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Kassie Bears TM/Creations of Mysticismoh Eileen,
I don't want to be mean either - but that just .... :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
me up ---too funny.
hugs kassie
Kassie Bears TM/Creations of MysticismHi Gladys,
Thank your lucky stars that she is not calling you. 
She is Not "well"!
I do understand she is probly not well. I believe in that case it is best to - "not feed the ones that may bite" like at a zoo - "Don't feed the animals" they may bite. kinda like that.
So, for me. I won't give her what she wants and that should end it.
Dilu Gollies do not like her neither
hugs kassie
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Thx for your great sleuthing Eileen!
I'm in north eastern IL and had never heard of Swansea so I hit mapquest; it's east and a bit south of St Louis (MO). South/Central IL is really rural and not within easy access to any major bear shows so if she's got our contact info but not on the internet, it's got to've come from adverts in mags.
I personally don't think phone numbers should be listed until after initial contacts are made and one feels comfortable giving out this info.
Baird'sBears
You're so right, Bobbie. I wish I'd had the sense not to list my phone number.
Our friend called me again this afternoon. She'd obviously forgotten that she'd called before.
I told her that I knew who she was and, though I didn't want to be rude, she was known among BAs as someone who insisted on pictures, and more pictures, with no serious intention of buying, and reacted abusively when denied, and that I did not intend to send her any pictures.
Well.
Her tone changed from sweet and breathy to loud and coarse and . . . . most narsty.
She was actually shrieking.
She told me that for my information she knew a lady at TB&F named Kate (I think she meant Kellie), and that she was going to tell Kate to remove my blankety-blank ad from TB&F and I'd be sorry, so there.
I stayed on the line as long as I could understand what she was saying, and then hung up.
I'm no psychaiatrist, but I'd bet my bottom dollar that this woman is suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder.
It's a tragic and virtually untreatable condition. Most psychologists/psychaiatrists don't want to deal with these patients because they can become so dependant and so violent all at once. One minute you're their best friend, the next minute you're their mortal enemy. The trigger is usually some opposition to their delusion, but it's far more dangerous to encourage them than to resist them. Once opposed and exposed, they'll usually back off and find other people to feed their delusions.
This is all very creepy, but I think it's best just to say no--matter of policy, no pictures.
Back Road BearsEileen & Kassie - I'm so glad you've jumped on the "Just say No" wagon with me. I worried I was being mean at first but when I discovered that this tactic seemed to make her stop calling me I was simply relieved and felt I did the right thing given all I've been hearing about her on here.
Just read about Borderline Personality Disorder..... sounds right on target with our Picture Lady. It is sad really, that she can't help it. If she's already living at home with an elderly mother who can't control her, what will happen when her mother is gone? Our phones will be ringing off the hook. 
Seriously though, I've yet to read how an outsider deals with such a person and honestly am not going to spend the time doing further research as we dont' know for sure this is her problem. I just hope her obsession with BAs ends soon.
Posts: 36Thanks, I found this discussion very entertaining! BTW, sorry y'all are having troubles with this woman.
Kassie Bears TM/Creations of MysticismHi ladies,
Bobbie, you are so right about the phone number. I was not going to put my number in my add, but decided to only because I wanted the collectors to be able to contact me that way if they did not have a computer. It is a tuff one. Do it for the many - Or don't do it because of people like the "picture lady" 
I am not sure now I made the right decision.
Yes Eileen, I got more calls today too. I feel she did not get my meaning when I said "no". Or she also forgot she spoke to me. Eileen - she was very
Her tone changed from sweet and breathy to loud and coarse and . . . . most narsty.
much the same way with me. By the way, that was a very nice way of putting her behavioral change. Man scary!!!
Daphne hon,
I worried I was being mean at first
I know what you mean, but as I said I do believe -
"not feeding the ones that may bite" like at a zoo - "Don't feed the animals" they may bite. kinda like that.
I think you did the right thing too Daphne. I think all of us who have decided to say no are using our commonsense and that is ok too. One can't always be nice to everyone and that is sad, but this lady is -as we all know - not behaving normal.
I for one don't feel I being mean by saying no and I would not think anyone else is being mean either. Heavens no!
In any event, I am going to block her from my number and be done with it. I wish her well and hope that she gets the help she needs.
hugs all kassie
Kassie Bears TM/Creations of Mysticismhey hon - ya me too.
talking is not a good option.
I just hope that other teddy bear artist read this and hopefully it will help them decide what to do if she calls them.
hugs hon.
Hi guys I am so sorry about what you are going through! I think that the best think ( easy for me to say..I am not involved ! ) is not to talk to her. Even if you happen to answer the phone.!
Bear hugs and Golly smiles
Gladys 
Baird'sBearsAgreed. Talking to her does not help, it just fuels her problem and ours.
There's no way of knowing for sure what her actual home situation is, whatever she's told us. I'm hoping that there is no elderly mother, but I also worry that there is.
Last year I took on a student who seems to have suffered from Borderline Personality disorder--Renae's right, it's a catch-all term.
This woman told me about all the trouble she was having at home and at work and at school. Her profs and coworkers and parents were all negative and unhelpful. She was so glad she'd found me, because I was the only one willing to help her. And so on.
She had to write a paper on Darwin, and seemed clueless how to begin, even though she said she'd been taking university courses for several years. So I found her some sources, helped her to take notes relevant to her topic, helped her put the notes in order, wrote her an outline, and waited for a first draft.
What she sent me was literally gibberish, and she freaked out when I told her that I couldn't understand it at all. I was now just like the others, making things up to upset her. Even so, she called and emailed constantly, in a different mood every time.
I had to consult our psychologist, because I didn't know what to do, and she was making me very nervous. He said to drop her immediately, and told me a lot about her kind of problem, and the Catch-22 of trying to treat it. This was the first student I'd ever turned away, and I felt awful about it.
To my surprise, she accepted this very quietly and politely, and even insisted on sending me the money she owed me. I still feel awful about the whole thing, because she was clearly suffering, but I just couldn't handle it.
Looking back, I'm fairly certain that my mother suffered from a version of this disorder. I don't know how or when it began, but from a time I was too young to remember, I never trusted her or felt safe with her. I hope our picture lady doesn't have an elderly mother, but I'm very glad she doesn't seem to have a child!
Bearhaven BearsMy lazy way of dealing with this lady is to not answer my phone, I'm terrible with confortations and if she is unbalanced I don't want to go there. I like to take the cowards way out, call me yellow but this woman freaks me out 
So far there have been 4 hang ups since her first rambling phone call, this I can handle 
I'm still creeped out about how she managed to get a hold of my number because it wasn't in the write up or anywhere in the magazine. Ironic thing is I haven't received one email (they have the wrong email listed) from this article but a loopy bear stalker was able to get a hold of me, just my kind of luck My one chance to shine and all I get is our friend the picture lady, Oh well at least someone noticed. :crackup:
Hugs Deborah
Thank goodness for forums like this where we can all share! I have decided NOT to send this lady ANYTHING! I agree, doing so will only fuel the sickness... how sad :(
BUT...I DO think it is important to have a phone number for people to contact you when you submit to the magazines or even do a show. Because there are still many (normal) people who do not have internet.
I also do NOT want to publish my home phone for both privacy reasons... and also in case the number changes (we live in Chicago... the area codes seem to change a LOT!) I got my very own toll free number which goes to a voicemail box for $5 per month plus call time. Here's who I use: http://www.voicenation.com/ I've had them for a year now and love them. I have the regular "Toll Free Voicemail" service.
You can set it up so that when you get a message it will call any number you choose to let you know you have a message...then you call into your number and enter in your passcode... and retrieve your messages.
You can also get an email of both the notification and an MP3 file with the message!
If you have any troubles setting it up, their customer service is also very good. I had a few ?'s and sent in a request that they call me. Shortly afterwards I got called back and she walked me thru it step by step!
**Update!! I just contacted Voicenation and had them block this woman's number from calling mine. If you use Voicenation.... just write up a trouble ticket telling them you want a number blocked from calling you and give that phone number... they take care of the rest.
Baird'sBears Deborah, you're not lazy or yellow.
Lots of people screen all their calls--these days it's not surprising. This is one call you definitely don't want to take!
LuxembearsYou could always send her some really WEIRD wacko photos (use your imagination) if she continues to bother you by phone. I never use my phone number in advertisements. Only my web address.
Kran-Beary'sHi,
I've been getting calls from Margaret since 2001. I log all my messages and just went through them the other night following 3 calls that I'd gotten from her. Even if you talk to her and tell her you don't send photos, she'll forget and keep calling. What bugs me is that she's using my 800 number so I have to pay for the calls.
I had to reduce my message time to 30 seconds, a couple years back, cause she would talk for the full 5 minutes allowed on my machine!
The long and short of it though, is that she is developmentally challenged, and I believes lives in a group home. She is not allowed to call out to artists for photos, hence she doesn't give her number. Her workers get REALLY upset with this. If anyone has her number though, I would be happy to give the residence a friendly call to advise them of the the situation with Margaret and her many secret phone calls.
She must really love teddy bears though!
hugs,
nancy tillberg
Sending ya a PM with her number Nancy! I just had her number blocked from calling my 800 number!
Back Road BearsNancy,
The number we all have is for her mother's home. You can check it through whitepages.com or any such site and it will show the number registered to F. ?. Daniel. (I've forgotten the middle initial at the moment.) Her mother is Faye. It's Faye's voice on the answering machine message. And it's Margaret who answered the phone one of the times I called and explained about her mother's health. This same info has been confirmed by two other artists who have been pestered by Margaret for a few years now and have also called and talked toFaye in the past about this matter.
So Eileen, there is an elderly mother.
Canna Bear PaintWe contacted our phone company and were told that legally, they absolutely cannot block calls (didn't catch if this was local or state law). Well, I guess other people can try this route with their own phone companies, as long as you don't live in upstate NY you should be able to block her incoming calls...
She did not call us yesterday. But she called on the 11th and left another message. Again she greeted the dog in the ad "Hi Jack!" and was obviously reading the ad as she called. We state in the ad that we do "teddy bears and soft-sculpture animal art". She was very confused by this sentence. She kept mumbling about art, send me this, no don't send me this, and finally said "I don't know what animal art is", got very angry, proclaimed "Oh, don't send me ANYTHING!" and slammed the phone down. I am hoping she crossed out our ad in anger and won't call again. But I realize that the next time we place an ad, it will just start all over again.
Is it possible that both Nancy and Daphne are correct? That is, that perhaps she did live in a group home for most of the last few years, but also that her elderly mother did have a debilitating stroke recently. I would think family members might have opted to put both the physically disabled elderly mother AND the mentally disabled daughter into ONE care facility at that point. You know, like one of those two bedroom assisted living apartments, or one of those little cottages on the grounds of a nursing home. It would be a heck of a lot cheaper than keeping two disabled individuals housed separately, both of whom required assisted or full care. This is just a thought. But if anyone has her STREET address, you may be able to look up online and see if it is part of a community of assisted-living housing or linked to a nursing home. Because if you can't get past Margaret on the phone, and can't talk to the mother, the next step would be to find a backdoor route to talk to the people who are financially responsible for her living arrangements (other family members). They may be none to pleased to receive this month's phone bill anyway!
We will continue to advertise and continue to list our phone number in future ads. Removing our phone number is not an option. We have previously received calls from some very wonderful bear collectors, who just happen to not have computers for any number of reasons. We would have missed both sales and getting to know those nice people if we hadn't listed a phone number. As far as the picture lady goes, we will continue to not pick up the phone when she calls, and not send her anything. I hope that this lady can find happiness and get the help that she needs. Obviously she gets the teddy magazines, so she certainly already has access to lovely bear photos in those.
Best wishes,
Kelly
Bears by Jodi)Oh my, good old Margaret Daniel with out an S !!! Yes that is her ,Sawsea IL. Not sure on the spelling on Swasea. Yes she does call allot and rambles. The last time she told me she promised that her brother would not get her pictures !!! She wouldn't show them to him !! I thought that was strange !!! I did finally send about 4 pictures and she called to thank me so We will see if that is the end of it .But she has been calling for years !!! This is the first I finally sent some. I could not decide what to do. I just kept seeing this crazy lady only wanting pictures of teddy bears to make her day !! It is really sad but... VERY scary !!! She truly is The TEDDY STOCKER !!! Im just glad she doesn't live in my state !!!!
Jodi Falk
for some reason my brain is saying somewhere in the Midwest but I could be wrong on that one...
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Just kidding!! :crackup: I'm so sorry so many of you are getting these calls :hug: ........and I'm so very glad I'm not! I haven't listed my number at all, so hopefully I will stay safe from the teddy stalker. I do feel bad for this lady though. She must be mentally impaired in some way, and her life can't possibly be fun like that. I hope there is a way for someone to get word to whomever is responsible for her (as she can't possibly be responsible for herself) so these calls can be stopped. :pray:
