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Daphne Jul 17, 2006

OK, so I haven't left entirely!   :redface:
I just decided to do my little part to MOVE ON and redirect our energy here!

So, what I want to know is "Why do you make teddy bears?"
There millions of things you could make, loads of arts/crafts projects you could undertake.

WHY TEDDY BEARS???

There is no right or wrong answer.
All opinions/reasons will be respected.
Any trouble on this post and I WILL delete it!

MerBear Jul 17, 2006

I've been into many many crafts over the years but almost seven years after making my first teddy-bear...I was hooked. Don't know why but my day isn't complete if I haven't done some bear-sewing. I find it's a great stress-reliever!

Marion

Judi Jul 17, 2006

I find it very satisfying to create something from within myself and have it look back at me and smile.     They just make me feel good.

Pumpkin & Pickle Bears Jul 17, 2006

Well I stumbled across bear making by accident! This may come as a shock but I have never really been 'into' bears!!
I was trawling through eBay one day and came across a miniature bear kit which was suitable for beginners, so I gave it a whirl...needles to say, I was INSTANTLY hooked and have been ever since. All of my other craft projects have gone well and truly out of the window!!
I now LOVE bears (only Artist ones of course, none of this manufactured rubbish!! )

Tammy Jul 17, 2006

Well, Daphne.....I make them so people like you will bid on them !!!!    :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  :crackup:  You crazy woman !  I see Sawyer may be heading your 

knuffelbear Jul 17, 2006

I always made a lot of different crafts, but when I made my first teddybear 13 years ago, I felt in love with doing it

Because I had a Hobbyshop for about 6 years,where I sold materials for Teddybears, I began to sew my first teddybear. Very soon I created my own designs. I couldn't stop with going on sewing teddybears!
I also do some cross stiching or knitting inbetween, but my favorite  recovery is sewing my knuffelbears! 

I do it in the morning, before I go to work, I go one with it, when I come home from work and I do it in the evenings    Whenever I find some minutes to go one with sewing, I do it!

shantell Jul 17, 2006

As most of you know, I've quilted for several years and although I truly love it I was looking for something NEW and that didn't put as much strain on my eyes.  While perusing through Ebay and looking for a vintage Pooh Bear I stumbled on the artist bears.  I saw one from a artist in the Netherlands that I loved (3 bears from her later) I decided to try making one on my own.  So I bought a kit...just incase I really sucked at it.  Made my first bear...bought some synthetic at the local craft store and made one which I gave to friend.  Decided I wanted to try my own patterns...bought Nancy Tillberg's book 101 Bear...and well it's been a battle of me and fur ever since.  I have more pieces of paper, eraser shreds, stubbled pencils, bits & pieces of those bears who gave their lives for the cause laying around...can't throw anything away "just in case".

It's so relaxing and comforting.  I find inspiration in every bear I make (even the head choppers) or adopt.  Inspiration to do better, to learn something new...and when my little ones are adopted and I receive those incredibly wonderful emails that they love them...well, my spirit is lifted and I'm a happy camper.

I just love the whole process...even ears!!!

chrissibrinkley Jul 17, 2006

Always done a craft of some sort.  But never found one that encompassed all I was looking for until teddy bears.  Stained glass was a little messy and dangerous with glass and the dogs.  With painting I was working at the paints pace and I wasn't good about clean up all the time.  Quilting was cool, I still do it..but it wasn't as diverse as I wanted to be with a craft/art.
Teddy bear making and the primitive arts I do just fit for me.  They encompass a little bit of everything that I've done and love.  For me there's something about the face factor...when you make something that looks back at you, well that's just cool.
~Chrissi 

shantell Jul 17, 2006

For me there's something about the face factor...when you make something that looks back at you, well that's just cool.
~Chrissi  :rose:

I'm just waiting for one of them to wink at me...I know it's gonna happen one day!!!

jenny Jul 17, 2006

I think it's because I am a person that loves babies and puppies and kittens and every creature on the planet...and because I can't have any more in my house I have to make do with teddies...at least they don't need feeding or do whoopsies!! I also like making them and seeing their faces looking back at me..and they help make me a living too.
I also get a great deal of satisfaction creatively..it keeps my mind alive with all the problem solving involved..and it feels like a quest to perfect something not yet complete...so it keeps me busy....

Enough reasons?

edie Jul 17, 2006

I've done crafts of one sort or another all my life - actually made my first bear at age 13 and won first prize for him in the local fair! - and have collected dolls and bears for about 30 years. I started making dolls - porcelain and cloth - back then too and made my first little bear when my daughter wanted to buy one at a doll show - told her I could make her one. That's when the light bulb went off - dolls have to be dressed and bears don't! With a bunch of naked dolls still laying around that I just never seemed to get around to making clothes for, I switched to making teddy bears!  20 years later I still love it!
Bear hugs, Edie

lapousmor Jul 17, 2006

I was in a need to do something that filled my days.
I openned the door of the magic world of teddy bears when in England, met lots of artist bears and manufactured collector bears and fell in love with my first Merrythought bear (yes we can love manufactured bears too). This was the beginning of me being a collector.
later, when back in France, I was searching websites about teddy bears and found some French ones. On one of these site, I found some free patterns to make teddy bears. One day I decided to have a go at it.
eventhough I had never sewn before, i did it quite well and enjoyed it so much I decided right then to have a go at making my own patterns and make more bears.

What makes me love making bears is all the love that bears carry. I really wanted to fill my flat with bears to sea loving faces all around me as my sweetheart Malko alone was not bringing all the peace and love I needed. So I began to fill my bears with lots of cheeky bears from Merrythought and later began to add some artist bears.

I now have a lot of bears around me and enjoy making more eventhough I still have difficulties concentrating on working on it full time!

I promised myself I would try to get as many bears from my beloved friends on TT and CC as I can afford so when I look at those bears I see you through them! That way I will feel even closer to you all...

But please, dear friends, be patient because as still unemployed I have to be careful with my expenses!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

Dilu Jul 17, 2006

I make them to keep the Gollikids happy

lapousmor Jul 17, 2006

Oh, I forgot: I was not making crafts before...
So totally new to me!
I used to play guitar when younger but I was so shy I was unable to play for anybody!

Beary hugs,
Sophie.

psichick78 Jul 17, 2006

I think it's because I am a person that loves babies and puppies and kittens and every creature on the planet...and because I can't have any more in my house I have to make do with teddies...at least they don't need feeding or do whoopsies!! I also like making them and seeing their faces looking back at me..and they help make me a living too.
I also get a great deal of satisfaction creatively..it keeps my mind alive with all the problem solving involved..and it feels like a quest to perfect something not yet complete...so it keeps me busy....

Enough reasons?

That me too Jenny!

I used to collect stuffed animals, not fancy ones. Just the cute cheap ones. I have always loved them, so when I found artist bears, there was  no turing back.
I started out sculpting. I liked making cute critters, but there is something about a cuddly teddy that is irresistible  .

Sounds like we were all destined at an early age to make bears.

Eileen Jul 17, 2006

I've always loved animals and stuffed animals (not a doll person) and making things out of fabric and woodworking.

I was a Steiff snob from an early age, but never actually had a bear--too busy collecting other critters, I guess, and another bear would have made me feel I was betraying tatty old Ted-White-Brown. He wasn't a Steiff, and he felt it keenly.

I loved the academic life, but always needed a crafty project to keep me sane--it was quilting in those days. Then I made stuffed animals for my kids and others' kids, and was just about to launch myself into a late career as a Rocking-Horse Artist when I discovered the Artist Bear category on eBay.

Revelation

.

The idea of learning how to make animals comparable to Steiffs and possibly one day earning a bit of money at it blew me away. I discovered Intercal and Teddy Talk, and here I am! I'd love to be doing this full time, or almost full time whilst keeping up the tutoring, and plan to do so when I've got my workspace organized and my website going. . . I'm almost there.

Daphne Jul 17, 2006

I make teddy bears because I too love all of God's furry creatures (not sure what He was thinking when He created insects, though... I tend to speak with Him about that some day!).

Teddy bears, to me, symbolize innocence, unconditional love, warm fuzzies and just make my heart tingle when I look into one's eyes! By making them I can experience that feeling anew with every bear I make and by giving away or selling that bear, share that feeling with someone else!

Stellajella Jul 17, 2006

Because I can´t stop!  :crackup:

Gaby

pandamac Jul 17, 2006

I make Teddy bears (and lambs, bunnies and Penguins) because I love all stuffed animals. The philosophy behind my business is that Every Person needs a stuffed animal, no matter of their age or anything else, and I set out to make soft, cuddly creatures,  that anyone can afford so they can know the peace and joy of having a friend to call their own.........
pandamac

K Pawz GuestJul 17, 2006

I make teddy bears because I have always been into art...something I got from my mother....and I am always looking for different ways to produce original artwork....It started with bought patterns....and they were gifts I gave to people...then I got bored working on other peoples patterns...so switched to cloth dolls....learnt a lot...just came back to teddies in March and designed my very first pattern and have been hooked every since because there is no picture or instructions to follow, they are truly mine and like others have said when they smile back I am in love!!!
There will always be new techniques I will want to try, so I think I am done bouncing around from one type of artwork to another for quite some time....I AM ADDICTED TO BEARS....before you know it I will be collecting them too

Hugs,
Krista

Laniebears Jul 17, 2006

I make teddy bears because I too love all of God's furry creatures (not sure what He was thinking when He created insects, though... I tend to speak with Him about that some day!).

:crackup:  :crackup:

Because I can´t stop!   

Gaby

I cant stop either gaby :crackup:  :crackup:

I drive hubby mad.....  :wacko:

Its turned into a compulsive disorder i tink  :crackup:

I just love turning a scrap of fur into a new little furry critter, with a cheeky grin, or winsome look. One that welcomes of big squishy hug... I just adore them...

millie Jul 17, 2006

I have always had a special place for stuffed animals, but I was inspired by my dad's old teddy bear.  I remember as  a kid that I always wanted to hold that bear.  Mom would take him down and let me hold him for just a minute, then back up he went.  Before my mom died, she left instructions that I was to have the bear.  He now sits in a case in my living room.  A few years ago I decided to try a bear and, guess what?, I was hooked.

All Bear Jul 17, 2006

In truth, these days it's to pay my bills!  That's only part of the truth though, because I guess there are other, easier ways I could be doing that!  :crackup:   

I've determinedly stuck with my bear business when times have been hard, reluctant to let it go and return to the real world to earn a living.  My bears satisfy my need for creativity, they give me the independence I crave and pride in myself for what I am able to achieve. 

I love that the first stroke of pencil on card, becomes a bear and that I am solely responsible for creating a market for my work, seeing the first pencil stroke through to the moment when I receive an happy email/letter/phone call from the bear's new owner. 

Why bears?  Because the possibilities for expression in design are endless and there is an emotional stability inherent in teddy bears, which I felt as a child and which I now find great personal satisfaction in capturing and sharing.

Kat Jul 17, 2006

I started out because a couple we know were going to have a baby, and I thought it would be nice if I made them a bear.

Since then, my mum bought me a book with patterns in it as an early christmas pressie, and just enjoyed making them. 

sarahjane Jul 17, 2006

I don't know....I have always done a lot of other crafts and made my first bear in January, since the I've been hooked but I don't exactly know why!!!