Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
'send it down her' snicker, good luck with that! 
I periodically do use the machine when I get into a sewing jag - I used to make all my kids clothes and my husband's shirts and now I sew for my granddaughter but realistically, it's easier to shop for her! Now most of my sewing room is storage bins and wall shelves for mohair, wool and material for dolls, etc. It's amazing how much stuff is needed! Actually that's a thought for all of us. I would imagine that most of us have kids that couldn't care less about sewing bears. What would they do if they had to dispose of our 'stuff' - garage sale...dumpster?
I think I'll leave a note for my daughter to send it to a special friend or something like that. My Mom had that arrangement with several of her quilting buddies. She ended up with their stuff and I had to dispose of it - and had no idea what most of it was. Fortunately one of my sisters suggested Victoria's Quilts and I donated a lot of it to them.
No...no sissy name. When I got him his name had been Cleo!!! No wonder he had 'issues'. He was quickly renamed Fred - still has issues but is coming around. I can't take Butch and George out in public cause they go rabid when they see other dogs. The vet has a room ready for them when I go and they aren't allowed to go see SantaDog since the 'incident' of a few years back. That poor collie is probably still in therapy :crackup: Fred, on the other hand, loves other dogs - it's people I have to watch out for. He has serious aggression problems from his first keeper. Good thing we're on a farm and they have a large fenced area to run in. As to personalities, George is cute as a button, dumb as a brick. Butch is quiet, thoughtful and sneaky. Fred is a very bouncy, total pain in the a**.
Marion
Mine are teflon dogs too - nothing sticks to them...which is good cause they love to roll in the cow pasture.
I've got tickets to go the end of September to see a Cirque production in Ottawa with 4 of my sisters - can't wait!
Marion
I have a lovely sewing room all set up with a computerized Janome machine and 4 thread surger plus cordless iron and mini iron and tables, etc etc and how do I do my bears....by hand in my easy chair! I just enjoy hand-sewing them too much. I've sometimes been tempted to sew up the easy parts but just can't bring myself to do it. Now I do use my machine for my dolls.
Marion
Ok - you win....although I still think mine are cuter!
Unfortunately the little one in my pic died and the third Boston I have now is not allowed to snuggle with Butch and George. He'd love too but they won't have anything to do with him.
Marion
probably not...but can you get yours to snuggle up together? :crackup:
well deserved - I always love looking at your bears cause of their character!
Marion
For carding I use a couple of wire dog brushes that I bought at the DollarStore.
Here is a site that Bobbie recommended for instructions: http://www.joyofhandspinning.com/hand-carding.shtml
Marion
eeek - talk about being between a rock and a hard place!
Does he wear bells to warn the bears he's coming? Although a grizzly would probably just treat that like kids with the bells on the ice cream truck!
Marion
I just obtained a very low limit card for use on the internet and have had my larger limit card re=issued with new numbers. Was getting nervous with all going on. And wouldn't you know it, Friday my interac card was cancelled by the bank cause there had been a fraud gang in town during the week switching keypads at different stores. They were worried that my card had been compromised! Would have been nicer if they had warned me first so I wasn't embarrased by not being able to complete a $15 purchase at Walmart though.
Marion
great pic. My daughter is living in Pemberton now (moved there 2 wks ago) and last night told me that she had just had to stop her bike to let a mother bear and her 2 cubs cross the road on her way home from work!
Marion
I use sculpting foam all the time on longer mohair bears to help tame the hair .. works fine. Anything I'd put on my own hair is fair game as far as I'm concerned.
Marion
I'm a great fan of acupuncture altho I must say I don't suffer from chronic pain like you. I had a frozen shoulder a couple of years ago from a fall - my doctor said to get used to it! I went for acupunture and now have full range of movement back. It also made a big difference in the arthritis in my neck. My husband also went for treatments for his knees. He has had 3 surgeries and is facing eventual replacement. The acupuncture is extending the time between cortisone shots.
Acupunture is not a quick fix and will probably nessitate long-term treatment but certainly is not painful and a lot of heath plans are now funding it.
Good luck,
Marion
PS - I also found I had a general sense of well-being after each treatment... like I was properly balanced.
me too!!! Actually, I've been having some problems with my wireless hi-speed and am keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't fail this weekend - that would be an absolutely disaster. 
Marion
Here is the site for our group: http://www.canadianaidforchernobyl.com for more information as well. When these kids do leave the orphanage at 15 or 16 they are pretty much left on their own. Many end up on the streets and in jail so need all our help. More and more medical problems are cropping up in the children because of the contamination from the Chernobyl disaster and little is available. If you have respite programs in your area I would urge you to look into them. 6 weeks in a clean environment makes the world of difference for these kids - maybe even saves their life!
Marion
My husband and I got involved in a hosting program bringing kids to Canada for 6 - 8 wks from Belarus about 16 years ago. Every summer Viktor would come stay with us from when he was 10 to age 18. He became a very important part of our family and we're still in touch with him although more sporadically now. Our area has a group called Canadian Aid for Chernobyl which sends over container loads of soap, vitamins, clothing, food, etc etc for seniors and orphans in the Chousy region of Belarus. There are still many kids brought over every summer and usually 5 or 6 stay to go to collage or university, all paid for by their host families. Actually my son was dating a lovely Belarusian girl who just finished nursing collage and is hoping to bring over her younger sister. We enjoyed having Viktor with us so much and would have gladly kept him but fortunately he did have a loving family in Soligorsk and the stuff we were able to send back with him each year greatly helped them. We would have a family reunion each year and everyone would bring some item or other for him: vitamins, bandaids, aspirin, etc etc. and I would sew a couple of hundred dollars into his pocket for his Mom. I still have so many things that his Mom sent me, especially the dolls and some china. Such nice people and the kids were so polite.
I hope all works out well for you and hopefully your new daughter.
Marion
I've used AVG for years with no problems. I've had Norton in the past - both at home and in the office. I found it interfers with programs, especially my office programs. Won't use it again and delete it if I get it on a new machine. I'm using McAfee now at the office and it doesn't affect any of my programs.
Marion
I've used the clover cutter on the plane too - just looks like jewellery!
Marion
I would think the hardboard discs would be ideal for the really large bears but have always used fibreboard for my bears which range from 5" to 16"
Marion
actually my Bostons have herded pigs before when we had some escape = they ran around them barking and intimidated them into staying near their pen. I think they are interested in the pigs because they smell like pork chops though.
Marion
Hopefully he is cause they sure havely done too well this past year!
