Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Ok, I've been sitting back and reading all the Wish List entries everyone has been putting out there for consideration.   There is no possible way to have that many categories for a competition, I mean we would have like 30 categories. Did anyone ever stop to think what the cost would be to the magazines to do this, the cost of all the added pictures and publishing of them. The extra cost of the awards for all of those extra categories, THEN people say they want the price lowered for entering the competition. Seriously why dont' we just bankrupt all of the magazines now, based on the information that Maria posted all of the comps are very close in price a few dollars here or there but they are close. I mean with the German ones I do believe one of them I have to send my bear to the show, well for me to do that (if I get nominated ) will cost me a couple of hundred dollars to get my bear there and back. So that comp is out of my league. I understand that this is just a brain storming session and these are "high wishes" but we do have to be serious about this. We can't possibly have a category for just dogs and just cats and frogs and rabbits and chickens and god know what else.  It's just not possible, I understand and agree with Paula that there should be a category for Classic bears, Vintage Bears and Contemporary bears.  I can see separating them out into their own, but I think for the other animals there should just be one category. A dog is a dog and a cat is a cat, this is not a dog show or cat show you are being judged on the design and the work. Otherwise we would need an expert judge to judge a classic bear and another judge to do the contemporary bear and so on.

Sorry I don't mean to go on and on but just reading this post it was really getting out of hand with with people want, I understand that TBR wanted some idea's but wow. 

I could just be in a grouchy mood too     :crackup:  :crackup:

Hugs

Shane

Hi Jessica,

One thing I would really like to see in the US competitions is a Master class category. I know with the Golden George (I think it's that one someone can correct me if I am wrong). They have a class for master artist, this is someone who has won three or more Golden Georges. This way other artist are not competing against someone who has already won numerous awards already you are putting those artist head to head with one another. I think this would open up the categories to more artist, I know a few artist who have said you always see the same people nominated yr after yr. I don't know exactly how the master class category works in Germany but perhaps someone could explain it better.  It's just a suggestions, and is there really a need to have categories for manufactured bears? (just asking  )

big hugs

Shane

Julia I do exactly as you do, I could never use pins when I am hand sewing as they get in the way. I sew the two head side pieces together first from the nose to the neck. Then I take the gusset and I centre it and tack it in place with a couple of stitches. Then I do a tack where the gusset meets the head (almost where the eyes would go) and then a tack at the back of the neck, takes a few minutes and I have never in  my life run into a problem works like a charm.. I do find pins get in my way and I get the thread wrapped around them

big hugs

Shane

Well I guess it was poor planning on our part, just not enough time with shows and orders and and Christmas in the middle of it. I thought we might of had time but when we saw how short of notice there was to enter we knew there was no way we could get something done, 10 days was no where enough time to get something done.

Best of luck to all that entered.

hugs

Shane

Hi Brenda,

Terry John Woods makes some fantastic Antique bears, he does have patterns available.  Here is the link to his pattern page. I am sure you will find something on there that you like and will suit you for what you want to do.

http://www.terryjohnwoods.com/menu%20patterns.htm

hugs

Shane

I agree with Karen, we use the hairdryer to set our copic markers and haven't had any problems. It could be that it is on very heavy and sometimes it makes it really hard for setting. 

good luck

shane

Andrea do you have the blender marker? We use the copic system all the time and found the blender marker really helps to clear up mistakes or to lighten the colour. We rarely use black as we find it very harsh on most colours, we tend to us a lighter grey or darker grey as it's not so hmmmm dark LOL.  If you have already heat set it then the chances are that you won't be able to remove the colour now, you may try going over top of it with another colour to try and lighten it up.

hugs and hope it turns out

Shane

LOOOOOOOOOOVE HIM, to pieces. WOW there aren't many bears that you make that I don't like. This one is outstanding, the eyes always get to me .           

big hugs

Shane

Sounds wonderful Clare, we use to always buy my Mom those same Christmas toys. She loved them and had a large collection of them. She's in a nursing home now and suffers from Dementia so she doesn't really care about the Christmas toys anymore but I think I might start buying them for my Oldest sister, she loved them as much as my mom did.

Have a Merry Christmas, your Christmas will we over and done with before mine starts  .

big hugs

Shane

Dawn if the judging is only being done on the bear then what's the difference if it has a prop? In most all other competitons props are allowed as long as it is being sold with the piece.  I know I would have been shaking my head if I had seen Maria's bear in the "dressed"category at the show. It doesn't enhance her piece at all it's part of the piece.

Anyway going to bed still shaking my head  :crackup:  :crackup:

hugs

Shane

He's adorable Denise, so different from what you do now. I love the style though, so outside the box love him big time.

big hugs and I hope he does well.

Shane

LOL well you must be getting our cold weather, it's actually not to bad here today, the snow was actually melting a bit. But other parts of Canada are freezing, I hope they keep he cold weather.  Glad I could make you feel better, it's what I strive to do lol.

big hugs

Shane

Wow good for you Maria and congrats on your win. I do have to agree with you though that if I was in that category I would be a little put out with that bear being called dressed. Try standing beside a sign naked and telling people oh it's ok, I'm considered dressed because I'm standing next to this sign. I always thought dressed actually meant clothing, or the bear was designed in such a way that the fur was made to look like a piece of clothing. That's how the rules are with the US awards. I likely would have pulled my piece and any other's I had in the competition in protest, but then again that's me and I don't have a lot of patience for stupidity. Maybe next yr they can try and set the rules in such a way that they are understandable.
I"m sorry the win in tainted for you and you feel frustrated but I would be frustrated as well. I'm frustrated for you sweetie,

big hugs
Shane

Julia I don't own any of her bears YET, but they are adorable and some of the best pieces one can find at a bear show. I will certainly be doing my best to pick one up from her in the future. They are just so adorable, I was surprised that non of her bears took a first place at the BBAA's (not to say the one's that won didn't deserve it).

I hear it was very slow at the show as well, perhaps some improvements are needed by the promoter to try and bring in more collectors to the show. I know at one point it was one of "THE" show to do in the UK would be nice to see this show come back to it's original glory so to speak.

Hugs and big congrats to all the winners.

Shane

Cheryl this is a wonderful design. I love the larger head with the slimmer body and those eyes wow they just melt your heart.  I'd love a Christmas present like that, your daughter is very lucky. I also love the design of the arms and the paw pads.

big hugs

Shane

Jenny,

Here in Canada a lot of people suffer from SAD, a couple of the girls that I work with use the lamps and find they make a huge difference. They actually have them sitting on their desk at work as that is where they spend majority of their time during the day. They say they couldn't get along without them, I think it's worth a shot and yes the Vitamin D also helps we take that during the winter as well. 

Daphne thanks for mentioning the Thyroid disease, I am always exhausted it seems and never have enough energy, I will make sure I check with my Dr when I see her at my appt.

big hugs

Shane

What about just using "Peta Smart Art"  has a nice ring to it and it's not to long, consider when doing business cards or banners. Keeps it short and simple and it's not just taking bears into account it's taking all the different creative things that you do.

Best of luck Peta, sounds like you are getting your life back and in order good for you, great way to start a whole new yr.

big hugs

Shane

This bear is more than stunning, it is spectacular. This has to be one of my all time favourites of your's. I just adore the sculpting on the face.

Keep up the great work and I'm not surprised it was snatched up so quickly.

big hugs

Shane

I like them all but the Canadian ones are my fav   

Great work Kelly

hugs 

Shane

Isn't if funny Jill, I tried using a glue gun yrs ago for my joints. Every one of the broke on me , I think I only had one that did not break on me and I allowed them to try overnight. Donna we tried the grub screw on the head but we ran into problems with them, not sure if we are doing something wrong. When I went to tighten them I could only get them so tight, I could not tighten them right up. Basically the head was very wobbly. When we took the head apart and took out the joint and grub nut what we found was the stuffing was getting wrapped around the bolt inside the head and that was not allowing the nut to tighten up. Perhaps we are doing something wrong?

big hugs

Shane

Hi Lenora,

Are you sure it's the bolt that's turning and not the disc? Sometimes the disc will spin when you are trying to screw on the nut. If that's the case then I would recommend just holding onto the disc while you tighten the nut onto the bolt.  This sometimes happen to us, we use this method all the time and we have rarely ever had a bolt let go.  When we glue our bolts we use Crazy Glue Gel, now it has to be the gel or else it just runs all over the place and ensure to not get any glue on the threads of the bolt.

I hope you understand what I mean, if not I will try and explain it a little clearer next time.

big hugs

Shane

Your the best Maria, I'm so happy for you . You never cease to amaze me with your wit and creativity when it comes to your designs.  HUGE congrats on your nod for the BBAA's I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Big hugs

Shane

Well I found today that we can get vacinated starting next week in our area.  We will be going for ours the week after. As noted above this is the second death of a person within days of one another who both were healthy and young. I'd feel like an idiot if I became very ill and had a chance to take something to prevent it.  Just my thought, I talked with my family Dr and she said it was a good idea to get the shot.  She advised not to listen to all the propaganda found on the internet and news sites, the shot is a good thing and will save your life.

Hey there Bobbie, Steve said he never even saw you but again he was enthralled with Isabella and what she was doing, of course it involved a felting machine (we have one haha) but he said it was so interesting. He said to say sorry he didn't get a hug from you.  I say next time just wack him in the back of the head and that might get his attention .

big hugs

shane

I understand that it was a good show, Steve enjoyed himself and had sales and there were lots of bears that found new homes.  Lots of artist and collectors were there, Steve had a great time catching up with people. Looking forward to next yrs show.

I'm sure Laura and Daphne have pics and will do an update soon, they must be exhausted with all the hard work that went into it.  It sounds like it was a success.  Looking forward already to next yr.

big hugs

Shane