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Back Road BearsDo you ever do TOO MUCH to your bear? TOO MUCH trimming? TOO MUCH shading? TOO MUCH anything to the point where it's likely you've ruined him?
(I don't need to tell you what brought this up! Am I the only one???) 
Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes, Does that answer your question.
Although sometimes the then "flops" can be saved and turned into a masterpiece :crackup:
Normally I will do the head first, just in case this does happen, although sometimes I do get carried away once the bear is complete ( Maybe its called "BIFS" beary itchy finger syndrome" )
Lynette
Little Bear GuyOH Daphne you have no idea 
. Steve tends to do a lot of the faces on our bears but I tend to supervise haha. We worked on one bear and Steve had needle felted on eyebrows and then turned it into an open mouth bear. That was ok, then he started working on doing some shading and highlighting , well I wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing. He walked into the room and showed me this bear (this was suppose to be a boy bear) well it kinda looked a lot like Tammy Fay Baker, ok not kinda it was her to a T :crackup: . My draw dropped and and I couldn't even speak for about two minutes. Well people have laughed at us when they come to our house and they see baby wipes on the counter or under the sink (needless to say we don't have any babies in the house) but believe you me they are the best things for removing booboo's from bears. It will help remove airbrushing mistakes, acrylic paint, and some markers as well. Now granted it may not remove all of it but it does help to blend and remove a lot of it.
It's also a good makeup tip for all the woman who use makeup, if you want to remove all your makeup just use a baby wipe and just like that it's gone. I learned this little tidbit from Mimi from the Drew Carey show, she mentioned in an interview the one time that they use to have such a hard time removing her makeup but someone thought about using baby wipes. She said it took off her makeup in less than a minute and doesn't hurt your face. If it's ok for a baby's butt then it must be ok for your face .
OH and the Tammy Fay bear turned out just fine haha, we were able to blend and remove a lot of the excess face paint :clap: . We called him Buzz and he looked like a boy when all was said and done.
big hugs
Shane
ahhh Shane, I have baby wipes right here, as now that little grandson has made his appearance, gran has stacked up on his needs. So some will make their way to the sewing room.
Thanks for the tip.
Lynette
Little Bear GuyMy pleasure Lynette, they work ok on some Markers but not all. You just have to try it and see, I still prefer a blender pen for markers, but for paints they work great. We take them with us to everyshow, just in case there is some sort of emergency.
hugs
Shane
Matilda Huggington-beareDaphne the answer is NO. :crackup: as if you would believe that :crackup:
Its the fussing with them that is the best part. I've had crittters forcefully removed from my hands, just inorder to save the little beggers. :crackup:
I started using babywipes in the workroom inorder to keep the table surface and my hands clean.
There are times I have wiped over the critter to keep the surface clean but It never twigged to remove paint and pen marks. :doh: funny how sometimes you just miss the beat. 
Daphne....I definitely have..part of the learning curve, for me, is controlling the urge to just do that one bit more..and to learn that less is more.
I find that it's a case of learning to walk away when it looks good and not to think it might look even better with a bit more shading or another snip or two!! But yes I am certainly a person who has learned the hard way!!!
BrisbaneI ruined a perfectly good bear just last week with too much shading!!! Now she looks like she has two black eyes!!!
I'm definitely of the 'less is more' school of thought. There's a fine line between creating a masterpiece and including so many overworked techniques that he turns into a confusing mish mosh bear!
I ruined a perfectly good bear just last week with too much shading!!!
oh no! Any hope of rescuing it? Maybe slip a little eyewhite under the eye to lessen the impact of the shading?
I have to admit I sometimes go a bit overboard on trimming- and occaisionally end up with a bald muzzle from trimming just a little to much so I pluck it completely.
My airbrushing incidents usually come from airbrushing paws- I always seem to foul something up then 
Back Road BearsIt's so nice to know I'm not alone!
Shane, I have a Mimi bear! VERY scary!
Thanks for the info on the baby wipes!
I'm going to print a great big sign saying "LESS IS MORE" and hang it in my studio. Perhaps I should print it on stickers and put one on every copic pen and pair of scissors I have!!! I just made a new design and got carried away trimming his muzzle. The poor guy!
Can I ask real quick...what do you use to shade? I am in the middle of my first jointed mini but want to add more character. I am using a synthetic cashmere.
Flying Fur StudiosJennifer, you can use tonnes of stuff to shade. If you don't airbrush you can buy prismicolor markers, or copic markers that the bear suppliers sell.
Do a serch because we've had tonnes of conversations about shading. You'll find everything you need to know there.
I dont tend to 'do too much' to my bears. If anything, after the bear is 'done' I'll go thru my stash of embelilshments, pick thru all of them, only to leave my bear naked.
I dont tend to 'do too much' to my bears. If anything, after the bear is 'done' I'll go thru my stash of embelilshments, pick thru all of them, only to leave my bear naked.
I know what you mean Heather ... I just spent a heap of time knitting a sweater for my latest bear, only to decide he looked better without it!
Flying Fur StudiosI know what you mean Heather ... I just spent a heap of time knitting a sweater for my latest bear, only to decide he looked better without it!
Too funny Paula. Isn't it amazing how the bears tell us what they need? At least next time, you'll already have a sweater made........lol
Thanks Heather! I scissored the face and that added a lot more than I thought it would. Even for a head that's less than an inch wide. I did make one tiny dot where the eyes are placed and it added a smidge of depth.
Posts: 3,540:crackup: Shane thank you for the laugh!!!! I laughed so hard over the Tammy Fay Baker bear that hubby had to come in from the livingroom to see what I was laughing so hard over :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: Let's just say I had a 'mental picture' of the bear... :crackup:
And Daphne to answer your question ~ YES!!! 
Actually it was an ornament that I did for Nancy's class back in 2005 I think it was. Made from mohair, it hung around for a bit, and I decided to try for an eyelid affect with fabric paint. 
That didn't turn out so good, so I tried to paint the eyelids....that REALLY didn't turn out good! 
In the end, the poor dear was chucked into the bin and quickly taken out along with some other UFOs. However, I now know I won't try that effect on one of my bears, so its all good 
