Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Paula that's an excellent idea...we were only talking about that a while ago...how useful it would be to swap something you don't use for something you do..a way of trying something out...

AAAAW!! It melts your heart!!

Maybe that's what she meant....2/3!!!? LOL

23 bears? In a week...either she has a lot of help..., bionic hands..or a vivid imagination...

I once made 8 because I was so far behind...but honestly, I am the first to say that they were nothing special really...I didn't have the time to fiddle and faff about doing fancy stuff.

I'll never do it again...ever

I do use a machine ( I can't abide hand sewing...I find machining  gets me on to the 'good bit' quicker...i.e the head) and my mum cuts out and trims seams for me...hence why I can make a few more than average...and my mum loves to help....(Sometimes more of a hindrance but ,so what!)

But 23 bears in a week...I hope she sold them all!!!

I reckon I do about 100 or so per year....I always have about 6 'on the go'...I can't do one at a time..I get bored..I like to do a bit on one then do a bit on another..like noses ...I like to do several at the same time..don't ask me why.

I used to do about 4 or 5 a week till last April I started getting vertigo..and that seriously stopped me in my tracks...but i reckon I am a better bear-maker for doing less bears. I haven't made a bear for 8 weeks...I got flu in October and it's only just gone, amazingly...but I cut out some bears and machined them up on Tuesday...stuffed the heads yesterday...watch this space!!

That's it Jenn...be positive....we love ya!!!

Jenny

Hey Jenn....there are some folks out there in this big old world that go around verbally slapping people behind their backs and making alot of noise about you when really they should, if they were decent people, say it to you to let you have your say back.

Some of these groups attract  people who find that firing off a nasty email is their only way of 'talking' as it becomes their platform...their voice. They haven't got the backbone to say it to you hence why she went to the moderator, who should have mediated in a responsible way. This should have been between you two swap partners, not public knowledge. This is why Teddy talk is such a great group...it's very democratic and sensitive.

Don't let it bother you for one minute..and, if it's left a nasty taste in your mouth, I'd stick her bear back in the box it arrived in and send it back to her....

Penny, I know what you mean ...because like I said you know in your own mind if what you did is good or not really....the thing is there is no blue-print for the perfect bear...unlike say a cake baking thing where we all bake the same recipe and it's judged against a 'perfect' one.

I think it would be good though to get feedback from other people than those who are always going to say every bear is wonderful...like my Mom....

Then again, if someone said ,for example, 'the nose is wonky' I'd probably just do what I normally do when my husband or sister says it and go in a big sulk and tell them they know nothing 'so keep out of it'

OOOh ....I like ultrasuede, felt and I love cashmere as it's so sculptable..and colours so nicely when painted.

I have also used thick kimono silk and hand painted it which is lovely to use too. I also bought some leather which was fab but deceptively hard to sew!!

Whatever I use I line it first with light coloured fusible cotton interlining so I can draw on my machining line so I can see it to get a neat shape. I don't have to line the cashmere (another advantage!!) as it's on a white backing anyway...

I find the lining makes the sewing easier.

I am a two piece person...but have done 4 pieces...then didn't see any difference....probably coz I am addicted to dense piles and you don't get the shaping so obviously then anyway. When I did some centre seam bears a while back I used a 4 piece body for a more authentic shape...maybe I should re-visit this method....hmmmmmm....

This is exactly the point I was making a while back about competitions...where it would be a useful tool to have a transparent scoring system and judging panel who could offer constructive criticism of entries and, if you don't win why you didn't, so that you know that the fact of losing proves as constructive as winning does.

Quite who would do this type of critique is a difficult one as there are all sorts of implications that might arise, but in much the same way that antiques dealers have an eye for quality I feel sure that there are respected authorities on teddy bears who could offer an unbiased opinion on artists work without causing obvious problems.

I think it is something that would be a useful piece of information which taken in the right context would help us to see our work as others see it, then again , ultimately it's our own belief that creates the bears we make so perhaps we already know all we need to know......

On balance though it would be good to have an appraisal of the workmanship side of things ...to confirm what we know to be good or bad about our work and learn from it

Oh Brenda..It was on Ebay UK...and for the life of me I can't work this out but I actually got a notice from Ebay suggesting I reduce my reserve...I checked up on their site though and it says you can't do that...but I did anyway..and it did backfire.

I don't see the point in having a reserve on an item and then telling people about it as all it means is that they are able to snipe the auction in the knowledge that they will get the item at the reserve.

This is why I am not selling on ebay right now...and am holding off doing it. I'll probably give it another go at some point when I have a bear that I feel may be a good candidate for ebay...

That may be a while as I am being really slow at the moment

One of the reasons I am nervous about ebay is the auction sniping that goes on lately. On my last auction (for a bear) I had about 40 watchers....and a few bids not really anywhere near the reserve. I had lots of emails asking what the reserve was...and I am always wary of saying what the reserve is because otherwise I'd have put it as the starting price...anyway...in the end because I was worried about not selling I decided to lower the reserve slightly....still no movement happened except that Ebay embarassingly slapped a slogan on the auction page stating that I'd reduced the reserve (which seemed to me to be counter-productive since it just announces that 'this bear won't sell' to all the watchers...my own mistake).

Anyway the upshot was that it sold in the last 10 seconds for the reserve and yet I'd had offers originally for more than this from people who wanted to do 'buy it now'....

So now I am nervous of putting my 'better' bears on there because as someone so rightly said I do believe there are a few serious buyers on there but on the whole it's becoming a bit of a bargain basement...except for the handful of folks who get excellent prices for their bears. I have had really good prices for mine on there  ...and then that happened.

I think that often people who regularly bid do this last minute sniping to get the best possible price, and who can blame them, but it can be difficult to set a price.

Oh thanks Sandi.....she went off today to live in County Durham!!! She was a sweetheart, one of the ones I could keep !!

I need to get cracking on some new bears...I have been so slack lately....

Have a Happy New Year everyone...I'm off up the pub for a sherry.....or two....or three..................

I am with Kim..I am always searching the house for bits of card to make new patterns...though I do have some marked up on the plastic sheets...I do it with the pens that you use for writing on CDs ...they are pretty permanent.

I got some foam sheets from Hobbycraft that is used for kiddies crafts...that's good as it comes in all colours...is thick enough to draw round and is easy to cut and draw on .

I have not been doing shows for that long really but I very quickly learned there are shows and then there are shows.
That is, some are infinitely better than others...and they usually work out the same in terms of costs, time etc so pick carefully.

I'd visit as many as possible, if you are cheeky you could even contact the organiser beforehand and ask if you could bring a bear or two to show them your work...the good ones will always ask to see at least pictures ..if they don't then I wouldn't book.

Even with the invitational ones I'd guess if you don't ask you don't get so maybe you should approach the organisers and send pictures anyway.

I'd also ask the stallholders what they think about the fair....you'll get it first hand then.

I usually take about 15 or 16 bears, once upon a time I used to take 23 or 24 bears and it nearly killed me....obviously the bigger the bears you make the less you need to fill your stand.

I know there are people on here that know much more than me on this subject!!!!

It's a difficult one because good shops are an excellent method of making your work more 'credible'...and they will sell at a top price too which enables us, in the end, to command a higher price. Ebay can bring good prices...I have achieved some excellent prices on there...and have had one or two disappointments...where I felt sure a bear would do well, then it didn't...and then it's all done so 'publicly' which can damage you emotionally and also ,in a sense, the esteem in which you are held can also take a knock on ebay. Not such a good thing if you are trying to build up a reputation.

I think what's needed is a happy and healthy mix of ebay sales occasionally, a careful choice of shop sales, a nice, ever-evolving website and occasional bear-fairs...that way you cover all possibilities....

It's called not putting all your eggs in one basket....I do think people sell themselves short...I have seen it at fairs and on ebay....it's a short-sighted strategy really.

I subscribe to the American magazines over the UK ones. I find the UK ones much of a muchness and extremely repetitive...of the ones I do buy though I like TBCI best...and I used to advertise in Teddy Bear Times...till they started getting pushy with the advertising. I found that all 3 UK ones just seem to run the same stories and articles, so unless you want to read the same article three times there is little point in buying all of them. I found that Teddy Bear Club International and teddy Bear Times seem more supportive of new artists....hence why I use them for my advertising over TBS.

On the whole though I do like Teddy Bear Review and Teddy Bear and Friends...they are both a good read.

I'd like to get the Australian ones too...just to see.

Bravo Danni!!!!

Really Magical.....I love it....
I tried to leave a message on your guestbook but it wouldn't have any of it.......................

Am I doing something wrong or is your guestbook not working?

But I love everything...and of course your work is wonderful too

Jenny

How about turkey sushi?  Only kidding!!!

Oh yes...they certainly did get their fair share. We all ate turkey for three days solid....
Christmas dinner...then turkey sandwiches, turkey, pickles and chips, turkey salad, turkey curry, turkey ice-cream (not really)....and as my mother says...'turkey surprise'.....('surprise, surprise... we've got turkey again!!')

Our kitten can't jump onto the counter...she's a Rag-doll...I have noticed that she's not too good at jumping ...not like our other cat. She still gets up there though...via the stool and the breakfast bar! Zoe our Tibetan is waiting patiently....that's her 'I haven't eaten for months and nobody cares' face...does she look half starved? I don't think so!!

Hapy New Year everyone!!!

Jenny

"If we wait here long enough someone will give us some........"

Here's a photo of our poor, starving pets at Christmas.......

Hope you all had a good 'un.........

I just want to wish all of you a very Happy Christmas ...

and also to say that we all have a special gift that we should treasure...the ability to see beauty in such simple, pure things as teddy bears...there are very few that can stop and look at the world the way we do..and that is priceless...

Merry Christmas everyone...

Jenny