Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Wow! That is a gorgeous bear. I love the shape, the color, just everything.

Up for adoption is Scary Larry, he is listed on my etsy.

Aww, thanks. That's very sweet. I'll check yours out.

I have one and have just decided I am going to end it. This my third year and I've been giving it less and less attention. I am so busy and have started dabbling in other crafts. There just isn't any time for it with a full time job and two kids. Typepad has changed their layout and I don't like it. It's not as user-friendly as it used to be. I wrote about ending my blog in my last post and nobody commented. That was enough right there to decided that nobody cares whether it exists or not. It costs me over $100 a year and I figured it's a waste of money.

But if you can give your blog adequate attention I think there is definitely a huge market out there. There are some gorgeous blogs that are drool worthy and I am sure are responsible for bringing in money for the crafters.

******UPDATE*******

My customer emailed me today and reported that Daisy made it safely to Canada! I told her what y'all said about Canadian customs being SLOW and to go to her post office. Low and behold, the box had been sitting in her post office for 10 days!!! She went today and picked her up.

I am SO relieved. Thanks for all the support. I was quietly freaking out. But seriously, y'alls comments help me relax a bit. Thank you. 

Okay thanks for the words. I will relax and talk to the post office.

I got an email from one of my international customers stating that she had not received her bear that I mailed 28 days ago. It was supposed to get there 6-14 days. I am trying not to freak out. USPS says it's not "officially" lost until it's over 30 days. Still. Hard not to think of the worst. It went to Canada. Rather, it was HEADED to Canada. The post office was closed already today but my husband is going there tomorrow.

Awhile back I had another bear MIA that was shipped domestically. Ended up that it was sitting in the customers post office instead of her mailbox.

Should I be freaking out?

Thought I would try a new breed.

I use Corriedale for the bodies all my creations. Sometimes I dye it. But for the accents of color I use Merino, which I buy from The Wool Shed http://www.outbackfibers.com/fiber/palette.htm.
Her colors are second to none and the quality is number one.

I am far from a power seller and have used Live Help. I guess it's changed though. I haven't used ebay in over a year. That's too bad, I really liked it.

I made a lot of jewelry when I was ten. I loaded everything up in my wagon and went door to door in my neighborhood. My dad went with me. People went bananas for homemade crafts and I sold tons of it. If a kid came to my door today with something handmade I would be all over it. I get tired of buying cookies, candybars and junk from the local school fundraisers.

There are many bears on here that I would love to have since they are all so beautiful and well crafted. But as we know there is always that one bear that "speaks to you" every time you see it. It's not to say the others aren't gorgeous, but there is the one bear that calls to you...

Boot Button Bear- reminds me of the bears I saw and wanted as a child. I love love love these bears.

Would also love to have...
Humble Crumble-drool, every last one of them.
LoraBears- by Lora Soling, gorgeous. http://www.lorabears.com/
Steiff...someday.

I don't think I look like my bears. None of them wear undies, but I sure do. And I hope I don't look like my dog who is a Toy Poodle.

I have never won any awards, I have never entered any contests or tried to send photos to magazines. The thing that got my bears noticed was blogging, flickr, ebay and etsy. All those things combined has gotten me a little following of great customers...repeat customers. And above all..."time" so all those things can work together.

www.godaddy.com

Quick, easy and discounts for multiple domains. Voted number #1 place to register domains.

I buy all my supplies from Paradise Fibers http://www.paradisefibers.net/

and Outback Fibers http://www.outbackfibers.com/

I have taken wet felting classes from Outback as she (Jan Gully) is just up the road from me. I like to support local business as much as I can.

It looks a little like a wild boar instead of a bear. Not cute.

Thanks all! It just made sense, everybody inquiring about my bears always referred to them as "those cupcake bears." It was just something that came about by accident and it stuck.

I've been reading all the past threads about changing a business name, the ups and downs. I've been thinking about it for a very long time. I never really liked my name and thought, well, change it. So I did. I'll still own the nimbleknot domain for another year, but I have officially changed my name to "Cupcake Bears" and it appears that way on my blog.  I am still going sifting through everything and making the change slowly.

What is the location, time and admission for this event? Is there a link?

I live in Austin and can't wait to see it.

My few bears are old and used. I love looking at the new beautifully crafted bears but would probably never buy one. I drool over old bears in antique stores, maybe because they have a history and were the center of somebody's universe at one time.

I have a huge collection of Breyer horses. Something I have been collecting for over 35 years.

My story is lame. I came up with "nimble" because your hands have to be nimble to create.  I chose "knot" because every creation has to end, kind of like a period in a sentence. With sewing, things end with a knot.

I really don't like my name, it has nothing to do with my bears. Everytime somebody emails or contacts me regarding my bears they specifically say "cupcake bears." So I actually might change it to that. There are a lot of other cute, catchy names I liked but are already taken by websites, even though they might not have anything to do with bears. Which is kind of a drag but there's nothing I can do about that.

Well I am in central Texas (Austin) and today it was a gorgeous 83º and clear as a bell. All my flowers are blooming while my asthma and allergies are going bezerk. In fact I have laryngitis right now and feel like crappo.

I shipped to Sweden USPS Priority Mail (6-10 days) insured, less than one pound in a 12x8x5 box and it was $23.00. I had no problems.

It's hard. I had to turn down a job for a scene that included furniture and 3 animals. Since I work full time, have a family and race bikes on a team, there was no way I could meet her deadline with my commitments. I told her I would have loved to do the project, but reality was that there was no way I could do it.