Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

It depends on the ears.
For my bear ears I ladder stitch the bottom closed then just start sewing them to the head with a nice tight ladder stitch.
When I do acrylics I leave the bottom open and stitch the front then go back and attach the front.
But I never leave an edge unattached.

My rabbit ears are another matter. All of those are sewn in the seams, as I wired them.

I am glad to see that eeveryone has had success in using the bread trimmers. We starting using these a few years ago and it saves tons of time.
We get battery operated ones from Whal Clipper. They run off of 2 AA batteries.

There are only certain things that I baste anymore. The gussett, foot pads, and ears. If I don't baste the ears I end up with shifted ears. And I don't trust myself to sew the tight curves of the gussett and foot pads without it. But this only applies to certain patterns, otherwise I don't baste or pin.
I like the idea of the alligator or roach clips. (Hairspary anyone?)
Sometimes I don't trim the pile from the seams, that depends on the density of the pile.  I have found that even with the curly matted mohairs that I can pluck the seams out and still get them to matte back down.

Donna -
You are right in this case. If we were considered nominees just by entering there would be tons of us out there.
If your friends still debates this with you tell her to contact Mindy Kinsey, editor of Teddy Bear & Friends. TB&F holds the contest.

No prob!

The boys are wrestling. I must go break them up.

Now this is much better than that other thing you shared with us.

Enjoy your new grandpup!
He is a cutie pie.

Don't know what your beliefs are, but see God looks out for us in all things.
That is wonderful news.
Good for you.

Bleech! is right
EEEEEEWWWWWWWW!

Somethings should just never be done.
Though it is a bit like looking at a car wreck, you know that you shouldn't stare, but you just can't help it.

It looks like a creature from all of those scifi movies I watch.
Maybe this one could have been used in the TV show the "X-Files".
Moulder and Scully could have had fun with this one.

Yuck!

Shelli -
I bought my canvas backdrops off of ebay.
I was able to get one that would normally retail for $250 ~ $300 for  $76 which included shipping.
This is the link to their ebay store's backgroun page hope it works.
http://stores.ebay.com/amvona-com_backg … idZ2QQtZkm
If you can hang around towards the end of the auction you can snap them up cheap.
Not only do they have muslin backdrops they also have digital backdrops on CD.
You just have to keep checking with them they list new things all of the time.
I have one that is in browns and one that is in greens. The green one is a bit light for my tastes. But the last pictures I took with it were before I figured out white balance. I took a picture of a white cat and the cat turned out pink, strange. Oh well, I have to try it again with all of my other new "toys".
They have listed one that is reds and blacks that I would like t buy.
Shipping is usually around $16.00 and it comes FEDEX so it really isn't that bad.

Men do process information differently then women do.
We all see the same things but understand them differently.
Me, I am just plain weird. LOL 

He turned out great. He has a happy expression.
Well done!

Wow everything on here is great.
I think I have tried just about every form of needle work there is.
Just a couple of years ago I figured out needle tatting. My sister learned shuttle tatting from a patient when she worked at the nursing home. But she never shared that with me. I'll have to find a book on that.
I have knitted for most of my life. When we did antique shows. I would find a ball of string and a couple of pencils and sit under the table a knit.
I also thought that finger knitting was the coolest thing when I was a kid. I would do it for hours on end.
I also crocheted as a kid too. The first scarf that I made for myself was a camo patterned yarn.
Here a couple of yeears ago I was going through some things and found this scarve that I knit when I was real young.
Grandma showed me some sticthes and I made up a scarf for mum. I made the pattern up as I went along. I think I had bugged grandma to show me how to make a cable kint and popcorn sticth. So she showed me.  I gave it to mom but she never wore it, just tucked it away in a drawer. At first I didn't remember making it. I had to ask my mom. I looked at the edges and knew that that was my handy work, but I just couldn't remember making it. Since its disovery I have remember sitting knitting it.
Now I want to get out my needles and start knitting. The last completed project was a blanket that I made for MaeLynn. Believe it or not most of the work on it was done while we were at the hospital waiting for her.  But I didn't get it finished until jut before her 1st birthday, I never did like weaving in the threads and tying small knots to keep it from unraveling.
The picture is MaeLynn at her 1st birthday and the blanket that I made for her. She found out that she could stick her fingers though it. She is quite the ham.
That day her party dress was a crocheted overdress in peach and white it was in a pineapple pattern. And it had little sparkle threads going through it. Mom bought it at a craft fair and really it was a steal. But she looked very sweet in it. And now she is 3, where does the time go?

Jane -
I would steam them. I wouldn't put a hot iron to them.
Martha Stewart had some kind of pin board deal that you can use when steaming/pressing velvet type fabrics.
You could try her web site to find it.
You might just need to hang them up somewhere, steam them, and then leave them hanging afterwards for all of the wrinkles to fall out.
Hope this helps.

Congrats! I am sure that he will be happy in his new home. :dance:  :dance:
I don't think I have heard any one use the word stoked in a long long time.

Estelle -
I am so happy for you. 44 years that is an accomplishment! BIG CONGRATS! :cake:  :bday:  :cake:
I try so hard to not forget days like these as they are important.
My best friend's little girl will be a year old next month. I have it marked down on my calander so I won't forget. That reminds me I need to get her a birthday card. I'd like to buy her something special, but this child lacks for nothing. She is the first grandbaby on either side. I think I might buy her a savings bond, that way when she is 31 she'll think of me. I don't know. She is my "other" niece. And she is a cutie too. She takes after her dad's side of the family.

One year mum completely forgot my birthday. but only once. If you asked her about it now she would deny it.
Then there was the year that I thought I was 23, but in reality I was 24, I felt cheated out of a whole year.

Anyway, my dad never remembers anything or at least he pretends he doesn't remember.

I am so glad that he has planned a weekend get away for you. I am sure that you will have a great time.
Eat some cake for me.

BIG CONGRATS! :bday:  :bday:  :bday:  :bday:  :cake:  :cake:  :cake:  :cake:  :cake:

Shelli -
Thanks and I need all the help I can get.

Nancy and Sue Ann -
Thanks you are too kind.

Shoot that's just like the little kitty cubes that I bought for the boys.
That's easy enough.

Ditto SueAnn
Well I don't do either. Too much work involved. But I want to have the information handy the next time I get asked who does. Plus I thought I could create a page on my web site for that kind of information.

OK so I did get a chance to enter the TOBYs.
So I am posting a pic of my entry.

Now that's what I call lighting!

I went to a photo place online.
www.bhphotovideo.com
There you can get all kind of photo equpiment. It is geared towards the professional photographer, but if you take you time you can figure it out.
This is a link to all of teh backgrounds and they have everything.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control … Q=&ci=1175

This is the link to the paper backgrounds. They come in variety of widths, 26", 53", 9', & 12'. I would recommend 53" for most of us. Mini-Artists can get away with the 26" width.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control … Q=&ci=1395

Here's the link to my background support system.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control … Navigation
It took me a bit to figure out how all of it goes together, they don't include assembly instructions. It is assumed that you know something about what it is you are doing.
he he he

I don't care where you live. If you do repairs/restoration and/or if you make bears and friends out of real fur, I would like to add your contact information.
I have a ton of people ask me if I do and I don't, but I need a list of people who do so I can refer them there.
So everyone is welcome.
Thank you

Wow what a great support group you all are!

Jane -
I don't know of anything you can do. The best advice I can give you is to talk to your doctor.

YOU LADIES ROCK!

Is no one interested? I kinda feel left out in the cold. he he

Great Pictures Ladies.
I was so excited beacuse all of the background stuff I ordered got here Tuesday and I finally got a chance to use it today. I'll have to post a picture of it all.
I got some supports, a crossbar, and a roll of white paper. Though it was a bit more than the $51 light cubes off of ebay it is worth the money. I also wanted it so that I can use it to take pictures of MaeLynn and I don't think when she is 12 she will fit into the light cube.
Here's a copy of the first picture I took for mum. The only thing I did was to erase some of the shadows that I got in the upper background.
I use 60 to 100 watt GE Reveal Light bulbs. I usually don't have much trouble with colours needing to be corrected. The other thing I found to be helpful was setting my white balance correctly to incandecent (sp?) lights. That was a HUGE help.

There was a small push from the scientific community when I was in grade school to convert the US to meteric. I say go for it! I like the meteric system better anyway. Easier to convert mm to cm to dm to M to km and so on. I always got mess up with mass and weight. I think in High School I finally go tmy head around that one. Mass doesn't change weight does. Wieght is affected by gravity.

1 meter = 39 inches
36 inches = 1 yard (like everyone doesn't know this one)
1 meter > 1 yard, but for simplicity 1 meter = 1 yard this only works for a short time. As there are more meters added then the extra 3 inches add up to much more fabric.

Just came across this site by goolging (is that a word) for conversions. they also have software that you can dowloand for $20 that will convert just about everything for the looks of it.
http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm

I think we had a Sadist for a Physics teacher in high school...
He had us convert meters/second squared to feet/fortnight squared.
Plus a ton of other conversions from metric to the english system.
You could have fun with it once you got it all figured out.

I took German in college, and can read enough to get you into trouble. he he.
But if I understand it correctly the minimum cut is 5cm and there is no minimum order amount.
If you order 100cm that will be about 39" which is a little over a yard.
And if I converted correctly it would be about $112 a meter.
Hope this helps.