Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Thank you ladies for all the help.  I will tell the person who is looking for this.  I know someone on here could give me answers.

I am sorry I don't come on this site much anymore as I quit doing teddy bears last summer and now am just refurbishing dolls.  I guess I should change my avatar on here 

Does anyone know if there was or still is an artist bear maker who goes by the name Bearly There Co. from Fountain Valley California.  Some one has a bear called Tatters and it is 2 or 20 and wants to know a little more about the bear.  Right now I do not have a picture of the bear which I know always helps.

Please let me know if you have heard or know this person.

Thank you, Eva

I have received my first Christmas card and now I think I had better start writing out mine.

That is a hard one Karen.  I still have my mother but haven't heard from her in years, but my Dad passed away 16 years ago and I still miss him.  His birthday was September 11 and that is the day I am most sad and say a little prayer.

I never got my list either and I think I was the third one to sign up.  If I am not on it this year, I understand it may be too late.

This economy and my age has made me rethink the whole bear market.  I have been making child safe bears for 30 years and they have always sold well until this last year.  I am almost flat now in sales and so I am no longer making bears.  Will I lower the prices.....I don't think so at this time.  I still have shows to do this year and after the first of the year, I will look again to what I have left and decide then what I want to do.  I may just give what ever is left to the nursing homes and crisis center in our community. 

I love making teddy bears and it is sad what is happening right now but I don't have the time to wait for the teddy bear market to turn around again.  I have seen it go up and down so many times and with lots of hope, after the elections it may turn again.

I have been making soft dolls for years too and they are still selling well so that I will continue to do.  In the last few months I have added vintage and other dolls to my inventory.  I buy the dolls, clean them up and make new clothes for them and I am finding this is where most of my sales have been lately.    I never thought in a million years that I would be doing this but if this is what the people are looking for and I enjoy doing it then that is what I will do.  Having been reitred for the last few years and living on a fixed income, the money is always tight and making things keeps me active and busy plus brings a little extra into the household every month.   I am loving my new adventure.

I know I am rambling on and so I will stop.  My love of teddy bears will never stop and I will continue to come to this site and check out all the new and wonderful bears and friends that all of you are making.  So even though you will not see any new bears from me, I may just put my two cents in once in a while.

Happy Bear Making.

I really think it is the economy but for me I am changing directions right now.  After 30 years of designing and making bears and never having to worry about sales, I will no longer be making bears.  At least for the present time.  From the last few shows I have done and my website sales and not hardly even having people look at the bears I am switching to just dolls.  The soft dolls that I design and make are really selling and in the last 3 months I have been buying and redoing vintage and other dolls, cleaning them up then redressing when necessary and selling.  This is where my sales are now coming from.

I can see that the bear market will turn around as it always cycles in and out but at my age, I can't wait for another cycle and if the people are asking for dolls then that is the way I am going. 

I love teddy bears and I love making them but when they sit on my shelves for months, it doesn't make any sense to me to keep making them.  I am too practical for that so I have changed.  We all have to go with the flow.

Sweet picture.  So cute the two of them, side by side, guarding the house.

She is a pretty little deer and so patient to wait for you.

You might try machine sewing then whip stitch the wire in the end of the tail and use that wire for turning.  Just a thought.  I wire all the tails in my dogs and mice.

I use different size dowels for turning.  I bought a package at WalMart of all the different sizes from skinny to thick and they work for me.  I have sanded some of them to a dull point on one end to help get to the tip of skinny tails without going through the end..

She is really cute in the hoodie.

Wonderful bear.  I would be jumping up and down with a bear like that.  Your husband is a sweetheart.  Hugs to him for buying it and hugs to you and your beautiful bear.

What a pretty dog Cooper is.  I suppose I shouldn't say pretty because he is a boy but he is.  I just love his color.

Thanks for the fall colors.  That is one of the things I miss living in the desert of Arizona.

:dance: Congrats.  Love this little guy and his trash can.

Good job  :dance:  :dance:

This was so much fun last year,  you have mail from me. :clap:

I had a friend with it and it did go away after a few weeks.  Many hugs to you. :hug:  :hug:

Congrats to all the winners.  You all do fabulous work.

I love fall colors and I do miss that part of the year.

Cooper is such a pretty silver color.  Glad everything is working out and he is fitting in.

You guys are cute.  I looked for a whole day trying to find a container of safety pins I always keep on the counter in my studio.  Just could not find them.   Yesterday,  I clean up and there they were under one of the piles.

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Here are my four winners.  The Fairy Princess who won a First Place and a Best of Class ribbon.  The faux fur, 5 way jointed bear, the Emma, a 4 face doll, and the poor little feather fur black dog who doesn't photograph well, all won First Place ribbons.

The head of the doll has four sides and all faces.  It is put on a joint in the neck and then it wears a hat that hides three faces and only shows one at a time.  It is really an old idea that I have just updated and designed myself.  There is one on my website under Emma Doll if you want to see all the faces.  They sell very well.