Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Daphne,

I like your laminated tags.  They sound quite doable.  I think I will try that. 

Winney, clear contact "paper" could be just the ticket, and cheap, too.

Hugs,

Dilu,

Do you live close to Hwy 199?  We go up that way once in a while on our way to Grants Pass where my folks live, or Portland where hubby's family is.  We would love to meet you at a local cafe, if there is one, and talk teddies.  I forget which town you said you were in, but I think I remember you saying it was in the Illinois Valley.

What great and practical Idea!  I have told children they could hold a bear if their hands were clean, but having it in writing would relieve me of watching like a hawk.  Thanks, Dawn.

On the subject of tags for bears,
I'd like to know what materials your tags are made of, what size they are, how you get the info onto the tags, i.e., handwritten or commercially printed.  Whereabouts on the bear do you put the tag(s)?

I ask because tags are a bugaboo for me.  My first tags were paper (preprinted), with my logo on one side and a check box and room to write the name on the other.  I used Perle cotton hangers and pulled one stitch thru the back of the bear's arm.  The paper became travelworn very quickly.  Next I tried sewing tags into the backs of bears as I was closing them.  They were ultrasuede, handwritten.  It wasn't possible to include much info unless the tags were too big.  I didn't really like the look of a tag in the back anyhow.  It felt like it took away from the personhood of the bear, if you know what I mean.  I could have put them on the bottoms, but that could look worse (blush!) if the bear were standing. 

What I'm doing now is using an ultrasuede square about 1.5 inches across with a hand stamped impression of my logo on one side, and hand-written description of the bear on the other, stitched into back of bear's arm as with the paper tags.  There is no room for materials info on a tag that size, and I don't want to see a larger one unless it is very attractive.  I guess I could make a second tag with the clinical info, but I'm not too jazzed about seeing a second tag. 

I have been thinking about using a new stiff material you can sew thru, sort of like pellon only stiffer, and sewing a collage onto a larger tag using trims, etc. which would be decorative.  That would leave more room on the back where I could have a printed paper form (laminated?) with room for handwrittin description.  They would take some time, but such a tag could be an attraction as well.  Maybe I could make up a group of tag fronts in a day and apply the info part as needed. 

Well!  Looks like I've thought myself out of a dilemma through my fingertips.:D

I don't know....but if it is, I'm in trouble :/:rolleyes:

Judi,

You are one very talented woman!!!!  I love that look,... kind of like realism, but more dreamlike.  Sort of fantasy-like, but not really.  Is there a name for your style? 

What do you think of Copic pens?  Do you think that with the ease of cleanup, they are a good alternative to the "real stuff"?

Hi Louise, I'm not sure where your other post went either, but I think I made a response to it, addressed to you and your partner.  Can't remember what I said, tho, so let's go hide us some Easter eggs, OK?  Then we can go on a hunt, and probably never find a one.:lol::lol::lol:

Your site is very easy to navigate; very straightforward with good clean lines.  Laura Lynn did a great job.  I'm just getting to know her, though I've had her link on my site for over a year:P  She does indeed seem like a real sweetie!

And your bears....Golly! You sure  have some cute ones. I esp. like your avatar bear, and the one you call Ginger...uh, something.....There I go again..it's stress....it's only stress....I'm not really losing my marbles, or Easter eggs, as the case may be.:P:P

Thanks for the thoughtful suggestion.  Our dear Shelli has already stepped up to the plate, though, and I'm sure I'll be the one to score.

Hugs,
Laure

Not exactly, but we have Michael's, will that do?

Haberdashers,...  Bash!!...Oh, I love the queen's English!!!! (Honest!, I do!):):)

Interesting thoughts.  I'd like to try Show Sheen, but I'll refrain if I plan on riding the bear..hyuk, yuk!!

Regarding scented bears, I like soft, natural scents too, but I just have a feeling that some contest guidelines for judging bears eschew scents of any kind, pleasant or not.  In January, I entered the Crystal Awards contest in San Diego's ABC show, formerly Linda Mullins; During the announcements, they mentioned that one bear was going to win a prize, but was disqualified.  By the number they cited, I think that was my bear:/. 

The "scenting" of my bear came about as a result of a kind favor my truly terrific hubby did for me.  He installed a wood heater in my studio, not realizing that it would backfire and belch smoke into my studio and "perfume" my bears.  Although I aired them out the best I could, the scent was still faintly discernable.  To be truthful,though inapropo, I think the faint aroma of wood smoke befitted and even enhanced my "Beowulf, Dragonslayer" bear.  Fortunately, the smell was not enough to curtail my sales. I had a prosperous show, and no complaints have come back, so far.  Just to be on the safely unscented side, however, I'm not using the stove, no matter what the chill factor is.  I may choose to lightly scent a bear in the future (probably not with wood smoke), but like was said, it would be wise to mention it in any advertising, and not enter it into a contest.

Learning as I go,

:)Dilu,
Thank you for the beautifully crafted sentiments. 
As for me, I'm just so grateful to be involved in a community like this; it's wonderful having the chance to give and learn from each other, of course, but beyond that, the heart connections are even more fulfilling.

Warm Hugs,

Danni,....Reborn??  What's that?  I know about when I was reborn, but I doubt that it is the same for a doll.:P

Oh, so that's what you meant by leather cording, Shelli.  I didn't think it could be that simple.

For needle-sculpting, if I'm returning the thread back to my starting point, I exit at the exact entrance (awl hole helps), and tie ends in a knot, reinsert both ends & pull til knot pops inside.  I have a big fixation on that satisfying little "pop" sound any time I'm burying threads.  Every time I hear it, I feel like I've done something right.  If you end up with a dent, it helps to take a sturdy needle and reposition the stuffing with it from outside of the bear.

Judi,
I'm not planning any real fur bears in the near future, but I can't just ignore these beauties.  You have an amazing gift for presenting the epitome of baby-like appeal.  I bet your bears sell FAST.:D

Hugs,

Shelli,

You are so dang bold!!  Somehow you seem to get away with it, though.  You are a crack-up!:lol::lol::lol:

Thanks, You Guys! (in my lingo that includes gals too)

Being able to dump on you like I did and have you respond with politeness, even caring, is comfort food to my soul.

I will be following up.

Huge Hugs,

Thanks, Judi, Eileen!

Wow! Isn't this fun?  I love having peers to bounce ideas around with.  Now I understand what you were saying, Eileen.  I have to say, that was certainly a creative solution to your problem!

I have gotten gorgeous eyes from Van Dykes that had the wimpiest wires on the backs.  they must not be meant to take any pressure at all.  Those eyes could have the wires cut off completely and be used the way you suggested, Judi. 

When you presculpt the sockets, what part of the head do you enter from, behind the ears, at the nape of the neck, or do you think it matters?  Do you use wide stitches to indent the fabric for the sockets, or several small stitches, or does that matter either?  Perhaps I should just start experimenting and find out what works best for me. 

Needlefelting the lids sounds like an interesting possibility.  I tried some corded lids on a bear recently, after I talked with Shelli at Nevada City.  I'm not sure if I did it the way you do, but here's what I did, and it seemed to work OK: I folded a rectangle of ultrasuede in half with a length of pearl cotton glued into the fold, and the two halves of the rectangle glued together.  Then I threaded the ends of the PC onto a needle and inserted near the edge of the eye and pulled the "corded" ultrsde up against the eye with the flaps of the cord tucked under the eye, and buried the thread several times in the head.  Do you think that was secure enough, or should I  have found a way to tie the PC threads together, maybe even used stronger thread?

Hugs,

This is a little embarrassing.:/  I need some input from you so I can figure out how to get out of a jam concerning my website.

Once upon a time, about a year and a half ago, a charming young dreadlocked artschool graduate need a place to stay for a short time while she gathered funds to fly back home to South Africa.  It just so happened that we had a guestroom open.  being that her major in art school had been web design, I had the perfect way for her to earn money for her ticket to home.

So Kirsti came and stayed here at our old school house home for about a week while she and I worked together every day to produce the beautiful website you can see at http://www.foolsgoldbears.com.  She had all the knowhow, I had the yea or nay rights, and a few aesthetic ideas.

The site was built over a website template service I had subscribed to through BearPile.  Dave Stack is a great guy, I love what he is doing for the bear community, but my vision for a site was beyond the capability of his plugins, so basically, what Kirsti did was take the site I got through BearPile and tweak it till it looked like what I wanted.  That done, she bought her ticket with her earnings and flew off to South Africa. 

After running my lovely new site through BearPile for a few months, I got an offer from someone who wanted to do updates to my site, along with hosting, for about half what I was paying Dave.  Sounded good, so I let the  person do the domain transfer all at their own expense and commenced with the new hosting/update service.  This person did a wonderful job of updating my site perfectly, just as I would have done it myself if I knew how, now that I wasn't on Dave's template any more.

Things went along swimmingly for several months, until suddenly without warning, it was announced that my site was being transferred to the hands of someone who had purchased my site along with some others that my webmaster owned.  That was OK with me.  I wished my webmaster a fond farewell and patiently waited for the next person to come on board,.... and waited.... and waited.............  , my site lying dormant with no updates all the while.  After about 3 months I received a phone call from the new webmaster.  In our conversation I mentioned that I would like to have a way to do updates myself.  They said that could be done, but first they had to do some work on the group of sites they bought along with mine.  When they had that up and running, then we could talk about me doing updates.

  The new person made an attempt at doing updates for me, but their heart was very obviously not in it.  Communication was difficult, and the resulting updates did not meet my expectations.  When I was sent a bill, I said I declined to pay until my updates were in line with the quality of what the former webmaster had done for me.  I reminded them that I would like to have a system where I could somehow do my own updates, or move to another webmaster.  At that point it was pointed out to me that I didn't own my site.  I would have to Pay $575.00 if I wanted the rights to my site.  Sure enough, I discovered that it was in my contract.  I had agreed to it.  After that conversation, no updates have been done since, and that's been probably 3 months or more.

When my husband heard that I didn't own my site any more, he asked me if my contract with the former webmaster was "assignable".  I didn't know what that meant, but he said it means that for someone to sell a business agreement, there needs to be a clause that says it will be OK to do so.  I had no recollection of any such clause, so I emailed the new webmaster and asked what made them think that the contract was assignable. 

They got very PO'd and accused me of having some undesirable traits, but in the process, they said they would send me a copy of the site on cd.  That has not happened yet.

Meanwhile, there sits my website, looking pretty, but with outdated info.  I came across a webhosting group on the internet and talked with someone who told me he thought I was the victim of a common ploy that is occuring a lot where people are talked into giving away the rights to their domain names.  He advised me to speak to the person who sold my site and find out whether I still owned my domain name. 

When I called the former owner, they had pity on me, changed it back into my name and gave me info to access the place where I could resubscribe to the hosting.  So now I know that the domain name is mine, but I don't know if I can access the workings of my site to change anything (if I knew how).  The former webmaster said I should phone the new one and ask for the site to be put on disk and sent to me.  I haven't done that yet because I don't know if I need to, and if I had my site on disk, I wouldn't know what to do with it.

A new friend suggested that I get coffe cup web design software and start over with a new site.  I did find a place where I could download a free 20 day trial, which I now have, but when I tried using it, I didn't get very far before getting stuck, not knowing what to do next.  I think I would really prefer being able to work on the one I started with, but I don't have much of a clue how to go about that.  The webhost guy I talked to looked at my site and said it is made on 'FrontPage', and that some people don't like that program, but he thinks it's good if you avoid their default browsers (? I think?)

An old friend mentioned a couple of days ago that our local adult ed just started a class on Photoshop, which is the program Kirsti used to fix up my site with.  If I hurry, I can get into the class and only miss one session.  It is one night a week for 3 hours per session.  Sounds like it could be a lot of work but the time is now if I want it.  Problem is, do I want to wait 2 more months or so, til the class is finished, to start working on my site that has been sitting for 3 months already, AND learn to use FrontPage on my existing site?  Or do I forsake the class, dive into Coffecup and forget about my current site? 

Practically, I think the answer would be to forget my current site because when the webguy looked at my site, he said it was made by an amateur.  That might make it even harder for me to get it right, once I finally got started, or maybe the guy thought he could sell me a professionally made (EXPENSIVE) site.  Maybe I should take the PS class AND work with coffe cup, which my new friend said she would help me with, to make a brand new site.  The whole thought of trashing my beautiful existing site makes me cry.:(:(  But if I could make a fresh, new beautiful site, that I knew intimately because I made it myself, maybe that would make me smile.:):)

OK, Kids, tell me what you think about all of this.  What would you do?

Eileen,
Uuh, something like a child bride, sorta.:|  My first child (of 6) was born when I was 18.  Some of my daughters followed in Mom's footsteps, more or less, and that made me a grandma at 35.  The tradition has continued, and thus I am a grandma x9 and a great grandma x3.  There came a point when I discovered that God loves me and I didn't have to keep looking for a warped version of love in all the wrong places.  Now, I can pray for the next generations to have the same discovery.  Meantime, I have many blessings to count.:D

So glad you like my bears and website.  I have a story to tell you all about my site and need your input, but I'm going to start a new thread for it.

Yes, please!  Give us some pointers.  I am especially curious about how to needle-sculpt eye sockets.  Were you talking about using globular doll eyes, or rounded disk eyes, like wired eyes, only no wires?  Also, I didn't quite follow that bit about crossing nylon filament over an eye and using two layers of leather.  I couldn't picture just what was happening there.  I could tell how I do the inset eyes I do, under slitted fabric, but you'll need to know that it's not a perfected art.  It is extremely difficult to position them perfectly focused, which as mentioned earlier, is important.

Ha, Ha!  Winney, my daughter took the picture of that little bear, 'Shine' and me.  I was surprised at how natural looking it came out, but actually I was leaning very carefully on my teetery ironing board, draped with a piece of upholstery fabric!  the camera doesn't lie, but sometimes we can fool it!:D

Wonderful story, Winney! 

Interesting thing about faith... it usually takes some action before we see results.  I'm so glad you got that big blessing!  Burnt velvets?  I've never heard of those but they sound very sumptuous...mmmm!

My computer still won't let me see your fashion ladies, but I had the privilege of seeing your beauties when you sent me a link to your online album awhile back after we met at Lincoln City, so I don't feel too bad.

Hugs,

Good Grief, girl! You are a fast typist!  While I was writing a 2-line response to the fashion doll picture deficit, YOU wrote a whole page.  The  hats, uh, I have been saving some heavy cardboard cones about 6-8 in. tall that once had knitting thread on them for years, thinking one day I will cover them with fabric for clown hats.  Do you have any of those?  Ok, another possibility is, depending on the size you want to make, You could use heavy paper, like good quality watercolor paper.  Cut out a circle with a radius (half the width, but you knew that) that is the same length as you want the finished hat to be.  Cut from the outer edge into the center of the circle and overlap the cut edges to approximate the shape you would like for the hat.  Cut off the excess, leaving enough to overlap and glue.  Cover with fabric or paint, or whatever. 

I have been thinking about this other material that I read about in the recent issue of "Soft Dolls" magazine.  Just a sec, I'll go get it and look up the name, it seem's like very cool stuff..... Timex interfacing stabilizer; doesn't that sound exotic??  They use it to make something I wasn't going to tell anyone about until I came out with some, but...in the spirit of all things teddy, let me gift you with their idea, which I think is so great..  they make "Artist Trading Cards" by sandwiching this stiff material ( that you can sew through) between 2 pieces of fabric and then embellishing with bits and pieces of trims, threads, bric-a-brac, shiny stuff, paints, netting, on and on...  they have placed an image (printed on fabric w/ a pc!) on the center of each one to start out and added the other stuff around.  They look sooo cool!  I was thinking they could be adapted to making fancy hang tags, but back to the subject, maybe the base material could be used for clown hats or other 3-d objects. 

Does anyone know how to print a picture on fabric with a pc?  Another thing they mentioned is transferring a magazine picture to fabric, how about that one, those clever cloth doll makers!  If I don't get answers about these tricks, I will try to contact them through the magazine to find out how.

You've got me up so late, I'll be walking into church in the middle of the sermon...that's OK, they have to love me anyway, that's the rules!!

G'nite for the last and final time tonight (this morning?)

Phooey!  My computer doesn't want to show me the pictures.
Maybe it will be happier in the AM.  G'nite, really this time.

Happy Mom's Day to you Shelli, and to every mom here, bruin's or others'.  I think that would probably include all the ladies; sorry gents, your day will come.;)

So, yeah!  Hi, Shelli, Hi Loretta.  Laura Lynn, we met briefly online, I have had your link on my site almost from the beginning.  Nice to observe your chats.  Looking forward to getting acquainted with all Y'all. 

What a wonderful place this is!  There is such a feeling of love and support and fun.  I want to play too!    Oh my gosh, the way you all talk, I believe we bearmakers must be genetic throwbacks.  I'll bet our roots are entwined somewhere way back down the generations.  Seems like we all share the same distractions and challenges.  I thought I was the only one that had such a problem staying focused, with life and computers getting more attention than is conducive to ideal bearmaking practices.

What a challenge it was for me trying to get myself into this forum.  First I "had" to read all of the posts (tho I might have missed a few, and surely have forgotten many), then I had to figure out how to make all the profile stuff work, quite a feat for a nontechie such as myself!  In between all that, there was life, yaknowhatimean?:lol:  Believe me when I tell you I started yesterday morning (Friday, or maybe Thurs. night) and now it is 11:40 Pee Em tonight (Sat.)  But I'm in!!!:lol::lol::lol::P:P:cool:

Of a surety, I will be wanting to enlist the fine services of "our" Shelli for her (now I know the meaning of that word) avatar expertise.

I'm sure I will have plenty of questions to ply you with, and plenty of advice to offer.  I can think of a few things, but I think I should probably restrain myself here and address them in the appropriate threads (another new-use term for me).

One thing I will say here that I could say elsewhere, is: Dale, You are really somethin'!  You chime in with the most unique ideas and solutions.  You amaze me in the nicest way!  You are a great asset to this forum. :)

Oh, look! It's tomorrow already!!  G'night!