Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

If the wire handle idea doesnt' work out, Shelli, how about using the drawer pull you mentioned, and stringing the beads on wire inserted through the band of the box lid so the words run across the top-front of the purse.  The wire ends could be inserted through the band and secured inside by coiling and gluing something over the coil to hold it still.  On the outside, to finish the ends of the beaded words, something decorative could be glued over the places where the wire enters the band.  If the string of beads sagged too much, you could couch the wire down with more wire, "stitching"  almost invisibly through the box band in a few places along the length of the wire.

Thanks Shelli, for a very well thought out contract.  It's all very clearly stated.

Really?  I've never heard of doing it that way.  The way I learned is to link two cotter pins together at the loops and put them into the disks the normal way.  If you don't want the loops to show on the finished piece, you can try to leave both loops inside of one part and only let the 'legs' of the pin stick out of the part, maybe using a longer cotter pin on the side that it sticks out of.  Are you completely confused now? :rolleyes::D

Wow! Now, when Shelli's 'Summer' bear sprinkles pixie dust on us so we can fly to Japan to see Marie, we'll have an aerial view to stop by some of our friends' houses on the way.  I was surprised at how colorful Phillip Island is.  What a lovely place you live in, Hayley.

What a fun way to waste a bunch of time!! :P:lol:  But you know how important it is to make an accurate match!!! :rolleyes:

This one is me pretty much, if you lighten the hair a couple of shades and add about 50 lbs! :rolleyes:

Meg, Welcome to the board.  Hope you find somebody to "play" teddies with in SC.  Meantime, we like to play here, too.

Too Cute!!  (The Nose knows!!)

My studio faces south and is practically made out of windows and skylights, which is quite nice in the daytime, except I find I have to cover things to keep them from sun damage.  At night, however, since the room is so large, my table Ott, floor Ott, and swingarm-combo flourescent circle w/incandescent center, plus 5-bulb ceiling chandelier and double flood-light ( the room used to be an outdoor deck)... well, together, they barely do the job.  I do have a 5-halogen-light portable bar that I take to my local show at the fairgrounds.  Maybe using that in addition would help solve my lighting problems.  Thanks for getting me thinking on this.  Daphne, I hope you get your room lit up enough real soon. 

Incidentally, the track lighting came from my local builder's supply store.  It wasn't too expensive.  I think I got the bar and five 75 watt halogen lights for around $50-$60.

I've done a few layaways, but they have not always resulted in prompt payments.  I'd like to see your contract, Shelli.  Maybe something in it will help me revise my policy.

Absolutely, Louise!  The very finest.....uh, what were we talking about, now??

Hayley, that program is so cool!  Can't wait to see the pics. :cool:

Seems like that would be a long-term supply of whiskers! :D:cool:

Clare,

I thought that when my hubby sold the pool table and bequeathed his game room to me (12.5'x24'), that I would have plenty of space for all my bear supplies.  Ha!  I have since learned that mohair and other bear making supplies have a propensity for expanding to fill the space wherein they are allotted.  Actually, every now and then I make well-intentioned plans to organize my extra craft supplies into a "Blockbuster Inventory Reduction Sale"!!  Only trouble is, I seem to be always too busy to stop and do the organizing, so thus-far, no fruition.

There is one gem of personal organization I can contribute.  I don't think this is my original idea, and I sure wouldn't want to claim it ;).  I keep 'hard copies' of my patterns on cereal box cardboard...plan to transfer them all to plastic sheeting some day.  To keep them orderly and accessible, I punch a small hole in each piece and string them onto a metal 'wire' type shower curtain ring.  They are kept on a hinged wall-mounted old-fashioned style kitchen towel hanger, the kind that has rods that swing out or can lay flat against the wall.  I try to sort them into 3 size ranges and load all of the same size range onto each rod.  It's not perfect because the rods get kind of weighted down and then they sag a bit, but it helps.  Hope this info helps you.

Shelli, maybe your little avatar bear, 'Summer', will sprinkle some pixie dust on us, and we can all fly over together. ;):|

I would love to meet you in person, Marie.  I'll let you know if I make plans to go to Japan.

Don't the bears have a hard time breathing covered up in all that wax?... let alone scampering around after everyone is in bed!!

Buckle up, honeys!

Dilu, I tried offering an edition of only 10 of the same bear once, and got totally burnt out!!!  I learned my lesson.  I'll never again offer something that is not already made. ;):D

Donna,
I think I may know of her work.  I met a darling young Japanese woman at (formerly) Linda Mullins' show in San Diego last August.  I think her name was Harumi.  She was so sweet.  Some of her creations were very tiny and detailed.  She gave me a very gracious invitation to "Prease come to Japan."  I would love to go if I can some day.

Please, Oh, Please, lets keep our posts loving.  
When I introduce a technique, I assume that once someone sees it, it's public domain.  If someone wants to use something that looks similar, I have no legal or moral right to expect otherwise.  I heard of another dispute over having a bear's hands behind their back.  I think it's foolish to think we own an idea.  That's just how it is in art.  This is how the artform as a whole evolves.  It's the same in any art form, whether it's painting, music, teddy bears, or whatever.  There are innovations that become trends.    

I hope I will always remember to see my own creativity from the following paradigm: " Every good and perfect gift comes to us from God, the creator of all light..." [James 1:17]  It never belonged to me in the first place.

Too bad Penny couldn't have been in on the party and convention.  hope she is having a real "rip-snorter" herself.

Wow!  So glad you caught that, Cindy.  If/when I start selling there, I hope I have the quickness of wits to spot trouble like that. :rolleyes::o

Sorry, I can't tell you where for sure I saw those, Winney.  I don't dwell long when I see stuff like that.  I graze past it in a hurry.  I think I saw that there were some on ebay, although I didn't take a look.  The others I think I may have seen in a magazine, and yes, I saw the ones in the teddy bear magazine too.  I probably shouldn't have opened the subject because I don't want to discuss the themes.  Hope you will understand.

Wierd stuff, Winney!   There is an offbeat bear trend that really irks me; it's the politically incorrect bears, with mean, ugly, scary, gross, or otherwise inappropriate themes.  I'm sure that irking me is just the thing they were intended to do.  I wish they were banned from the market.  A teddy bear is supposed to represent all that is good, wholesome and loving.  It is obscene and perverted to twist their traditional image

Winney, there WAS a tsunami warninglast night, June 14, for all of the West Coast, clear up into Canada; the reason was that there was a 7.0 earthquake in the ocean near Crescent City, which town, if you didn't know, was inundated by a tsunami some years back.  It was cancelled a while later.