Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Just put a drop in the water you use for dipping your brush. I sometimes mix a teeny  amount in the actual paint. Or you could wet the fur pile a little before you apply the colour. Just trial and error really..I have used washing up liquid...soap...and shampoo. Soap is good on felting..and I use that with warm/hotwater...and add the paint as I go. Iam afraid I am a person who just goes for it ...and when it works I keep using it.
You can pretty much use any ink or paint that can be watered down for airbrushing..as long as it runs freely on the paper and it.s not lumpy...so it goes without saying that paint designed for airbrushing can be used on it's own. I paint it on....sponge it on...use a baby wipe dipped in paint...but adding the wetting agent will allow it to penetrate the fabric more readily . The problem with just applying it to the fabric neat it that it merely sits on the surface..and so acrylics...if they are used quite thickly will brush off. But the thing is that paint on any surface will come off if not applied properly  and what needs to happen is that the surface is prepared...which is why the paint company makes a product to aid the application of colour to fabric. If you aren't comfortable doing this get some of the fabric medium ...it's not all that expensive...and at least you can use it till you feel happy with the results.

I have astigmatism so off the shelf doesnt work for me. I was paying £400+ for varifocals till a man on Coventry market told me that the guy who has a stall there used to work for the health service and does them really cheap. So last time I got my test done at my usual place and took the prescription to him. i got a pair of Ray-Ban frames, with varifocal lenses for £140...which is really good!

I think mine are Windsor and Newton but I will check later and get back to you. They are upstairs and I am machining downstairs! Like Joanne..I think acrylics work really well...and I think the Createx acrylics are friendlier on the fabrics. You can get translucent and opaque in all the colours. The are expensive in the UK...£5 + but in the USA they are more reasonable

I have the same problem. I have got some special glasses which are set at the correct distance for sewing now. That might be the problem. Most reading glasses are set for a different focal length. My optician measured how far away I hold my sewing ( and the distance to my clients head when I was  hairdressing..i had hairdressing ones too)  and set the length accordingly. That said I have varifocals now for reading , sewing and the middle distance ( shopping, computer etc. )they are fab.  Distance is fine... for driving....tv... and day to day I dont need specs... but sewing constantly has made my near vision seriously deteriorate...so much so that I cant see the food on my plate  properly these days...which is no bad thing if you see the dinners I dish up!
I also had a daylight lamp initially for SAD...but I didnt have SAD..it was depression...but the lamp was very handy for dark evenings when I wanted to work...but I have sold it now. I am ok with my specs!

Aaw!!!

Joanne I do both....but mostly I add to the paint...just a dab. I got some of the wetting agent that Createx make but it's just a weak solution of detergent, to act as a wetting agent. It just enables the absorption of the colour into the fabric...it's rather like using a dye on hair ....many contain a bit of shampoo to enable it to be evenly accepted by the hair....
So works for mohair too. I just wipe off the excess with a baby wipe...and it stays put nicely. It works great on needlefelting by the way..great for painting colour onto felting which really doesn't like accepting the colour evenly..so I love doing that.
Hairdressing knowledge comes in very handy at times doesn't it!

I use the pastels..and I do what you do Joanne ...a scrape it and then roughly brush it one..then I use a baby wipe to make sure it's set on the fabric. Oils are fine but. Think acrylics are better..they can be watered down or used neat to good effect ...and so I have pretty much stopped using oils. I tend to use the Createx transparent colours which can be used with an airbrush ..or what I do is use a tiny dab of shampoo which helps break down the resistance of the fabric. You can buy a special solution to act as wetting agent but its just a detergent which you can use to get the fabric to accept the colour more readily. Works fine and I learned this tip when I went on and airbrushing course a few years ago. It seems to leave the fabric soft and pliable.. And doesn't foam up ;o)!!

It's a real shame that it has gone this way. I remember all the big reveal of the entries upon here after the closing dates of both the Tobies and the Golden Teddies and then the hoop-la of the winning phone calls and emails...people posting the news when they heard. It's all changed sadly..and there are few truly great competitions to enter. That said the new Excellence in Bear Artistry Awards for artists worldwide might be a great new goal to aim at ...there is even a gala dinner to announce the awards at the Great Yorkshire Teddy Bear Event...not in the USA I realise but with a very credible and prestigious international judging panel and a fantastic format I think it will be one to watching the future. Certainly this year it has attracted some fabulous entries and hopefully will be something to shout about. I am very enthused by this and think we need more like it.

Will do!

I am going ...but only to get fabric....I love that fair!!

I am sure I have seen a few...Shelley the Rabbit Maker has one I am sure.....I might be wrong but I think Katherine Hallam has one too ( Katie Rae Bears)

Actually that's a good point. That perhaps the need is more about just being there but maybe not selling that much. I think that the next fair I do I will only take minimal showcase style bears....perhaps lots of photos and visual stuff but not so many bears that it hurts my cash flow to the point of eating up my overdraft!

Just been chatting to various folks about doing fairs and that got me thinking.
I have 2 fairs booked...Hugglets for the first time in 4 years next February...and the Sheffield fair in November.
As much as I LOVE meeting up with friends and chatting...seeing customers .... all the chit chat costs so I have to weigh it up. The journey....that costs a hefty chunk nowadays....parking costs...
The costs of booking a table...advertising...we have to have a dog sitter ( otherwise Teddie our Tibetan Terrier would eat the house)
Then there is all the build up of stock, that causes cash flow with no sales guarantees in the offing.
I understand why the organisers might want to run a fair because that's the business they are in but is it good for our business to attend or is it just a way to fund a bit of socialising?

So just by way of sparking discussion I am interested to know what others think. I have yet to find a really solid business argument for doing fairs nowadays. There's the nostalgic one and the human one of just wanting to be there and meeting people...and I like that too.  But in reality is the warm fuzzy feeling worth the effort and the money when people seem to like to buy online so much these days?

Oh many times...but he's well worth it....!

Superb...really clever

Really creative.....I love him!!

It definitely states in the rules that items for sale, other than teddies, cannot be posted and that any posts will be removed. I think the floodgates would open if they allowed it. So it's only fair.

That sounds good news....thanks so much. It's always interesting to read!

As usual I didn't get to Hugglets...( this time we were away on holiday in sunny Spain) but I would love to know how it went. Was it busy...lots of sales hopefully?

It's always a huge event in the bear calendar...I would love to know how it went!!!

There is something called the ultimate stuffing tool. Check it Out in the library all the details are there

I did an Online course Paula. It was ok but i did mIss the hands on input. I think it ought to have an interactive aspect to it. Maybe Skype etc for it to work well. I would prefer a book if its just a case of reading and looking at photos.

I have the Teddy bear studio book. Its a paperback though. It's very good! I think there are 2 books in print

Really, really lovely....

All the work is truly outstanding ....and I am sure there were lots of bears who were not picked that were equally impressive.

Nan...are you in the UK? If you are Peacock fibres have a free sample pack which contains a little of all their stuffings. There is just enough to do one or two noses in the teeny pack of woodwool in the free sample. If you send for it you can try before you buy. I bought the smallest box if woodwool from them 8 years ago and it's still going strong...even though I make  150+  bears a year. You need a tiny amount in the nose!!!