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Bears by EdieThis thread is so much fun to read, but does make me feel anything but creative! 
When I joined this group it was traumatic enough for me figuring out all the computer stuff so I didn't even give the user name a thought and just put my first name ------ except I missed the capital on the first letter!!! Which I then tried to change and found out you couldn't!
And my name for my bear business - also SOOOO creative - "Bears by Edie" (But on my tags it is a PICTURE of a bear and "by Edie" which I thought was quite creative at the time! :crackup:
My ebay name is "morebearsplease" - I wanted "moretoysplease" as at the time I collected dolls and toys and was just getting into collecting bears - and hadn't even THOUGHT about selling on ebay, but it was already taken. Unfortunately some people have thought that my "morebearsplease" name meant that I was really keen on saving the world's real bears - which would have been a great idea! - but makes me feel a bit shallow when I have to admit (being a relatively honest person!) that I was not that altruistic but rather a more shallow collector of material goods!
When I was looking for a name I wanted to have a short one, easy to remember, and one that says something about my creations.
Since all my bears are babies or toddler I came up with the name bearkidz. The domain was also available and I quickly got used to this name.
I have added my name (Marion Fraile), so now it is "bearkidz by Marion Fraile". If I wouldn't have done this, some people might not have made the connection between my name and bearkidz. They might have either known my name or the name bearkidz.
Like Shelly, I use this name almost everywhere on the internet so people won't have trouble finding me.
That's the story behind "bearkidz by Marion Fraile". 
Strange BearsMy trade name and user name are linked into my businesses - I used to own a shop The Teddy Bear Hug - I only sold artist bears (I had over 100 artists sending me bears) so everything related to the shop became The Bear hug in our household and one of the shows I ran at the time was called The Ultimate Hug Show. I make bears under the name Strange Bears because 1/ my bears are always a bit strange and quirky and 2/ my husbands surname is Strange and I refuse!!! totally refuse to be known as Sandra Strange ( a name should be a name and NOT a description of the person) so for years he refused to marry me unless I took his name and .........I refused to take his name. Then when I started making bears and used his name for that....or was I really describing my bears (he will never know!!) ......I said "Look I'm using your name!" and so then he had to marry me!!!
And I sill use my maiden name for everything else!!!
Woodbury Park BearsMy sign on is what I think of everything beary - Lovely, my name is Raewyn pronounced RAE-WIN, I get all sorts of variables on that one. My trading name Woodbury Park Bears is named after the estate I live on Woodbury Park.
Raewyn
Christchurch, New ZealandMine is simple New Bearland is a play on New Zealand - which is where I live
Melissa you are right there are a lot of Mel, Melanie and Melissas in the bear world...maybe it is a 70's generation thing.
Melanie
Flying Fur StudiosGreat topic Shel, today was a good day to pop on.
I'm psichick78.
it's a knock-off of psychic only I'm a girl.
Now I'm probably the only lame one but I made up psichick as my video game handle because some games only let you put in 3 letters which then I put 'psi' It worked because I do tarot cards and I'm a chick....something not super common when it comes to video games.
the 78 comes because once I was setting up an email account and psichick was taken so I added 78.........the number of cards in a tarot deck.
Did that makes sense?? I just re-read it and maybe I am just a little sleep deprived. You know how being a new mom goes! LOL
Wilmslow CheshireBack in the old old days when I made a few big bears I used to call myself Pawsonality Bears .When I started making minis (15 yrs now) I just used my own name and have ever since .
I choose Cheshire Cat on here as I live in Cheshire ,home of Alice in Wonderland and Lewis Carrol once !!
hugs,
Louise xx
Nikkel BearsWhat a great thread! I have read everyone's posts with interest - it's nice to know how everyone got started.
My username is NIKKEL (pronounced ni-KEL) which is adapted from our daughters' names Nikki and Kelly. I don't yet have a registered business name, but hopefully will be able to use NIKKEL BEARS (mmmm ..... one day)
Marg
AlmostBearshmm on here my user name is greatwon2 ...long story short , i was a teenager when i made my first hotmail account and greatestone, greatone and the greatest...etc (ah to have that sorta confidence nowdays 
) were taken, so i used a little play on words. If i had of known that teddy talk was to become my second home, i would of thought more about what name to use
AlmostBears is my bear name and that came about after my mother in law asked me to make her a koala..for my first ever design 
after i got it made i said to my hubby "well its almost a koala" and as a joke made a tag for it saying "this almostkoala has been made for you by" ...etc.etc.
the name just stuck...but if i ever start selling i may have to change it as i dont want anyone thinking i run around almost bare
Yeah, my username and 'tradename' (if you can call it that- not so much trading lately!) are nothing alike, and neither has more than the most tenuous link to me, so here goes...
Username is from back in the day when I was a big fan of all things Anne Rice, especially the book 'The Vampire Armand'. There is a character in this (in like... one sentence?) called 'Gaetano'. Meanwhile, I discovered the internet at school (oh no! My downfall! ) and realised that no matter how you look at it, 'Chloe' and 'Johnson' re the most common names in the entire world at the moment XD Hence, I needed a username which I could use for everything so I didn't forget the endless numbers and random letters in using my own name.
Obviously, the answer was to nick it from a book Sadly however, the dyslexia fairy struck and my misspelling stuck, so i am now Gantaeno for nearly everything except a few sites where someone else nicked it 
I pronounce it gan-TEE-no Its also hilarious trying to get my mum to e-mail me using it.
My current trade name, 'Je Suis Lugly' is also totally random. Lugly comes from Ugly and Lovely, which my creations tend to be (often more on the ugly side, lol!) I was going to be I AM LUGLY so that people don't think I speak French because i am atrocious with languages (except garbled and gibberish ) but i went with Je Suis coz it sounds better.... sadly I now have to hyphenate it in websites and e-mails because if you string it together it looks a bit like JesusLugly... oops. Ah well. I like it and it's staying! So guys, I'm Juh- swee- lug-LEE :D
Sorry for the essay XD I'm halfway done with exams and I need to talk about something I know about!
This thread is great reading!
Obviously my user name is my first name and initial of my last. I put the D on because of that other Nancy that frequents the forums. My business name, Dog Patch Critters, is another story. When I was a stay at home mom in the late 80's & early 90's(was it that long ago???) I did craft shows with all kinds of critters-muslin bunnies, velour dogs, calico cats, and button jointed Teddies. I lived on a private road with 4 homes on it. Myself and one of my neighbors were dog breeders(me-mini doxies her-Borzois) so when the county named the roads for the 911 system our road was named Dog Patch Lane. I was using the name Dog Patch Critters at craft shows when someone came along, saw the little button jointed bear and said "You should make a mohair Teddy Bear". As they say"The rest is history".
These stories are all so heart warming and interesting and funny and terrific.
GANTAENO, yours in particular has me grinning in a very amused and empathetic way. Good luck on your exams, by the way. :)
ELLEN, you just crack me up. 'Nuff said.
It's great to read about everyone's user names and business names. Ellen, yours is so nice and simple and to the point--it says just who you are! 
My username is New Avenue Crew because I figured I needed to use a username other than my name. 
But I also wanted to be sure people know what my business name is, since I like it and want it to be familiar. Yes, there's a story behind it:
I grew up on a street called New Avenue in Southern California. It was a great childhood with many happy memories, so I wanted to base my bear business on that wonderful time in my life. When I was in college (I think), my sister and I and two of our friends from down the street who we had grown up with were sitting around the table in my parents' family room. Our friend Julianna made the observation that we were the New Avenue Crew. 
That name just struck a chord with me. And it reminds me of my ties to everyone who grew up on or still lives on that street. I also liked that it rhymed and had a connotation of one being able to take a new avenue in life. 
And now, I live on Crow Creek, and I have ideas for a "line" of critters that are a little bit, well, different, maybe a little wacky, maybe a little primitive, and I'll call them the Crew on Crow Creek. 
~Debora
Rufnut Teddy'sLove this thread, mine is pronounced "ruff-nut" or (Rough Nut), and rufnut is part of by business name.
Rufnut was my husband's nickname as a young child, given to him by a family friend for his mischievous ways, and crazy messy hair, I fancied the name and wonderful ring to it. So I went on to name my teddy business Rufnut Teddys, yes I know "Teddys" is not spelt theoretically correctly, but I was after something a little different to teddies.
Cat Gabriel Crafts"Caya" is a nickname my Dad, brother and sister call me, so I thought it was a fun name to incorporate into my business name
My story is lame. I came up with "nimble" because your hands have to be nimble to create. 
I chose "knot" because every creation has to end, kind of like a period in a sentence. With sewing, things end with a knot.
I really don't like my name, it has nothing to do with my bears. Everytime somebody emails or contacts me regarding my bears they specifically say "cupcake bears." So I actually might change it to that. There are a lot of other cute, catchy names I liked but are already taken by websites, even though they might not have anything to do with bears. Which is kind of a drag but there's nothing I can do about that.
Newcastle, OntarioJennifer, I always wondered where your name came from! Cool thread.
hugs,
Brenda
Patsy Lake BearsI was going to call my bear business Pat-a- Bear which everyone thought was a good name, but when I went to register the name it had been taken so I just said my name. Very original 
My yahoo name teddybear19472001 again I wanted teddybear which was taken and then just went through every thing I could think of, I ended up with the year I was born and the year I joined up. My ebay and Bid4bears tag is plbears its easy and short.
