Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Hi Becky and Laura.
Thanx for your posts. I am working on my fb page and not sure about the blog thing... I should probably give it a go. A friend is going to help me with a website. I have a fb page for my other arts and crafts... not sure if I should combine the bears onto that page...
I will definitely try bear pile as soon as I get propper pics taken. My sister in law does photography and she promised to help take good quality pics.
I will post on here too, once I get all my duckies in a row

Thanx Becky.
I am just not to eager to sell on ebay as I have so many issues just buying on ebay that I dont have a lot of faith in them.
Will definitely start on bear pile. I see a lot of artist are selling patterns and kits on etsy, maybe that is a better market for those rather than bears.
Tx

Hi all,

I've read through most of the selling posts in the library - not a lot of you are selling on etsy.
Any advise for selling on etsy? How does it compare to selling on ebay or bear pile?

Tx

Thanx!

WOW that looks super real... I will definitely have a fright when I see that one on the table. Well done!

Yikes Christina that sounds like you almost impaled an eye:)
The other day I decided not to look for a pin I dropped and eventually stepped in it... hence crawling around on the floor yesterday!
Tx

Yesterday I spent the better part of my bear making time crawling around on the floor looking for pins I dropped. I impaled most of my fingers with the needle and now sport  a selection of flower printed plasters on my digits to avoid red spots on the mohair. I think I have a total of 3 un-hurt fingers. Then I glued the little accessorie to my fingers that was meant for the hat I made... and burned the remaining un-hurt fingers with the glue gun. And lastly I managed to get the airbrush ink on my new shirt. Well that was only yesterday. Woke up this morning and couldn't wait to start the process all over again.

Been wondering about the steel-shot inside a bear's tummy and metal accessories added to a bear.
Do the customs x-ray pick up the metal in and on the bear, and do they then open the box to see what's inside?

Second thing, what do you list a bear as on the customs form: toy???, collectable???

thanx in advance
Tx

Report back:
These ink pots work like a CHARM!!!
Very happy with the results. I used them in my airbrush - undiluted.
I tested it on a scrap piece of mohair - I was able to do light and dark shading and pinpoint detail without any hassle (keep in mind I use a double action air gun and a mini compressor and have extensive airbrush experience through my day job)
Once done, the ink did transfer to my hands - the bottle states you have to heat set. So I Fetched my hair dryer and put it on hell-high (that thing gets super hot) and blasted the piece for about a minute in 20 second bursts (otherwise my fingers burn). Waited for the fabric to cool.... EUREKA - no transfer on my hands, took a white tissue and rubbed vigorously over the ink - no transfer!!!! *happy dance*

Excuse me while I run off to the shop to get one in every colour :)
Tx

My local bear shop started stocking these paint pots. They are made for fabric and leather and other porous surfaces. I haven't used it yet. Only got them this week. They come with a felt tip applicator pen. Its a liquid so you have to use very little. Will let you all know the result. Has anyone else used these?

Thanx so much. It does look like a great ebook. If anyone knows about any other bear ebook. Please share!.
Tx

Hi all,
I would love to get my hands on some bear making books, problem is I live in South Africa, the books are only available overseas and the exchange rate is not in my favour (R15 to $1 and R22 to 1 pound). The other issues is getting the books here, postal service is non-existing and courier costs are ridiculous (sometimes up to 3 times the value of the parcel).
Do any any of you know if the following books are available as ebooks for my kindle:
Teddy bear art - Jennifer Laing
The complete book of teddy-bear making techninques - Alicia Merret

Many thanx!
Theresa

Hi all, meet Rose, I made her as a gift for my mom. She loves pink roses and anything shabby and vintage. Since giving her this bear she ordered 3 more:) My mom is my biggest fan!
Rose is made of German mohair, ultra suede foot and paw pads, she wears a crochet collar (also made by me) and stands 20 cm tall.

Just too gorgeous.
I love a traditional looking Christmas bear.

Thanx everyone! I am just so excited that I figured out how to share pics 
Have a fab day! *kisses*

I did it! I finally figured our how to post pics!     
My latest bear: Billy, he is a country boy made from long pile upholstery velvet, 15cm tall, weighted with steel shot and stuffed with polyester fibre.

Hi Guys and Gals, I promised to update you on how the alcohol markers did.
On synthetic fur it was very hard to blend, very blotchy and definitely not recomended
On Mohair its an uhm uhm not sure. Works well for defining seams and any solid shading but blending is again not very easy. With the help of some artist white spirits I was able to "blend" the edges a little lighter to create a faded efect.
Still wasn't very happy with the look so I ran off to the shops and bought some oil paints - Thank you Shelli!   Her oil paint dry brushing technique is extremely easy and very user friendly! I got instant results with only a drop of paint. It is very easy to build a colour up to a darker more intense shading.

Problem now - I am a little 'shading happy' been walking around with the brush studying each bear I made, thinking *you can do with some shading*... this can get dangerous, I can see the little critters run for cover!

The colour is amazing! too gorgeous for words!

Thanks all! Recently been making a 20cm bear and decided that the machine will definitely not work, too many small fiddely parts. I enjoy size 10cm to about 25cm bears so I guess I will stick to hand stitching. Like Francy I am not so good at machine stitching, and the hand stitching is great stress relief!
Have a fab weekend everyone!
Theresa xxx

So sweet!
Good luck with the auction!

Too gorgeous! 

Thanx so much, appreciate the input 

Yes please let us know once you have received this book if its any good! 

I apologise if this was discussed before:

Are fully hand sewn bears more 'collectable' than machine stitched ones? Obviously smaller bears are easier to hand sew, but do collectors feel that the bigger bears are more 'unique' or 'special' if they are hand sewn?

The biggest bear I currently made was 20cm (about 8inches) and I did hand sew him, but I do feel that a 40cm (15") bear or a 60 cm (23") bear will be quicker on the machine... but how collectable is a machine stitched bear, or doesn't it matter?

Thanx
Theresa

Hi,
Thanks so much, will let you know how the alcohol markers do on different fabrics 

Tx