Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Thanks Alison   I just read the little foal's story. It's so sad. But I'm really happy that thee are kind caring folks willing to help. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for his recovery.

I would love to help. Do you know who I can contact to get a permission letter to donate a portion from eBay sales? You can check my current auctions to get an idea of what I'm talking about. Thanks for all you do

Thanks everyone!   When I was reading through the older thread, I noticed that there were at least a couple of people who cuss out their sewing machines. My family used to take cover everytime I got the machine out. Lol. I know it would definitely be a love hate relationship. It's good to know that I'm in good company. I think you would have a lot more trouble trying to keep the mohair from getting into the seams. Does the mohair sometimes get stuck in the feeder dogs? That's what would really get me going with my old machine, fabric getting stuck in the dogs. I only remember once sewing anything vaguely like mohair. It was synthetic fur for my son's Halloween costume. He was a bat. You should have heard the words fly. I'm reluctant to take it up again. But my arm definitely needs some rest. I had surgery on it about 10 years ago. I used to be a chef and I took a nasty fall in the walk-in. I nearly severed my ulnar nerve. I had to have surgery and it was the most pain I can ever remember. It was like hitting your funny bone 24/7 and that lasted for 5 years.  I hadn't had any trouble with it until recently. I knpw I have to do something to save my arm. So I guess it's back to the sewing machine at least part of the time. Thanks again for your imput.

Thanks Daphne for the link. It was very interesting reading. I started thinking of doing sewn teddies beacause my arm is taking a beating from needle felting and I can't keep up with the demand. I thought I'd never say that. My other art used to languish on eBay and Etsy for seemingly forever. Now I'm so busy felting and I can't seem to do them any faster. I've had to stop taking commissions for a while. I'm backed up until at least September. I've always loved teddies, all kinds and styles. I can't wait to get started on my next one.

I was just curious about your preferences and why.  I made my first sewn teddy back in October and am thinking of making more. He was hand sewn. Are there any advantages of hand sewn over machine and vice versa? Do those of you who machine sew use an industrial heavy duty machine or a regular home machine? What's your favorite brand and model?  There are probably as many variances on sewing as there are artists.  Thanks in advance for your response to my questions.

She's beautiful!    

She's so darling! i love her smile. Good luck with her auction!

If you import your listings  through Auctiva or a similar service the final value fee and insertion do not change. However. Auctiva has recently started to charge money for their service. I believe the lowest subsription is $2.95 a month for 15 listings and 500 mb storage. So it makes sense to list through them if your average monthly sales is $150 or more.

Karen. I'm a bit late on this discussion. Some sellers include a note in their package that explains eBay's DSR policy. I should be doing the same.  I understand if you don't want to list through eBay anymore. I would list other places. But eBay has more visibility and buyers. Good luck and I'm sorry this happened to you!

Thanks everyone for the compliments! They mean a lot to me.

Thanks everybody for the compliments on Bluebell!
Tami, that's really interesting about Cincinnati. I love the town sculpture!

Thanks everybody for the nice comments! I really liked doing this little piggy.

They're wonderful! Your talent truly amazes me!

What a cutie!

She's adorable! She has the sweetest little face. good luck with her auction!

I just listed Bluebell last Sunday at about 7:45 PM PST.  She's needle felted from Corriedale, Merino and baby llama wool around a wire frome and she is posable. her wings were hand dyed after they were sculpted. She measures 7 inches long and 5 1/4 inches tall.

He's gorgeous!

You can download a photo editing program that's alot like photo shop for free. It's called paint.net. You can do alot with layers and such. I use it and really like it. http://www.getpaint.net/
here's another site you might find useful. http://www.grsites.com/textures/beige001.shtml
Good luck!

That's a good idea about the file folders. I started using plastic placemats from the dollar store. They're cheap and durable.  I label them with masking tap The sharpie magic marker that I used just rubbed off.

Wool is fairly reasonable at http://www.weirdolls.com It's under core wool.

Thanks, Denise and Bubble-Up_Bears for the cpmpliments. Thanks Elaine, I'll add you to my links. I plan to work on my site some more this weekend.

Good luck with your house sale and may you find the perfect new one! Ypur kitty is darling! I love your work!

I saw him on eBay and was blown away, Karen! I can't wait to see your other pups!

Thanks everyone! Your compliments on my work made my day!  

Thanks everyone for the wonderful compliments on Jade!
Also, Thank you, Elaine for the link. I'd be more than happy to do the same. Your work is wonderful. Did you use the www.artbyrjandreae.com address or needlefeltedart.googlepages.com address? If you used the last one, I'm not sure what's going to happen to it once google migrates it.  So the artbyrjandreae.com one might be the better one to use.

Thanks, Karen