idea, though! Wish I'd have done it BEFORE I fit and closed the costume!
oh Shelli - I understand your frustration with the shoes/hairy feet thing! I have tried the ballet slipper thing too and quickly disbanded it. I ended up doing what Kim did on a couple and wrapped the ribbons around the ankles. I do want to do some sitting in a child's ballet shoe too... See, the problem for me is, that although I do one of a kinds, I always have a ballet bear on my table - it's just one of those things I do and people now know, and having to come up with a new one is a bit of a challenge sometimes.
Jare Hares & BearsI say nuts to it all and do your own thing!
But be mindful of the force youngling.... (opps this is teddy talk and not Star Wars... he he )
I understand both sides of what people are saying about coying. Mom and I do American Patriotic pieces in a specific way. The colour arrangement is usually the same. One time I went to a show an saw another artist had copied our bears... (I know that that is exactly what she did, because I know the artist.) I know that we can't prevent people from copying the colour arrangement, but come on. Come up with your own idea.
What I have found in doing shows, artists see that you have a signature style or bear and they go out of their way to not copy that.
When I decided to do the Big Head style, I studied what others were doing and came up with something that was along the same lines, but was different.
Do what you want to do, but come up with your own version. If you find that your bears are like someone else's do something else. Otherwise I would say who cares. How many different Ballerina Bears can this group come up with? I can think of several designs myself.
Shelli - Forget the tights and the shoes! I say strip the bear down to the tutu and put here in a half shell. Maybe give her a binki top, after all a bear doesn't care to overexpose herself. She will need a bottle of sunblock. LOL
