Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Perhaps elephants really care about racism in our United States ?

Hi Becky,

Henry is absolutely adorable; I also love the tipped mohair and his cute expression.

One question though :

Why would an adult man want a teddy bear ???   
Couldn't you give him up for adoption (the bear I mean, not your husband) 

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

Linda's emotions (do) generate extremely naughty daydreams about raucous yodeling !

(who will come up with an x in their sentence?) 

Teddies have relied on us giving honey.

  :dance:

(it was harder than I thought, but what a great game)

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

Hi Jane,

It's so great to see Sarah enjoying her running and doing it for charity as well.  I really admire her spirit.
Will she be coming with you to Hugglets in September, so I can say Hi ?  Maybe some of her energy will rub off on me, because I could definitely use some exercise  :crackup:  !

Give her a big hug from George and me,  :hug:

Love,

Peterbear

Hi guys and gals,

I couldn't resist posting these two lovely photo's I found in the paper today.

The first one is called Scooter, probably the world's smallest dog : He stopped growing when he was 8 months old and he is approximately 8 cm (3") high and weighs about 400 grams (less than a pound) !  Isn't he just adorable ?    Though you do have to be careful not to sit on him  .

The second one was taken in South-Korea : a farmer discovered a baby deer drowning in the river nearby his farm.  He rescued the poor animal and took it with him to his farm.  Once there his (female) dog immediately adopted the baby deer and fed it and nursed it back to health.  Now they are inseperable  .

Hope you like them as much as I did.

Hugs,  :hug:

Peterbear

I couldn't agree more with you, Ali, I feel that teddies are made for companionship, love and cuddles, not to be stored away in a dark cupboard.  Sure, my teddies sometimes get their paws a little dirty (especially when they have been eating chocolate  ), but I'm not interested in teddies for their monetary value, only for their loveliness value  .

Hugs,

Peterbear

Hi Alison,

You have some wonderful teddies in your hug.  By the looks of it you like your teddies furry and very huggable  . So do I.

I couldn't help noticing "Pip Squeak", the membership bear from Charlie Bears : I chose him too as my membership bear.
Here he is together with his girlfriend "Emma".

I also noticed that you emphasized

SOME

. Are there many others in your teddy family ?

Hugs,   :hug:

Peterbear

Hi everyone,

I would like you to meet two new members in my hug : the large 20" bear is called JENSEN and is made from beautiful brown mohair with light tipping, the small bear is called JACK and was never meant for sale.  Actually he was only used by the artist to try out a pattern and was destined to be taken apart again  !
Thank heavens, when I ordered JENSEN, little JACK was smart enough to hide in the parcel before the artist knew it  !  So he wound up in my hug and what a surprise it was for me.  These two adorable bears were made by Marilyn Lambert (Barling Bears).   So a big thank you MARILYN  :hug:  !

Here are my two lovely teddies enjoying the garden in the morning.  By noon it's way too hot here now (temperatures rising over 30° C / 86 ° F).

Beary Hugs to all of you,   :hug:

Peterbear & the teds

Awww, Sue, what an adorable little polar bear: he looks so sweet and innocent ! 

Hugs,   :hug:

Peterbear

Hi everyone,

I was very saddened to read that Diane (Wee Scones) has to give up her bear making, because teddy bear sales are not going very well.
Some of the artists have written that they have the same experience and one artist told me that she thought the Stratford fair had less buyers than last year.

This worries me very much !   

Therefore I would like to hear from the artists, as well as the collectors, if they feel that the economic and financial crisis is making it more difficult to sell bears or, for the collectors, if they adopt less bears than about a year ago.

As a teddy bear lover, I admit that I often can't resist adopting a bear I really like, though my budget doesn't really permit it and that, unfortunately, I too will have to cut back on adoptions in the future.  My -very modest- savings have been definitively lost in the financial crisis (that will teach me to invest in shares of my own employer  ); but now I'm glad that most of my savings were invested in teddies  ; at least they will always keep their value.

If you feel like sharing thoughts on this topic, please do!

Hugs,   :hug:

Peterbear

I just couldn't help checking to see if Bernard had found a new home yet.

And hey : Bernard is now packing his little suitcase to start off on his journey to his new family.  I'm so glad      !

And Paula can get her car fixed : hope the bill isn't too bad  :pray:  ....

Hugs,

Peter

Hi Adam,

Bertie (2) looks really wonderful and very happy in your hug. 

This is my worst nightmare  !  Not long ago I adopted three teddies from a lovely artist called Jean Bishop : the three bears were LOST for two weeks by the Royal Mail's international "service" Parcel Force.  Both Jean and I were frantic with worry and called their office every single day.  After two weeks they finally found the parcel and the bears got here safe and sound.  I can only imagine your and Sue's dissapointment.

Sue makes lovely bears; I have one in my hug as well : "Bashful" is the one you see on her avatar and here she is in my garden :

Hugs,

Peterbear

Wow Paula,

Another magnificent bear : how do yo do it ???  :clap:

He looks very smart in his waistcoat and I adore the twinkle in his eyes (like my beloved Bellamy).
It's difficult to capture the beauty of his expression on photo; I'm sure he's even much more handsome "in the fur".   

I wonder what you will have in store for us at Hugglets ...   :dance:

Hugs,

Peter

Hi Becky,

Thank you for pointing out that site : the photographs are absolutely wonderful !    I put one of them on my laptop as wallpaper.

When can we expect some new available bears on your website?  My favourite of the adopted bears would have to be "Charlie" : a lovely distinguished teddy with an adorable smile  :clap: .

Hugs,   :hug:

Peter

Hi Susan,

This is a very tough question indeed and I agree with Sophie : we don't know enough about you to make reasonable suggestions.

For instance :
Where are your roots (where did you grow up)?
Is finding suitable work important for your partner or yourself?
Do you want to buy a property or rent?
Do you want to live in a big city or in the countryside?
....

You still look very young on your avatar  , so I can't imagine that you're ready to settle down in front of the TV all day. So what are your dreams and wishes for your further?

Hugs,  :hug:

Peter

HP.CE. Belgium is of course a great country to live in !!

Bonjour Sophie,

Le website me semble très élégant et fonctionne parfaitement  ; ainsi que la traduction en Anglais, mais il y'a quelque chose qui m'intrigue :

En France tu as 32 ans; mais en Angleterre tu n'as que 29 ans     

Est-ce qu'on vieillit plus vite en France ???

Affectueusement,  :hug:

Peter

What a lovely bear indeed; though his new dad hasn't seen him "in the fur" yet (he starts his journey to Belgium tomorrow), he is one lucky and proud
owner : oh yes ...

IT'S ME !!

     .

Paula was kind enough to make this bear specially for me and he looks so gorgeous, I can't wait for him to get here. 

I have taken some days off work next week, so I can spend some quality time with him when he gets here  :dance: .  (Well, I didn't really tell my boss that was the reason for taking time off work  :crackup: ).

I will certainly post some pictures of Bellamy (ol' blue eyes) and my four other bears by Paula.

Hugs,   :hug:

Peter

Hi Millie,

I sponsor a local animal rescue shelter here in Belgium (dogs & cats, but also neglected horses and some wild animals saved from abominable circus life).

They give you the opportunity to become a foster parent to one of their horses or wild animals. 
Maybe for a modest fee people could become co-foster parents to one of their horses. 
The only thing that the animal rescue shelter would have to do is keep the foster parents up to date of their adoptive horse (maybe send them a few photos by mail), so the foster parents know their horse is well looked after and their money is well spent.

This system works very well here, because animal lovers feel they have a real connection with "their" animal.

It's just a thought.  I'm sure you will come up with a way to raise money and many TT-people will want to help you. :clap:

Hugs, :hug:

Peter

Hi Sue,

Cheeky is so adorable; the open mouth looks great as well; but "Bashful" says that she is cuter  !

She sends you a big hug from her new home  :hug: .

Love,

Peter 

Hi Thomas,

There is one lady I know who owns her own teddy rucksack; he even has a name "bearsac".  He travels all around the world with his "owner" Debra Schiman.

She has even written a book about all her travels with bearsac, called "Travels with my teddy bear".   

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Debra is one amazing lady.  :clap:

You can read all about her (and where she bought her teddy rucksack -> in BELGIUM !!!) on her website : http://www.bearsac.com/index.htm.  It's well worth a visit.

I will keep an eye out for a teddy rucksack in Belgium next time I go shopping  .

Take care,

Peterbear

Thank you Jane for all the photos; it's so great to see all the displays, if you weren't there in person  .

You did a great job  :clap: !

Hugs,  :hug:

Peter

I wonder if he hasn't got a teddy of his own, who listens to all his problems at night  , wouldn't surprise me one bit !

I don't know how old she is now, but I hope I don't accidentally marry her in the future  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:

Susan,  wouldn't you just loooooove to take him home with you? 

He (or is it a she) is so adorable; I also want one (and give up my boring day job and take care of this little cutie all day) !  :dance:

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Hugs,  :hug:

Peter