Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I'm on two minds about these. We accept things like chucky baby dolls without talking about the innocence of babies. A lot of people accept the cruelty to real bears, I have seen first hand the damage done to real bears and have cried many tears over them. I would rather see 300 of these twisted teds than a single real bear that has been mutilated by humans. Teddy Bears are what we make them, to most of us on here we attach emotions and feelings to them. In the same way some people attach feelings to dolls - whereas I have to confess dolls just leave me cold. I have a particular dislike of reborn dolls, but I can appreciate the artistry in them and also that for some people they mean a lot.

I would be interested to know a little bit more of the intention behind them, the one shown seems to be ripping his heart out, so perhaps the message is the premature loss of innocence i.e. ripping the heart out of childhood. This is a theme that artists have used for centuries. Or maybe the maker is really interested in zombies, they are a big thing now, you only have to look at the increased popularlity of Halloween to see that.

At the end of the day, it is someone's art, someone's interpretation of an idea, and I don't see it as any more of an issue than using anything else. The maker states that they are for adults, just as teddy bear artists do, if children come across them then that is a parental issue, in my opinion the artist having stated they are not suitable for children has done all they can.

This bear is supposed to be elegant nd sophisticated, but she she seems to have a bit of a naughty streak and a twinkle in her eye! Just going to show that it's not just the young ones that misbehave here is Lucy, now available on Bearpile. http://www.bearpile.com/item/61878

Hi

It is now just over a week until we go on the WSPA Bear Trek in Romania. A gruelling 50 mile walk over the mountains of Romania to raise funds for rescued European Brown Bears. Fund raising has not gone as well as we had hoped. Personally, it has been the worst year that Chris and I have had since we met nearly twenty years ago. Basically, Chris's job was made redundant last November and he has been unable to find work since, so we are living on my bear sales which are not as good as they were. Added to that, our house has been flooded twice, and we are still cleaning up. We got off lightly compared to many local people, some of whom lost everything. It hs meant that we had to cancel local fund-raisers as there were so many other fund-raisers going on for people  who lost their homes and businesses. We asked WSPA if we could put the trek off until next year, but unfortunately because there are only 12 people doing it this year it would have meant that the whole trek would be cancelled. We felt that we did not want to be the ones responsible for that, so we are going ahead with it. WSPA have, however, extended the fund-raising deadline until the end of the year.

We still have lots of lovely bears that have been donated by Artists, shops and Manufacturers. Some of them are now on Ebay and can be found here http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/roddyrhino/m. … 4340.l2562

Also, there is a dedicated website with bears on that can be found here.
www.teddybearsforwspa.co.uk

If you would like to make a donation direct to our fund-raising target you can do so here: www.justgiving.com/dawnandchris2012

There are lots of associated costs for us in the trip, i.e. getting to the airport and back, a massive fuel surcharge on the flight, some meals while we are away etc., so to help with this,  for my own Hugs Unlimited bears, I am having a Summer Sale and they can be found here: http://www.bearpile.com/artist/1386

Sorry to sound gloomy, it's not my usual style at all, but with the trek just over a week away I am entering panic mode!  :lol:

This is Chester one of the Hugs Unlimited bears in the Summer Sale.

Hi

Some brilliant artists have donated and made special bears to help the real bears in Romania. In less than 8 weeks, I along with my husband Chris will be walking 50 miles over the Carpathian mountains in Romania to raise funds for bears that have been cruelly treated in ways that I cannot even bring myself to talk about.  Some of the bears have no claws or teeth, others are blind. All due to what people have done to them.  :cry::cry:

Thankfully, there are wonderful people in this world who disagree with the ill treatment of animals and who have set up a wonderful sanctuary for these animals to live out their lives in peace, happiness and safety. However, these rescues come at a price, vet bills, food, and upkeep is expensive. That is why the Bear Trek takes place to raise funds for these lovely animals. It is not a holiday, accommodation and food is basic, and I was never built to climb mountains! I have done the trek twice before and I can honestly say that the trekking is hard and for me, and not particularly enjoyable especially going uphill! At 56 I should probably be cruising towards retirement, but that's not my style.  :lol:

Fund-raising this year has been particularly difficult, the town I live in was devastated by floods a few weeks ago. Many people lost all their belongings and some of them their homes. Insurance is patchy or non-existant for many mainly because of high excesses and premiums. Therefore, we have had to cancel all our plans for local fund-raising. It is a small town and it seems unfair of us to try and compete with the many fund-raisers that are going on for flood victims.

I have spoken to WSPA about this, and asked if we could postpone the trek until next year to enable us to raise the funds. However, because less people are doing the trek this year us pulling out would have meant the trek being cancelled altogther. However, WSPA have given us more time to raise funds, so we can carry on fund-raising beyond the original cut off date of the end of July.

There are still loads of wonderful bears for sale on our website: www.teddybearsforwspa.co.uk and if you would like to make a direct donation our fund-raising page is www.justgiving.com/dawnandchris2012

A huge thanks to those artists, shops and manufacturers who have donated bears for our event and to the collectors who have already bought a bear, but we do need more help, so this is an appeal to the bear world for help in getting to our target.

Huge Hugs

Dawn

Hi
Just a quick reminder that the Teddy Bears for WSPA events starts at 7.00 p.m. on Friday 29th June and will run for approx 3 weeks. However, to get the bear of your dreams probably best to get in as early as possible on Friday. 

We have an amazing selection of bears, other animals and bear related items, so something for everyone. 

You can find a list of who has donated on the website already - if your name is on there and it shouldn't be please let me know, or if it should be and it isn't or if it is and it is wrong.

Looking forward to seeing lots of new bears going to new homes, and to lots of real bears getting their vets bills and food paid for.

Just to confirm,  every penny will go to WSPA for their Bear Sanctuary in Romania. Chris and I walking 50 miles to raise money for the Bear Sanctuary, but the money for our flights and accommodation has already been paid for by us.

I have just started to complile the website for the Teddy Bears for Website. The sale will commence on 29th June and run until 14th July. In the meantime, I have put a list of everyone who has donated a bear onto the website. Please check the list to see that your name is spelled correctly, or if I have missed anyone off please let me know.

It is not too late to donate a bear if you would like to do so. All the money raised will go direct to WSPA to fund the Bear Sanctuary in Romania. So by donating a bear you will be feeding a real bear. This will provide the ultimate in guilt-free bear shopping - buy a bear and feed a real bear what could be nicer! This lovely bear was donated by Steiff. I have also heard that Merrythought have made a bear especially for this event.

We have been quite overwhelmed by the number of offers that we have had, and this just reinforces what I always knew that bear people are lovely.

The website is here:

www.teddybearsforwspa.co.uk

Somestimes only a big heavy bear will do, this is a bear that you can really tell your troubles to and who will give unlimited hugs. Even though he is a big heavy bear he still has a very gentle expression.  Now available on Bearpile. http://www.bearpile.com/item/57103

Talking as a confirmed Facebook person, I would say one or two things. If I put a bear up on Bearpile or Ebay or anywhere else for sale I restrict the posts on Facebook to three groups, not always the same three, but I am very aware that no-one wants to see the same bear ten or more times. That said, most people have hundreds of friends and unless they are very dedicated will not see every post by every person. My advice for those in groups is to turn off the notifications and in particular the emails. That way you are in complete control of what you want to look at when you want to look at it.

This year has been mixed for me, Hugglets in February was one of the best ever, but other times it has been a struggle. 

Where Facebook has been brilliant for me is in arranging fund-raising for WSPA. Whether it is local events, or online bear sales there has been a lot more response on there than anywhere else. I honestly believe that if it hadn't been for Facebook, I would not have raised anything like the £7.500 that I have raised for the Sanctuary over the last few years.  I am organising a huge sale of Artist bears that have very kindly been donated by artists from all over, and by far the biggest response was on Facebook.

Aww thank you - so glad you like him, sometimes its good to try something a little bit different. 

Meet Chester, a little bit different to my usual bears, this pattern was based on the 1950s bears that I love. I was very pleased with Chester, and he does seem to be saying 'pick me up and cuddle me' all the time. Chester is available on Bearpile. http://www.bearpile.com/item/57058

Aww thank you for your lovely comments, I do miss being Editor, but it is nice to have more time for bear-making and other things.

Kathy Martin's publication is wonderful and the one just out has a feature written by me about the WSPA Bear Sanctuary in Romania. 

Hi
Peter sale starts on 29th June  6.00 p.m. UK time.  I will post plenty of reminders near the time.

Hugs

Dawn xxx

We are delighted to report that we have now had nearly 50 offers of bears from kind and generous artists, shops and manufacturers. The deadline for receiving photos of the bears is 20th June and the Event will start on 29th June and run to 14th July. So still plenty of time to donate a bear.

If you would like to donate a bear please email me at: hugsunlimited@btinternet.com

I would like to take this opportunity to give a huge thank you to everyone who has donated a bear already. I can assure you that every penny of the money raised will go to helping bears that have been the subject of unspeakable cruelty before finding peace and happiness in the WSPA funded Sanctuary in Romania.

You can read all about the santuary and the mountain trek in the latest edition of The Teddy Bear.

We are getting lots of promises of bears in, and have received some photos/bears already. We are very grateful to everyone who has pledged a bear to us. There is still plenty of time if you would like to donate a bear. The vent will start on 30th June.
There is also a page on Facebook which has photos of some of the bears already donated. If you are on Facebook, please 'like' the page which can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teddy-Bea … 5163597839 There are also details of how you can win qa £25 voucher from The Bear Shop in Norwich.

This lovely bear was donated by Jo Symon of Joxy Bears

I have had some great offers of bears from artists, but I would still like some more so that the sale will make lots of money for the bears. Food for thought, one artist who is donating a bear said 'I would love to, after all without real bears we would not have any teddy bears'.

If anyone would like to donate at bear, I will need the photo by 25th June. The sale will then go live a few days later, and any unsold bears will go to auction. Postage will be paid direct to the artist via Paypal and the cost of the bear will go direct to WSPA.

This is a link to a video that one of the participants of the trek last year made, it gives some idea of what bears have to suffer. A donation of a bear could make a real difference to these bears lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnvqowN … e=youtu.be

If you feel unable to donate a bear but would like to make a donation, our donation page is: www.justgiving.com/dawnandchris2012

Thank you for your support.

Yes, I am sure we can hear the bears laughing as my ample rear puffs up the mountain!  :lol:

The bears get substantial rewards with a good price, plus the artist's work is not under-valued I think that is important.

Hi Becky

I am more than happy for the artists to set the prices, also to photograph them. I strongly believe that artists know the value of their work better than anyone else, and that they are the best people to photograph them as well. Our intention is to have a period of time where the bears are on sale at fixed prices, this will probably be 2/3 weeks close to the beginning of July. After that, any that remain unsold (hopefully none) will go to auction - with a reserve price if necessary. I appreciate that I am asking a lot of artists, and I really appreciate those who want to offer a bear. I want to make sure that the money raised properly reflects the bears that have been donated.

I am also open to suggestions.

Hope this helps

Dawn

Thank you Peter, you can be sure that you will be the first to know when any bears go online. We have the first bear which I believe you have seen on the Facebook Page, a lovely bear by Kathryn Downey. We have other artists who are making one for us, and of course there will be a Hugs Unlimited bear.

To be honest, I think we are a bit crazy to do the trek again, I'm still as unfit as ever and still can't walk up a hill without feeling the need of an oxygen tank! I do try to lose weight and and we do a lot of training, but then I get hungry and eat ice cream and cake.  :wacko:

We are really late getting started with the fund-raising this year, mainly because we were not sure whether we could go or not, when we book we have to pay a large deposit which covers the plane fare and our food/accommodation, this we have to pay ourselves, we finally got that together last week, so now we can concentrate on the fund-raising for the bears. I hope lots of artists will contribute bears as well, but I do realise that it is a lot to ask of them. If anyone can help us with any other fund-raising ideas then please feel free. We are in the processing of emailing all the artists in the Teddy Bear Guide as well.

Hi

In September 2012, I, Dawn James of Hugs Unlimited and my husband, Chris Elliott, are planning to complete the WSPA Bear Adventure, a 50 mile trek across the Carpathian Mountains in the Romanian region of Transylvania. The aim of the trek is to  raise money for WSPA’s work in building an extension to their sanctuary for rescued bears in Zarnesti, Romania, as well as contributing to food and vet bills for the bears already in the sanctuary.

Our plan is to raise £5,000 for WSPA, and to help achieve that, we are writing to all the bear artists we know and asking them if they would be willing to donate a bear (or other animal) to be sold in aid of WSPA.

We would love it if you felt able to donate a bear for this worthwhile cause. We already have some great artists involved, but would like to see some more.

We appreciate the amount of time that goes into making a bear, but also appreciate how many Artists are animal lovers, and hope you don't mind us asking for your help.

If you are a collector and would like to be put on a mailing list for these bears please let me know.

We will be setting  up a website and the bears will go on sale late June/Early July,  for each artist who donates a bear, we will include a link on our page to their own website, if they have one, or any similar information, such as Facebook page etc. Photos of donated bears will go on our Facebook page as soon as they are received, and the sale will be well publicised throughout the bear collecting world.

If you are able to help, or would like further information about the sale, please email hugsunlimited @ btinternet.com (closing the gaps)

If you would like to know more about the sanctuary, go to http://www.wspa.org.uk/wspaswork/bears/ … fault.aspx

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks in advance if you are able to donate a bear to this sale/auction.

Thanks Katy,

The fund-raising is particularly difficult this year, as Chris was made redundant in November and in spite of trying has not found anything yet. It means that we are struggling ourselves and there is no leeway to putting in large amounts for WSPA like we have done in previous years.

This way seemed to be a good way of fund-raising and for others to get something they want as well. There will probably be more patterns later if this one goes well. 

Hi
For the third time this year, I will be walking 50 miles to raise funds for the WSPA Romanian Bear Sanctuary. To raise funds, I have designed 2 bear and one rabbit pattern which are available on CD or PDF there are also lots of bear-making tips included. The pdf is £7 and the CD is £10 including UK postage, or £12 including worldwide postage. If you would like one, please email me at hugsunlimited @ btinternet.com (without spaces)  Together with my husband we have so far raised over £7,500 for the bears and hope to add another £5000 this year.

Many thanks

Dawn

Hi Thomas

Lovely to see you, really sorry that I was busy as you wavedm anbd that we didn't get a chance to chat. xxx

Hi
I just got this message as well. Eileen's Facebook is unavailable, so maybe someone has got into that.

Eileen is on the Guild of Master Bearcrafters, and I tried to contact her through that, but as I am not friends with her on there it wouldn't let me.

It definitely felt like a scam to me.

Dawn

It must be difficult when a family member has different beliefs to you. I can understand that you of course love and respect your father. Hunting purely for food is, of course, different from hunting for pleasure or sport, but I really hope, as you say, that the world will realise that we don't need to kill animals to survive. I have been vegetarian for over 30 years and it is a decision that I have never regretted. I'm sorry if I offended you or your father, it was not my intention.

Hope was the subject of a webcam and then a TV programme. Many of us watched Hope being born. I am beyond angry about what has happened. However, I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you that foxes, rabbits and ducks are somehow 'not important'. To me, ALL hunting of ALL animals is wrong.