Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

. . . but all in all, I think this was a pretty good thread.  We've learned a lot about appropriate show attire, we've learned a new word, 'lippy' -  and I'm sure when word gets out about Paula's new show attire, we'll see a marked increase in show attendance.

and we now know why everyone's been hanging around Bobbie's booth, saying 'do you smell lemons??? 

and we've learned what I've suspected all along. .

our miz Mindy was a prom queen!!!

I'd like a show of hands here. .. who else has a tiara hidden in the closet???  I'm seeing a tiara challenge here

and we haven't talked about what not to wear, but let me state here that if we catch you wearing sweats & a t-shirt, you'll be force to wear a live cat!

and I'm still loving the idea of a kitten tiara, although I agree it's probably not the appropriate choice if you're wearing flats.  :crackup:

:redface:  well, to be perfectly fair, I was talking about Karen's cats, which are, as life-like as they look, not real cats. . .are they??  :pray:

but you know me, I'm game to try anything once and if ya'll wanna wear live pets to shows, I'll run with the pack.  (and I'll sure have to run.  I've got a pair of year-old-beagle-mix boys and run is all they do).

I admit that wearing real fur can be tricky - I mean, the timing alone.  . wasn't it Emily Post who said 'never wear ocelot until October' ? . . . but you can find out a little bit about the process if you follow this link :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_6lYUGQVhM

sheesh!  these men have obviously never seen Holly Hunter in 'Broadcast News' or they would know that you're supposed to spray the air and dash throught it!

preferably in a good lippy and flats  ;-)

Mindy, call me old-fashioned, but my momma aways swore by a dab of catnip behind each ear and the old kibble-in-the-cleavage trick.

my pet raccoons, however, were a little harder to train. . .

sigh. . . .I know, I know. . .Paula, I thought we were really onto something too. . . but a decent lippy & flats would never work for me . . .

no one would ever see the lippy under my mustache

and upon refelection, I see that I was totally wrong about Karens outfit.  I can't believe I made such a gaffe!

it's absolutely the wrong season to wear white Persian.  she's going to have to try Siamese or Abyssinian. 
(I think calico would be pretty, but calico seems a little. . . you know . .. casual.  I think I'd like to see calico with jeans or khaki's ;-)

personally, I'd love to dress like my bears, but I'd die of heatstroke at a show.  they wear so many layers of wool, cashmere silk and fur and I'd be tripping over those tails all the time. . .

I think I've got something slinky that might work for Paula, though. . .

maybe lipstick, flats and a really well-placed teddy?  (teddy bear, that is)

l :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup: Lisa, I was thinking the same thing myself. . . and here I thought Paula's booth was always so mobbed because her bears are so wonderful . .

Paula, I don't know what a 'lippy' is, but you always look fantastic. :clap:

:redface: thanks. . . actaully, I'm about 50 pounds light than I was at my. . um. . .peak, 5 years ago, so it's a whole differerent wardrobe, but I still firmly believe in dressing well, whatever the occasion (my personal clothing philosophy is that you should always look presentible enough, that, if your car broke down and you had to hitch-hike, people would want to stop and help you)

(ditto traveling and airports.  I think you get a much better response from ticket agents, stews, doormen, bellhops, etc if you look like you might have enough power or money to cause trouble.  sweats & a t-shirt don't impress or intimidate no one and cashmere is just as comfortable  :dance:

and you should always carry one of your bears when you fly, the biggest one possible - and a stack of business cards (karen, you can carry a cat)  it's a great ice-breaker & starts many a conversation, esp when he rides through the scanner  ;-)

(ps: the pic under my avatar is me on the way to London. 2 31" suitcases that weigh about 100# each - I always have to pay extra - a rolling laptop case, a carryon and a 15# teddy bear. )

(personally, I find travel exhuasting  :crackup: )

sorry. . .I know, I fogot you have short hair. . . you'll never get it up in a chignon. 

maybe a kitten tiara?  2 kittens argent clasping a TOBY?

I'm thinking something black, low cut and slinky, with a stole made of clasped white Persians and your hair up in chignon with a kitten climbing through it. . .

thanks, ladies!  (and Jane, I remember you well, although I don't think you ever told me you were that good!   :clap:  nice work!)

hey Gail! yes, it does, and sometimes that's how it seems to me, that I'm hammering a bear out, one stitch at a time.  an 18" character bear can take me up to 80 hours - or in the case of the Don & co, almost 3 months, and most of it is slow, steady technical work (some of the don actually was hammering out metal!) frankly, I find sitting still quite difficult, and all those hours on the machine, sewing straight perfect stitches usually doesn't feel very artistic at all, and all I can think about is all the other things I could be creating . .

so I try to wear enough hats that I can interchange them easily, and I'm only 'bearsmith' part-time.  other times, I'm a soft-sculpture artist, web designer, graphic designer, floral designer (I do florals for weddings & parties) baker (I do the desserts for the cafe up the street) - and the village hires me to decorate main street for Christmas each year and plant & care for the flowers in the summer.  and a lot of the time, I'm just a plain old teddy bear maker

I call what I do self-unemployment  :crackup:

a newbie playing catch-up on a few old posts here. . .

I have always liked to call myself a bearsmith and have done so from the beginning, but because I make so many different critters, I frequently refer to myself as an artisan toymaker.  (as a 50-something-yr-old man, I can tell you that dropping the phrase 'I make teddy bears for a living' is a sure way to stop the conversation in a sports bar)

artisan works for me because I think some of what we do is art, some is pure craftsmanship and some is pure craft.  it also implies creativity and craftmanship without assuming the mantle of 'artist', leaving that disinction up to the viewer, because from my viewpoint, it doesn't matter what you call yourself, only what others call you.

this conversation always makes me laugh, because it reminds me of the day I called my mother to tell her I was quitting my 'day' job to make bears full time.  I was the food service director at a christian youth outreach camp at the time and to my mom this was practically the Protestant version of being a catholic priest - she bragged about me endlessly, lol.  anyway, when I told her I was quiting, she wailed 'but what will I tell people you dooo???'  what will I say? ? ?

and I said mom, you do what I do. . . look them right in the eye and say 'he makes teddy bears for a living'.  . . and everyone will go 'Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. . .  . '

and then you tell them how much they cost . . and everyone will go OOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

and that was the last conversation we ever had about it  :crackup:

:crackup: lol :crackup: lol  :crackup: thanks, you are very sweet ladies (but I think 'the' kelly dean is some jazz musician in Texas. . .this one's just a poor bearsmith from NY)

btw,  my manufacturing contracts were not bad experiences, just not real money makers.  I thought they'd provide my retirement fund, but now when that annual $89 check comes in, I have a good laugh and buy some new shoes  :dance:

   
in the small bear undressed category - Edwin, 7" tall and made out of antique mohair with leather nose, paws & eyelids.  the stains and distressing of the mohair is intrinsic to the fabric

I guess I'm way behind the curve here, but I just joined TT this weekend and I've got a coupla TOBY IC's this year too, so I thought I'd share them.  I entered via email at the very last minute, and you could've knocked me over with a feather when Mindy called.  I was particularly pleased because my 2 winners were so radically different in size and complexity.

in the vignette category, 'Don Quixote & Company, 60" tall, both bears are fully articulated with pose-able jointed arms and fingers, ball-joint necks, leather pawpads, noses and eyelids.  the don is 36" tall, Sancho is 28",   The don's helmet is made from a 50's hammered aluminum ice bucket & a pot lid, the shield is an old serving tray (the tray handles are used as stirrups). his padded leather doublet has hammered ashtrays for shoulder bosses.  Rosinante is 50" long, and is an unjointed soft-sculpture over a rebar frame with leather hooves, taxidermy eyes and tibetian lamb mane & tail.  all saddlery is leather with Scalamandre gimp, although the fildigree on her chest is made from an antique casserole holder.

if you'd like to see more of this vignette, there is a slideshow at my website with 36 pictures, including many closeups

I've only been doing this for about 10 years, but my mom has been sewing - and teaching sewing - for over 50 years.  she swears that you should only use Schmetz (sp?) machine needles and Gutterman thread.  I laughed at her until I bought my first spool of gutterman. . .it rarely snaps, even when hand sewing.  she's right about the needles, too.  they rarely snap, even when you accidentally put one into your index fingernail :crackup:

of course, she also swears Bernina, Bernina, Bernia, too, but I couldn't afford one at the time.  I got a husquavarna 555 instead and I think it's fantastic. .  .it sews through leather and mohair like butter with a #12 (schmetz) needle..  (I do as much as possible on a machine, I think sewing by hand sucks! it just takes toooo long)

now if only I could have that Designer 1. . .

Shelli's point about getting absolute approval of the final product is another good one.  I have always gotten the factory prototypes to approve. . .

but I'll tell you that nothing beats the shock of opening the first box of finished, approved samples and finally seeing your exquisite mohair-and-leather creation squished in a plastic bag, rendered in vinyl and synthetic plush  - and with a honking big manufacturers label & 2 or 3 safety warning tags sticking out it's wazzo. .

I almost begged them to send ALL manufactured creatures to me first, so I could fluff and feather them and maybe straighten their noses. .

hey there,

listen to Shelli and read the contract carefully.  I did design work for Dept. 56, Gallison/Mudpuppy Press and Walker Books in England.  the toughest company was Dept 56, where the first contract basically stated that I'd never be able to work for anyone else - or myself - using my own name again.  after 6 months of wrangling, I got them down to a contract that said I'd never be able to produce any animal under 15" out of white synthetic plush for anyone else. (I was doing the 'snowbabies' animals in plush for them).  since I never worked with white synthetic plush anyway, it was no big deal.  ( a month later I sold a polar bear pattern to TB&F and made it 16" and white mohair)

the point is, they will ask for the world of you.  since it's your world, be prepared and only give them a little piece.

the other companies were much easier to deal with, but another point in regards to fees.  make sure that you get a design fee and a royalty fee, but also make sure that the design fee is not considered an advance against royalties, which is another little trick they like to pull.

finally, in regards to getting rich. . . consider that the standard royalty fee is usually 5 -7% of wholesale.  on a $10 retail plush toy that's a few pennies.  they're gonna have to sell a boatload for you to get rich and they might not sell at all (the snowbabies plush died in the middle of the beanie baby craze) so I'd ask for as much as possible upfront and get a hefty design fee.

yr buddy,

kelly