Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

How about Dylon dye remover....it might at least lighten it a bit...

Household bleach will rot the backing...So will the kind intended for hair eventually...I have literally the 'T'shirt to prove it!! You can just paint it on the ends though, being careful to keep it off the backing..that will work...I'd use 20vol peroxide. Slower but more controlled lightening.

The dye remover  may not be called Dylon where you live...maybe 'Rit dye remover' or something...?

Correct me if I'm wrong!!!

Jenny

What a sweet, sweet little dog...I know how it feels to lose a precious pet...it's like part of your life has gone....

Thinking of you.....

Jenny

Well, done to Sarah!!!!

Nice as it would be to splatter their name all over as thieving non-payers...I think you'd have a hard time getting a reputable publication to run with it...they wouldn't want the risk of being sued...

I think you should let us know on here who they are so no-one else will deal with them. But you should definitely try the quasi-legal route...a letter of intent to start proceedings written by a solicitor would cost but maybe a good tactic depending how much they owe you...or write it yourself...there are good websites that can tell you what your rights are, and how to word these sort of things.

In the UK they passed a law which prohibits firms from with-holding payments owed to small businesses...You may find there are things like that in place in Australia too...so that they do fall foul of the law if they don't pay up sharpish. The trouble is they know that it is probably not worth you chasing them through the courts as it will cost you if you lose...but you should do the letter of intent regardless of whether you do or don't take'em to court....put the frighteners on them!!

I still think you should try to get your bears back by whatever means necessary!!

Danni...is this shop a long way from you...? I mean, could you go there..or send in a 'representative' to get your bears back? When I was a  rep for a hair product company, their policy was sometimes, as a last resort, that we would just 'call in' and ask for  the stuff back if there was no sign of them paying up.
Often the shop would be grateful as the debt was then written off ( a load off their mind) and we had our stock back...if they hadn't already used it.

If the bears are there (and you could get someone to email or phone pretending to be a customer enquiring)you could just go and get them back...or send someone ( if they are willing) in for the bears or the cash...(not a cheque at this stage,) or is it miles away from you?

Here in the UK it's very possible to get everywhere in a short time!!!

Can't you get the forms from the courts and send them anyway? They probably don't have to be filed by the court or stamped by them till you decide to go ahead with it. We have done that quite often in my husbands business...just fill out the court forms, photocopy it and send it to them with a letter syaing that if they haven't paid by this date ...say seven days hence...then you will be issuing this court summons. It's warning shot really and very often does the trick....no-one wants to go to court and often the threat of action will spur them into paying up.

Whatever you do I hope it works...I don't think the police would be interested as it's not really theft...you could threaten it though.....anything's worth a try at this stage.

I've got 3 dogs and 2 cats...this one is Fae...she's about 9 months old and is just the sweetest little soul...and our little Tibetan Terrier Lottie...who loves the fireside..we have  two Tibetans..they would sleep with their heads on the hearth if we don't stop them..

I only ever get Zoe, the oldest dog a toy at Christmas..that's because she loves toys...the other two aren't bothered.

How about this for contentment.....aren't animals wonderful....

Shelli, Boxing Day is when the alms boxes where opened and money given out to the poor....Well, that's what I've always been told...and that land-owners would give food out to workers.....but it would be interesting to know what other countries celebrate it...I didn't know that Canada did....you learn something new every day!!!!

I love Boxing day...I just hog the sofa all day!!!!

I am cooking for  16  on Christmas day ....but we've voted that the men do the clearing up in return for their food being cooked for them.

I can't wait to give the babies the toys I got for them....Elizabeth has started to babble now and talks away non-stop and Rosie smiled this week for the first time..those are best Christmas presents anyone could wish for...

You know Lynette, It would be so useful to have that feedback, don't get me wrong I'm not doing a sour grapes thing...you know if you enter something you have more chance of losing than of winning so it should be no surprise. But when I used to enter hairdressing competitions the judging panel were introduced to the contestants after the judging, sometimes you'd get a report card with ticked boxes and marks out of 10..and other times you could talk to the judges about what they though you could improve on. I think I am a better hairdresser because of that constructive criticism.

It's not so that you can spout out a load of rantings at the judges , but surely , to stop the accusations of 'politics' and I am making none here, it would be good to have a very visible judging system  so you know why you didn't win. Goodness it costs enough to enter the things , I'm sure they could afford to give something back to the nominees. I'd sooner have that than a cheap certificate I never look at.

I know what Shelli means about all those factors, the appeal of the moment...whatever is in favour on the day.

I won't take it to heart because if I do I won't enter anything else and I certainly intend to keep trying....if at first you don't succeed........

Nah!! I didn't do any good at all..which was why I said in the other thread that it would be useful to know what I could have done to improve...

Feedback from the judges would be really useful in these situations.

The whole thing was a bit of a farce in the end ..we went down to Brighton at the crack of dawn...and displayed the bears and were told to be back for 3.00pm for the awards 'ceremony'...we went Christmas shopping in Brighton as I wasn't showing there that day and got back at 2.00pm to find they'd already announced the results!!! Nice!!

A good few people missed it!

The fair was a bit of a disaster too by all accounts....very slow.

It won't stop me entering though...but on reflection I think my bears just didn't have enough 'stuff' with them compared with the others that seemed to be more accessorised...but I do like 'simple' so to be true to myself I have to go that route.

I don't think I'm a natural when it comes to bear competitions...maybe I haven't the 'knack'...

One thing I think about competitions in the beary world is this...that I think maybe for your money you should get an appraisal of your work...especially if you get nominated but don't win.

I used to enter, and sometimes win, hairdressing competitions all the time...and the judges would give you an idea of what made them pick someone elses and not yours...so you didn't feel disgruntled or hard done by..and even though you didn't come away with the trophy, you'd feel nearer to it because you felt that next time you'd do x, y or z to improve.

But I thoroughly agree that it certainly makes me rise to the challenge and it's always a positive experience in the end ..and you always come away with a feeling of having learned soemthing new.

I would go for it....and anyway who needs to know if you enter anyway...you only need to 'tell' if you get nominated..or if you want to!!

Actually, I have now whittled my 15 piece head down to 9..and it looks exactly the same...that's what's called making an unnecessary meal out of something...I just like going the long way round...till I find an obvious shortcut...and the good news is that after doing 15 pieces, doing 9 is a bloomin' walk in the park!!

She's a stunner...one these days I would love to buy one of your bears, Judi.....Hopefully in the not too distant future!!!!!!!

Thanks for that Nancy...I'm going to check that out...

Taking the shot from slightly above your bear causes slight foreshortening which can be very appealing....also the bear looking up at the camera creates that sense of smallness and naive charm.

Often having the camera pointed at the bear on the same axis as the bear sits can create a bit of distortion, and can be unattractive...but not always.

I try to angle my bear in a way that you can still see everything, but he's not symmetrical in  the picture....but he's still looking at the camera.

As SueAnn says...take lots of pictures....because a millimetre shift left or right may produce a better shot...I take loads to get a decent picture...and with a digital it doesn't cost anything.

Hi Nancy...I am interested to know how you are able to have more than one ID...don't you need another email address and also for paypal a separate credit card and bank account?...I tried to do it and it wouldn't let me...

See, that's the one good thing I can think of in favour of getting married twice. My husband had lived on his own for 5 years before he met me and by that time was a dab hand at the ironing, the cleaning,the cooking...and so therefore we have this nice little arrangement.

My first husband, having been alone for 10 years prior to meeting his new partner, is still largely undomesticated, but can now cook at least..and work the washing machine occasionally.

I admit that when bear-making takes over...it takes over and little or no housework gets done. But then I look at it like this..if I was out at work all day..how much housework would get done then? None..because I wouldn't be there..so that's what happens. We have a clean up at the weekend ... I have a quick whizz round in the morning (I hate to start in a really messy house) I hoover in the evenings before Steve gets home...not worth it in the day..and generally, not always I start a meal about 5.00pm to eat at 6.00..and he reciprocates on Friday and Saturdays when I go to work. I always cook on Sundays...that's the law.. My kids come round and we have a family meal most weekends.

But that's it...I have always been the messy sister out of the two of us...my sister is a nurse and has always been meticulous about the house...and me, when  I get into something and can't stop..and I have 'projects' all over.

I know whose house I'd rather live in....hers...(no not really!!!!)

Well I am waiting to see what they do...I think she's up for the 'hard word' from ebay....she now has 4 negatives this week alone....

Oh Winney....now my brain hurts...I'm off for a soak in the bath.....to mull it over!!!!

Yes Daphne that's right...I want to see right away why they got all the negative feedback...and if you are checking out someone with 1000s of feedbacks it's impossible

Kim you're so right about the number of seams, too....some of my heads have had 15 pieces in them and enlarging that lot would make a huge difference to the size. That's why I was then secretly relieved to have realised what I was doing wrong..and it all seems so logical now.

I do think, though, that it doesn't always follow that you need to enlarge the head in the same proportions as the body and limbs for larger bears. I always think of smaller bears being like babies, it looks right to have a slightly larger head...cute in fact...but you imagine an adult with a large head and the appeal quickly vanishes...so to me anyway a bigger, longer body and limbs doesn't mean I need to make the head the same proportions as I made it in my smaller bear...so I would make the head a little bit smaller rather than doing a straight enlargement of the whole thing.

I found the same with tummies....it doesn't always work to just enlarge the tummy because maybe you need to change the shape as well..otherwise what can look great on a small bear, can not sit properly on a bigger bear.

Thanks everyone....I just used the live chat ..the girl says that it is definitely the type of incident where ebay will step in and remove negative feedback. So I used their proceedure for asking them to consider removing it...I'm just amazed that ebay haven't already got a mechanism in place for filtering negative feedback that's used in this vindictive way.

A lesson well and truly learnt though about checking feedback before placing a bid...it's a toughy when things go wrong

Hi Marion...that's the correct way to do it!! I can't get a response from this silly woman...not to nice or to nasty emails. I offered to pay the shipping to return the item...no response....she just blanks emails....but with 3 negatives in one week and 22 in a year it's hardly surprising.

If she had responded like your seller did there would be no problem...

Hi Kim...yup...that's what happened to me too...only in conversation with another maker...and it was at a time when I wouldn't want to admit I didn't know what on earth she was talking about...and mid-conversation the penny dropped and I thought 'EUREKA'.....I still didn't admit it though..and carried on as I 'd known all along....

These days I don't care who knows what I don't know...coz the day I think I know everything is the day I hang up my stuffing stick...if you'll pardon the expression!! Er-hmm!!