Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

I have reset my clocks and watch too.

I switched to Plum Pudding.  That seemed appropriate for Plum Cottage Bears.

What size and type of hand sewing needles are used to make miniature bears?  I do not usually make bears under 8 inches high, so I am asking the miniaturists among us.  Thank you.

What a grrreat way to celebrate your birthday!

Congratulations and best wishes to all the nominees!

Congratulations and best wishes on your wedding day.

From my viewpoint, technology has changed the delivery of commerce as surely as technology has changed the delivery of education.   Shows exist for one or two days, a temporary environment that is gone when the show closes and the artists pack up and leave.  Face-to-face classes meet in a given room at a given hour on a given day of the week, for however long the term lasts.  Quarter terms are usually ten to twelve weeks long, while semester terms can be fifteen to eighteen weeks long.  If a person cannot come to a show or a class at the scheduled time, the opportunity is lost. 

The internet is worldwide, anytime, but lacking the personal touch of hearing a teacher's live lecture or meeting the artist who created the bear that gets adopted.  There will always probably be some shows, just as there will probably always be live, in-person classes.  However, I believe that an internet presence will become more and more important to artists as we get further into the 21st century.   That internet presence could be an individual artist's website, a virtual shop on something like Ebay or Etsy, or a virtual booth in an online show.  For what it may be worth, I miss shows and always will, even as I speak of e-commerce and technology.

Karen, your thoughts echo some that have passed through my mind recently.  All of the shows and the teddy bear clubs are gone in the county where I live and work.  I find myself with a couple of dozen bears in the finishing process, as though I'm getting ready for a show, but what show, where within a hundred miles?  Karen, I have had the pleasure of seeing your cats in the fur, and they carry the wisdom of ancient Egypt in their eyes and stance.   Something is lost when a collector cannot bond with a piece in the fur and acquire the piece from the artist's hands. 

Nevertheless, I think we have to accept the realities of change and trim our sails to the breezes of the times.   Shows are expensive, for both the artist and the promoter.   Security, surcharges and reduced flights turn travel into a chore or a duty, not necessarily an easy time.  Fifteen years ago, I was a pioneer distance education instructor, teaching technical computer classes over a text based conferencing system for universities in the East.  From those experimental days grew the sophisticated, transparent Seaport and Blackboard systems used for distance education instruction online today.   Technology has passed me by, but I recognize change when I see it, and I recognize also the need to adapt.

We need to adapt our businesses to the times.   We work on our pieces in isolation, and perhaps there are few or no other Teddy Bear artists in our respective physical neighborhoods.  Shows provide an opportunity for artists and collectors to meet, and for artists to network.  However, we also network here on TT.  Others network on social networking sites like YouTube and Facebook.  I am not on those sites, but I understand that they are places for connection.   We need to look to the internet for the future of the Teddy Bear world.  That means educating ourselves about things like e-commerce, sitebuilding and photography.   Teddy Bears and their fuzzy friends convey handmade unconditional love.  We need to go forward with the technology that enables us to virtually reach collectors worldwide.

Thank you for sharing your pictures, Daphne.  How fortunate you are to live where there are real seasons.  That's what I miss about the East, or San Francisco.  In Southern California we have beach and smog.  I can remember real fall.  Thanks for bringing back the memories.

Laura, the skeins are probably twisted to minimize space in shipping.  At least that makes sense to me.

When I need to start a new skein, say for noses, I take the skein out of its paper wrapping and stretch it over the top of the back of my desk task chair.  That way I can find the end and unwind it enough to start wrapping the perle cotton around a big file card.   The size of the perle cotton can be written on the end of the file card.  It stays straight and does not wind up in a spider's web or cat's cradle of disappearing ends.

Interesting thread of discussion.  I'm getting ready to start posting bears for sale, what I consider traditional bears, and I'm weighing between going on Ebay and opening an Etsy shop.   I have been an Ebay member over a year, have a Paypal account, and positive feedback of 158, the latter from mostly selling and buying things other than bears.   Still, the thought that Ebay could hold back payment for a period of time is a concern.  What should I do?

Karen's posting contains a toll free number worth noting for Paypal:

Community Support Agents at 1-888-221-1161

Sheryl, where do you get your twenty-five-pound boxes of stuffing?

I prefer the control of sewing the muzzle, paw and foot pads by hand.  Smaller bears (ten inches and below)I often sew completely by hand.  Larger bears, including Northern Light, my avatar (28 inches long) are machined.

I am struggling with the same time management issue.  I am between things in my life, it seems. Anyone else out there struggling with time management and bear making?

Interesting test.  I took the test, and it says I'm a Mandarin:

<h2>I'm a Mandarin!</h2><img src="http://www.tomorrowland.us/tlm/kingsfield.jpg"><img src="http://www.tomorrowland.us/tlm/lahti-small.jpg"><p>You're an intellectual, and you've worked hard to get where you are now.  You're a strong believer in education, and you think many of the world's problems could be solved if people were more informed and more rational.  You have no tolerance for sloppy or lazy thinking.  It frustrates you when people who are ignorant or dishonest rise to positions of power.  You believe that people can make a difference in the world, and you're determined to try.<p><h3>Talent: 44%<br>Lifer: 38%<br>Mandarin: 51%<br></h3>Take the <a href="http://www.tomorrowland.us/tlm">Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin</a> quiz.<p>

Northern Light, a signature piece, was designed when I still had my shop.  I would like to share him with you.

Drake Mallard Esq., a signature piece, was made when I still had my shop.  I would like to share him with you.

Looking for a nonsmoking female roommate or roommates for Saturday night only for the 2009 January San Diego show.  Please reply by private message.  Thanks.

The sculpting foam straightened the fur (hair) and made it go in one direction.   It was a worthwhile experiment and something that I can use on longer mohairs in the future.

Lynette, thanks for the feedback.  I will try the "extra-body sculpting foam" on a scrap piece of mohair and report on the results.

On my last trip to the beauty salon, I bought some "extra-body sculpting foam."  Intended for my hair, of course--but mohair is made of hair.  Would hair sculpting foam have any effect on mohair, I wonder?  Just a thought.

It's just another day.  I would rather be at work than have the day off.  So much for holidays.

Everybody has his/her own favorite stuffing tool, I suppose!  I still use my wood-handled dowel stuffers from Edinburgh, in several sizes.  However, for packing in the stuffing, I also use a Stanley screwdriver with a four-inch grip and a six-inch "blade."  Ironically, the Stanley screwdriver is shaped like the wedge-ended dowel stuffers.  Since I do not make minis, but have always made larger bears, it serves except for the occasional handsewn little bear.