Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Shari...what a handsome family!!!
You are absolutely beautiful, how can you say you don't take good pictures?
Remembering a past post, I don't think you look like your bears, either.   
In fact I don't see the resemblance of any bears to their makers, from pictures I have seen.
Hope you get in on the TT Christmas Party now.  :dance:
nancy

I really think that when we buy any kind of art, our emotions are truly the critics. 
I like oil paintings that take me to a place...something serene, where I can dwell in that setting.

I like to care for people and help...so I tend to lean towards bears that look like they need help or some love...you know pitiful or innocent.  I probably would never buy a bear in leathers on a Harley even if it was excellent work...my emotions would just not respond.

We have talked before about the color of bears and all agreed that white seems to sell very well.  I wonder why?

I took a class one time (many, many years ago) called 'Dressing for Success'.  Color was the main topic.  Even a commercial business, carefully picks the colors they use for paint.

Restaurants ( especially fast food)  typically will use reds, oranges, bright colors...to make you eat and leave in a hurry, so other patrons can sit down.  Different music is played in the morning than is played in the afternoon because of our mood swings.

Banks are typically blue and green...denotes trust, security.  The list goes on and on.
One study was done on women going door to door collecting for the cancer society.  Those who wore pink, collected three times as much money as their counterparts wearing other colors.

So what is your achilles heel?  What emotion runs you and what do you collect because of it?

What type of bear do you think attracks more people?  Is it the workmanship of that bear or is it what it does to you emotionally?

Nancy

Shantell,

I know what you mean (exactly) about not knowing if your work is excellent or mediocre.  I think my work is good and then I get slapped in the face by ebay buyers.

That is the one thing that I don't like about ebay and why I am going to try some shows and the Toby.  I want to know what the rest of the buyers think.  I have said before that ebay is strange arena!  I need to get out in the 'real world' and see how my little friends do.

Now, to address your other comment about ...you are a contradiction!
You say that you have no way to know how good your work is and/or nothing to compare to and yet you judge your work as 'no way ready to enter competition'.
Judging from your avatar I think you are ready!  That panda is just plain adorable.  You think you are not!

Give it a try and see what happens.
Nancy

Oh my gosh, Danni.  That is just gorgeous !!
I don't know where I have been, I didn't even know you were doing such a project.  WOW, I am truly impressed!
I can hardly wait for the next issue to come out.
All the topics are so interesting and the photos...well, the photos are purely delightful! 
Did I say I loved it?

By the way, how many hours are in your Australian days?  Where in the world did you find the time to do such a marvel?

I hope you keep this going for a long time.
Nancy

PS...actually shelli, after you made me that gorgeous avatar, I tried to look you up in the Chico phone book to mail you something special...but couldn't find you.  I wanted to send you a 'surprise' as a little 'thank you'.
You are so generous with your help all the time and just simply Thank You, seems so inadequate...
Nanc.......

:doh:   Oh NOOOOOO, Shelli !!  Are you entereing the XXXX category? 

I picked up my 'Toby' pictures from Walmart today.  The size was perfect, thanks to Shelli.  :dance:
Now, the bad news is that I sent them to walmart on-line.  They ALSO do the Inteli-Imaging and it is applied to the developing  automatically, UNLESS you indicate on-line that you do not want it.  I never saw that option.
The two full size photos turned out just great.  The close up, however showed things that you couldn't  even see with the naked eye....it showed EXTREME detail.  so I think I am going to work on that.

Anyway, the clerk did a re-make on the photos removing the Inteli-Imaging.  She said you have to tell Walmart that you do not want it...otherwise they develope all photos utilizing this process and it applies too much 'contrast' to your photos.

This is something that Shelli talked about in another chat, concerning photo developing at Walgreens.

It is a good thing I have time to get these photos done for the Toby...it is going to take me a while, I am sure!

Nanc.............

Shelli,
I see the email waiting for  me...thank you.
It will take some time to pull it up...my slow dial-up !
But I didn't want to not thank you tonight.
You are a peach!!
nancy

I LOVE YOU SHELLI !!!!

:doh:

I have my Toby 'friend' done and photograped.
When I did the editing for size in Picture-It (no I still have not had the time to learn Elements 3)...I uploaded the photos to Walmart just to see how they would look in Glossy and Matte.

BUT... before I could press the order button for the 4 X 6 photos...it said that size is not suggested and the only size they suggested would be the wallet size.

When I edited the photos, it gave me the option to change the picture size to pixels, inches and something else.
I chose inches and put in 4X6...but evidently that is not right.

So I looked at my chat forum for Elements and found a couple of past posts concerning this problem.
See below.
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Question 1:
Does anyone have any general suggestions regarding what image size and resolution to use when sending photos to an online printing service for hard copies?
Thanks in advance,
Answer 1.
For each inch of picture printed, you should have 300 pixels per inch, for pictures of 5 x 7 and lower (those that will be looked from a close distance). That includes wallet size, 4 x 6, etc.

If printing an 8 x 10 or larger (13 x 17, etc.) 200 pixels per inch (but if possible 300) would be sufficient.

For example, a 4 x 6 at 300 pixels per inch would require an image of 1200 x 2400.

Hope this helps !

Answer 2.
Sandie -- if your pictures are from a camera you can use image resize with resample turned off and then enter one of the two sides in the size you want -- for example 5x7 or 8x10 you would just enter 5 or 8 for the short side or 7 or 10 for the long side the other side will adjust to something close but not perfect but can be cropped off to make the final size.

Doing it in this fashion only works with pictures from camera and will yield a high pixel count for the printed picture without the size being destroyed.
__________________
Answer 3.

Printing at 300 dpi for many of my picture reduces the picture to very small. The picture is 72 dpi when I open it and it is huge like 16 X ? but when I go to put in 300 dpi it makes the picture way too small so what to do???

Question 2.

Hi all,

I am stymied! What amI doing wrong with image sizes?
I resized my Canon SLR image to 4x6 (resolution by default 576) with PSE3 and uploaded to the Walgreens site for printing. No matter how small I make the images the photos always come out too large for the 4x6 and eventhe wallet sized print- i.e. heads cut off, borders cutoff in part, etc.
What am I missing?
Here are two images I loaded to the Gallery but these I resized again to be acceptabble for the gallery.
http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com...y.php?user=202

Answer 1.

Hi all,
Well, I answered my own question- after an hour on the phone with Walgreen's tech support- turns out that their online print processing service is not compatible with ANY photo program including PSE3 - I was instructed to load the image from the camera, untouched, directly to Walgreens and then use their site to edit the photos!
Who knew! I wonder if all online print services have this issue?

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I am really getting panicked here...if anyone can help....I would sure appreciate it.

Nanc.....

Thank you girls...that means a lot to me.

Danni, that sounds absolutely spectacular!  I know I would be mesmerized by a really elaborate show.  They don't have very much here...but I still enjoy watching even the smallest of displays.
nanc......

Gosh, those are beautiful.  How regal the horses look with them on their foreheads.  I could see where a person could get caught up in collecting those.  It would be fun (if you owned a horse) to decorate your horse with one.
Very interesting...thanks Eileen for asking the question.
Where does one find such things?
Nanc.....

:doh: Oh no, Marie...I know everyone was thinking, "Just wait til Marie jumps in on this chat"  hahahaha, that is so funny.  BUT, I do appreciate the website you linked us to.
Sooo, Marie, what do you eat?  Ummmm, I do love greek foods too.  We have some wonderful greek friends and that is all they do...is eat!  Everytime you go to their house you HAVE to eat.  It is part of their social status, I think......but don't mind me...I am always quick to pull up a chair!
Kim, your recipe sounds just wonderful and I am going to try it.  I have eaten a lot of Lebanese food in my day and the cumin etc, reminds me of this.  Of course one of my fav's was Kibbee, raw or cooked...love it both ways.
Does your hubby have those dark dreamy eyes?  Just curious!
Years ago (in much better times) my husband was VP of a commercial construction company in St. Louis.  I was the Office Manager (that's what they called it then, who knows what fancy title the 'head gopher' has now)...anyway we did a lot of construction for foreign clients, namely Saudi's.  We had a big meeting one afternoon and my job was to entertain his wife, while the final specs were ok'd.  I was amazed when this darling blonde (natural) lady walks in.  She was originally from St. Louis and was working at a Wendy's...that was how they met.  Can you imagine?  He fell head over heels in love with this blonde and she marries this very wealthy man.  After moving to Saudi with him, cultural shock set in.  She couldn't drive, she was basically a second rate citizen.  Her in-laws hated her.  What a mess...but it was funny to listen to her stories...like when her children saw a squirrel for the first time.  "Mommy, look at the American rats, they have fluffy tails"...  well, come to think of it I guess they were pretty close. When she returned home she had a beautiful 18K gold necklace  handmade for me ,that was my name in Arabic and sent it to me.  Only problem is it looks like it says grub or something equally as icky. hahaha

I should have talked recipes with her. 
I have made that cheese you are talking about...the Lebanese also make it.  I am pretty well versed on Lebanese foods and I do love their foods.  The first time I saw their bread, I thought it was the dinner napkin !!

Ok, I have probably exceeded my 'character limit' here...
Nanc....

Everything is fixed, including additions of several suggestions.
Thanks so much...your in-put was very valuable and your messages left in the guestbook are now there and greatly appreciated. :dance:
Nanc.........

Just wanted to add my congrats, Laura !
Sorry I cannot help you with any experience on all the 'fast stuff'...only dial up here in rural Georgia. 
I can tellyou I really dislike it....ALOT!!!!
Nanc....

One of my all time favorites...is watching fireworks.  My poor hubby has to take me each year on the fourth and fight the crowds.  I am absolutely enthralled by them.

I love the ones that...just as you think they are done, all of a sudden it picks up again and shoots all these 'diamonds' out in a waterfall.
Thank you Fran, for bringing back to mind one of my 'loves'!!

Nanc.....

Jenny Bean Bears....how absolutely delish !!  That is the cutest name.
Happy Birthday and thank God for MOMS .

Nanc......

Thank you Chrissie...looks great!!
I sent Carrie your link info a couple of days ago, so I know it will be on my site soon.
I think, the service your site offers is really wonderful and I greatly appreciate being included in it.
Nanc...... :dance:

Thank you so much.... Jenny,  Dilu, Kim and Patsy !!!

I wrote Carrie about the guest book and she is going to change it.  I had read in previous chats that so many ladies were closing their guest books because of some nasty notes.  So I told Carrie and she set it up so I could have the opportunity to peruse the notations before they are actually logged in...but something is not working, so she is going to set it up as a normal guestbook and we shall just monitor it.

Hope you girls that tried to leave a message will come back in a few days when it is fixed and leave one.  That is so nice of you.  :hug:

Nancy

Dilu, I don't do sushi either because of the parasites...nope, not for me.  However we do have a grocery chain here, called Publix and they have a little Japanese gal making sushi all day long.  she is the sweetest person and smiles all the time.  I think she likes doing what she does. I didn't realize that in a rural Georgia town...here in the SOUTH, there were so many sushi lovers.  Hey, what happened to grits?

Brenda, I would love to hear what your son has to tell !!  How wonderful.  I know that they do not have ovens in their kitchen...that should tell us something !

In this book I am reading, the author said she always wanted to come to America.  She was born in Tokyo.  To make it very short....she won a scholarship to a college in Illinois.  Landing at O'hare...she was speechless, when she saw how big our roads were and all the open space.  You can imagine....Illinois and all the farmland. Anyway, she gained 25 pounds in just a few short months, eating American fast food.  Her poor body went into a tail spin.  When she went back home for a visit, her mother immediately got her back on the foods she was raised on and quickly lost the extra poundage.
So, the book is extremely interesting.

Kim, I think your mid-eastern cooking sounds very fascinating.  Where did you meet your husband?  I have to say that I am like Hayley and think of curry.

A couple of doors up from us, we have a retired Professor...and his wife, Anna is Korean.  I enjoy her so much...a little hard to understand, but she is always bringing us some tasty fresh fruits.  She is so tiny and I will see her coming down the street in her little hat and I know, fruit is on it's way! 

Correction...the author of this book is Naomi Miroyama.

Nancy

Good for you Judi...you are up on the health benefits...they actually are the healthiest people, so I have read.
Turkey sushi....hahaha!  What a way to use up that left over turkey, Jenny!!!
Kim, the 'home cooking' is quite different from what you are used to in the restaurants.  Like almost all the asian restaurants, they have been 'Americanized' to suit our tastes.  I agree, ummmm so good, tho.
I will be anxious to see if there are some authentic Japanese recipes, floating around out there. :dance:

Nanc.....

I have been doing some serious studying in Japanese cooking and how healthy these folks are...I am going to get the book by Naomi Yokimono  (I am sure I don't have the last name spelled correctly...have to look it up). Anyway, I would like to gather some good "home cooking" Japanese recipes. 
Does anyone have any to share?

Nancy

AWWW...you gals are just soooo sweet and you sure do know how to make a girl feel good!

With low ebay  sales, getting rid of one car and being stuck at home all the time...my dobber has been pretty down lately.  I get to the point of not wanting to create anything anymore  because I feel like 'what's the use, it won't sell anyway'...and then friends like you come a long and cheer me right up.... :hug:

Rita, thank you for the offer to exchange links...how do I send you my banner?  Is there HTML that is involved?
Not sure how to do that.

Big hugs to everyone,
Nanc....

Oh my goodness Julia...is that a bear from the swap that you girls all did?  Just gorgeous.  Judi puts such personality in her little creations.  How lucky you are to have a Judi Bear!
I have to mention, your gorgeous eyes, too!  Wow!  Those beautiful almond shaped eyes, would be absolutely stunning in a doll!
You are a double lucky gal!

nanc.......