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I am now on my third open mouth design today...and it's hot (yes..it is hot here in the Midlands!!!) and I have just mucked up the third one..I am very grumpy and I am about to muck up...I mean, cut out, the fourth...and this time...this time it's going to work..I feel it in my bones....
At what point do you all throw in the towel on a project?
I have to say that I can't let things beat me..and this isn't a straight forward open mouth...it's an open mouth with a twist that has been bugging me for months and I think I finally worked out 'how'...it's just the proportions that are bugging me..so I think I am finally getting there after 3 days of trying things out....
So what do you all do...keep going or throw in the towel...?
LuxembearsKEEP GOING JENNY!!! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: Never give up! You'll march a parade around your house when you finally figure it out. 
My mom always says , " Anything worth having never comes easy." I think this applies to bear making, creating, and inventing. A LOT of bear creating IS inventing. I am always thinking of new ways to accomplish a certain outcome and it does not always work right away. But in the end I am so pleased when it works 
You'll get it, I know you will.
PottersHouse BearsIf you are on your third one, you have much more patience than I do. But then, I have never claimed to be long suffering. Good luck, and keep trying. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Flying Fur StudiosDon't give up! I can't wait to see it!
When I get frusterated, I just leave if for a few hours, or a few days. Then I can have a fresh outlook when I come back.
Good luck!
Newcastle, OntarioJenny, I agree with Heather - if this one gives you trouble, leave it for a day and come back to it. I hate doing it, but it really works. You see all kinds of things that you don't notice when you are in the thick of a project. I can't wait to see it - gook luck!
hugs,
Brenda
Keep going Jenny, you have us all intrigued now so you have to finish. I am terrible and never know when to stop. It get determined to finish. Good luck and can't wait to see the results ! :photo:
Brenda...I can't walk away and come back to it...it will drive me mad till it's right!!!!
WienHi Jenny,
of course no giving in!
You found out what´s the problem, so you´ll fix it.... can we do it? YES WE CAN!
Gaby
PS: I´d like to see the outcome!!! puleeeeeze!
Apple Dumpling DesignsIt would drive me crazy until I figured it out too. I hate that...sometimes I can't sleep at night because something is annoying me.
I'm sure you'll get it figured out and it will be spectacular. Too bad fur isn't a bit cheaper when it comes to these adventures.
Good Luck!!!
Canna Bear PaintAh Jenny, your bears are so lovely... I have the feeling that your standards are exceptionally high 
If it's going to bug you, by all means keep plugging away. I usually tell myself in a situation like this to just keep trying something else until it works, the worst case scenario would be to make the SAME mistake repeatedly. At least you can narrow down the possibilities if you just keep tweaking it different ways. On the other hand, if the mouth is going to push you over the brink, it may be better to walk away for a while. Sometimes I have the best solutions for a bear problem when I'm in the middle of doing something else completely.
Best wishes,
Kelly
Baird'sBears Jenny, I'm with you, Girl
. . . working on a mouse design . . . it took me two hours to turn the tail 
, I'm now on my third pair of ears in my fifth ear position and the little varmint won't stand up and I can't figure out why he keeps falling over sideways . . . and I'm feeling too angry 
to stop
Well..I think we just cracked it :pray: !!!!! I now have an unstuffed head with a nice neat open mouth...awaiting some teeth and a tongue..(another problem)...but I am still only a quarter of the way there....But I learned loads of stuff...mainly that I have a short fuse...
I'll post a picture soon...but don't hold your breath!!!!!
Jane Perala Designs Ltd.I remember when I was designing an open mouth bear, and didn't want to just make a slash in the side head piece. I wanted it to be more sculptured looking - so ended up adding about 5 more pattern pieces to the darn thing - I must have made about 8 different heads before I had it right. Now it is just how I want it - but so complicated that I only make about two a year!
Jane P.
Posts: 2,203Jenny Absolutely no giving in! trust me as a new artist I run into those types of situations all the time! 
:hug:
This thread is so intriguing. I just know I'm going to do the same thing as you, Jenny and Jane: fight my way through! I recently went back to a head I had given up on while I was making a panda about four years ago. Its nose was embroidered and it had a mouth...but I hated it and cut out and sewed another head for the poor panda. And now I've picked up the abandoned head and redone the nose, ripped out the mouth and given it another, added the eyes, and even done some needle sculpting and shading. 
Hope it'll look cute when I'm finished--but it's just a head now with no body, sitting there on a spool of Mastex upholstery thread, staring at me while I eat at the dining room table. 
I'll have to remember you all when I'm designing. I am so ready to do that, and yet I have so many bears ready to work on that I can't jump into designing just yet. I did redesign a foot pad pattern this morning and cut it out of felt. Oooo. I know--excitement!
Debora
I think that I am one of those people who has to research for ages, sometimes months, before I go ahead and actually make the design. I am planning some other new designs at the moment and am thinking about ways to make them.
Once I decide to make something I can't let it beat me...but sometimes they never get off the drawing board. This open mouth bear has 17 pieces in the head pattern and has taken a bit of working out...but I am glad I didn't throw it in the bin!!
Debora I always have half made souls hanging around on jam jars in my sitting room awaiting bodies...sometimes they wait a long time!!!!
Ha, ha, Jenny! I can just see a row of bear heads on jam jars, just staring at you, wondering why you haven't bothered to finish them.
Whoa--17 pieces for the head? That's amazing! Now you really must finish it and take a picture so we can all see it! :photo:
I have a book of ideas that I've had for, oh, seven years now. I haven't done everything in there; only a fraction has come to life, really. But then, I have difficulty finding time to work on bears at all after I'm finished with my "day job." 
Some day I'm sure I'll be fighting my way through an idea, and I'll think of you with your 17-piece head and Jane with her complicated open-mouth design... Thanks for the inspiration!
Debora
Delartful BearsCan't wait to see it Jenny!!! Glad you didn't give in - I'm like you, I have a short fuse also!
Danni
Dolls N DreamsOh I can't wait to see it
I love your designs.
Posts: 8,574Don't give up on yourself
life is simply too darn short!!!
bears by beesley TMAwe Jenny!! You are just like me! I had to win the battle too, but sometimes I wonder about the value as an end result! Keep going girl you will get it I just know you will!
Many Hugs Louise
Apple Dumpling Designs17 pieces....good lord!!!
Real Deal BearsWow, what amazing patience. Good for you, can't wait to see the finnished design :dance: :clap: :clap:
Take a break! Come back to it in a day or so ... it will come together, trust me!
Hang on in there Jenny - I know you'll get there in the end. Your creations are always so wonderful - you give yourself alot to live up to. My father in law has always told me to walk away from something for a little while, and when you go back to it you'll see it with new eyes, be feeling calmer and see where you have gone wrong ............. or that it's actually working out better than you thought.
But then again I suppose that's easy for me to say - my bears only have three pieces in their heads!!!!
Can't wait to see the finished result - it's bound to be fantastic!
