Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Posts: 2,203to be honest I am quite discouraged. 
I finished my 1st bear exept for the details{pardon my spelling i can barely think straight } and he is nothing like i planned. what is a good tool for shading and where can I get one? jenn
Kim-Bee BearsI use Prisma colored pencils or acrylics.... I get them at Michael's (dont know where you are from or if you have heard of Michael's)
Awww Jenn! don't be discouraged!! The more teddies you make, the easier it becomes 
Don't be discouraged....you never learn a thing from getting right first time, anyway....so put your positive head on!!!!
My first bear was horrendous..he was a kit I'd bought and I was never 100% about kits from the start. So think about the bits of him you like and use that for future reference and change, bit by bit, the other things till you get a bear that looks like you planned.
As for shading, I still like my Copic pens...but have been using a dry brush and oil paints after taking Shelli's advice and trying them...I do like the effects.... I have a very tiny brush which I cut down to make it stiff and stubby...so it brushes the pile as I apply the colour. It works well.
If at first you don't succeed..........................
Jenny
Baird'sBears
Jenn,
Don't be discouraged. I've only designed 5 or 6 so far, and each time I have to make adjustments as I go. I find that it helps a lot to do a 'trial stuffing'--not too firmly--to see what the contours look like in the round.
As a matter of fact, I've just had to take a dart in an almost-finished bear through the back opening . . . very awkward, but I'd made the lower part of the body too wide! :/
Eileen
Wild Thyme OriginalsJenn.... Don't give up! I can guarantee you that 99.9% of us here make lots of bears that aren't at all what we thought they would be.... especially in the beginning, but I know I have lots of teds that just completely morph into something that I had NOT planned!!!! Just try to go with it..... and enjoy the process!
Beary truly yours,
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Jenn, don't give up. We have all been there with designing I bet. I have made a some of my own designs , but I still adjust a bit here and there each time. At least you have a starting point, just use this bear as a learning tool . Pick what you like and change what you don't. Eventually you WILL get a bear that makes you smile. Sometimes it can just be the choice of fabric that makes the bear looks completely different too.
Just be proud you took the plunge and tried your own deisgn ,and don't give up !
Posts: 2,203I will post pictures when he is done. I couldn't resist his color. Jenn
Bears-a-Bruin!LOL, I just read what Kim wrote and can relate to that SO much! Sometimes a bear will lead, not follow....my latest bear started out as pink and girlie, and has ended up as a rather sleepy-looking boy instead! 
. He just changed...at some point in the process...but I'm not quite sure when...
So take heart in the fact that we all make bears that 'change' during making, and keep going! You never know, you might love the bear it turns into!
Oh I totally agree with Helena and Kim....I start out with one thing in my head and end up going down a totally different route...and usually that route leads me to a different place again...it's a learning curve that has lots of twists and turns..
bears by beesley TMAwe Jenn Sweetie Pie! :(Don't you be discouraged at all. All of us have had the same experience. My first bear was from a pattern and if you look at the finished bear and then look at the picture on the pattern, there is absolutely no resemblance! :redface: Firstly, it does take practice. It does get easier each time you do a bear. As you go you will learn new techniques, such as scissor sculpting, needle sculpting and the like.
Then in time you start to see and develop your own style. But you are supposed to make that bear with love and enjoy every minute of it. The end result is ART! You will see... don't give up ...keep going GirL!
Your wee one will be precious you wait!
As fars as shading goes, We all use different techniques. I love copic markers which come in a variety of colors and run about $5.00 each. Shelli and others use dry brushing with arcrylic paint. I suggest the copic markers tend to be an easy start. I buy them from Bear Cheap in Australia and Disco Joints And Teddies in Toronto but I know there are many bear supply stores and I am sure other stores that carry them.
Hang in there sweetie and don't grow weary!
Many Hugs Louise
bears by beesley TMSorry Jenn, just also wanted to mention that my feeling is that when you cut your pattern, sew the bear together and then work on the face you never know what the little one is going to look like in the end. I like to think they are full of life and that each individual little bear comes out with their own personality and character. Seldom do my babies look like I first invisioned them. I believe they come out the way they want to be.
Hugs louise
Posts: 2,203Thanks guys! Jenn
Posts: 8,574
Hang in there Jenn- even those of us who have been sewing all our lives can have failures-----or what we perceive as failures.....I'm on line cuz I don't want to tackel redesigning a body piece for the third time......taking a wee break---
But, and here's the good part, we get to learn from these perceived failures. We get to learn what the fabric will or wont do, where we need to change, what part of the great idea is great and what part needs revamping,
It's an adventure, dear heart, remember that....and so there's no need for discouragement- because you are learning through experiementing. And before you know it, truly, you will be proudly posting wonderful pics and more importantly YOU will know that you have accomplished what you set out to do.
So....don't give up on yourself, cuz we surely haven't. We all know you will be creating wonderful critters in no time at all!
:hug: Dilu
Meet Pigmonkeybear- not all our ideas are winners!
Posts: 3,177Don't get blue - i started making a cat today, it promptly morphed into a girly bear and is now morphing into something else completely 
I don't have a clue what the final outcome will be.
So don't worry Jenn, go with the flow
Bears are s.t.r.a.n.g.e. sometimes (a bit like us)
Penny 
Posts: 2,203Oh Dilu! I don't think Monkeybear is a failure at all! 
He is sweet! ( so are you) 
Jenn
Posts: 2,203P.S. I haven't given up. Just frustrated thats all.
Upstate New YorkJenn ~ Try not to be too discouraged. Teaching yourself to make teddy bears is more of an evolution <I think> than anything else. I don't think any of mine have turned out exactly as planned either. Keep at it.
Baird'sBears I love monkeypiggybearkins. Maybe we should start a fundraiser to save him?
Eileen
Posts: 8,574Eileen- its a wee bit too late- I cut off his face, is Shantell around?, and have needlefelted a base on his head so that I can needle felt a face on him, when I finish learning what Miss Judi is teaching us in the class at e-bearz U. I am hoping that I can resurect poor pigmoneybear into something cute. Yeah, cute. but no mouth till the very end.....
Why is it the critters here in the round house start complaining the minute they get a mouth? :doh:
:hug: :hug:
Posts: 2,203awww dilu! i'm so sad for monkey bear. 
poor baby. he was cute. jenn
Apple Dumpling DesignsI'm never going to live down my head chopping episode am I? :redface: :redface:
good luck Jenn and we look forward to seeing your Bear.
Keep on going with your Bears.
Hugs
Carolyn
Delartful BearsOooh I am sorry to hear that you are not too pleased with your first attempt.
Give it antoher go, some things take practise ;)
Danni
Kiprie BearsHi Jenn, sorry I'm late but I just wanted to cheer you up ! :dance:
Did you do face sculpting ? It will effect on around eyes and face dramatically.
I also started painting with Oil paint with dry brush and I love it ! but for first time maybe the copic maker is easy to start . Good Luch. :hug:
Marie
