Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

She's got my vote!  I've already passed the info onto my personal mailing list and asked they send onto anyone they think would vote daily :)

:hug:
~Chrissi

she will LOVE him!!  I LOVE HIM!!   

What a wonderful bear!

HUGS,

Don't feel bad!  I wanted so much to get into blogging, I did it for over a year and just a week or two ago I deleted all but one last farewell post.  I FEEL SO FREE!!  :dance:  :dance:

As of late I've begun to look at my time and what I fill it with, what I really love in life.  I've stopped reading blogs in general (I get a little turned off from some of what I see out there frankly) and I can't imagine anyone out there will miss my ramblings. I don't think it's cynical to take a good look at why you want to do it, what it will be about and how it will positively impact your time and life.  If it doesn't make you happy or prove itself to be worthy of your time you can at least say you gave it a try!

Me too!!    
Hub and I have a lot to be thankful for this year and Teddy Bear's giving back to children just feels so right!!  :hug:

:hug:
~Chrissi

I'll be there!!!  It's my third year participating.  In this life you have to give in order to receive and I can't imagine giving to a more worth while cause then the fight of childhood cancers.  Teddy bears helping the kids that love them just seems right :hug:

:hug:
~Chrissi

Look at that CUTIE!!  Love the sink pic, what a happy little dude!!

I'm currently taking a mini summer "sabbatical" too.  Lots of careers offer that benefit, why not ours?!  That's what's nice about bears, they're patient...they'll wait for you

:hug:
~Chrissi

I'm so happy he's home!! :hug:
  I was about to type this out last night!  When we all still lived at our parents my sisters cat was lost for a few days.  The cat was the only cat that "had to" (really had to, it made her a happier cat) go outside at least once a day.  She would walk the perimeter of the house, never go farther and then come in right away. Same thing for years and she was a happier cat if let out once a day like that.  Well one day she didn't come right back in.  The next day we canvased the neighborhoods with flyers, walked around forever posting flyers and talking to everyone we could about our lost cat. Another day went by and no cat.  Our neighbors across the street came home from a 3 day vacation and heard a "scary noise" under their bed bent down to see what it was and our cat flew out at them running for the nearest door.  Our neighbors were beyond freaked out got the cat out of the house (they realized the next day it was our cat).  Here our cat was locked in their garage for those 3 days (she did use an empty brown food store bag as a litter box...still a good cat).  When they initially got home and opened the garage door to the house she ran right on in without them knowing.  Poor cat was obviously confused from day one, we don't know what made her cross the street let alone go into a strange house.

That right there is the question. 

I think collectors are where the bears are.  I think those bidders who truly want the thrill of "the win" might not follow, but how many collectors fit that exact box?  I don't think many. 

Artists just have to ask themselves how much they're willing to endure in order to have the auction option. I get that auctions are appealing, but at what cost to your own business plan, financial state, and sanity as an artist?  I see this all happening and I think of Stockholm Syndrome. All the abuse and we're still loyal to the captor.

I know how much we value our collectors we've met via ebay, but collectors and ebay are separate.  It's ok to leave ebay, dislike ebay and still remain loyal to collectors and value collectors.  We needn't apologize to collectors for not liking ebay and their new standards! They are not one in the same.  I was in a waiting room yesterday and the big tv was set to CNN. CNN was doing a story on Ebay and how it's going against everything it initially set out to do.  It's not just us, it's being noticed by major news talkers.  Personally I see them as a sinking ship, can they fix the damage..that's yet to be seen. It's always good to have a backup plan. I don't think too many of us have all of our eggs in one basket at this point, many of us have diversified our selling and marketing outlets. That's always good

Probably still in my mood, but wondering why we need to showcase the particular case subject with enough detail to essentially host the Where's Waldo search of the Tsk Tsk No No Teddy Maker.  I mean really.  And if it's an "ad" we're talking about didn't the magazine print it to begin with? I'm guessing it was in the correlating mag, as most don't cross promote each other's logos/events.  Still not getting why we need to do this out here.

Sorry to semi-derail the topic.  I've stated this before when it presented itself in the past. A member was yet again called out for deeming herself an award winning artist when "all she had (according to others) were ribbons" from local shows (the gall). My personal feelings haven't changed: If you won it you should be proud and state it.  Tell the public what and how you did it, be happy for yourself and that accomplishment.

Are you serious, I mean really?  Maybe I'm in a mood tonight (even us pollyanna's get those once in a while ) but I can't stand that we police each other like this...really. Bobbi, I know you're intentions are good, but seriously?  I'm not slinging arrows,  just sitting here

Forget maybe, I know I'm in a mood tonight...sorry for the out of character moment. 

This is one of my favorite ribbon sites:  http://www.mjtrim.com/

:hug:
~Chrissi

I'm a Ford Mustang......"You're an American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money. "    Sounds Taurusy too (meaning my "sign"...not the other Ford made car :crackup: )

You find the coolest things online Tami!!

:hug:
~Chrissi

Oh good Lord, that's just TOO CUTE!  I love puggles, such happy little dogs :)

:hug:
~Chrissi

Don't get discouraged, that's anyone who's seeing a dip, blip or slip in sales.  All industries have cycles, all hit highs and lows.  (Hub is in the mortgage industry...talk about EEK!)  I just tried ebay again for the first time in forever and it was a flop-o-rama. But she's one of my personal favorite bears so if she gets to hang out with me 'til her mom or pop finds her I'm ok with that    I might not ever be a same day list and sell artist, or a same week (or month) list and sell artist....but it's what I like to do, so I'll just keep on doin'   I just won't be doin' on ebay anytime soon...the fees are too high and the advertising theories don't show in stats for me...they didn't jump during the week but remained within the same daily/weekly numbers.   (Anyone else track site stats during listings to see if the whole "great ebay advertising" theory holds true for them???)

Anyone want to start bartering?   hmmmmm....

:hug:
~Chrissi

Millie you seem to have that "neon sign" too!!  My hub and I joke that we have a flashing neon sign over our house that only the animals can see!  "Come One and All"

Typically it's lost dogs, cats, etc.  This summer we've had more "wildlife" rescues than I can count....birds, rabbits, squirrels, a toad...you name it we've had to save and relocate!  The animals know you will be sure to care for them and help them find their way  :hug:  :hug:  (Man lost all of his gifts in Eden, not the animals...they're still just as smart and "intune" as God made them.)

Bart knew where he was going.  He's really a beautiful dog, look at that "smile" 

:hug:
~Chrissi

PS....could he be a thin Newfoundland mix?  He has that look about him.

Great pics, looks like everyone had a wonderful time too!  That's such a pretty venue, I love all of the natural light.

:hug:~Chrissi

Looks like a ton of fun!  I love the beach when you can wear a hoodie...that's my favorite time!

:hug:
~Chrissi

Thank you again ladies (and gents!!)

All looks to be well in the Woods once again   

If someone really wants to get to images, codes, text, etc they will...all we can do is put roadblocks up, monitor our sites well,  and hope they give up and move on (without messing things up for us!). sheesh!

I have to say in less than 24 hours I learned A LOT from you all here, the premier techno rock star   , and another forum out there in cyber land where a good natured moderator took pity on me and offered some amazing insight and links on all of this schtuff.   

Thank you all again  :hug:  :hug:

:hug:
~Chrissi

Thanks Krista   :hug: 

I'm a big believer in what you put out does affect your world.  I'm not wishing anything negative on this person, not at all. I just hope they "get" that it's better to reach out to people and not just take from people.  It always comes back to you in the end, no one really gets away with anything anymore....especially online.

:hug:  :hug:
~Chrissi

Thanks girls and those who reached out privately!!

OK, so the stats and what seems to have happened......

The stats that jumped out like a redflag were not referring URLs (links).  Those change all the time for me, and probably you all too (TT, blogs, bear sites, other sites, etc).  The stats that I saw suddenly altered over this one week were my "entry and exit pages".  Those should ALWAYS be for your own site....it's where people are going into and leaving your site (whether it be your homepage, gallery, contact page, your show or media page, etc).  Over this week my entry and exit changed to one specific site, another bear site.  When I clicked on that site the red flags flew all over the place for me.  Something was wrong & I knew it wasn't a fluke or random glitch.

From what myself and the premier techno rock star have figured out my site was not "hacked" but instead copied/perchance uploaded to this other persons server WITH MY STAT COUNTER code.   
So I was getting their random stats over that July 8th ish -July 14th span until they either #1 realized they have my stat code OR #2 they replaced it with their own.  (nice, huh?!)

Needless to say I'm still totally bummed that I personally spent a whole weekend back in 2006 figuring out how to format my web pages, another weekend on buttons, another on learning how to insert code and another weekend to tweak it all. I was really so beyond proud that I built this simple little site with zero background knowledge and with just a book and a program.  Then someone comes along not wanting to do any work themselves, sneakily finds the ONE page that was easiest to start with,  and just has their way with my site.  I mean it's not even a fancy site...IT'S BLACK WITH WHITE BUTTONS Yah'll   SHEESH!!! 

I've never been a copyright slammer or big on "hey that's my look" debate or anything. My theory has always been that I love what I do and I think those who like my bears do because it's me making those bears. My bears are what they are and no one else can get that look like I can.....yah know? Same with the web site, I didn't invent the wheel with any of it (actually my little sister's web site was my inspiration when I built mine!!). BUT I didn't just cut and paste HER site! I worked at it myself.

I would have helped if they had only asked, you guys know that

:hug:  :hug:
~Chrissi

Hello friends

I'm really very bummed out right now.  Feeling very used and abused       

I'm hoping some of you totally fantastic techno teddy folks can help me out.  I think I've gone as far as I can with my dilemma.  (and I've gone pretty darn far in tracking this utterly pathetic scenario)

Please EMAIL me if you know anything at all about website statistics, entry pages and exit pages, web site coding and how someone copying your site (code) could result in their site becoming the entry and exit pages for your site's statistics. (??????)
(yup, uh huh that's what it looks like so far and I'm so UGH right now)

My website has been fully statistically tracked since forever.  I've never ever had an issue.  Suddenly over a roughly 1 week span of time my site's statistics changed.  I didn't catch it right away because my grandfather passed away and I was nearly landed in the hospital twice this month for an issue (I'm fine totally just crappy timing).

I WILL NOT under any circumstances be hinting to or giving out names, sites or leading anyone to the person who did this.  I'm not about that at all.  I still believe that good returns good and...well...it goes the same for being not so good.  I simply want to make sure MY site and MY hard work has not been and was not compromised in anyway shape or form outside of what I can see...and how to fix it.

What makes me most sad is that I readily give out any information at all when asked.  I've always been so vocal about bear artists who helped me and I'd do anything to help anyone else.  I really can't wrap my head around this one.

Thank you all and if you don't track your site...start!!    Email me and I'll tell you how    :hug:

:hug:  :hug:
~Chrissi

BIG PS!!

!!  If you've EVER signed up for my mailing list via my web site  you have ZERO worries.  That info comes to me directly via email and I hand enter it into my mailing list. Totally seperate from the site.  NOTHING is stored anywhere on my site (I'm totally not that techno savy! ). No emails or lists were compromised, no worries at all with that, I promise  

I just got a whole lighting set up last month.  When I took the tent out of the bag the first time it flew into the air and almost killed a dog  
But overall I love the whole thing...no more waiting for the perfect cloudy day for outside shots!!!  :dance:

Just in case I need them I printed out these instructions out and taped to the table I use the tent on. http://www.stevesphotoshop.co.uk/foldin … tions.html

I'm using the same table all the time for the tent, it's a set up that won't change for me so I just put velcro on the bottom of the tent and the top of the table....no moving or sliding around!! :)

:hug:
~Chrissi

ahhh cats      String, ribbons, thread, tinsel, necklace chains (yup) and more.  I once took my dog to an ER vet place years ago.  A woman walked into the waiting room with a really gorgeous Himalayan in her arms and a very grumpy looking little girl at her side.  They sat down across from us and I thought it was odd that the little girl was arms crossed, brows furrowed and not at all concerned that her cat was in the ER.  About 20 minutes later the ER doc calls them into an exam room and as they're walking towards the room he gently says to the little girl, so what's wrong with ____.  The totally annoyed little 5 or 6 year old girl says out loud, "stupid cat ate my necklace AGAIN."

Wishing super fast feel betters for little Missy!! Sounds like she's already feeling much better. She's really a total sweetie face That last picture is beyond perfect!  Look how she's copying the bear's pose, too cute!

:hug:
~Chrissi

aww, that's too cute!!  My one dog's favorite trick is "spin", this li' guy does it too

Thanks for sharing :)

:hug:
~Chrissi

I "think" it has to do with your ebay settings right now.  They added something called "best match" at some point ( not even sure what the heck that means really...) but I think that's what might be keeping certain pages in a fixed format.  (????)   Anyone else know for sure??

:hug:
~Chrissi

PS...I looked up "best match" and it seems to be totally related to those service star ratings you're asked about when leaving feedback.  Do most people leave those or just skip over them?  If your buyers are skipping them I guess it affects that search feature.  (???)