Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I know of artists who have used curling irons on their bears for years and it all works out just fine.
You can use hairspray or curling spray to help the hair retain its shape.

Well just like people react differently to medications/drugs the same holds true for cats.
The little female that I had for years would dart around the yard on cat nip highs like she was on MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE.
The tom cat would just roll all over the yard and cuddle with you when he was on a cat nip high.

Alright ladies let's see those rooms when you are actually working in them...

The dog passes on the leather brownies, but give that dog a piece of leather to chew on and watch him go to town!!!

That is exactly why I never gave my boys cat nip.  They were hyper enough on their own without it!

See Ladies -
That is why I stay out of the Kitchen!  Once in awhile I might make a loaf of bread, but that all comes out of the box and goes into the bread machine!
That is also why I have the phone numbers for Resturant and Pizza Place right next to the phone!  I also make sure that I have a good stock of frozen dinners on hand.

Well SueAnn, she looks good to me.  Now slap a $1500 price tag on her and send her to Japan.  I am sure she would sell in about 2 minutes.

Daphne -
Come now we have to have a little fun!

I have a small plastic 3 drawer organizer that I keep my patterns in.  The top level for the most fequently accessed patterns and then the next drawer for once in a while patterns and the bottom for patterns that were made a long time ago.  I also use another set of drawers to keep my wire and wire cutters.  The middle drawer on that unit keeps my pens, pencils, wrench set, seam gauge, and small shears.  The top part keeps my beeswax, brushes, and etc.  I also use pencil holders to keep bigger tools, Shears, Forceps, Threads and fur trimming shears, and etc.  I place that in the middle of my roll of duct tape.  I also have magazine boxes to keep issues of both magazines.  I have a couple sets of shelves that I keep other items on.  I have two laundry hapmers with lids, one holds my excelsior and the other hold scraps of mohair and poly fil.  I have a cuboard where I store my mohair and on the top shelf I keep already cut bears/hares and my larger paper for drafting patterns.

Teddy Bears and candles don't mix to well.

Paula -
I am sorry to hear that this has happened to you.  We had this happen with one of our shoppes, needless to say we will only take checks or cash from them now.  If we take a check they have to wait for the check to clear both banks before we ship.  What happened in that case was that she used her BF card to buy the bears and he protested the charges, and it didn't even matter that she had her own card for that account with her name on it.  He was the account holder not her, she was just an authorized user.  What a mess that was!

I use PayPal to process all of my credit cards.  Cheaper than anyone else I know.
I do the following when processing charges:
1. Card Number
2. Card Type
3. Billing Address
4. Name on Card
5. Security Code
6. Create Shipping label online via UPS or USPS, that way I can track the package on line and have proof of delivery.  Within the US, I get delivery confrimation.  If you use the USPS web site, I think delivery confrimation is free.
7. Ship to only the billing address

As you deal with shoppes some of this has some felxibility, but that is only with well established shoppes.

I would recommend, that you get delivery confrimation on every package, only ship to the billing address, and get the security code.
If they fuss about giving you the information just explain that it is what is required by your credit card processing company (merchant services) and that is the only way you can process the transaction.  I also explain that I do take personal checks and money orders, but that those transactions have a 7-10 day waiting period while the check clears the bank.

Good Luck to you, Paula!
Don't quit making bears because of this.

Alright who out here has ever made bears by flashlight????

Last night mum and I were finishing up and the power went out due to the storm.
So, we still had some work to do and used our flashlights to see.  Needless to say it was interesting working with limited lighting.
After about an hour the lights came back on but by then we were getting ready for bed.

Mum was using her sewing machine and turning the fly wheel by hand, but she kept putting her foot on the foot feed.  :crackup:  We both had a good laugh about that.

Maelynn stayed the night and had fun with glow sticks and flashlights.  She also kept Grammie entertained with stories.

Off to the work room.

I just print my own out on cardstock.  I set up the file in MS Publisher and then I can type in the description on the computer, have it print my logo, my contact information, and anything else I want printed on the tags.  I do this with my tush tags and hang tags.  I can print them out one at a time or I can print out 1,000, if need be.  I have found that doing it this way is just as cost effective as having them mass produced and shelling out money to have them made.

SueAnn makes a great suggestion.  Look through the library, there are many threads out there that talk about this subject.

Good Luck

I think we all think differently...     

That is how you are suppose to do that.

On my bigger pieces I just leave the coil and thread it through and attach to the head like normal.  I don't bother with the awl to insert it to the head.
I don't make minis like Bobbie, but I think the smaller the eye then you will have to straighten out the coil and make a loop.

I have seen the tria makers before, but just stuck with the prisma markers.  Mainly it was a cost factor and the few times I came across them I couldn't find the colours I wanted.
Let us know how they work out for you.

I always had trouble getting the colorless blender to work.  I never figured that one out. Help?

Jenny -
She is awesome.  And you are right it is hard to capture the look of cats.  I have tried for years with no success, unless you count my big head cats.  But really, I am still trying to desgin a cat that looks like a cat and not a monkey or a copy of mum's.

I think it took 2 trips in mom's mini-van to get all the stuff out of my apartment when I came home form school.  And even with that I still had my car packed full.

I use it all the time.  Mom and I make a trip up there once a year to get stuffing usually 2 - 3 bags of the "C".  You can still use C to get a soft and floppy or cuddly bear, it al depends on how hard or soft you stuff.  I don't recommend D, too many chunks in it.  I would use "A" if you are making a really light coloured bear, particularly if youu use light coloured felt or other light coloured fabric for the paws and feet.  "A" is usually a snow white color.  "C" works for most artists and it is less expensive than "A" or "B".  I will be happy to take a picture for you to see.  I'll take it in the morning and post.

Now I remember!  You talked with me and my mom at the show.  I remember telling you about TT. We had two tables in the corner.

For most of my stuffing I do use excelsior AKA wood wool especially in the nose that makes it easier for the needle to go through when you are sewing on the nose.  All of bears heads are completely stuffed will excelsior.  You can pick this up at any local Wal-Mart,Hobby Lobby, or any crafts store in the floral section, but you want to get the undyed stuff.  If it has any color at all avoid it.  The dye will bleed through the fur.  I'll post a picture of that too.

Good Luck!

Do you use excelsior? or Wood wool?  If you use from the ankle on up that can help your bears to stand too.  Just pack it in there really well.

I say nuts to it all! 
I read those directions and looked at the picture and it doesn't make sense to me and I have done this for close to 20 years now.
I would say figure out what you want the ears to look like and then re-cut them if you need to get the shape you want.
I think they mean to fold the ear in half to make a quarter circle and sew the straight edges together and then attach the staight edges to the bear's head.  But I would think that would make for some interesting ears????
I am a big fan of adjusting the pattern to suit your needs.  Otherwise, I hope the designer can provide you with more pictures :photo: to make it easier to understand.  If she/he does would you share them with us?  I want to know how it is done.

I love all kinds of flowers, gerber daisies, moss roses, and of course roses are my all time favorite. I really love cabbage roses.
But my all time favorite is the Double Delight. Below is a picture. I had one several years ago and it died.  In the past couple of years I really haven't had the time for roses.

I do have a wonderful rose that I got for 50 cents @ WalMart, that was on its last legs and now is a wonderful bush.  This year I had to cut back all the dead wood, but in the next 2 years it will all grow back and be as tall as ever.  Even still, this year it is loaded with new canes and flowers.  It has what is called a single flower and a wonderful fragance of light apple blossoms.  In the fall it gets these wonderful red rose hips.  I'll see if I can't take a picture sometimes over the next couple of days for you all to see.

Swan Valley Bears -
I had angel trumpets that came in a mixed seed packet of flowers that would attract birds and butterflies.  And they smelled to high heaven!  You would have thought we had skunks for neighbors.  It took all summer to get rid of them and then I had to use the chain saw to cut them down.  Thankfully, they did not return the next year.  I enjoyed the flowers and the plant itself was interesting, they were like small trees, but the smell was bad.
Your angel trumpet looks great.  How tall is it?  Looks like about 10 feet.  And what does it smell like?

You can write in your ebay listing...
If you would like to join my mailing list contact me
You can not put any java scripts on your listings or on your about me page. I found that out the hard way.
You can place on your about me page a link to your e-mail.
Link to my about me page.
http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl … d=hare1990

Here is the html that I use to create the join my mailing list link:

<p><font face="times" size="3"><br>
If you would like to be added to my mailing list<br>just drop me an e-mail with <a href="mailto:jarehares@frontiernet.net?subject=Add Me to your mailing list">
"Add Me To Mailing List"</a> in the subject line.

Feel free to use it just change the section that is bold to your e-mail address.

We ask everyone.  We also explain that we do not sell or share our list with anyone.  We make it fun to sign up. :bday:  :bday:  :dance:  :dance:
Typical interaction:
Me: Do we have you on our mailing list?
Customer: No
Me: Oh that's terrible...  Would you mind signing the book, that way we can send you postcards for our upcomming shows.  We usually give $2 to $3 off admission and sometimes free admission to our shows, you just never know.  We don't inundate you with mail and we do not share or sell our list to anyone.
Customer: Oh that's great... I don't like to get tons of junk mail, but I don't mind getting discounts on admission.
Me: Sometimes we even send out coupons for free shipping or discounts on our bears.
Customer: Even better. Thanks.
Me: You're welcome and thank you for signing our mailing list.

If anyone ever requests to be removed from the mailing list I do so promptly.

Ok so I have only skimmed this thread. But I am going to chip in my two cents.

1st of all where else in the world can you go and advertise globally for less than $30?
Magazines, Newspapers, Radio, or TV, No way.  Many newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations are limited to an area.  Magazines might be mostly national publications and a few are international.  But if you want to run an ad in these mediums you are going to spend big bucks.

I recommend ebay as an advertising medium.  Sure the first few bears might not sell or only sell for retail, I do recommend placing reserves.  But remember you do not have the expense of being at a show all day, meals, gas or plane tickets, shipping costs (if you fly), and paperwork.  While I think that it is very important to still do shows and meet the public, if I can sell something on ebay and still be working on bodies at home, then it is a good day.

Once you keep going on ebay I think that you will have a loyal following that will spend the money on your bears.

The biggest mistake that can be made is not keeping an updated mailing list.  Keep every buyers e-mail and address. And then use that list to keep in touch with your buyers.  Send out postcards, letters, or e-mails when you have new designs available.
When sending out e-mails, I do place at the bottom, "If you would like to be removed from this mailing list simply reply with REMOVE in the subject field."  Then I make sure to promptly remove them from my mailing list.  If I get returned e-mails or letters with no forwarding address, then I remove those names as well.  It does take sometime, but it is worth it.

I do use a e-mail newsletter service because our e-mail list has grown so much in the last 2 years, and it makes creating professional newsletters and notices easy.  It also makes it easy for people to subscribe, forward, and join our mailing list.  It runs about $10.00 a month to send out 2,000 e-mails.  While our list is big it is not that big, but if I need to be able to send out more e-mails it is reasonable to do so.  I use www.emailbrain.com