Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Hello !!! Oh my we have gotten off track a bit LOL The bottom line to all the threads is NO GLUE !!! I owned a Bear store for many years and showed bears from hundreds of bear makers in the country!!! NO GLUE!!! let me say it again NO GLUE! I don't care what type of glue its is I don't care what the company says I don't care what the lady down the street tell you !!!! NO GLUE!!!! I can not tell you how many times I have had to repair, replace, redo ,retouch bears that have a skill  that the artist has used GLUE !!! NO GLUE Find a way USING your needle to get the look that your are trying to achieve hence needle ARTS.. Is what we do !!

PS JUST A SHORT STORY ..Famous bearmaker makes a set of bears boy&girl dressed kind of theme one of the skills she uses is completed using GLUE she packs it and sends it to the customer using FEDEX the customer get the work and make a very big deal out of opening the box inviting the staff and the patrons to open the box and place the work on display...open box lift out the work AND !!!! THE FACE FALLS RIGHT OFF THE BEAR!!!  The folks on the other end were totaly put off and the owner of this VERY pricy work was imbaressed that such a big deal was made of getting this work BECAUSE as the owner of the three most famous TeddyBear museums in the world he had a reputation to up hold YES it was the owner of the museums in JAPAN ...This story was told by the artist at a bear convention just after it happened and the story was very simple the shipping of fedex in the UNHEATED BELLY OF THE AIRPLANE messed with the GLUE used and the work broke down and lead to the most embarrassing moment in the artist life....CAN I SAY again NO GLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you all ...How nice to have the preview up on TT  .....ESP as I did NOT know !!!! BECAUSE I DID NOT SEND ANY PICS INTO THE MAGAZINE !!!!
so IT IS A BIG GREAT SUPRISE !!!! It was DONNA that sent the pics into the mag she is such a great supporter and I just love her for it. You see for the last 7 years the magazines would not put any of the pics of the bears I/we(The other scott) because we owned the teddy store and they thought it was unfair free advertising for the STORE ....SO this is very special for me after ten pluss years in an industry I dearly love this is the first time that a bear I have made has ever been in any magazine ...So thank you to DONNA METTLING you know how much I thank you for being such a great supporter and good friend

It is my experance that "artist renditions" or limited edtions that do not reach "PRODUCTION" quanitys from artist that use images like the embroidery designs or lets say a disney print materal that you make a vest out of fall under the FACT that you have allready PAID the "ROYALITY" when you bought the product sooooo you would be paying 2 times for the use of the image....In my printing and sublmation work I pay for the images when I buy the image CD and I have payed alot mind you because with that it allows me to make limited product in non production quantys (FYI many companys have there own definition of "Production" ...IN the end the VERY worst that would happen would be the company would send a letter to stop making the product and to distroy the back stock ..As her production is so small I would not be concerened at all lol
BearHug
SCOTT

May I suggest this li'l number LOL LOL

all the products you see in the pics I make using whats called color SUBLIMATION and is photo quality done by myself...
YES I can do teeshirts but my proccess is done using very high quality photo inks and is a bit more exspencive then what you all want for you workout tees

In the next few weeks I will "come out of the closet" with all the products that I can make and that you can sell to your collectors or just for yourself
(I am starting to feel better and getting back to myself and may be willing to start to take a few orders)
BearHugs
SCOTT

HI KASSITY ...Great project with great potential. As more and more of our world moves more to online sales and support your online awards idea makes very good and savvy sense . Building a portfolio of awards and acomplishments for collectors online seams to be important as they are unable to see many of the artists work like the days of big shows with tables full of bears ...
May I sugest that getting SHELLI to make a cool avatar like Image that the winners could  place into the winning bear image..

I will donate a custom framed sublimated ceramic tile made from the winning photos in each category as a award for the winners to show on tables when they do shows
(I will post pics of what the tiles look like for you all to see)
This awards concept has my full support and I will do anything to help put this into the works !!
BearHug
SCOTT

HI folks   #1 I just dont get it ...in the picture the li"l dogs PAW very clearly looks like material of some type hmmm needle felted into muslin?(why dose she not say this)  #2 GLUE !!! sorry but in no way should Glue be used to create soft sculpture art (this might upset a few bear folks) if you use glue in ANY part of a visual techeque you need to look for another way to make it work ...What we do is called needle ARTS....GLUE is for "crafters"
#3 I am not keen about the glass nose she used
#4 AND THE MOST IMPORTANT!!!! WHAT THE HELL DO I KNOW AS I JUST HAD ONE OF MY NICEST BEARS NOT SELL ON EBAY .
IF I HAVE LEARNED ANYTHING ABOUT COLLECTIBLES OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS IN RETAIL IS THE DAY YOU THINK YOU HAVE FIGURED IT OUT IS THE DAY TO GET OUT   
BearHug
Scott

A very big congratulation's
I told you Judy that I believed that you are one of the new leaders of our indrestry and your multi nominations shows us just that !!!!
BearHug
Scott

I have watched and read all the posts today and cant get over how revealing a part of oneself invokes such a heartfelt response from such kind and interesting people . We all have our own storys and many time we forget to share them forgetting that they may bring a bit of comfort and incouragement to others.

BearHug
SCOTT

A dictionary for the way our minds work would be a millions dollar idea !!! editing it would be the end of some one hahhahahahahah

scott

As a person who has had to deal with learning disabilities all my life with SPELLING being the main one your post really hit home with me. I spend endless amounts of time typing out a email only to have spell check not be able to find the word because I just don't have enough letters right. Disabilitys can be cruel my reading level as a child was of college level and my spelling never developed past a 4th grade ability this difference is how they diagnose a true disability . My life has been about hiding my disability and using skills to fake it became a way of life school was difficult because teachers would default to just calling me lazy and unwilling to learn . College was better because the school was in san francisco and had a department of disabilitys and the Professors allowed me to use tools to work with my spelling disabilitys and I achieved a grade point avg that reflected my true abilitys and made the honor roll three semesters in a row. But when you have disabilitys you learn that all it only takes  one person in power who does not understand disabilities to put you off course after lots of hard work. I entered a nursing Program and was accepted as the top recruited incoming student and started with a great excitement. As I moved through the program using the tools (like a spellchecker) the director of the program started to make rumblings that she thought it was unfair to other students that I was allowed to use the tools to acomplish the same tasks as the other students. Her old world ways and her generation had very little knowledge of disabilities and in the end she decided that all the tools that I had been using would not be allowed in the program going totaly against the students with disabilities act. It was like having my oxagan cut off within six weeks my grades had dropped so low that I was dropped from the program. The whole thing became a huge story about  students with disabilities act and she was over ruled by both the college and the state. You would think that all would be fine and I would go on but this is the rub I had to reapply and because of the huge slip in my grades I did not meet the GPA standards for the application prosses. I never went back and I never set foot on that campus ever again.
I am telling this story for the first time because your post just hit me so hard because of the total real truth that lays just under the surface of it
...Many times we look at whats wrong with something and make decisions based on that
...BUT our true inner eye has no prejudice it only see's the whole and true meaning
...May we always try to see the whole truths and not make judgements based on snapshots

BearHug
Scott
(typing and spellcheck for this note took 2 hours and one phone call to donna mettling lol god I hate spellcheck)

shelli    She's very sassy and sweet... The rustic feathered mohair is great  :clap:
BearHug
Scott

Bonnie  Death Grip is soooooo right !!! I would NOT put it in my luggage on the flight back because I was fliped out that the airline would loose my luggage !!! darn bag did not leave my side for one second hahahah lololol     
BearHug
SCOTT

A very nice design !!! sweet and great face !!! and I love his short chubby li"l legs (kinda like my legs just a bit hairyer) hahahahah great work!!
BearHug
SCOTT

ALETA funny you should say that YES one did !!! It truely was a once in a lifetime experance....and I got a great story out if it hahahahLOL

WEll all in all the ribbon has made some of the best bear I have done yess its was well worth it in the long run !!!!

HI  ok Penny (penny asked about the ribbon on my grand panda and the story behind it )
New tothe room I should pony up a good story to give yall an Idea who I am and some of the crazy and totaly clueless and silly things I can get myself into  lol lol ...
OK ..so on my first trip to japan to show at the tokyo teddybear show my travel partner Kelly D.and I wanted to find interesting trims for our bears and was told about this fantastic store by one of the other artists at the show. After about 3 different trains and a great lil woman who took pity on us and just walked us to the place we found the store . well it was worth it... IT WAS TEDDYBEAR ARTIST HEAVEN ...floor to ceiling of custom ribbon and trims ... OK so I have a bit of a reputation of being FRUGAL boarding on CHEEP soooo standing in the store I turned to kelly D. and said "FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE I AM GOING TO GET WHAT I LIKE AND NOT LOOK AT THE PRICE ".....words that will never come out of mouth ever again!!!! LOLLOL...It was heaven the greatest ribbon I have ever touched HAND DONE ENDLESS COLORS ENDLESS PATTERNS MY HEAD WAS DIZZY WITH THE CHOICE'S... and drunk with the possablity's for great bears that I would make with them ....After about 4-5 hours the lil lady took me too the counter to cut the ribbons and pay .....PLEASE remember that I only understand a very little japanese and just pointed and said 1 meter of this one and 2 meters of that one (like I was the queen of england) The ribbon cut and ready kelly and I went to pay (kelly was buying beads that day not ribbon) soo the li'l lady brings me my bill and I sign and as I looked down at the TOTAL (note it was in YEN and with the exchange rate the bill always freaks ya out a bit it's like a thousand yen to the dollar) KELLY started choking and for me the room started SPINNING  as she handed me my purchase's "IN THE SMALLEST BAG IN THE WORLD"  ......out side kelly did the math exchange rate...
!!! I HAD JUST SPENT $950.OO US DOLLARS !!! I thought I was gonna pass out kelly got some water for me (laughing mixed with true concern that I was gonna pass out in the middle of tokyo) Well to say the least that li'l bag of ribbon is and was the last time I ever through caution to the wind and not look at a price tag!!!
To this date I still have some left and when ever I do a bear with some of the ribbon my hand shake when I go to cut into it !!!! The "GRAND PANDA" that i placed up for all to look at was done with the famous JAPAN RIBBON and every millimeter of it was used!!!! that ribbon cost me over $100. a meter !!!
well that is the ribbon story !!! I have a few more but this one give ya a good idea how easily i can get myself into BIG trouble
BIG BEARHUG
SCOTT

HI  ok Penny being new in the room I should pony up a good story to give yall an Idea who I am and some of the crazy and totaly clueless and silly things I can get myself into  lol lol ...
OK ..so on my first trip to japan to show at the tokyo teddybear show my travel partner Kelly D.and I wanted to find interesting trims for our bears and was told about this fantastic store by one of the other artists at the show. After about 3 different trains and a great lil woman who took pity on us and just walked us to the place we found the store . well it was worth it... IT WAS TEDDYBEAR ARTIST HEAVEN ...floor to ceiling of custom ribbon and trims ... OK so I have a bit of a reputation of being FRUGAL boarding on CHEEP soooo standing in the store I turned to kelly D. and said "FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE I AM GOING TO GET WHAT I LIKE AND NOT LOOK AT THE PRICE ".....words that will never come out of mouth ever again!!!! LOLLOL...It was heaven the greatest ribbon I have ever touched HAND DONE ENDLESS COLORS ENDLESS PATTERNS MY HEAD WAS DIZZY WITH THE CHOICE'S... and drunk with the possablity's for great bears that I would make with them ....After about 4-5 hours the lil lady took me too the counter to cut the ribbons and pay .....PLEASE remember that I only understand a very little japanese and just pointed and said 1 meter of this one and 2 meters of that one (like I was the queen of england) The ribbon cut and ready kelly and I went to pay (kelly was buying beads that day not ribbon) soo the li'l lady brings me my bill and I sign and as I looked down at the TOTAL (note it was in YEN and with the exchange rate the bill always freaks ya out a bit it's like a thousand yen to the dollar) KELLY started choking and for me the room started SPINNING  as she handed me my purchase's "IN THE SMALLEST BAG IN THE WORLD"  ......out side kelly did the math exchange rate...
!!! I HAD JUST SPENT $950.OO US DOLLARS !!! I thought I was gonna pass out kelly got some water for me (laughing mixed with true concern that I was gonna pass out in the middle of tokyo) Well to say the least that li'l bag of ribbon is and was the last time I ever through caution to the wind and not look at a price tag!!!
To this date I still have some left and when ever I do a bear with some of the ribbon my hand shake when I go to cut into it !!!! The "GRAND PANDA" that i placed up for all to look at was done with the famous JAPAN RIBBON and every millimeter of it was used!!!! that ribbon cost me over $100. a meter !!!
well that is the ribbon story !!! I have a few more but this one give ya a good idea how easily i can get myself into BIG trouble
BIG BEARHUG
SCOTT 

YEP your right !!! DONNA METTLING (lucy-Bossy-Adolf- the cat hearder) shes goes by many names .......
I posted more info about the bear !!! LOL
BearHug
Scott

Hi folks  This a Panda I made for the San Deigo teddy show and it was bought by the museum in Santa Barbra...
this bear could not have been made without the great help and support of MISS DONNA :love:

More info
Thanks for the nice comments

He is one of my 13inch guys done in a hard to find and hard to work with mohair called fearthered DBL plucked(dont ask I did not name it LOL) the coat was a vintage one that I had told donna mettling to buy for one of her bears at a doll show a very long time ago and then forgot about (she is such a giver ) and the DRAGON RIBBON trim on the coat and hat I bought for a MILLION yen a meter when I was in Japan for a teddybear show in 2000 (ask about the ribbon story sometime)
shelly the cap is an orginal design and designed around useing EVERY DARN millameter of the JAPAN ribbon (my head still spins when i start to think about the ribbon story)
BearHUG
SCOTT