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For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Little Clown bear with sleigh ~ 7 inches
He is ready to join you for the holidays!
Metal Sleigh, vintage doilies and miniature stocking included.
He is available for adoption in my Old Soul Bears Etsy shop.
He is ready to join you for the holidays!
He wears Red and Green vintage Millinery. A felt hat trimmed with red velvet petals and jingle bells!
He is available for adoption in my Old Soul Bears Etsy shop.
Adorable little sailor and great whale !
Love them all !
She is gorgeous! Perhaps I will get to see her in the fur 
My favorite part is when the bear decides if it will be a boy or a girl, lol. They often change my plan mid way, lol. I agree that the face is so much fun to finish. I also like the accessories . . . deciding which hat, dress or vintage sweater will add to the over all look. I'm working on a clown bear right now . . . hope to have him done in a few days. Yep, it's a boy
Ah! What a Sweetie 
Hi Christine . . . I stopped by last night and said hellow :hug: Very pretty blog. I added you to my Old Soul Bears blog . . . my Teddy Bear connection. Please feel free to add me to your list. Love your boot button bears
Karen
Stunning animal photos! That last sunset picture is amazing too. You must have a great camera . . . you weren't really that close to the Hyaena were you???? Great zoom :)
I would love to go on a trip like that ! All about the animals :)
Thanks for sharing all those pics.
Karen at Ciderantiques
you paid for the insurance make her file a claim
I really think in most countries only the sender can file the claim. The up-side of this rule, is it prevents the buyer from keeping the item and getting the refund.
My lovely postal system only insures for loss, not damage. I double box breakables for that reason.
I hope your local "rules" for insurance claims are more helpful to the sender. Karen
Oh Clare!! I thought you meant it was 99 pence (UK currency) which would only be a couple of dollars!!
I thought the same thing ! Sorry.
make her file a claim with the postal system.
In Canada only the sender can file the claim. It may be the same with Clare.
I would ask her to photograph the damage and email the pictures, to see if it is as bad as she is describing. Ask her to photograph the box too! If the box is fine, then you know something is not quite right.
You could offer a partial refund (most sellers don't refund shipping costs, so maybe the buyer would rather have a few dollars off and avoid spending more money to ship it back).
You could follow-up with the post office for a refund as well (you mentioned the item was insured). I would try and work it out before she issues a paypal chargeback (you could have all $100 removed from your paypal account, if she wins the chargeback). Those really sting!
FYI ~ check your local postal rules on insurance. eg. ~ Canadapost only insures for loss, not for damages 
~ Karen
Hi Clare,
I think she sounds like she wants the item for free. I have had a few issues where I thought people were not on the up and up. I would ask for photos of the damage. More often than not the photos do not appear. Given ebay's new feedback rules I would pay her off (50%) to get rid of her. Hopefully she won't neg you. It is likely worth a couple of dollars to make her go away and keep your good feedback. Then add her to your blocked bidder list so she can never buy from you again.
Hi Ed, I would file a non-paying bidder alert so you can get your final value fee back and add the person to your blocked bidder list. I do use Second Chance offers . I have had good luck with them, as a seller. I email the buyer to let them know it is coming, and why. I advise them to check their emails in "my ebay" to see that it is real. I think they are a good option if you are happy with the second bid price. I find re-listing lowers the price. I would give the second chance a try. They are safer now, if done directly through ebay. Buyers can figure this out
Hope that helps! Karen :hug:
Very Sweet !
Oh you lucky girl ! Good thing I wasn't at that yard sale . . . I would have looked liked an old Bridesmaid diving for the bouquet at all costs LOL. For fifty cents !!!! You scored !!!! :clap:
I looked up your bear in the Steiff Sortiment Book (1947 - 1999) version. This book is affectionately known as the Steiff Bible. Your bear is found on page 53. It is the Teddy Baby bear. Yours is the honey color. If he is 11 inches tall, that is the 28cm size that was only made between the years 1951 and 1957. The thread on the leg is a remnant of the tag that read "Made in US-Zone Germany."
Your bear would have originally had a leather collar with a bell, and a chest tag (Steiff ID tag) attached to the collar. He would have had a button and yellow Steiff flag in the left ear as well. You should be able to see a small hole. Mothers often ripped out the Steiff button to protect their little ones. They tossed the collars and bells as well :doh:
The Sortiment book rates Steiff toys on a scale of 1 to 9 for rarity. Your bear is given a level 7. :clap: This is for a bear with all IDs in MINT condition. Even without his IDs, your bear is easily recognizable.
The value for a level 7 (from page 9 of the Steiff Sortiment Book) is 1,250.00 Euros to 2,500 Euros. I have found that I get about half the book value for bears without ID. His mohair looks nice and full, with minimal thinning, which is very good !
A professional surface cleaning goes a long way in getting the highest value for your bear. I am currently cleaning Deb Burnham's antique bear . . . photos on my second blog www.oldsoulbears.blogspot.com . Deb's bear has had quite a transformation. I will do a post on TT when he is completely finished.
Congratulations on your Treasure! You lucky gal!
~ Karen
Hi Laura, Make sure you file a "Non-paying bidder alert" with ebay. You can do this 7 days after the auction ended. Ebay will refund your final value fees for the bear (which will be significant on a $371 dollar purchase). The buyer is then given a certain amount of time to respond to the "alert". I believe it is another 7 days. If they still do not respond (pay) the seller is then eligible for the refund. You decide what conclusion to put on the file, from several ebay prompts. Eg. buyer never responded, buyer did not pay, etc. After 3 strikes (or 3 N.P.B. Alerts a buyer will be shut down).
Hope that helps! ~ Karen.
p.s. I closed my ebay store May 1st and have decided to give Esty and my own website a try for the summer. I Sold 5 things in my etsy store today : ). I think the traffic is certainly on the rise over at Etsy.
Hi Shelli, I found a great link for the Novotel chain. This link http://www.all-hotels.com/novotel/europe/home.htm . They often are city-central so you may very well find one where you need/want to be. You just type in the city name and dates and it will tell you what is near by. I think we got at least 15% off the rate by booking online, sometimes a lot more.
You get reduced rates for most attractions too, by booking online. We booked as much as possible that way. I think the bill for our trip arrived before we had even left the country !!!
I don't know if apt. rentals are available for short term use. I think they are usually one week bookings, or perhaps a full weekend. We wanted to do that, but could not find them for short term use. If you are on the move (sounds like you are), a B&B may be better. There are still B&Bs in the city. If you are into the back packing adventure you could try Youth Hostels (not just for the young). My mom and I have done that before and it was fine.
Yes, Bobbie is right. Order your Euro's early. I forgot that part. Even when you have been before you do forget some of the details. I went to my bank 4 weeks before our trip and they said that was a good thing. Sometimes the Euro's are depleted if many potential vacationers have requested them and beat you to it ! (which was the case for me). There was lots of time to order more (good thing !).
I know you will have an amazing trip and the memories do last a life time. My children still talk about the trip. I wish we could go more often :-). Karen
Hi Shelli! You will have a great time! Long post ahead . . . :dance:
Our family of four travelled to Germany and Austria and Paris in June 2005 for 2 weeks. It was wonderful!!! My husband and I turned 40 that year and we decided to make a trip to Europe our celebration. After we got home, my husband was actually going to start a website "Travelling with Kids" or something like that, but it never left the idea phase.
My advice, especially since you are travelling with 3 kids (how small are they?), is to work on reserving the hotel accommodation right away. You get a discount by booking online and . . . more importantly . . . you will have to work quite hard to find accommodation that has two double beds in one room (that is something we take for granted in North America). Most hotels in Europe just have one bed (and no sofa). We didn't want to book two rooms at every stop . . . so my husband spent a great deal of time online finding places that would sleep us all together. Some places will bring in a twin size cot, others will not. A hotel chain by the name of Novotel was great! We tried to book our nights there, as often as possible. Some even have a pool which keeps the kids happy. Most are simple and clean, nothing too fancy, but always had a room with multiple beds available and included breakfast the next day. You will likely have to arrange for the extra cot (confirm it with the online booking service) since you have 3 children.
We also stayed at a Ski Resort in S. Germany with a kitchen and loft in the unit and a wondeful spa with a huge pool that was empty every night. Seemed like it was just for us This place was gorgeous and affordable because there is no skiing in June. It is called the Renaissance Hotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in S. Germany. It is stunning! Restaurant with Mountain views, spa and great accommodation. You have to book at least one nice place 
while you are away ~ right? We had a rental car though, so I am not sure about how it would work with just the train passes. This particular spot was not near the train station . .. so you will have to take that into account when you book places.
I know with the trains you have to know when your next stop is (there is no dilly-dally at the stops!) so be ready to get off. If you miss your stop it is a hassle getting back. Everyone should be up and ready to get off.
We decided that our site seeing plans would rotate. This worked out really well !!!! Specifically, Mommy day, Daddy day and Kid day (they didn't notice there was only one kid day for every two adult days 
). We all agreed that we had to be good company when it wasn't "your day". Travelling can be hard, our kids were rather young and I didn't want to listen to complaining for two weeks. No one wants bad company on their special day (was the speech they received, before we even got on the plane). It worked well. My mommy day highlights were:
Neuschwanstein Castle, The Steiff Teddy Bear Museum, a doll museum in the town of Rothenburg, and a day at the largest antique Market in Berlin ~ Tier Garden. I think they all skipped the doll museum and went to a fancy bakery with dad instead. It worked for me . . . I got to browse quietly.
Yes, absolutely book your tickets in advance for the Neu. Castle. It is one of the top tourist attractions in Europe. It does sell out months in advance. You do not want to be disappointed. I waited 15 years to see that castle LOL (so I wasn't going to take a chance of being turned away). Wear good shoes that day and take some water (you have to walk up hill 20 to 30 minutes to reach it). There are waiting stations all the way up (for when it is crowded). It was not busy when we got there, but I hear the waiting can be like Disney line-ups in peak summer. Check into a bus (from the train to the castle) and see if that can be reserved too. The parking lot was full of buses!
Steve's highlights were visiting the top of Mount Zugspitze (highest mountain in Germany) by gondola , visiting various historical sites in Berlin, including the US Checkpoint Charlie museum. Driving through the mountains and driving on the autobahn highways was lots of fun too!
The kids tops picks were LegoLand, the Berlin Zoo (one of the oldest zoos in Europe), and the AlpenZoo in Innsbruck Austria. We also tried to book hotels with pools where possible. Legoland was a big hit and different enough to keep mom and dad happy. They also enjoyed the boat tours. We went on the Sein in Paris and the Rhine River Cruise in S. Germany.
Take a jar of peanut butter!!! for fussy N.American kids (mine anyways). Peanut butter is a rarity over there and comes in so handy. I think I also stuffed some Cheerios in my suit case, some granola bars and crackers. I figured the space would be filled up with purchases on the way back, anyways (and the food would be gone). We also took 4 water bottles and labelled our names on them. You have to buy water everywhere you go. We just filled up our bottles.
I got lots of Euros up front and US dollars. Not every place you want cash has an instant teller (banking machine) when you need it. Check which of your US banks have service privileges over there . . . not all do !!!! We relied on cash and credit card. We each had a money belt (even the kids). Make it difficult for those pick-pockets that pray on tourists. Wear a Canadian T-shirt (seriously) or baseball cap. We saw a lot of Americans doing that in 2005. They said it helped.
Take multiple cameras. :photo: The batteries always seem to die out, right when you want that perfect shot. My husband and I just end up "fighting" over one camera, so we each like to have our own anyways. Keeps us all happy. :photo: Get an adaptor so you can recharge your camera batteries (plugs are different over there).
I am sure I could babble all day. I can chat more later . . . must get some work done. Bye for now! Karen
Hi Shelli, Thank you ! I think we both found the info at the same time. It is a very user friendly site.
I think the last time I looked the category did not exist. I am glad they added vintage. It wasn't around when I signed up a few months ago.
~ Karen
Hi again , Found the answer after all . . .
Vintage goods:
The Vintage category is for things that are at least 20 years old.
These listings must be placed in the Vintage category.
I guess there are only two rules :dance: . Etsy here I come !!!!! :dance:
Karen
Very recently they've split their market into three separate areas: Hand made (their original and primary focus); vintage; and supplies. That's because many of the artists and customers who visited there wanted those things
Hi Shelli, I am interested in selling vintage items on etsy. I registered my name on etsy way back in February but have not used my store yet. I am not really sure what I can or can't sell on the site. Does the requirement for handmade also apply to vintage items? Specifically, do the so called vintage items also need to be handcrafted? (I realize a handmade item from a vintage material would be OK).
I am wondering more about the grey areas . . . . I see some people do sell vintage items that they did not personally make.
I presume a hand embroidered tablecloth would be considered OK for etsy ~ but don't know if I would be allowed to sell a vintage machine embroidered tablecloth. I guess the same question applies for vintage handmade lace and machine made lace. Do you know what the policy or rules are for "vintage" listings? I scanned the site but could not clarify this issue.
Hope you know the answer. Thank you, Karen at Ciderantiques
Hello Teddy Talkers . . .
I am offering my first blog giveaway :dance: . . . . lace, linens, a vintage collar, hankies, floral buttons and appliques ! Lots of goodies in this lot. You could make some wonderful teddy bear outfits from the linens and lace.
To be eligible for the draw, all you have to do is post a comment on my May 15th blog post, stating which category in my new website is the most interesting to you.
My blog ( www.ciderantiques.blogspot.com ) has all the details and the link to my website. I will pick the winner on May 31, 2008. I will ship Internationally !
Good luck Karen at Ciderantiques
Hi Tina . . . a little birdie told me my name was mentioned : ). I haven't been on TT for a while . . . busy blogging and starting a new website. I am glad you got your answer . . . I did not know how to make the extra column either. Thanks Tammy !
Karen.
That is soooo cute ! Deer really are curious creatures. Three of them were following me and my dog the other day. My dog is the same color as a deer. She has huge ears and a big white fluffy tail. I am sure they thought I had one of the herd on a leash !!! ~ Karen
and keeping close to you! Very sweet.