Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I must say, I have had a most enjoyable afternoon checking Teddy Talk to see a list of my online peers getting nominated... first Judi, then Sue Ann, then Louise!  My hats are off to you ladies, you greatly deserve the recognition of the hard work I know each of you has become well-respected for!
:clap: 

I was expecting to have to wait a day or so to see the full list of TBR's web site, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it posted earlier (thank you, Shelli!).  The judges must have had a difficult time choosing from the extensive spectrum of applications they received, I don't envy them the responsibilities involved with selecting their nominees!  I was thrilled to see a broad range of talent on the nominee list, with representatives from around the globe and covering what I know is a fantastic selection of different artists' styles, the judges have my respect for a job well done!

I know in my case, I am also grateful to have learned a very important lesson from submitting my one lone Golden Teddy applicant this year.  I must be prepared earlier!  I was rushed to get photographs, used the wrong film and didn't have time for retakes (and had to completely nix some other bears I'd been considering), and mailed the packet off on the last possible day by overnight mail.  I learned my lesson best from Judi, Sue Ann and Louise right here on this board, who I know did their bears earlier in the year, and were careful to take competition-appropriate photographs of them at the time they were created.  Wise women! 

By the way Jared, I hope you will extend our congratulations to your mother on her two nominations!  You were kind enough to share the photos with us earlier, her bears were lovely and will make for some tough competitions in her categories!

A big warm bear hug to everyone!   :hug:
Kelly

Sue Ann, I'm not surprised one of your cuties got a nomination, your work is always deserving of accolades!  Congratulations to you!  Wow, what a fun group of nominees this year's Golden Teddies are looking like, I can't wait to see the full list...

Bear hugs,
Kelly

Louise, with a lovely bear like that you should have had more confidence!  MAJOR congratulations!   :dance:   :hug:

Polar bears are always a favorite in these competitions, I know yours will get a lot of attention when the nominee photos are posted!

Big bear hugs,
Kelly

Judi, I'm so excited for you!  FOUR nominations, that's amazing... a feat that few artists accomplish in a lifetime, much less a single competition year! 

And all that before the TOBYs are announced 

Can you show us again the bears nominated?  I remember your tiger and the Snow Bear with the hares, I figured those were a given when we first saw them.  Who were the other two bears?  I can't remember which of your other gorgeous bears you mentioned submitting!

Hugs! :hug:
Kelly

I'm late to this conversation, but it looks like you're getting a wonderful dog, Eileen!  Bear looks like a real charmer.  Our 'ghetto mutt' (another dog named Lucy!) seems to have some Border Collie in her.  She is scary smart, unfathomably loyal and the sweetest little girl in the world.  She also catches lots and lots and lots of chipmunks and squirrels, whenever the opportunity presents itself.  We just noticed two squirrels building a nest up one of our trees, which probably means a litter of squirrel babies will be wandering down the tree later in the spring.  Heaven help us.  I picture myself spending a lot of time at the back door yelling 'DROP IT, I SAID DROP IT!!!!!'

Hugs,
Kelly

Hello Mindy! What a fun idea for you to post reports and photos from the show, thank you in advance for taking the time to do so!  I'd love to see some photos that show the scope of the show, I know it's huge but it's one of those things that's hard to imagine without having been there.  And of course, bears, bears, bears.

Cheers,
Kelly

Hi there, geek here.  This won't work on its own, additional code is needed.  The javascript:formHandler(this) in the code is calling the function formHandler elsewhere in the document.  The function itself is near the top of your code.  I pulled this off Tami's web page, insert this additional code right underneath the TITLE tag, copy everything below starting with <SCRIPT and ending with </SCRIPT>. 

Have fun!
Kelly

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">

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Absolutely lovely cards, ladies!  Very inspirational indeed, I can't wait to see what others come up with either   

Hugs,
Kelly

Here is a fantastic custom color dye chart from RIT itself (stumbled across this on the web the other day!):

http://www.ritdye.com/color_recipes.asp

Have fun!
Kelly

Fantastic work of art, and so very squirrel-y!  Now all you need is 20 more of them, butt up in the air, digging out somebody's carefully planted flower bulbs.  That's the view I see of them in the backyard, anyway.

Hugs,
Kelly

What a beauty, Sue Ann!  I hope your sister loves the bear and greatly appreciates the effort behind it 

Hugs,
Kelly

Oh, missed this earlier.  They actually do have to be 2.5 x 3.5 as well.   It is, as they say, the "universal standard", it is noted that anything other than this side should NOT be called an ACEO.  If you have a chance, check out the eBay group "Art Cards Editions and Originals ACEO", you'll find a link to the group charter on the main page which gives more details.

I actually hadn't visited that group in a while, but just did.  A couple of other things to think about... they do like things to be archival, which I think only makes sense to keep in mind for teddy cards as well.  I would suggest some group concensus on recommended materials.

I suspect that in the case of teddy cards, copyright might just be the biggest issue to be dealt with.  For the ACEO group, they have apparently had quite a few brushes with copyright problems, Vero has actively been used to remove works from violators and they are trying very hard, as a group, to keep everybody honest.  That includes reporting each other to Vero, apparently.  Teddy cards would need to be kept to the same high standards.  They mention that collage pieces, which many times use 'found' images, are frequently a problem.  An enhanced bear image could count as a digital collage, which is why I'm mentioning this.  Basically, even if you find the world's greatest image somewhere and would REALLY like to incorporate in some way in your teddy card, you can't use it in whole, in part, original or altered.  Not at all.  Something else that would be pertinent to our uses would be that taking photographs of somebody else's bears would be an absolute no-no.  It doesn't matter if you bought the bear, you don't own the rights to its reproduction or likeness.  Collectors would need to be made aware of this in addition to bear artists.

(Good heavens, I should never post when I'm tired.  I just re-read this and I'm not even sure what I was trying to say in parts!)

Hugs,
Kelly

No, I'm no painter     I have been keeping track of them though, I've been trying to convince my mother to paint some ACEOs for some time now, thought it would be fun for her.  So I did all the research and presented her with the information.  But I haven't been able to get her to stop doing bears long enough to try them yet.  Ha!  She's working right now on a 92-piece bear, mostly handsewn.  I don't think she'll have time for them anytime soon, at this rate.

Kelly

Hi there Shelli, you've been busy today with research!  ACEOs can be either sold or traded, there is an eBay group for ACEO artists and they conduct trades among themselves regularly.  With the collectors, of course, they need to first buy ACEOs to have anything available to trade.  But once they have a collection, collectors can trade amongst themselves as well as artists can trade with artists.  It really is a fun thing, it only gets more fun as more people get involved!

Cheers,
Kelly

I have an uncle that is a cancer research guru, absolutely brilliant guy, published author and very well-respected.  He has no intention of retiring when he's doing such important work (and is already well into his 60s).  Do NOT ask him his opinion about the current administration, however.  Federal funding that has historically been given to cancer research and other beneficial scientific areas have, for the last few years, gone into alternate projects... like funding biological weapons research.  No joke.  Scientists that he worked with actually burst into tears when certain people were re-elected.  'Nuff said about that, methinks.

Cheers,
Kelly

Just wanted to clarify that I most definitely support digital paintings as an art form.  My mother is both a traditional artist AND does digital paintings, so I certainly support both as valid artistic expression.  (Though she would probably want me to append that statement to clarify that her digital paintings are done 'from scratch' just like her traditional paintings.)

Let me play the artist's devil's advocate for a moment here... the feeling that I get from paying attention to the ACEO market for several years, is that photographs of our bears might not necessarily be considered 'art'.  Sort of like they might not call baseball cards or Pokemon cards art.  Of course, that may depend on who you ask as well

OK, enough of the devil's advocacy thing.  It really is a cute idea.  What I said above doesn't make the idea of bear trading cards any less appealing, or any less likely to be a success, so why on earth not give it a whirl!  I would certainly support a movement to put our bears on cards and say that we were inspired by the art trading card or ACEO movements.

Actually, I think Teddy Trading Cards is a much cuter name anyway 

Hugs,
Kelly

The more recognized term for art cards right now is ACEO (stands for Art Card Edition or Original).  Search eBay for ACEO and you'll probably find a plethora of auctions under it.  And as far as Wikipedia entries go, I don't think you'll ever find two people who agree on the definitions that are submitted.  ACEO folks generally trace back the concept of miniature card art back centuries, and evidence of traded art cards back quite a ways as well, though the US standard for card sizes wasn't set until the 1960's.  And ACEOs can most definitely be sold, they really took off a few years back as a way for art collectors to get an extensive collection of artists' works without spending a fortune on full-size original prints and paintings.  Some people keep them in protective trading card plastic covers and store them in fancy boxes... they can have hundreds of varieties of works of art for very little expense and no art-hanging wall space needed. Many of the cards on eBay only go for a few dollars each.  It's a fun hobby.  That having been said, I am only familiar with ACEOs as being actual ART, paintings or art prints.  I'm completely unaware of a branch of photographic based cards, though I have occasionally seen very old copyright-free photographs used in ACEO collages.  That having been said, I have never seen them used in the doll industry either, so I don't know how they're using them there.  Trading cards are a cute concept, though I would be more willing to call them Bear Trading Cards and not Art Trading Cards, as that definition really has only been used for traditional artists (that I've ever seen).

Cheers,
Kelly

Canadian customs are sca-a-a-ry.  Every once in a while, we ship packages to our relatives in Calgary.  If something is 'old', 'used' or 'handmade' we make sure to write that on the customs form!  My mother once sent her sister some little kitchen gadget that she got on sale, I think for $5-$10.  The customs agent, apparently feeling that the value was too low and we must have been trying to cheat them somehow, charged many times the value of the item in customs fees for her to get the package.  Sheesh!

Kelly

Sounds like that fall may have been a bit of a blessing.  I imagine it can only be good news that his illness was discovered early on, allowing him to get the treatment he needed as soon as possible.  Strong has a really good cancer treatment center, I know they will take great care of him!

Best wishes,
Kelly

Oh, that poor kid!  He must be what, 15 or so?  I had a friend in high school that was absent quite a bit due to medical problems, while her health was the biggest problem she sure found it rough to miss that much of her high school years.   You'd think a teenager would be glad to get out of school, but I know she always missed being 'in the loop' and with her friends when she was unable to attend.  My thoughts are with him and his family.

Kelly

Gorgeous work of art and WOW, what a price tag!  It's wonderful that the substantial proceeds are going to such a good cause, I imagine he must be very pleased!

Cheers,
Kelly

If your rabbit isn't going to be gigantic, a chenille stem (or pipe-cleaner, whatever it's called) will work just fine.  I usually form a loop with one or two depending on the size, so that it slips inside from the bottom and reaches all the way around inside.  If I'm worried about it slipping, I'll keep it in place with a couple of stitches here and there.  If your ear is too big or too heavy for the chenille stems, upgrade to a coated wire or something similar, though as the wire gets bigger you'll have to worry more about padding it with something so there isn't a noticeable lump.

Hope this helps!
Kelly

What I wouldn't give to see THAT view outside my window!  And look at all that snow!  Ontario must not be sharing its snow with New York this year, I haven't seen snow in weeks, which is quite odd for us.

Cheers,
Kelly,

Oh sure, that's how it starts.  Next thing you know, you're sneaking into Six Flags with petunias in your pants.

Kelly

Well, we all knew you kept yourself busy, Shelli.  I just didn't realize you spent your free time landscaping amusement parks 

Hugs,
Kelly