Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Steel shot is great for filling bears, but I'd suggest putting it in a little bag first so it doesn't touch your bear's fur as it goes in and stain it. I sew a small bag of pellets up and drop them into the bears butt, then load the stuffing in. It helps them sit nicely.
I used Aquarium pebbles for some tester bears I made, basically just because it's inexpensive and gives them a nice weight....I also guess it'd be resistant to water damage??

Hello there,

I came across this little guy at work (he was a donation to the charity shop I volunteer in) and have been wondering since then if it's possible for anyone to identify his maker, since I don't think he's home made (seems to be machine-sewed at least).

The waistcoat is black fur and is part of the body, not sewn separately. I can't find tags on him but there is an area of slight baldness in his right ear (possibly from another charity shop pricing gun) and a thread on his back. His nose is fabric and sewn on, the tongue is also fabric. His eyes are plastic and his paw pads are slightly rough. He has a heavy, dense stuffing in him.

I didn't buy him with suspicions of a particular maker, I just bought him because I think he's lovely 

Thank you all,

Sarah.

  lovely hugs, everyone.

I hope eventually there might be a proper gallery for hugs 

Were they marked as hers? It seems awfully harsh that she's trying to take your money over something that's actually just a mistake. If they're in no way marked as hers then you can't be expected to pay her, ask for evidence of her copyright.

Free images are generally OK just to use and since they're in the public domain then you ought to be free to use them; are they stock photo-type materials?

Some websites have their own rules/levels of strictness about copyright, but if those images were hosted by Dover publications for people to use and indeed potentially sell, then she has no right to 'sue' you or demand money. This email thing has 'scam' written all over it.

You can contact their rights people via this rights@doverpublications.com but it DOES seem to suggest that it's property of Dover publications and not this lady.

This is my little hug.

From left to right:

Zach by Jamie/Flattrackjack, sitting in his lap is Ditto by Bry/Thingumy bears (I will explain why his ruff is gone in a moment). The chap next to him in the clown hat is Moobie also by Jamie and in his lap is Kipper who is also a Thingumy bear.

Next to Moobie is Sandman, by Clare Davis Tedd. In Sandman's lap is little Kara, also by Clare (also I found her a small rabbit to hold, but I am not sure who made that). Otho is the white clown bear (also by Clare) and I am very lucky to have him.

The woolly brown chap is Leo (another Country bear by Clare), in front of him is Pollo by a Japanese artist I don't know the name of. Leo's buddy in the stripey jumper is George, wearing Moobie's rusty bell, he is also a bear by Clare.

Now, about Ditto's ruff....I am sorry to say that I accidentally pulled it off  :redface: you see, Ditto was a great comfort to me in a time that I was quite upset...and I got into the habit of tugging at his ruff...after a little while of this, I accidentally pulled it off...I still have it and will fix it soon, but I feel very bad, so I gave him a little heart necklace to wear.

Wow, that is a lot of bears! Even Winnie the Pooh 

Ed, your hug is lovely! Such sweet little bears.

Becky, that cardy looks adorable, and all the bears have lovely little friendly faces.

Thomas Adam, wow, so many bears and such a variety too!

I'd better get some hug photos of my own done.

Adorable!

I am currently kicking myself because I missed one of your lovely bears on eBay  :redface:

I saw some discussion on an older thread about how it would be nice to have a gallery area for people's bear collections, so I was wondering if just making a thread for people to post pictures in would be a good idea? In any case, I have gone ahead and made this thread so that people have a chance to share pictures of their hugs and talk a little about the bears they own.

I'm afraid I can't kick start this topic with my pictures of my own bears as I am lacking a camera right now. 

Happy posting, everyone!

He's so beautiful, and so sweet 

Such a beautiful little bear, and what a cute little ghostie...it's more 'aww' than 'woo' 

Someone should tell him that he's not a Woodpecker.

My grandad has a glass eye, I always dread him taking it out for some reason...maybe because I've never seen him without it.

I was thinking that a pattern that didn't need seam allowance would work out quite well, or you could mark seam allowance off with pins or something...

This is a brilliant idea for a challenge! I wanna join in, too. :)

I normally jab myself with the needle anyway....

Thanks for answering my question :)

I bet a bear that smelled of tea would be lovely to hug   

I have a question,

Does the mohair hold onto the smell of what you coloured it with?

On an old topic here, I found a link to an article that said half of all adults still have a childhood bear, and one third still sleep with that bear    a bears work is never done.

Sorry to hear about what happened with Pastie, he's beautiful and that lady ought to have been more polite about it even if she wasn't satisfied....and I really don't see how someone could 'hate' a bear...her attitude is completely unreasonable, especially since she didn't think about all the time and effort you put into making him.

She can't ask you to refund before she returns the bear, hopefully she'll understand that...if she doesn't, just let her know that there is no other way it can be done.

I hope you get him back safely and I hope to see you both at the Great Yorkshire Bear show

She's a lovely bear 
And it was so nice of you to repair her.
I see a lot of damaged bears knocking about in various places and always end up wondering if they could be fixed.

He needs a little umbrella for those moments.

At least regardless of what they say you always have Arcto there. People may never understand bear lovers entirely, but people in any hobby deserve the same amount of respect.

It's not fair when people criticise others for something like that...something personal like that, it's not something that they have a perspective on. If someone went to their house, pointed out a picture that was a gift and called it 'silly' (or something) then they'd certainly be upset.

Apparently a cool wash is alright, but have you tried just a gentle rub with a sponge?

I've heard of people being rude to doll owners at events and things, so I imagine it's much the same for bear owners. There were a few horror stories kicking about between some doll owners I knew, but my knowledge of similar bear stories is sadly lacking: maybe there ought to be a thread for horror stories, those are always interesting and often informative.

Oooh, I had no idea that was the word! What a clever name 

I wonder if there are arctophobics....