Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

oh fun! I added some bunnies to the flickr group

What a timely topic!

A special publication from Cloth Paper Scissors magazine is coming out this spring. I've pre-ordered it, it's all about studios and workspaces. Here: http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/shop/ … azine.html I will finally get to create a studio space in the new house, so I am excited to plan 

Will not have a FIREPLACE though, Aleta you lucky duck!

Having not clicked the link, am I to assume this is not the one with Christopher Walken?

I built my etsy shop and will be populating it with bears and pals this week. I've had a very good reception of my art prints over there! It's also a good place to get interesting supplies and bits of vintage fabric and buttons etc. I really like the community a lot!

I closed my ebay store entirely - everything I hear from ebay is worse than the last and I don't want to do business like that.

Brenda make sure you take ALL yer antibiotics!!

best of luck, I am curious to see what technique or combination thereof gives you the best results. It can be maddeningly unpredictable, to me anyway. I knitted and felted some mittens in the washer/dryer, and they felted up marvelously. BUT they had a fuzzy halo of soft hair like angora (but this was 100% alpaca). My friend felted a couple of hats from the same stuff in her washer, and they turned into a very matted, non-fuzzy felt - still very pleasing, but not with the fuzzy halo. But they were made from the same alpaca! I'd have loved to get the matted results on the mittens, because I had some men on my mitten list. I still don't know why the differences happened.

Do you have a photo of how yours turned out? I think it is a cumulative process, and if you work determinedly on the same piece, it continues to tighten up. Maybe it needs the rubbing action to get the effect you want.

How do these compare to the ones on ebay?
http://www.joggles.com/store/catalog/in … 554eb2b38e

Put it in the washing machine, hot. throw some tennis balls in there, or jeans, or something bulky to beat that wool up. then put it into a hot dryer, again with something bulky to batter it into felt.

Of course test it with a piece that isn't precious, first. I would think 100% wool would work best, and mohair knitted stuff also felts. Alpaca and angora both felt readily (Angora TOO readily) There are all sorts of different sheepswools though. Some are finer and crimpier than others - these work great. Some are silky like hair and felt poorly.

If you're working with superwash wool, it will not felt AT ALL. As a spinner I can get superwash roving. How ridiculous would it be, trying in vain to felt that!

If you do it by hand, soap not detergent is the thing to use. Soak it in water as hot as you can stand (boiling, if you're using tongs) then plunge it into icewater. Repeat! Wrap it up in a bamboo placemat and rub the heck out of it, letting the ridges of the bamboo massage it into tighter felt. An old fashioned washboard works great too.

Oh the things we do for art. Do you see why I suggested the washing machine first? 

oh man. I am only on the second TREASURIES page. It's woooonnnderful.

I want to make soap, and ceramics, and lampwork, and mosaics, and stained glass, and...and...and....!!!!

*shakes fist at Shelli* I am sposed to be working!!

:crackup:

It was SWARMING last time I've looked, it was the big push (was it last April?) and the momentum was great, and it was exciting cos what a neat site and good resource.

As to the ebay thing...
it seems that part of their rationale with the new feedback system is to get sellers to leave feedback for the buyer as soon as an item is paid for. This is a topic people have gone back and forth on, but I think feedback should wait til the end of the transaction entirely, when the item is in the buyer's hands. Plenty of buyers have gone loony after paying!

I don't have any negs, and I have never had to leave a neg. But I felt safe knowing I could look at any buyer's FB and get a sense of who I was dealing with, and leave a warning if I had to (at the last minute yeah lol) The new system, I'd feel like I was swingin in the wind. The increased final value fees are just a further kick in the face.

Of course if I sell elsewhere I gotta consider fixing my prices, which is what I have been REALLY avoiding....!

I just logged on to post about this. It's crazy!

I was going to start listing again, too. Now I wonder if I want to stick with ebay. Where are bear artists these days? I went to look at Bid4Bears and it was cobwebs    Etsy?

Thanks guys! I've definitely missed it here! I will have to shoot some bear pics in the next few days and catch up.

In a couple years I will have a handful of alpaca geldings as fiber-producing pets. There is a horse farm across the road so I can get my pony fix without paying to feed one, lol (and the husband sighs with great relief!) Oh also I have a friend who will be bringing me these little girls in the springtime:

Don't they look NAUGHTY???

As for the house....the stove will work as soon as we take the kerosene-burning adaptors out of it. We've found a bunch of small treasures; a lady's glove and a shoe heel stuck up in the ceiling by the old chimney; a 1948 calendar inside one of the walls, a mercury dime under the fridge, etc. In the springtime, the metal detector will come out Honestly what I am most excited about is workspace and storage space. I have a cluttered corner of the living room, it is a mess and I keep losing stuff. I can't wait to have shelves and flat surfaces....*dreamy sigh* Oh, and DOORS. Our current place is very open-concept. But the only interior doors are to the bathroom and the utility room. Sometimes you need more than that...Mr Toadbriar plays banjo    :crackup:

We are VERY lucky! We figured it is a good chance to stay in this area and near family, and while it is a lot of work, it is a matchless opportunity to learn in the best way possible. Also we figured, if not now, then when? Better now when we're young and foolish lol

thanks again guys 

Hi TTers, I've been AWOL for a while but I haven't forgotten ya. I've just been busy and away from beardom! I had a bear who was pattern pieces for like 4 months, untouched - unthinkable! I didn't even have any critters to sell for Christmas. But now I've gotten clear of much of the other stuff I was doing - and it is good to be diving back into my mohair stash. I've been spinning and dyeing a lot of fleece in the last few months, mostly alpaca, and knitting hats and selling some through a local store. I love playing with fiber! Many of my bears now sport sweaters, lol - lots easier to make a bear sized one than a people-sized one.

Big news is we've bought our first house and are working on the inside through the winter. It is wonderful: 5.9 acres, with a pond. On a dead end road, surrounded by protected wildlife management land that is full of trails. It is from early or mid 1800s and had been in the same family since the 1920s. It is an improvement on our current location because it is only 3 miles from the middle of town and things like grocery, hardware store, PIZZA, and chinese food! We've been living a good 20 mins from that kind of stuff, so we are looking forward to feeling much less remote, in a larger but still small town. Also there is cable and high speed internet available there and we get cell reception. The funny thing is we'll be closer to Boston - didn't expect THAT to happen!

Here it is when we went to look at it in November:

None of the interior walls are load-bearing, so we are taking the opportunity to rearrange it inside. So we've been pulling down ceilings and walls and pulling up layers and layers of floor. It has never had central heat so we are getting that put in. We're pretty much taking it down to bones and starting fresh. That way we'll know there isn't any scary old wiring etc hiding away, and everything can be as we choose (within modest budget anyhow!) Andy's Dad is brilliant at 'house stuff' and is managing lots of it, he likes to revitalize old houses but keeps their character and integrity. We are learning so much. Our rental lease is not up til June so we can work on it and still come home to a bit less chaos!

Dear old stove:

Apple tree and pond:

Good old hand hewn beams in the attic:

Nice light inside:

now we've done this to it:

So yeah. we've been busy lol - and will continue to be! Come springtime we will be knocking this down:

A barn wants to be built (and Dad is keen to try post and beam construction) and we have to fence in some pasture and dog yard, etc. etc. etc. lol
But it's pretty awesome getting to know the place inside and out! We are so happy.

AND it's good to be back - I am looking forward to catching up and seeing what everyone is doing!!

take care,
-Kim

LOL - glad to hear Steve (zebra!) is a hit! He is not taxidermy - he is actually a life sized sculpture, I could not resist him!

Baskets are from Christmas Tree Shop 

Not a brass pole to slide down but maybe a hidden doorway behind a book case? that'd be so cool!

Marilyn maybe you could do throw rugs? I am jealous of your non-carpet room! a big braided rug could look lovely tho!

this thread is great!

Here is as my husband put it "Kim in her Secret Lair, 10,000 miles below the Earth's crust."

But the sewing machine goes on the kitchen table and I do my lapwork on the sofa. I mostly paint and glue at the table in the picture!

This is further to the right in the same room (using the rat cages as a reference)

of course our cottage is really almost one big open-concept room (plus the bedroom n laundry downstairs) and my art space is one end of it.

I am down to only one half-sized rattie cage anymore. 

How fun!
Was the food good?

We just got back from 2 days in Old Orchard Beach - boy it was just what I needed too!

Let me know if you still want that mohair!

I am so envious, lampworking is so cool! Your beads are gorgeous, they're not good enough to sell?? really??

I agree, not enough hours in the day. Life itself is too short - I want to do too many things!

I agree re: bear eyes, you think you'd ever make any?

don't get discouraged by Art Doll Quarterly. I submitted something to them back in Feb but only JUST heard back...after nudging them with an email in May 

Of course, the piece I really wanted published had gone to its new home in the UK by then - I couldn't stall mailing any longer! 

awesome job! I love the personality that shows in her. I like the color fur you chose, too. isn't it funny how each one just shows you what you wanna do with the NEXT one??

The important thing to me is the comfort of the customer. I always ask myself 'would I as a customer be put off by this behavior?' This one comes up as a strong 'yes' for me -it is pesty. I don't want to be 'targeted'. Hey artist, this is not the kind of word-of-mouth ya want!

I also look at it from the point of view of, I feel a comradeship with other bear (etc!) arists. I will congratulate them on a sale! I will swap promotional ideas with them, and so on - all the good stuff we do here!

What I will NOT do is play the bratty little sister - seeing another artist getting attention & sales, and come flouncing in with my own stuff saying "HEY over here - lookit mine toooo! Lookit mine instead!!" I don't want her taking my moments away, and I won't take hers away. We all will get our own triumphs and deserve to enjoy em!

It's hard enough making a go at being an artist; fellow creators don't need to be cannibalizing one another's customer base in that aggressive manner. It goes against the basic nature of what teddies ought to be about - and ya know I am not one of the snuggly members of the forum sayin that! 

Here's one of my favorites to browse - aside from the cool STUFF, I love the way all the pictures are illustrations:

http://www.gooseberrypatch.com

I love their kitchen & home decor items.....I got a gorgeous jadeite cake stand from them and it makes me happy every day to see it!

A few months back I asked for advice on making a toy that was washable and safe for babies, without joints or glass eyes etc. I was lucky to get great advice from this forum and I am delighted to say the resulting Beagle and his brand-new pal are both pretty cute!

My brother & SIL have 2 beagles and are involved in beagle rescue. They also had a cute puppy theme for the nursery of their freshly-hatched first non-canine baby, Melody Grace. So I was challenged to come up with a doggie pattern for a soft floppy guy. I ordered some Schulte synthetic and it is soft as a cloud. I had never made a guy with so many pieces! Beagles have lots of colors, I was worried about how well it would turn out with the black saddle and light colored paws etc. And I wanted him to have a little white blaze on his nose! I never made a laying-down guy before, either. I am pretty happy with the result tho! He is nicely huggable. I embroidered the eyes and gave him a wool felt nose. He's got brown satin inside his ears, and his collar is a neato vintage cotton trim. I tied a little card to it with vintage rick rack:

My brother took the photos, I was in such a hurry to mail off her package before she outgrew the clothes we got her!    :crackup:

I wanted to personalize him:

They seem to be pretty good friends already:

I admit I don't mind him being upstaged by her formidable powers of cuteness!  :crackup:

I LOVE these guys! I can't wait to see more. I adore the combination of your sweet sillybear faces and the more primitive style. Wonderful!! 

we need a 'jaw-dropping smiley' - this doggie is incredible!  :clap:

I agree with all on departed pet art - it's too draining, I only do it very occasionally.

Brilliantly done - be proud!

lol thanks cat! I forgot about this guy - glad you like him! He was well received by his eventual recipient :-D

Aaaaaa I want rose......but I can't do swop stuff right now - husband just switched jobs and it is a little bit in-betweeny for a bit!!

In some months perhaps if you still have her!

Thank you!!

Shelli....oh dear.... I have for years wanted a pet goat named Toby... lol don't know if I ought to tell you that or not!!

Sheila, COOL another spinner!
I started with a drop spindle but, while pleasant & relaxing, it takes such a long time! I really wanted to move on to a wheel before too long. I know they can be expensive but I read lots of reviews & I ended up with this one:

http://www.woolery.com/Pages/babefr.html#production

the price is pretty much unbeatable & shipping is included. I got the double treadle. I love it! It doesn't have the looks of a more traditional wheel, but I didn't want to commit to a $600 one when I wasn't sure if I'd take to spinning or not. Also, now I can spin, but still hold out for the legendary cheap & perfect garage sale spinning wheel! 

Sue do you mean the brim? the brim is the only part where I used anything - and that was just a layer of buckram. The hat itself is pretty floppy otherwise! I was kind of put off, originally, by the texture of the wool right off the bolt - it had so much sizing in it, it felt smooth as paper and very WEIRD for wool! Fortunately it softened right up after a quick scrub with detergent.

Chrissi I figure I will learn to knit & crochet in small, manageable, bear-sized doses!!

Thanks again everyone!!

Tobias is 13" tall, soft-stuffed to be really snuggly. He sat around here naked for months, waiting for
me to find the just-right hat pattern. Once I could make his hat, the rest would fall into place!

Tobias wears an alpaca sweater made just for him. I spun, dyed, and crocheted the fleece myself, and
made the sweater! My neighbor raises alpacas, they have the softest fleece. So I was delighted to buy
some from her to spin.

Look - I even got to help on shearing day! (blinking in the photo, as usual lol)

I also dyed Tobias' herringbone wool cap. I was going crazy trying to find the pattern for a simple flat cap.
I ended up taking one of Dad's that he doesn't wear, and taking it apart to make a pattern, & shrinking it down!

Tobias' britches are cotton homespun, and his suspenders are cotton too. His suspender buttons are handmade
ceramic and glazed. I saw them on ebay and couldn't resist getting about a dozen of them, they are so pretty.

Tobias' eyes are shoebuttons, his paws are wool felt. He is an original pattern, and OOAK. He comes with his
little bulldog, Leo, who is painted muslin and also OOAK.

As it turns out these fellows did not even make it to ebay! I wanted to give Marty, the alpaca breeder, first
dibs, and she bought them  I am pleased as punch, cos we worked it out that she traded me some prime
quality fleece as part of the deal - I am gonna be in spinning heaven!      :dance:

thanks for looking!