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Jare Hares & BearsOk all since it has been ages since I have been out here I figured that it was time for a post again.
School, work, and bears have been keeping me busy. For those of you who are wondering IDEX was great.
Congrats are due to mom (Jane Monroe/C. Riffenberg Bear Co.) for her Punpkin' Panda. Here's his picture.
Rufnut Teddy'sCongratulations to everyone, your entries are fabulous, keep posting.
Judges must have had a difficult time. 
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Huge congratulations to all the nominees for a job well done. The entries are absolutely outstanding- What a thrill for all of you!!! Sure glad I was not one of the judges
Hugs
Gail :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Bears by Teri
Congratulations to all the nominees, so many stunning teds and friends.
I'm absolutely thrilled and honored. I have to keep checking the list to be sure I read it right.
Matilda Huggington-beare :dance: :dance:
Wendy
Delartful BearsWooohoo!! Congratulations to all the nominees - wonderful news, I'm very happy for you all!!! :hug: :dance: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Little Bear GuyHuge Congrats to everyone, Teri it is about time your bears were awarded a TOBY. I have one of your bears that I love love love, got him a few yrs and he's still one of my favourites. Again congrats to everyone you all deserve it.
big hugs
Shane
Bears by TeriThanks so much Shane. I'm so thrilled, I have to pinch myself
Hi everyone! I am Marge Wiese of Princess4Paws Designs and Creations, Florida, USA. I have been a member of Teddy Talk for a while, but have been too shy to post here until now.
I am so honored and excited to have my little seahorse, Princess Cali selected as a TOBY Industry Choice winner! I just started needle felting a year ago. Princess Cali is my second wool sculpture. I put a lot of time and love into creating her. She is solid needle felted with all shading done with wisps of wool - no paint.
Marion, THANK YOU so much for posting this, and thank you also for your continued support of my creations, and for believing in me! You encouraged me to enter the TOBY contest, and I finally decided to take a chance and do so. I am so, so, excited right now!
I want to extend a great big congratulations to ALL of the artist who have had their creations selected for the 2008 TOBY Industry Choice Awards! I am humbled to be among such great artists! I wish you all the best of luck!!!
Tropical Teddy Bear Hugs to All!!!
Hi Marge, thank you for sharing your little seahorse here ... she's absolutely beautiful! I am amazed by the delicate colouring you have achieved!
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)North Meets South Series: High 5!
I've added 2 more images - to show how a very firmly needle pc can be changed or modified:
In the top image, with the bear facing straight-forward, his head/neck hides his arm doing the High 5.
So, Mr Razor Blade takes a slice (Hey, is this like Sweeney Todd?? LV J Depp..!!) and I repositioned the head. Now he can still look directly into the camera, but you can see the full High 5!!
2.5" tall and 4" long minis
I wish Marge would switch over to more Needling! She's a natural!! I'm trying to feature her in an article but even (her only) 2 PERFECT pieces are hard to stretch out into a feature!!
Let's all send her Needling vibes!! LOL
Newcastle, OntarioI haven't had much time to be here lately, but wanted to say "Congratulations" to everyone. The winners are all stunning!
hugs,
Brenda
Bears by EdieWow, a bunch more GREAT winners! Congratulations, everyone!
Bobbie, I love your polar bear and penquin and Marge your seahorse is incredible! If that is only your second needlefelting then you are not only a "natural" but a real expert at it!!
Thank you all for the wonderful welcome for Princess Cali and myself!
Paula,
Thank you very much for your compliments regarding Princess Cali! The dimension and shading were a huge challenge, but I finally figured out how to do it without sinking the shading down into the main piece.
Ellen,
Thank you very much. I am so happy my little seahorse has been so well received. She was a joy to create – challenging, but a joy!
Bobbie,
Your “North Meets South” is another wonderful creation! You should be very proud! Congratulations!
I had to laugh when I read your comments! I think I’ve read that gentle (or not so gentle) push somewhere else! Thank you again for your compliments regarding my needle felting. Please be patient. I am having a difficult time concentrating on needle felting right now. I love needle felting, but real life issues keep getting in the way. Cancer treatments and three recent K-9 surgeries have me feeling more like a K-9 taxi and vet nurse than an artist! I have a whole list of designs that keep popping into my head and are crying to be created. I finally took a few minutes to write the ideas down so I would quit waking up at 2:00 in the morning with little creatures dancing in my head crying, “Felt me first! No me!” A few weeks ago I was trying to find felting time, and I was contacted by a bear collector who wants several of my crochet bears. This was my first special order request directly from my website. I have to take the time to fulfill these requests. The felting will happen. Please be patient.
Edie,
Thank you for your wonderful comments regarding Princess Cali. I'm way to new to be an expert, but thank you for the kind words. I am definitely still learning. Needle felting is so much fun!
Tropical Teddy Bear Hugs!
BIG CONGRATS TO EVERYONE A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT 
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Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)We've only attained Level #1.
Still have Readers' Choice this summer by balloting before the final winners are declared!
But I know what you mean & I thank you!
Bobbie
Tami Eveslage Original Teddy BearsWow!!! These are so wonderful. The needle felted pieces are outstanding 
. Bobbie, it may be only level 1 but you are all winners. I think that the TOBY awards have it right by calling the nominations "Industry's Choice Awards" becuase it is a BIG level 1!
I couldn't agree more Tami. It's a wonderful endorsement for artistic achievement and plenty enough for me! 
That kind of puts a bit of a damper on it Bobbie, but I as well am so happy to have obtained this "level" in my second year of creating!
Hugs,
Krista
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)D*****...
About an hour ago I was in that mindless state you get while working-out and thought to myself, "That made you sound so blazé (sp?) about attaining this Level. Very unfair to both competitions and those who work so hard on this... I'll apologize as soon as I get home!"
And Thx Krista, your post is a natural lead-in and you've given me the exact swift kick that I deserved to give myself!!
I did not mean to denigrate attaining this level; gosh knows I've submitted dozens of more times than I've been nominated. And I'm thrilled to bits to be one who got the nod this year. Such great company it puts one with!!!!
After Marion posted, we received the Short Listed names; on Tues there was a message from TB&F left on the answering machine. As I already'd heard the good news, I didn't return the call.
Friday afternoon Mindy called back. I laughed and told her that we TTers had known since very early on Monday.
Me: "... so you didn't have to make the personal call again."
Mindy: "Well, it's not Official until you hear it from me, so I'm calling!!"
In the past, we also got The Call from Mindy but it was The Nominees that were announced. I'm thinking it was about 6 or 7 years ago that being nominated became an award - The Industry's Choice - in its own right.
It's just as thrilling now as the first time and I'll be the first to defend this honor !
Bobbie-who-wishes-she-could-manipulate-fabric-as-brilliantly-as-you-do-Krista!!!
You're welcome Bobbie! I had a good idea where you were going, just wanted to put it out there so nobody felt less than victorious over their Industy's Choice win!!!
Hugs,
Krista
Thanks Bobbie, I had no idea it was that recent that the TOBY awards were upgraded to AWARDS, rather than nominations.
I must admit, it's that 'Industry's Choice AWARD' tag, that really makes the TOBY's stand out loud and proud in my opinion. I think the 'People's Choice' is an entirely necessary credential for the bear world and fabulously reaffirming for the winning artist, but it is also essentially a subjective choice, restricted by readership. I love the concept of being able to put work before 'The Industry', a judging panel selected and respected because of their extensive knowledge and appreciation of our area of work; people with a passion for developing and supporting the bear as art and for that to result in an AWARD, an Industry endorsement, for me, is such an important element in terms of the overall competition credentials.
I'm also bowled over by the opportunity to compete on a genuinely international scale, where each category is open to anyone, from anywhere. In terms of the 'Industry's Choice Award' I have just received for the first time, aside from my personal delight after last year's failure to make the list, I am also absolutely thrilled to have been able to play my part in bringing home a TOBY for the UK ... as far as I am aware, we Brits are a pretty small (but hopefully significant!) group to have had the TOBY honour bestowed over the years, so our precious TOBY's are a big deal for us!
Tami Eveslage Original Teddy BearsAnd you all will get a really nice trophy to display, too. I received both the Industry's Choice Award and the Public's Choice for "Sweet Elliot" in 2005, and the lovely trophies look exactly the same save the print which is on them, and I display both TOBYs side by side on a shelf in my studio.
Paula, I am also glad to see the UK so well represented this year and I was particularly glad to see some of my favorite artists nominated for the first time--including yourself!
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)MY OPINION ONLY!! (a tiny rant) but it had/has always bugged me that our awards are international and the BBA and another European award has/had one category open to the rest of the world, all sizes, styles, types, lumped together.
These may have changed and I'm unaware of it because I stopped looking at entering.
OK, sling the arrows - I deserve it for feeling so isolationist. Having a bad day....
