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JeannieB Jul 17, 2006

  I make them to make people and kids happy     A teddy bear can do all the things we wish we could...like; be there when there's a scary storm outside, a hug right when a hug is needed, a smile to make the day better.....a true friend, always no matter what....unconditional love!  Special memories......
Angels come in all forms.....especially the ones that look like teddy bears. I think all the bears made are projections of the people behind them. In case anyone hasn't noticed we all have a lot in common.
   Bear Hugs,
JeannieB

chris009av Jul 17, 2006

I started making bears to save my sanity 
I have always been crafty, but more into painting.  Hubby got really, really, sick and somehow I started making bears.  Not being able to leave the house I made one bear and then another.
Then another and another 

Bonnie Jul 17, 2006

I stumbled across artist bears quite by accident on ebay.  I had to try making one and, like so many others, I was hooked.
It's very satisfying to me to make a fuzzy, cuddle little friend with a personality all his own. (or at least strive toward that goal! )
I've always done some sort of art or craft and still do. I would truly like to make bears my main focus. I know I haven't finished a bear in a while, I almost feel like I don't belong here! I do have a couple bears I'm working on though, and so many others bouncing around inside my head, clamoring to be made, that it makes me dizzy! Normally there is a lot of empty space up there but lately it's gotten a little crowded!:wacko:  Soon, soon I tell them.  (Yes, I talk back to them but, please, no calls from psychotherapists, I already know where all the voices in my head come from.... :crackup: )
Teddy bears are just so appealing. I guess they represent for me all sorts of things like innocence, love, friendship, loyalty, whimsy, wonder..... the sorts of things I think we could all use more of in our lives. If I can create something that makes someone feel a bit of those things, well, then I'll feel like I have truly accomplished something! Sorry if that sounds a bit sappy, but I guess at heart I am a pretty sappy, sentimental sort of person anyway!

On a more practical level, I can apply lots of my other craft interests and skills to bears and satisfy my need for working in a variety of media. Also I love making patterns for things, it's like putting together a puzzle and I love puzzles. Fun fun fun!!

Last, but certainly not least, I get to 'hang out' with other bear makers and collectors which is pretty doggone cool! :hug:

Celena Jul 18, 2006

For me...I started making my first bear because of a heartbreak, sort of to keep my mind off and keep me sane...which my sweet bear did!  His name is BOBO 

Ever since, I've been making bears but not for commercial purpose yet (I hope in future hee hee) BUT to give to friends or loved one who need some beary and furry companion during their time of need (I hope my bears did keep them happy) 

Beary hugs
Celena

BootButtonBears Jul 18, 2006

Do you know who started me making bears? Oprah Winfrey.  I know it sounds silly doesn't it.  I could never sew a stitch, had always worked, and had never done a craft.  I was 35 years old, had my first baby, and was at home watching Oprah.  It was a show about "following your dreams".  She said "If you want to do something, go out now and do it".  Well, I had always wanted to make a bear, but had absolutely no knowledge or skills whatsoever.  But, Oprah told me to, so off I went to a craft shop.  I brought a bear kit with the most difficult bear I could have chosen, with very thick, stretchy synthetic fur, but that was me, the bigger the better.

Off I went home, learnt how to thread a needle and tie a knot in the end (I'm not kidding) and painfully started making this bear.  By the end of it I had developed a new species of animal.  My bear was not actually a bear, but a big, fluffy mishmash of fur, stitches, discs, perle cotton and suede - all not in the right place.

I showed people, and I think they were so kind in saying it is lovely, what is it!!  Still, you can't keep a determined bear lady down, and my saving grace was finding a shop that actually gave lessons, and I found mohair.  Needless to say, my next bear, did actually start to resemble a bear, and I have never stopped since.

The joy in working with such a soft beautiful medium as mohair, and creating a new little baby with a dear little face looking back up at you each time, well I think that there is something very maternal in that.  It is a very "comforting" craft and I have found bear people I have met just lovely.

Cleathero Creations Jul 18, 2006

Teddy Bears...
HOw did I start?
Well I still ask myself that one.  I have neevr been crafty, was actively discouraged from attempting it as I would get disappointed as it never turned out the way I thought it should.
So mum decided to direct me towards more cerebral things.
Anyway many years later, and I mean many years later I was walking through a newsagency and looked down at a bear magazine, I picked it up went and bought the things I needed, including thread, and made a bear.
I then had to make another one for my other daughter.
The smiles they gave me when I handed them over hit a note within me and so I continued.  I love the idea that something I create can bring warmth and happiness to many.

lw2ndstar Jul 18, 2006

This is going to be long winded.  I apologise in advance.   

How did I start?  Well, I have always made stuff.  All kinds.  Any craft.  I've quilted, crocheted, knitted, sculpted.  I still do all of those.  I am primarily a painter and graphic artists these days, but I make some of my living by being a carpenter, though (thanks for the skillz, Dad). I just finished rehabbing my brother's condo bathroom.  (Not a job for the fainthearted!  )

I remember that for an unknown reason, in 1983 I became obsessed with having a jointed teddy bear.  (In retrospect I think I had seen "Brideshead Revisited on TV and seen Sebastian with Aloysius!)  I searched women's magazines for craft patterns.  I made several out of acrylic, but none had joints!

I had never seen a jointed bear in person. Then I found a Bialosky sailor suited bear - my first collector bear.  Shortly after, I found Teddy Bear and Friends magazine, and  I went to my first show.  That is where I first saw and fell in love with Steiff bears.  I had found my perfect bear - a 32 cm Margaret Strong model Steiff (he says to tell you his name is Bert).  I actually cried when I saw him - I just knew.  (Yes, there are SOME manufactured bears with that "inner spark".  You have look very closely.)  He's been dragged everywhere, vacations, work, the theater, and photographed in lots of silly places.  So I was a collector along with my sister and Mom.  We had a BLAST going to bear shows together.  The best times of my life!!

I kept making bears out of acrylic, just for myself, hoping to capture the essence of my favorite bear.  I sold a few through a local shop in 1986 I think.  Anyway, my Mom eventually started making bears too, and ended up making more than I did, though she always make me set the eyes and stitch the nose and mouth for her.

I don't make more than 3 or 4 bears a year now.  I don't really know why!!  I still love it.  I still collect other people's bears when I have the $$$.  But - I am ready to start making my next bear this week!!   :dance:  He'll be slouchy and rumpled, and blue!  **  Fabric dye experiment to follow soon! **

I think I started to make bears because they DO have an inner spark, to me.  They seem wise.  They listen.  Because I've never grown up.  Shoot, even my dog likes them, though I don't prefer to chew on mine, personally. 
 
I think my job has taken up way too much of my time.  Money is overrated.  :crackup:
Lynne

Jellybelly Bears Jul 18, 2006

Because I wuv them  and they make me happy 

Tynnateddy Sep 3, 2006

Well it all started as a joke when all of my friends had collections of turtles, frogs, butterflies, and of course unicorns, they would all say what do you collect i would always say nothing and that year for graduating presents i received 2 glass bears and then i would say to all of them see i do have 2 of something and laugh. Well that was 20 years ago and now i own over 2000 different bear items from shower curtains to cutting boards so i guess it was only natural to start making them and everyone gave me the nickname TynnaTeddy and i love every minute of it and happy to be a proud bear lover !!!!
TynnaTeddy :dance:

Jennskains Sep 3, 2006

I want to teach myself to sew and I already crochet so why not take on a new challenge.  I love bears

JeannieB Sep 4, 2006

Jenn,
DO IT!!!! I said the exact same thing...and TTers told me I could do it...and I did...and I love it!
I have been crocheting kitties and bears since I was 12. I always wanted to make stuffed animals.....but, never learned how to sew.....not even a button!
I have made four "sewn" bears and am working on the fifth. I used a free hand stitch guide from the internet, Intercal and lots of advice from TT.
  Take it from me...you can do it!!
          Bear hugs,
      JeannieB

Taiwan Angel Apr 28, 2008

I am always travelling because of my job.
Feeling boring and lonely after work and of course lots of pressure at work too.
so I go to the book store and see what craft I can make to pass my time and release my work pressure.
When I see a book with teddy bear, immediately I know that is what I want.
I start with just felt fabric, cotton fabric .... then I learn about the mohair teddy bear....
Once I start, I can't stop.... 
I don't feel lonely anymore as those teddy bear that I made travel together with me....

jacky Apr 28, 2008

iv allways done crafts , i teach doll making,pouring moulds and firing so many things can go wrong   it can get you down, but with teddies it is so relaxing to just sit and sew. if things go wrong you can  put it right  with a dolls head if it cracks start again , iv never had a teddy of my own , i see a teddy on ebay fell in love   so i decided to try and make a bear for myself  :crackup:  :crackup:  hooked ,i would love to do teddies all the time but my doll students will not let me pack up        jacky

Michelle Helen Apr 28, 2008

To answer this question I have to explain how I got into bear making. Though I am not a professional bear artist, I have been making bears and other critters for 12 years. It was rather a fluke on how I began my making bears. In 1995 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have a mastectomy. I was 35 years old. When I was still in the hospital, a nurse walked in with a teddy bear and said "everybody always focus on children when they get cancer. Nobody ever thinks that an adult is suffering too. This bear is made by a group of people who do not want you or any adult to be forgotten". She called it the Sojourn Bear.

When I was feeling better, I contacted the person who organized this mass teddy bear making initiative. I told her I don't sew but offered to help in another ways? Well I went to their meetings and met a women (surviving cancer too) who taught me how to make bears. I never looked back....It is something I love to do and it provides a lot of joy when I give them away to people I care about. I do manage to keep a few (very few) for myself.

DebbieD Apr 28, 2008

   What a touching story Michelle  :hug:  :hug:   One of my early bears went to my cousin who was a cancer survivor as well.  She said "You would not believe how many tears I cried into that bear" (real fur...I think she was worried to tell me, but that's what Sarah was for)  It was my bear to her that helped to pull her through.  I've had other cancer survivors and one cerebral palsey child who have my bears as well. 

As for WHY for me?  If my life was a book, you could see this huge Foreshadowing thing  :crackup:   Mom tells me as a two year old she took me to church, and then she had the dickens of a time keeping my hands off the gal's real fur coat in the pew in front of me.  I think its a miracle the gal didn't realize a two year old was practically pattycaking her coat to death!   

Fast  forward to me being a teen, and one of my friends whom I met through a boarding stables just happened to sew mink teddy bears for a shop in St Louis.  It was fascinating for me to see, but she used a 200 year old furrier sewing machine to make them.  So I thought it wasn't something I could do.  I mean, what were the odds of a broke 16 year old finding and being able to buy a 200 year old furrier sewing machine? 

Fast forward to 2001, and Nancy Tillberg's fantabulous book "Teddy Bears With a Past"!!!    :hug:     Nancy you released my dreams!!!  :hug:     I absorbed the book cover to cover, promptly bought some coats from Ebay and dove in.  Hubby was a bit dismayed at the fur flying, but now I have my own Bear Room, so the mess can be contained. 

One thing that I found interesting for me, someone said not too long ago, "You're very clever, you must feel truly satisfied to see what you've made"  And the really weird thing?  When I make a bear, I don't feel like I've actually made it at all!  Its like the spirit of the little bear was there all along.  I certainly can't control what will come from it.  These little bears emerge with their very own distinct personalities, and I may do the nuts n bolts, sewing n stuffing, but its them simply coming through.  I just help them along the way, and get out of the way once they've finally emerged.  And I do write down their 'birthdays' because to me, it feels very much like they've arrived  :bday:

I know, I know, now the 'nut' will go back to her Bear Room   

TamiL Apr 28, 2008

Well it was dolls for years and then fell in love with teddy! I love to create bears because you start with scraps and end up with some adorable soul looking back at you. And no matter how many you make each seems to have his own expression or personality. I just love it!!

BFB-Lyn Apr 28, 2008

I make teddy bears because......it gives me a lot of pleasure to create and I find it very satisfying and it keeps me out of trouble!  I've tried my hand at many other crafts but bears are it!