Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
I am trying to be more organised (ha!!) and up to now have pretty much dedicated 2 full days and one morning and evening to bear-making. (I work other 2 days and have to talk to my lovely husband at some point!!!)
Sounds regimented ,but if I don't do it this way I'd go shopping instead!! I try to start my full days at 8.30 ...ish and work till about 8.00 in the evening....then I guess I pick it up at other times if there's nothing else doing (unless I have a show coming up, in which case I work round the clock pretty much)
Just wondered how you all organise bear-making into your lives. I guess for the full timers it's ....well...full-time.. How much time do you reckon you spend bear making on a weekly basis?
Jenny
Kiprie BearsHi Jenny,
Wow you work 12.5hors a day !? that is allot !!
I work full-time(in office and sitting all day....).
Right now I have very high motivation(because before the contest) and here is my weekday schedule...
5:30-6:30am..bear making
7:30am..go to work
7:00pm..come back from work
9:00pm-11pm..bear making
=======-- total only 3hours for bear --==============
For Weekend, I do bear making much as possible... :P
but I can't do this busy schedule for long time... :/
How about everyone else ? I know we talk about this before
but how is everyone's motivation for today ?
Bear Hugs/Marie
Ummm... not nearly enough :rolleyes:
Seriously... I really get distracted. Often by the computer.. so if ya don't see me for a while it's because I'm being good LOL!
Other things that distract me are housework, chores, excercizing, errands, working on webpages for myself and my hubby (also very addicting) and taking care of my 3 lovely whippets (not too bad!) and doing research on whatever new thing we need. (we needed a new bed, so I spent several hours researching this)
Oh yeah, my daughter is a senior in HS and getting ready for college. It would be REALLY nice if she got a lot of scholarships and grants 
. Instead of relying on her to do this (which means it MAY not get done) I'm doing the research on this too... I mean, it would save us a TON of $, so it's very worthwhile to do!!
I'm a very impuslive person. If I think of something that needs doing... I often stop what I AM doing and do what I just thought of.
I'm trying to learn to take care of all my errands on one day... but sometimes family "needs" me to do something on a particular day... right after I've done all my errands.
For my usual days I'd have to say I only get actuall bear making done 3-4 hours a day... (well, I DO work on bears most every evening too! I was only counting daytime hours)
This is my biggest problem..... not working on bears enough.
Pandy Potter Bears
OK, OK I'll get off this computer and start my bears body! Enough said!
He-he ..Amanda...ditto!!!
Jenny
Pandy Potter BearsJust hand stitched the body (for 4 1/2" bear) and thats me done for the day. Thats how it is for me. Things to do but mainly getting motivated. Just getting back into it after a break. I'll get there, slow but sure!
Country BearsI don't get NEARLY enough time to make bears, but have got to be honest if I did do it full-time, I'd get bored and it wouldn't be fun anymore. I admire you full-timers!!;)
I run a security company with my brother, so I'm at work everyday, that together with my 2 children (school run twice a day to 2 different schools) and housework (which I start when I get home from work and detest, always let me know when you're coming round and I'll have a quick whip round before you arrive!!):lol:
By the time the evening arrives I'm pooped, so only really get to make at the weekend, in between catching up with family and friends and quality time with my family etc etc
It's about time they created some more hours in the day....................:rolleyes:
I am terrible about housework. Do you gals do it daily? At a certain time? Once a week for hours on end? What? I really don't "get" where to fit it in.
Terries BearsMarie, my schedule used to be just like yours and people thought that I was absolutely crazy to get up at 5:00 in the morning just to do bears before I went to work but I never once set an alarm clock, and that was always my favorite time of the day.
Now I am extremely lucky to be a full time bear maker. I still get up between 5:00 - 6:00 and I work on bears until about noon. In the mornings I make new patterns, take pictures, make any website changes, work on bear faces and check in with Teddy Talk:) I do all of the hand sewing in the evenings, while I watch TV.
Housework??....you mentioned housework, Shelli:) Any of that kind of stuff gets done in the afternoon but I hate housework and only do what has to be done.
Housework? What's that? ...................That's not in my schedule
Jenny
I am terrible about housework. Do you gals do it daily? At a certain time? Once a week for hours on end? What? I really don't "get" where to fit it in.
:lol:
I like my house to be neat... but I'm not a fanatical clean freak 
There's dust bunnies on the carpet along the walls... and it's been a year since I washed the kitchen floor....
But I like it picked up, dusted, vac'd and such... and the bath clean. I usually do most of these chores on Sat. But my daughter helps... and it's a smaller house, so it only really takes a few hours if I don't get distracted.. 
Grocery shopping is USUALLY on Sun and I try to do the laundry on the weekends too.
Whatever doesn't get done I do here and there during the week.
It really helps that my dogs are clean dogs, and my family picks up after themselves!!!!! I'm very lucky there!!
Country BearsYeah guys...my motto, it'll still be there to do tomorrow - huh??!! Let's 'make bears' for today!!! Hee! Hee!:lol:
Back Road BearsWell, for someone who claims to be a full-time bear artists I get very little done each day. Oh, I THINK about bears all the time and am always coming up with ideas. But, I seem to have Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. I can not for the life of me stay focused on anything but this dang computer! I can focus on message boards for hours.
Like Laura, if I think of something that needs to be done I get up and do it, even if I just sat down to do something else. Now, with a puppy plus another dog, I'm forever cleaning up after or taking out a dog.
Then there is the phone, if it's not my mother it's my mother-in-law or sister-in-law or one of two friends who are stay at home moms and could talk for hours, until school got out. I know, I shoudl use a head set, then I could still work.
Cleaning, like vacuuming, dusting...I do that when the mood hits which isn't often. Bathrooms and kitchen are cleaned daily. I use those chlorox wipes... makes it quick and easy if done daily. But, I've got piles of magazines, books, papers, etc. everywhere... I guess I like the lived-in look and my hubby could care less!
Now, what were we talking about? Oh, bear making time. Is that what I'm supposed to do??? Make Bears??
Daphne
Past Time BearsArrrrrrggh! No housework unless I'm going to have company . . . really! But I DO eventually have to do laundry, grocery shopping, visit my mom, pay bills, etc., etc., so I don't work on bears nearly as much as I'd like. Ideally, I would like to get 3 bears done per week, but that RARELY happens! Even though I'm retired now from my "real" job of 25 + years, I still don't have enough hours in the day to work on teddies. What happened??!!
Nova Scotia,CanadaBoy,it's nice to see that we all fit in the same boat(hope we don't sink,yikes).I'm with you all the way Daphne,I think I suffer from ADD also and can get pulled away so easily,sigh,I often wonder how I would function on one of those natural " focus " pills they offer but with all my allergies,I'm afraid to try.Well anyway,off to bed,more bears and housework tomorrow if I can get around better. 
If not,the heck with the house,I'll just sew bears on the couch again.
Hugs and blessings,Shari.
Rufnut Teddy'sI am a full time worker as well (not bears) with kids, dogs, hubby, cooking, cleaning etc....
The basic housework is done whenever, progressively during the week after work, so weekends are free. Bears are worked on from 7.30pm or 8.30 pm to Midnight Monday to Friday. I also find the groups and internet very distracting. I work as much as I can on bears on the weekend, but normally find, the evenings the most work gets done. I also sneak some time in when I am having some lunch as well.
Marie, I like your concept of early morning bears too, my hubby suggested I should try this instead of going to bed so late.
Glad I am not the only one that hates housework
Well...it's good to know that I'm not alone. I suspect there may be the odd full-time artist out there who works on bears 'full-time'...but life is a distraction...especially when you work at home.
I wish I could operate the method I use at 'work'..ie in the salon. I am in my 32nd year hairdressing and it's hard habit to kick...not that I'd really want to anyway...and for most of those years we worked a 5 or 6 day week...then did the books on Sundays. (You do when it's your own business ..if it wasn't I wouldn't work so hard) Since bearmaking came along I've cut down to 2 long days in the salon ...from 7.30am till 8.30pm to fit everyone in that wants to be fitted in.
If I could just pick up the pace that I am used to in the salon I would be really productive...but as Daphne said, I get so ...easily off plan. My daughter has not long had a baby who's now 4 months old and I try to spend time with her when I can..my son's wife is expecting her first baby in 8 weeks time so that will be me obsessed again for ages.
I also need to focus my mind for bearmaking in a way that maybe I don't so much these days in the salon (my clients might not be too pleased with that statement...but it's not something I think about too much ...not too many challenges these days) and so it can be quite intense..especially designing something new.
I do try to limit myself on this computer here, I unsubscribed from the other groups...mainly because I just can't sit here all day reading posts and tapping away...On my two days that I set aside for making bears I have learned to not do anything else..but I can't ever really do more than 5 bears a fortnight even if I burn the midnight oil...
Jenny
Baird'sBears What a great topic . . . but doesn't anybody have a "secret remedy"? A magic solution? A pill?
I'm trying to become a full-time bear artist and a part-time English tutor, which means that I sort of tend to forget about the housework! The balancing act is very, very difficult. I'm a slow and picky bear-creator and a devoted and thorough tutor, which means that my housework, shopping and cooking get done, if at all, at a panic pace.
I'd love to get myself organized, but end up doing bears, tutoring, pet and people care, and little else! Fortunately, once the house gets to a certain state of squalor, it doesn't seem to get much worse! :/
Eileen
Glad I am not the only one that hates housework :D
LOL!!! It's not my fav thing to do.... I just do what needs to be done on the surface
Budd Bears BoutiqueI am a full-time bear maker! Ha! It is easy to get distracted as you all said. I love Teddy Talk it keeps me connected. I try to only sign on once a day Ha!Ha! I work on my bears four days during the week, try to fit in some time in the evenings and weekends and take my Mom and my husband's Mom out once each week. Housework I find especially hard to fit in during the summer as there is work to do outside also. Today is my bookkeeping day for both my husband's and my business. Each month I plan on spending an hour a week to keep it up to date - and what happens a month goes by and I have a month's worth of bookeeping.
OK! Going to try something new for myself.... Jenny you are very self diciplined to keep at working from 8-8 even if it is just for 2 days!!
I've tried that and it just doesn't work for me...
I HAVE found that I think I need some type of schedule... but it has to be "doable" with my personality of needing to do so many things.
This is what I'm going to TRY... let ya know if it works for me :P
9-11:30 -- work on bears
11:30 - noon -- lunch
noon - 2:00 -- work on bears
2:00 - 5 -- anything else that needs 2 be done (including taking the pups out!)
I often work in the evenings... but my day time hours have been very unstructured.
We'll see if I stick to it.... course if I start later than 9am (like TODAY!) I'll have to work "overtime" by however much time I started late.
By only trying to keep to those 2 small segments of time, I'm more likely to stick to it. Right now I don't do nearly that much bear making in a day during the daytime....
Nova Scotia,CanadaOh Laura,I've been thinking about making a schedule for myself also,I think I'll try yours Then of course if I get called to teach,that ends that but I'll try.Oh and when my leg heals and I get back to working two nights and every saturday,well,blown again but for the days I am home ,I'll try.
I'm feeling really unwell lately and thinking I might have to drop my fabric store job to try and cope.My doctor finally listened yesterday and she mentioned Fibromyalgia so I've been trying to find out what that's all about.
Anyway,I'm going to try and follow a set schedule like you Laura and we can let each other know how it goes. (Hope I don't have egg on my face and have to lie about how well I'm doing )
Hugs and blessings,Shari.
Shari, Winney knows about fibromyalgia, I believe. Drop her a PM and see if she can fill you in.
Feel better soon, hun.
Kim-Bee BearsI would say I spend about 3-4 hours a day making bears... whether it be cutting out, designing or now needle felting..... It depends though, some days I dont want to do anything with my bears.. I am glad I am not a full time bear maker, I would get so BORED!!! Housework, my hubby does that LMAO I do chip in here or there, I do laundry, vaccuum, take care of the pups
I dont mind housework, hate doing dishes, miss my dishwasher cuz I dont have one now!
Country BearsKim how do you get your hubby to do the housework?? You lucky thing, mine thinks the fairies come in the night and do it all!!:mad:
I have to admit to being the proud and most thankful new owner of a dishwasher, dishes, my pet hate too.........don't like doing the toilet much either.........:lol:
