Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Hi Peggy,

One of our members has a spot on that site : ELLEN BROWN. Her username is LELLENBROWN and her web address is :  www.bonanzle.com/booths/FolkArt1
She has some lovely bears and paintings on her site  .

I'm sure she will be able to give you advice.

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

Pauline, she does look delicious... sweet ... scrumptious    .
Absolutely lovely  !

(I also love dark chocolate with little bits of orange,  yum yum  )

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

Tami,

That would be my dream job: feeding little kittens all day long  .  Where do I apply ???

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

Sue Ann,

What a great idea to post this message about Beverly Port  .

I will admit though that I hadn't heard about her until July of this year, when her son John Paul, posted the following reply on a question about the origins of the term "hug of teddies".  I answered that I thought the term was first used by the famous teddy bear promotor Peter Bull and John Paul wrote :

"In 1978 my Mom received a gift from Peter Bull----it was a revised copy of his first (1969) book, "Bear With Me."   Since it had a lot of new material and pictures, it was re-copyrighted and  renamed  "Peter Bull's Book of Teddy Bears."  The dust jacket of the book shows Peter Bull with                                                            himself as a Teddy Bear, holding a tiny bear. Also enclosed,  an invitation to visit him and  to attend the first "Great Teddy Bear Rally" to be held at Longleat, England on May 27th 1979, at the home of the Marquis of Bath. In their conversations about Teddy Bears, it was generally agreed that a "Hug Of Teddy Bears" was "as many as you could get your arms around"---"or in a big room"----"or in an apartment"---"or in a house"----or, or, or, or, or......................................"

So she must definitively be one of the pioneers of "arctophilia".  If John Paul is reading this, I would love to hear some more stories about your mother and the Marquis of Bath (another famous teddy lover) and the early days of bear loving collectors.

A very special hug and congratulations to Beverly for supporting the teddy bear cause !! :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

You're not going to believe this, but my bears sometimes send me e-mails while I'm at the office : "Bring home cookies; Don't forget the icecream; We need more honey; ... "    :crackup:  :crackup:

This is Robinson (a Barling bear), who is extremely huggable 

Peterbear

Hi Thomas,

I'm definitively a "cuddler" as well. 
You will often find me sitting at home reading a book or watching TV with a cuddly teddy on my lap  :hug: .
Huggability is a very important factor when I decide to adopt a bear.

Like Becky and Eva, I also talk to my bears (and they talk back to me too  )

Peterbear

Hi Tracey,

I'm so glad you enjoyed the show.  Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to speak to you (you seem to be very popular  ), but I did have a nice chat with Laraine.
She told me all about your journey to Hong-Kong and how hot is was there (must have been quite a difference when you arrived in the UK  ).

Both yours and Laraine displays looked absolutely marvelous and I'm very pleased to hear that sales were good as well.

I hope you have a great holiday  .

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

Hi everyone,

The strangest thing happened to me today.

Last week I had adopted a lovely little teddy called "Violet" by Tammy (Beckoning bears) from Canada. I wasn't really expecting her so soon, because I had never adopted a bear from Canada and reckoned it would probably be a couple of weeks.

Last Sunday at Hugglets when I was making my last tour of the halls a small teddy called "Jasmine" by Janice (Jigpaws from Scotland) seemed to "speak" to me ("take me with you, I'm ever so cute and you won't regret it" : you have to imagine the Scottish accent  ).   Jasmine went home with me and she is really a little bundle of cuteness  .

Today I received the parcel from Canada with little Violet in it and it immediately struck me that Violet and Jasmine were destined to be together : although they are from totally different parts of the world, they have both "flower" names, they are about the same size, they are both girl teddies and they are both soooo cute ! 

Is this just coincidence or were they destined to be together??     You can judge for yourself by the pictures below.

THANK YOU TAMMY & JANICE for bringing these two lovely ladies into my life :clap:

Hugs,   :hug:

Peterbear

Hi Laura,

I completed the survey as well, but had to do it twice (as you suggested), because there are two sizes of bears I really like to collect    !

Will you keep us up to date about the results and when the next question comes?

Hugs,   :hug:

Peterbear

Wonderful photos, Jane  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

It's so great to see all these lovely creatures again !   

You did a phantastic job; I'm sure everyone will love seeing these photos     

Hugs,   :hug:

Peterbear

Tammy, he is just the cutest little fluffy bear.

Look at those sweet innocent eyes : adorable 

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

Hi Dawn,

CONGRATULATIONS on finishing your sponsored walk in Romania.   :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:
Who cares if you came in a little later than the rest; the main thing is that you finished it and that you raised all that money for the bears; we all know how much they need our support.

Next time you need sponsoring for a special project, you can count on us.

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

Oh dear Jane,

It's such a shame that a beautiful had to end in such a bad way.  It was so lovely finally being able to talk to you in person.
I do hope that the problem will soon be sorted out (thank heavens it was not a heart attack) and that your pain will be over.

Luckily Sarah was with you and did the right thing to take you straight to hospital (you are a treasure, Sarah  ).

Please don't worry about the pictures, concentrate on getting better !

All my teddies and I are keeping are fingers and paws crossed that you will soon feel better  :pray:

Hugs,

George, Peter & the whole hug

Yes Kay,
You can be very proud of Toast : he made sure I stuck to my budget and talked to a lot of other teddies (here he is with a bear called Bearsac).

Hugs,  :hug:
Peterbear

Hi everyone,

I had been looking forward to Sunday September 13th for months and I was expecting the Hugglets show to be something special, but I was definitely not prepared for what I saw: four halls filled with the most beautiful bears and animals, from the tiniest teddies to huge bears, old and new.  :dance:

I had my floor plans in my  hand, clearly marked which artists I wanted to see, and the TT’ers I wanted to talked to; so when I entered the halls and I had decided I would be all cool and collected, strolling through isles …     

Forget it

: the floor plans were absolutely useless !!   I was so overwhelmed by the beauty I saw all around me (the teddy bears and the artists  ), I completely forgot everything I had planned.   After about an  hour I had to step outside for a minute, because my head was spinning. 

After composing myself a bit, I returned and tried to find most of the TT’ers there, but I’m afraid I might have missed some, so sorry about that.  I also wanted to take lots of pictures of the beautiful displays, but I completely forgot I had my camera in my pocket; I only took seven pictures and they turned out all wrong (I must have pushed the wrong buttons or something like that)  .  I know I promised you some pictures, but due to unforeseen circumstances (me losing my head ), I can’t show you any (a thousand apologies).  Luckily Jane was there as well, so you can rely on her to post some photos. 

Apart from the beautiful bears I saw, it struck me as well how kind and friendly everyone was; there was such a great atmosphere of kindred souls all coming together in one big celebration.  I did wonder where all these people were coming from?  I saw people with teddy bear handbags, teddy bear T-shirts; there was one lady who had a jacket  with teddy bear prints on it.  I saw a man clutching a teddy bear, like it was his most prized possession.  Why don’t I see these people on the streets every day.  I do believe the world would be a better place if there were more teddy bear people in it ! 

Finally I would like to say a big thank you to all you TT’ers who were there exhibiting and visiting for making this such a wonderful experience for me : YOU’RE THE BEST !

Oh, you were wondering if any teddy bears went home with me to Belgium ???  What do you think… OF COURSE !   Here’s a photo of the 6 new members in my hug.

A big bear hug to all of you !   :hug:

Peterbear

Woooooow, Marilyn, Robinson is to die for   (figuratively speaking of course  ; though it is possible I might have a stroke when I seen him in the fur  :crackup: ).

He looks really special (though it is a pity you can't get a good idea of the colour of his legs and footpads).

I'm getting pretty nervous myself and when I see all the beautiful previews from the TT members, it makes the waiting so much harder  !

I will see the lucky ones who can attend on Sunday and for those of you who can't be there, I will take lots of pics as well.

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear
& Barling rascals

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JANE !!!     :bday:  :cake:

GEORGE & PETER

INTI is really adorable, Kay, the colour of his fur is beautiful and he looks so soft and cuddly  .

I love these larger bears.

Hugs,  :hug:

Peter,
Toast,
Woody,
Monty,
Moet &
Andes

P.S. Toast is very excited about his trip to London on Sunday    !

Hi Becky,

"Blanket Bear" looks really amazing  ; I'm surprised you could make such a lovely teddy out of an old blanket. 

I think I will send all my old clothes and towels and stuff to you and you can turn them all into lovely bears !!  :dance:

Great work.

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

"Hello to you little Eleanora", he said lovingly  .

"If I said you had an adorable face and beautiful fur, would you hold it against me?"   

She is absolutely lovely, Marilyn, I look forward to seeing her and her brothers and sisters on Sunday !

Hugs,  :hug:

Peter & the Barling gang

P.S. and looking forward to seeing you as well 

Congratulations, Chrissie  :dance: .  We hope everything will go smoothly and your nausea will soon be over  .

hugs,   :hug:

Peterbear

Hi Laurie,

Your bears are lovely  ; I especially like the one with the big key (to his heart?).

I will have to add you to my "must see" list for the coming Sunday  .

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

what a beautiful bear, Beth; I really love him 

And the way you presented him on e-bay is excellent and inspiring  :clap: !

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

Hi Tammy,

I also love this little bundle of cuteness. 
Especially her expression is adorable : she looks so sweet and innocent, maybe with a little dash of mischief in it : LOVELY  :clap:

Hugs  :hug:

Peterbear

Hi Paula,

Your bears will look wonderful at Hugglets.  I can't wait to see them in the fur and I will certainly pause at your table    !

PS. Dusty is definitely my favourite  .

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear