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For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
oooooh yeah Deb,
strawberries - champagne - chocolate - George Clooney - cue choir of angels singing allejuha :pray:
deep soppy love sick sigh
Penny 
Oh Yes Clare - me and George are like THAT (imagine fingers crossed tightly here)
In fact, me and George knows everything about bears cos we discuss them all the time while he hand feeds me chocolate M and M's in front of a roaring log fire..........
Okay - back to reality 
Pen pen 
Blimey - i thought i was bad but you lot have LOADS more than me :rolleyes:
I only ever have enough to fill my rather large clothes airer - which is still quite a lot but not too much.
I found that if i have too much mohair i can never make my mind up what to use for a particular bear - and being a simple soul i gets all confused and have to go and lie down with a bar of choccy
Wish i had a mountain of mohair though - it's so tactile don't you think?
Penny
Hi Clare,
No - i'm the only one in the house that uses the computer as the other half can't stand it - whooooo hooooooo!!
It's mine - alllll mine heh heh heh :twisted:
Penny
That is FABULOUS Marion - i hope i can turn out something like that one day
Penny 
Hi Deb,
Pop a little cotton bag of coffee beans in the bears tummy - i can't see a problem with that - or use some coffee scented oil. You can buy it here so expect you'll be able to buy it where you are too - it is used as a room scent mmmmm loverly :love:
Penny
p.s. i have used coffee for dying loads of times, it gives a softer browner colour than tea which is quite a tan brown - but the smell always disappeared after rinsing.
Try using ACDSee which should be on your computer to fiddle around with the colour quality Matty and i agree with Judi (again) that taking the piccies on an overcast dull day is better for colour reproduction.
A light tent is brilliant apart from the fact that it unfolds like an emergency escape shute and nearly takes yuor eye out - but that was probably just me !
Penny
...so a good fit and careful stitching are even more important
Yeah Helena - which is why YOU do the minis and i do the bigguns hoo hoo hoo
Penny
Anne, you could'nt make a rubbish bear if you tried and i honestly adore this bear - i may have to ambush the kid - ONLY JOKING !!!!
PIPA - BRAINS!!!!! What are you on ????
Yet you have a box of them in your kitchen eh? Do i detect a zombie in our midst girls????
Gimme all yer choccy Pipa or i'm gonna tell everyone you eat BRAINS!!!!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Penny
In the past i have discussed the buyers wishes but told them firmly that my bears will always look my bears (some people want them to look like other bears if you know what i mean) and it has always worked well.
I do a costing, ask them to pay a non-refundable deposit which covers materials only and Bobs your Uncle !
Never had a problem yet, but you should'nt let the potential buyer dictate a style or design that you would hate to do - gosh that'd drive you nuts!!!
Penny
oh no Kim - me and the old machete are real good pals - we bin thru a lot together in 'Nam'.... but that's another story....
what me? Crazy? Nah
Penny
Yes i've done that before Helena
I got so fed up with having to cut the end bit off that i started to just incorporate the excess into the head, do you know? - it turned out to be the best head pattern i made!!!
It's nuts aint it sometimes? - you do all the calculations then you say "oh blow it" and it turns out better than you thought!
I love the pattern process - but it does drive you nuts sometimes. I have a full-size cat pattern that i have been working on for about 18 months, it is still in it's 'crash test dummy' stage even now, but when i finally get the hang of the little beast - it should be good......
....hopefully
Penny
Yeah the safeguards are there Shantell but only if you can prove that something 'hookey' was going on - and you need to know who's bidding and doing what to who etc etc before you can report any skullduggery to eBay.
I have dealt with many many lovely honest wonderful people on aBay and i have to say that the vast majority of them are 'Kosher' - but some are'nt and you can't always trust what you read in emails.
I'm not knocking anyone - as far as i'm concerned i would bid on the bear artists bears that i know from here anyday because i trust them - but i would'nt bid on Joe Blogg's private auction for all the tea in China - now George Clooney, that would be something different. Boy, i'd trade me granny for George :love:
Penny 
But why Shelli ?
Surely if you fall in love with a bear, you bid on it to the maximum limit you can afford? If it goes above what you can afford you lose it and save up your pennies (no no not me) and try again next time.
No, what i was told was that sellers get friends to set up eBay accounts just so they can bid on the sellers items and because the auction is private all the other eBayers don't know who's bidding or when and have to bid a higher price to win the item. Apparently this is a very cheap way of not having to use the reserve price thingy and the item gets bid up to the sellers preferred selling price without them having to list the item in a more expensive price band.
I am not saying that all private auctions are done for this reason Shelli - there are loads of private auctions going on all over eBay, but it really rings alarm bells with me so i don't bid.
Penny
I agree with Judi here. How you actually sew the pattern makes a lot of difference.
Pinning is the key here Heather, pin the little blighter to within an inch of his life before you begin to sew. There is always a little 'play' in a pattern as the pile makes it slip a bit.
When i began making bears i started with a bought pattern - bloomin' 'eck it drove me nuts, nothing fitted!
Since making bears from my own patterns for a while now i realise that the pattern was'nt rubbish it was because i did'nt know how to manipulate the fabric, pin properly and sew, like Judi says, a particular way.
My patterns fit together no probs - it's me who makes the boo-boos :redface: But i think there is always a little easing to be done on paw pads - they have to fit TIGHT or they are saggy and you end up with a fat foot like an elephants' - ooo-er :(
Penny
er - can i say something here?
I have been told by someone who sells loads of stuff on eBay that private auctions are often used so that the seller can get people, friends etc - to bid on their auctions and bump the price up.
I don't know if this is true but since he told me this i never ever bid on anything that is in a private auction. Quite often i've seen items on eBay that i would really like to bid on but am put off because it is a private auction.
Surely, if someone really wanted to bid and win a bear they would bid up to their maximum price? Why do buyers follow each other around, can't they think for themselves or is there some kind of turf war going on out there in beary land?
Can you imagine it girls? Handbags at Dawn - Bearfight at the OK Corral - Bear fiction - Custers Last Bearstand?
Anyway - this is only my personal view and i do not in any way think that you lovely ladies here would stoop so low........
........but private auctions put me right off of bidding on anything
Penny
I love your very individual style Irene
The bears have a charm and a certain something, i cannot put my finger on what it is about them that makes them so different to many other bears - but whatever it is, i think you will do very well with them.
Are Chene and Poivre for sale?
Penny :hug:
Ha Ha Ha 
excellent - if only i'd known about Tide detergent i would never have spent the past 15 years in the clink !!!
(only joking - i got off on a plea of insanity)
Penny
The only thing to be eaten with peanut butter is........
MARMITE !!!!
Just try it in a sandwich and you'll be hooked,
unless of course you are one of those very strange people who hate Marmite
Penny - just eaten TWO Flakes
SHUDDUP ABOUT CHOCCY I CAN'T STAND IT!!!
ARRRGGGHHHHHH
yummmm... Ripples
I'M LICKING THE COMPUTER SCREEN NOW
Oh Boy am i an addict
Penny :pray:
Are you trying to torture me Pipa?
There you are, sitting amongst a box of chocolate frogs - have i heard of them, you must be kidding Pipa i've heard of every chocolate bar ever invented by man - and here i am suffering from chocolism withdrawal and with no quick fix in the house.
Help i'm meltiiiinnng !
Penny
Hiya Debbie
Welcome to teddy talk - those bears of yours are really great - how long have you been making bears Debbie?
Penny
WHAT WHAT WHAT - YOUR DA WORKED IN A CHOCOLATE FACTORY???????
Oh.My.God. what a fab job Pipa - did you get freebies? have you any left? Can i have some huh? huh? gimme gimme gimme
I bet your Da was a popular bloke with the local kids - i would've been sucking up to him big time
I have'nt eaten any choccy for a few days now and i'm beginning to droooool
Penny
