Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Thanks girlies,
I got the first lot but had changed it again as I have no patience with the webmail.You are all starts!!!
I am going to have to steam iron my whole head and have a glass of ginger wine now.
Hugs Diane xxx

I am trying to redo my website.I gave up on it due to mail problems but cannot get out of the contact for six months.I am trying yet again to fix it.Could I ask anyone around to test the mail.I have put a link on the contact page and the fron picture.Thank you inadvance.I am getting a bit cross and feel like my face needs ironed!!!!
Hugs Diane xxx
www.wee-scones.co.uk

I must give teddy bear review a lookie Paula.If I thought Teddy Bear scene was bought a broad I may go back to them.It is years since I had an ad in there.How much is a picture one now roughly???I am being lazy asking you,I will go look on their site.
My problem is I don't do editions and I don't take orders.I am trying to speed up to keep up with demand but maye if I was famous I could sell for a bit more and not have to make more,lovely thought isn't it????
Hugs Diane xxx

Its about seven years since I advertised.Funnily enough Paula I was looking through some old mags thta I am featured in and saw an old advert of yours.The bears was lovely.I would like to try a U.S magazine.I am still too annoyed with TBand friends over their article by Dee Hockenberry to use them.I don;t know which other ones are any good.I never buy magazines now and only read the ones I get as pressies from pals who are featured in them.Mean or what???
I have sorted my website out and should perhaps advertise it???
Iwill call back and check for pearls of wisdom.
Diane xxx

I have to say Flamingbear was a bit harsh and personal but I too have wondered a bit about all the question asking.not by anyone in particular)
I don't know if I could ask how to do certain things myself.Everything I do I have worked away at myself.I have never asked another artist for help on any specific technique.I feel if you learn things your own way they are more unique to you.I know lots of established artists that are amazed at being asked how they do things.I suppose it is different on a board like this.I am impressed at how open and quick to share all the things that people have learned over years of trial and error.This can only be a good thing but does it result in people having their own look or a mish mash of other peoples.Time will tell.There are a lot of posts from people worried about not having their own look???
I don't buy the magazines ,I have never been on a bear making course or used a pattern etc etc and I have never felt the need to ask if I have a look.Maybe I do maybe I don't maybe I would have been more succesful asking for help who knows???I just feel we have to put in the time and make mistakes ourselves.
I think you have talent Shantell and I am unaware of all the posts flamingbear mentioned but then if you ask for critiques you have to take the good with the bad and it seems to be her or his opinion.I truly feel the route to making good bears and selling well is within yourself.
Diane xxx

HI Shantell,
Looking at your bears I can't think of any critisism.They look well made and cute.I am perhaps not the right person to judge as I don't collect artist bears.I do have a worry that too many techniques etc are not the way to go.I agree there needs to be a something extra.I was just looking at ebay and all the hundreds of bears with no bids.I don't know the answer.I think good bears come with good design .It can be just luck that you come up with a winning formula.I am sometimes surprised by what gets lots of bids and what doesn't.I think you always do well with bears that you love yourself.If you make bears that are to your taste and as well made as you can make them you can't go wrong.
I think anyone that sells consistenty is beating the odds when you see how much competition there is.
I don't think I have been of any help here but these are my thoughts.
Hugs Diane xxx

The poor Londoners have had their share of tragedy.There seem to have been so many bombings during my life time.My mother still talks about the Blitz bombings during the war.It seems unfair that a city should suffer so much.I had to travel around London a lot during the I.R.A bombings and remember howfrustrating it was being turfed out of the tube stations.The locals just took it in their stride.This day will be a painful one for many.
Diane xxx

My dogs have never had sore tums since I put them on dry working dogs chicken and rice mix.I have heard a lot of friends who have changed to this when their dogs get upset tums.
If any of my dogs seem a bit down I always give them more excercise as this cheers them up and seems to help the body sort itself out.
I would change vets as you do need to have confidence in them.
All the best for the wee lamb.I hate when pets are ill as you cannot really comfort them,too many cuddles can make them more anxious.It is a problem.
Hugs Diane xx

Thanks Tracy,
Top right is Sam my 1915 bear and my inspiration,top left is my 1930's american bear and the rest are scones.Sam is my favourite and I like to have her in the same room.She comes up to my bedroom at night.How sad am I ???
Diane xxx

Hi
I thought this made a nice photo,
It is my vast (two) collection of american vintage bears and my own wee stick bears.I like having them around.Gwyneth is off to Aleta now and Johnny is about to leave for the U.S too.
Hugs Diane xxx

I tend to be on a pretty even keel but having no time off or spare cash sometimes gets me down.I put the dogs in the car and go off to my favourite place.It is a huge unused field next to the beach with a lovley river running through it.I sit on a hill watching the deer and bunnies and sparrow hawks while my dogs run themselves silly.I always come home brighter after that.I also look at vintage bears and toys on ebay but seldom buy anything.

I don't mean to be chaeeky but look at how you have progressed for the wee bear in your avatar.I have never seen anyone improve at such a rate(not that the wee soul is not lovely) .You are a star!!!!
Diane xx

Thanks Irene and keep looking after your skin.
My brother was very young but he did live a full life.He acheived what he wanted to be which was a proffessional artist and he had many many friends.His funeral was turned into an art exhibition and the BBC planted lots of trees in his name.He is well remembered.
Hugs Diane xxx

Happy Independance day
hope good fortune comes your way
while fireworks crack and banners fly
And a million colours fill the sky
raise a glass and give a cheer
for a state of freedom that cost you dear!!!!

hugs from the ancestral home!!!!
Diane xxx

I sometimes get a good laugh at my older bears especially the wee ones.I am also amazed at people buying the ones I cringe at.We all have different tastes I suppose.I have no problem with the resale when they are older but sometimes I have had them sold on after a few weeks and after glowing feedback.That I find a bit baffling.Once they are gone it no longer has much to do with us makers yet after all the hours of work it can be a but hurtful.
I suppose its like kids we have to learn to let go ha ha.
Diane xx

My tick bite has just about cleared up thanks everyone.I visited the pet shop yesterday and the owner showed me a saucer sized hole in his leg where he had a tick and ended up in hospital.Seemingly here it is the ticks that have fed on deer and not sheep that are the worry.I meet deer every day so I must be more careful and tuck everything in,vest to pants(I dress like a two year old!!!) and trousers into socks.I have only had one in ten years of tramping about with the dogs so I can't complain.Thank you all for caring.
Hugs Diane xxx

Hi Shelli,
I see a lot of resales now on ebay including loads of my own.I think collectors are a bit fearful of some of these partly due to all the fraud that goes on on ebay.I think they also prefer up to date work and not second hand.I have seen quite a few bears by pretty famous makers not selling or not reaching their reserve.I can see why you are worrying but due to all that is going on for you perhaps things are getting a bit out of perspective.I am glad you are not going to be supplying all the retailers soon as I remember how stressful and wearisome that can be.I think you will only have to make one bear and list it on ebay yourself for everything to be alright again.It can be such a dodgy business and so political at times .Please dont start to doubt yourself and keep focused on getting well.There is no need for me to tell you that your bears are absolutely wonderful beautifully made and unique and that your kindness and warmth shows in your work but I just did ha ha.
Hope you feel better soon.
Hugs and a pat on the head Diane xxxx

What a lovely photo Paula.No wonder you got into bear making!!!I only had one rubber panda as I threw up on everything for the first two years of life.I was in hospital a lot and didn't really have a proper teddy till my wee cheeky bear in the late sixties.
I love chiltern hugmees.One just ended on ebay and I was soo good and didn't bid.I want one one day though.I love the big heads
Hugs Diane xx

I suppose it should be a sad day here as we were technically divorced from the U.S.I wonder what life would be like if you were still under British rule???Scary thought really.I tend to make a special meal and sing American America etc as I am so fond of our old colony.The lovely folks in the US have paid my mortgage for ten years now.
So have a good day and a drink on me!!!!
Lots of love from the old mother ship!!!

Yes Sue Ann it was  malignanat melanoma but it was the kind that is always fatal.The doctors told us that really from day one he was doomed.It manifested with a mole on his foot which grew after a week in Cornwall in the sun.He ended up with cancer in every main organ and his spine severed.He wore a corset thing to keep him all together and because he was such a big strong person he took a very long time to die.He was a veggie and took lots of excercise and didn't smoke.All he ever said when you asked after him was "my stomach is a bit sore".I phoned him every night in the hospital in London and travelled down with Hayley whenever I could.It was a bad time as I was going through a divorce and losing my home all at the same time and with a tiny baby to care for.He died a month after his 36th birthday.We were very close and I miss him every day but I learned a lot about life and appreciating what you have.
Hayley and I have to keep out of the sun and away from smokers as turning brown or passive smoking are the two most common activators of this type of cancer.It is a small price to pay.On a cheerier note I am surrounded by his paintings and feel he is still here in a way.
Thanks for caring and I am so glad you survived yours,I bet you learned a lot too and don't moan over a cold!!!.I don't fancy your spider bite one bit.We don't have any nasty spiders here.I am quite fond of them and never kill them.
Hugs Diane xxx

We have got flood warnings now!!!It was lovely to get the rain just not that much.I dont want to go to bed as the house is soooo hot!!!The poor wee lambs have just been taken away from their mums so with the windows wide open it' going to be a noisy night.It is sometimes hard being a veggie in the country.
I hope you all get some of my rain just not quite as much.
Night night Diane xxx

Thank you all for caring so much.I have a specialised tool that I bought at the vets so the head and all the attractive legs came out.I just put him out the window as I don't like to kill anything even these wee horrors.The area is still throbing but then he was big and made a big hole.
Judi ,I would get to the doctors with the wee ones brown area.I have a bit of a fear of spots etc now.Having said that I have not seen a doctor for six years and neither has Hayley luckily!!!
I used to have to strip naked and have my photo taken regularly to check all my moles.Thankfully I don't have that done anymore ha ha.
Brenda the vaseline does work but I didn't fancy another night with my new pal.They breathe through their skin so anything that prevents osmosis works.I used to use meths.
Once again thanks for caring.
Hugs Diane xxx

Sorry for telling you all this but I am on my own today and had to tell somebody.None of my terrestial friends are answering the phone so here you go friends in cyberspace!!!
For a few days I have been very worried about a lump on the inside of my thigh quite far up and impossible to see.My brother died of skin cancer and I have to get everything like this checked out.I have had a few biopsies and have been very lucky to be clear.Anway I have been plucking up the courage to ask someone to look but today I decided to do a weird yoga move and see if I could see it with a torch and mirror.I panicked when I saw what I thought was a mole that had turned grey and it was also very painful.I just cold not seem to get a good look then I managed with a magnifying glass.Thats when I thought "could it be  a tick??"I got my tick removing tool out and could not decide what to do.If it was a mole twisting it off would not be a good move.I decided to go for it and out the wee sucker came.If it was not so blooming sore I would be jumping for joy!!!In all these years of pulling them off the dogs I have never had one latch on to me.I never expected to be so happy to see one !!!!
Diane xxx
there I am happy now I have told someone.

Well done you what a star!!!

We are the same here Paula.I just went upstairs to do my weights and aerobics and ended up lying down and nodding off!!!It was too hot to go outside.It felt just as I remember Greece feeling which is very odd for Scotland.Now we are having a heck of a thunder storm and it is pouring like a monsoon.What weird weather!!!

Diane xxx