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I love this topic Louise!!! Thanks for bringing it up! I've though a whole lot about this stuff too! I can tell you this about my own journey into bear making....
As a child, my dolls, bears, and other stuffed animals were friends to me. I was a quiet and shy little thing. I loved my "friends" like they were real... and they were real. Why? Because I had had made them so. How? It's a process that I like to call emotional investment. My bears took on how a felt about the person who had given it to me. I used my bears and dolls to literally give life to all my own emotions, fears and inner thoughts. I held them when I cried. I acted out weddings, celebrations, and ballet recitals with them. It's a personification process. They became real because I wanted them to be.
I think that many, many children do this... whether it's a blankie, or a bear, a potholder (my oldest had a Cookie Monster potholder that he slept with and took everywhere :crackup: !!!!!) whatever the "object" is... you emotionally invest in the object.... you personify it... it becomes a vehicle for expressing your own feelings.
As an adult, I view the bears that I make in the same way. I emotionally invest in them, and they are a vehicle for my own creative expression. When I think about the power of a whispered word, or the way that rain slides down a pane of glass on a stormy day, or anything else that sparks my creativity, I can try to translate that into a bear. I try to give them their own little personalities the same way I did when I was a child. For me it's the same process. Rather than grafting the emotion onto an already completed object... I am creating the object from scratch and endowing them as best as I can with those emotions through the creation process.
I know that some adult collectors see the bears in their collections simply as beautiful objects, and I can certainly appreciate bears in that way as well; but I think for a whole lot of folks they are something that is just a bit more than that.
Kim Basta
Hi there Edie! I was wondering where you were!!!!???? 
So good to see you back! What a sweet, sweet bear! :hug:
Kim Basta
:hug: Hi Catherine!
I use lots of darts on my patterns. I almost always use darts at the top and bottom of my body pieces... it gives the extra fullness and shape that traditional four piece body has without the extra pieces!
Kim Basta
Dear Jane,
Unfortunately, I don't think there is any way around it.... it's part of eBay's new "security" system!!! I hate that kind of stuff, because obviously, the bad guys manage to figure out some way around it, but the good guys can't respond to a simple e Mail for non fraudulent purposes after the auction is closed. It's ridiculous! :doh: :doh: :doh:
Kim Basta
Oh My Gosh!!!! How strange! I can't wiat to see what I'll get! :crackup:
Kim Basta
Oh Judi!!!! I've had to use a water bottle on our little guy Maxie.... he was a Christmas tree climber! I felt just awful since I knew he was just doing what comes naturally to him... 
But the last thing I wanted was for him to get hurt on the lights, break a glass ornament and cut himself or one of the kids etc..... a couple times with the spray bottle and that was it. Now, whenever he gets a glimpse of the bottle, he runs away. He doesn't even like the sound of spray bottles. When I clean the counters in the kitchen and he hears that spray sound.... he's off!
Aleta... the canned air sounds like a GREAT idea for meowsers who LIKE water! How clever!
Your gorgeous Shamu and my Maxie look like they are brothers!
Kim Basta
Hi there! Thought I'd post the relevant OHIO information for all those who make & sell bears in OHIO. Do note, this is for
. PA and MA also have fairly strict guidelines/laws regarding the manufacture and sales of stuffed articles. Also note that in Ohio, registration is NOT required if you make/sell fewer than 100 bears per year. However, you do have to state that you are NOT registered, etc.... See the exceptions to ORC 3713. The Ohio legislation covers all stuffed toys and dolls as well as bedding articles, cushions, pillows, quilts ... However, there are exceptions made for quilted wall hangings, and "Bunny Slippers" and other articles that are "stuffed" but NOT used for sleeping or as children's play items. I think there could be an interesting argument that artist bears are more along the lines of wall art, or a stuffed item that is specifically NOT intended to be played with. Interesting..... 
Though Jodi, you are right on in your attitude that it's probably better to be safe than sorry. 
Anyway here's the stuff for my fellow Ohioans :
Ohio Forms:
http://www.com.state.oh.us/odoc/dic/dicform.asp#bed
Applicable Ohio Revised Code Sections:
http://onlinedocs.andersonpublishing.co … tm&cp=PORC
The above link will take you to the ORC, but you muct search "3713" in the upper left hand corner to pull up the correct sections.
Kim Basta
Definitely CHarles Dickens Oliver Twist and Hard Times. Dickens, I think, is one that we all immediately think of when it comes to novels about child labor.
Also Katherine Paterson wrote a book called Lyddie about a girl that ends up working in the fabric mills.... that's a "young adult" book though... for ages 12 to 15. Not sure if that makes a difference, but it's a great book!
That's all I can think of off the top of my head...
Kim Basta
I was preparing myself to see something horrifically gory..... 
:crackup:
What sweet little pups!
Kim Basta
Most minis are handsewn... though some folks do manage to do some bits and pieces on a machine.
If you are interested in using your sewing machine... I'd start out with a nice 12 inch bear or so... small enough not to be too daunting, and big enough to do on a machine without issue.
Intercal has some very nice patterns and kits so you can kind of get a feel for what's involved with bear making....
http://www.intercaltg.com/mobear/index.html
Kim Basta
Did anyone else feel kind of weird after they gave birth because suddenly there wasn't anything squirming around in there that you'd gotten so used to? lol
Kimberly W.
I totally remember that feeling. A couple of times after giving birth, I woke up in the middle of the night laying flat on my stomach.... then completely freaked out that I was doing that! 
then I remembered... there's no body IN there anymore! :doh:
Kim Basta
Thanks so much for posting so many lovely photos!!!! I almosr feel that I was there!
Kim Basta
Hi Jamie!!!! Glad to see another Buckeye here! We just have a few. :hug: What size bear are you interested in making? A full sized one or a mini....machine sewn or hand sewn?
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Krista... I was just gonna say, word for word what you said! Great minds and all that!
Nancy... were your ears turning red!? Isn't that what happens when someone is talking about you! Seriously... it's a great book, isn't it!? I still flip through for inspiration from time to time when I start getting the itch to do something NEW! I always recommend it to new bear makers who ask me for book recomendations.
It's delicious, isn't it Jodi! Happy reading! 
Kim Basta
Hi Shelli! I do A LOT of bent legged bears! Sometimes I shift the joint placement a bit more backward... as in more toward the back seam (butt crack!) :crackup: My bent legs are most certainly longer than what I'd do so the same sized bear with straight legs. ALL my pattern pieces have a bunch of little darts here and there for shape, but I think that's more due to my pattern generation method more than anything else. The same thing could probably be accomplished with a "flat" pattern piece.... they might give a bit of extra shaping here and there though.
Good luck Shelli! I can't wait to see!
Kim basta
Hi Christine! I've only done a couple of waxed noses.... but here's what I found. I had to put several "treatments" of wax on. The wax kind of settles & melts down into the embroidery floss. If you have embroidered many layers of floss onto your nose, you might just need to keep adding more wax. If there is not enough wax on that upper layer of floss.... that could be why you aren't getting a shine. What kind of wax are you using?
Kim Basta
Oh that's awful! the good news is... it looks like the letter from the publisher did the trick. It appears that she is no longer listing the copied pattern for sale on eBay. She seems to have removed the other artist bear patterns as well.
Hopefully this is one of those situations where the seller hadn't really thought about the fact that doing this would be wrong, but now realizes that it is truly a bad thing to do.
Glad to see that the outcome has been favorable !
Kim Basta
80 % eBay
20 % Commissions/special order
Plus the occassional charity auction in live auction format or via Bid4Bears. Looking forward to trying Bid4Bears again in a couple of months!
Kim Basta
How wonderful Sue Ann!!!!! A few months ago I was wondering if they had actually gone ahead and produced the winning bear from that contest! I remember it... I debated entering myself.
Yippeeeee!!!!! :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
They've definitely given the bear their own "Steifness" but I can definitely see the "Sue Ann" in their bear as well!
Kim Basta
Oh my GOSH Brenda! The poor little guy... SO GLAD to hear that the hydrogen peroxide worked! My Mom did that for us many times when my brother and I were little. I've used it several times on my own wee ones as well. It always seems to do the trick! :hug: :hug:
It's SO hard to take care of little one's when you are under the weather as well.... Hope you ALL feel better soon! :hug:
Kim Basta
Wonderful, wonderful Maria!!!!! What an adorable trio! getting all dolled up to go somewhere!
Kim Basta
Hi Kimberly!!!! It's now passing through the northern Ohio area where I am.... OH MY GOSH! It's awful here too... but SO pretty! My husband had to stay the night at his office last night, which was SO strange! Everything is shut down here too. Stay warm honey!!! I'm trying to do the same! The kids are just dying to get out there and play. The wind chill is about -10 coming off the lake, so I think I am going to have to cover every inch of their skin, and restrict it to 15 minutes!
Oh my Gosh!
Kim Basta
Doesn't bother me in the least bit if they use my name when leaving me feedback, because I do have my name right there in full in all my auction titles, as well numerous times in my description.
However, I think if I was concerned about it, and ONLY went by Wild Thyme Originals, I might just send out an e Mail to the bidder when I mailed their bear..... with words to the effect of .... "...kindly refrain from using my given name when leaving feedback, for privacy reasons..... "
Kim Basta
