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Pandy Potter BearsThis got me thinking. (Thats twice in one month! :P) Although I don't really collect bears I have a few swap ones and see bears that I like. The thing is I really like vintage style ones, any size, but I don't make that kind of bear. I wondered if what you collect/like are similar or opposite to what you make.
I am like you Amanda. I just adore the vintage style ones, i would love to try making a vintage style miniature one day but don't hold your breath lol as i don't think that would happen some time soon . I tend not to collect bears like the ones i make but rather something i know i would never make.
Hugs :hug:
Vicki
Yep, I'd love to be able to make bears like the Wee Scones etc, but sadly I have no skill for that: just for weird creations with slightly perverse faces XD Having said that I only have one artist bear which I bought at the age of 15 in Lincoln, and he's a fairly contemporary panda with big chunky limbs and body and a smallish head and a BIG nose: that's what I love about him the best! 
Laurie Lou BearsI make a variety of styles of bears myself including vintage style bears and the vintage style are the ones that are my favourite to make and collect.I do buy a bear just because I like it though although there are so many nice bears it can be hard to choose 
Laurie :hug:
I have mainly mini bears and traditional style/tatty teds..and Steiffs...so no, the ones I make are different. I do have one or two sweet faced bears but I prefer the teeny ones and the scruffy forlorn souls for my collection..I have very few bears actually.
Country BearsI collect old bears, and I get hoards of inspiration for my creations!! I just love old stuff in general really!!
That said, I ADORE contemporary bears too, and if I had a lot of money...... 
Well, that and some more room in my little house!! :crackup: :crackup:
I'm loving your trains of thought at the mo Amanda, keep it up!! :hug:
Pandy Potter BearsI'm loving your trains of thought at the mo Amanda, keep it up!!
Goodness help you Clare If you are on the same wavelength as me!!!!! 
Tami Eveslage Original Teddy BearsI'm loving your trains of thought at the mo Amanda, keep it up!!
Amanda, I was thinking that you have come up with some really good discussion questions lately too!!!
I sometimes collect big cuddlers like I make, but my collection leans toward more traditional bears which I make sometimes but not often. The main difference that I notice is that I rarely make girl bears and I often collect girl bears.
Hey Amanda
I just unpacked my collection of minis yesterday, after they've been packed away for the flood. And I was pondering each one and thinking about why I bought it. They look quite odd all together - a jumble of contemporary and traditional, animals and bears. At the moment they're all together on a little wooden chest of drawers. I need to find a better way to display them as the massed jumble doesn't allow each one to 'shine'.
I have a couple of bears that could be roughly construed as being similar to mine - that contemporary but not 'out there' look, but most are quite different. I love traditional sad looking minis but they seem to be the most expensive kind there are, so I only own 2!!
The main thing difference that I notice is that I rarely make girl bears and I often collect girl bears
hee hee...I am just the same! Every time I go to a show that karen alderson is at I am drawn to her table. I adore my frou frou bears but I totally never could make one. I do make a ballerina bear for every show I go to (it's just a thing I have to do) but they are always grumpy, never frou frou and girly!
I actually started a "from off the shelf" feature on my blog last year with good intentions of sharing a bear from my collection on a regular basis, and again, as I unpacked my bears yesterday, thought I really should do it again. I would love to see what other artists collect and why they buy the bears they do. I find it fascinating!! This was my one and only post. As you can see Jack is totally different to the bears I make big(ish) and traditional.
Back Road BearsI LOVE old fashioned bears with that well-loved look. But I can't make them to save my life! So I collect them instead.
Same goes for minis..... I can't make those either but love and admire them and have quite a few... many are rather contemporary in style unlike the bigger bears I collect. Not sure why that is.
