Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

There are a few things different about this little piggy. She's the first weighted felty that I've done and her wings are embroidered and hand dyed with koolaid. I really like the way they turned out.

Iris was weighted with steel shot to give her some heft and a real feel. I like the dichotomy between the lightness of her wings and her weight. It speaks to me of the sheer impossibility of a pig's flight. Her delicate antennas are thin beading wire that has been felted with black llama wool and a black onyx bead was attached to the end.
Her reserve price is $145.00 and her Buy it Now price is $224.00. The starting bid is $9.95.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 0372577345

Dora's reserve wasn't met. So I relisted her with the reserve as the starting bid. Her new url is http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 0372700368

Mine was a felted reindeer. The antlers were crazy to felt.

Thanks everyone! I miss seeing the red foxes. We have gray foxes and kit fox in the area around where I live. I see them occassionally. But the coyotes and bobcats keep them from coming to close to town.

That's weird? Maybe they're just offering it to Powersellers?

Thanks again, everyone!     

Starting on August 31st, eBay is going to institute a new policy where photos you upload to any listing are put into a "catalog" of online images that any eBay user can then use for their own listings. The default setting for this is opt-in, which is a problem if you, like me, consider your photographs your property and want to control how they are used and by whom. A copyright notice is posted with a link to your user profile, but no additional information is given, and the link is quite small.

Since the default setting is opt-in, and eBay has not sent messages out about this, a lot of people are going to be caught flat-footed by this new policy.

Again, the default for this setting is YES, you have opted in. Meaning "Yes, I will allow eBay to make my photos available for anyone to use."

If you do not want eBay to make the photos you upload to all of your future auctions available to other users in a sort of catalog process, you need to go change your settings now, before August 31st. If you opt out after then, any photos you upload between the 31st and when you opt out will still be eligible for inclusion in their "catalog."

In order to opt out of this so-not-okay process, do the following. I've broken it down exhaustively. Hopefully your eBay pages look like mine.

1) Go to your eBay summary page ("My eBay").

2) On the left-hand side, there are three tabs that say "Activity," "Messages," and "Account." Hover over the "Account" tab.

3) A drop-down list will appear. Move your mouse down to "Site Preferences" and click.

4) You will be taken to a page with a list of site options for selling, shipping, and listing. About the sixth from the top is "Share your Photos." Click on the word "show" on the right hand side next to this option.

5) The box will expand, and if you are opted in, "yes" will appear. If you are opted out, "no" will appear. A small "edit" link will appear below the "show" link. If you want to change the settings, click "edit."

6) You will be taken to a new page with the following text: If you'd like to opt-out of this program, please do so by checking this box and clicking the "submit" button below.
(If you opt-out before August 31, 2009, none of your photos will be considered for inclusion in this program unless you opt back in at a later time. If you opt-out after August 31, 2009, any photos we select for inclusion in this program prior to your opt-out may continue to be used in the catalog)

7) If you want to opt out of the program, check the ticky box on the left-hand side next to the text, then go down and click the "submit" button.

8) You will go back to the settings screen you were just on, and there will be a green checkmark and a confirmation message. Go down to the "Share your Photos" option again and click "show." Your setting should now appear as "no."

Yet another crazy idea by eBay.

I saw Ashley the first time on eBay and was so surprised dhe didn't reach the reserve! She's a rel sweety! Good luck this go around!  

Thanks everyone! Your compliments on my work mean a lot to me!

Thanks EVA & Bearyfun! 

Thanks Eva!   Where in Illinois did you grow up? I used to live in Gibson City about 30 miles from Champaign/Urbana.

Thanks Karen,  Cheryl and Lombardbears! You compliments mean a lot to me!

Thanks, Becca, Pat & Cheryl!    
Pat, I'll bet once you start needle felting you won't want to put it down. It's very addictive!

Wow! She's amazing! I really love her sweet expression!

Here's a red fox that I needle felted and have listed on eBay. He's 6 1/2 inches tall and has german glass eyes and horse hair whiskers. I really like doing foxes. They remind me of when I was a kid growing up in rural Illinois. I used to see them in the field next to my house. I was the type of kid that thought everything was a potential pet and I really wanted a pet fox. Now I'm satisfied just to know that they're out there.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 0370314954

I just listed this little one on eBay last night. Her teapot was a lot of fun to do.  It's hollow and 9 1/2 inches from the spout to the handle. I first felted it out of white corriedale wool. Then I boilded it in blue Kool-Aid. When it had completely dried I detailed it with roses from Merino wool.  I also made her little teabag out some interfacing that was stuffed with brown wool. Her sugar cubes are also needle felted and covered with clear and white glitter. Little Dora is 3 1/2 inches long and was needle felted from baby llama, Merino and Corriedale wool. Her whiskers are horse hair.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 0370351305

She just melts my heart! What a sweetie pie!

Congratulations!!!! She's awesome! I can definitely see why someone snapped her up so fast!

Hi Joanne,
I agree with Karen & Melisa.  I started using a reserve at the beginning of summer. I used to start my items really low with no reserve and would watch to see what would happen.  In the past the final bid amount always seemed fair.  When summer hit, the final bid amount was less than half of what I thought was fair. I also got very worried that if the buyers saw my art and hardwork going for pennies on the dollar, it might devalue my work in the future.  So, I experimented. I tried a reserve and a high starting bid. The items with the high starting bid went for less money than the reserve priced items. So the reserve stuck.  I mention my reserve price in my blog, that way I get my customers to follow my blog. I hope eventually to start previewing my work to my regulars on my blog and allowing them to purchase before the item goes to eBay. I just need to get my readership up first.

Thank you for the compliments, Jenny & Sue!

She'too cute! I love the color, too!

He's darling! I love the way his head is cocked. He looks very sweet and inquisitive!

Thanks, Matilda, Lynne and Kimi    

What a little darling! She's beautiful, Tami!

Thanks Christina!