For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
So...ladies & gents,
What do you do with your bear casualties? The poor little bruins who for whatever reason just didn't quite make the cut...the learning projects or just plain out and out screw ups?
I so far have either tucked them in the guest room on a shelf out of site for the most part or in a glass front cabinet (the wee ones)...but to be honest I'd like to box them up but feel someone what guilty.
Shantell
Shantell, You do know that one person's casualities.. well I'm sure you get the idea. Can I see pictures please??? Thet can't be that bad :hug: Jenn
Yeh! Come to think of it what do we do with the bears that haven't quite come up to scratch. I'm sure we all have some lurking around somewhere. Any suggestions for what to do with these poor little darlin's?
Jane
I have about five absolutely hideous experiments, from the earliest of early days of my bearmaking, all plastic bagged, stuffed into a cardboard box, and taped shut, on a shelf in the garage.
There was one bear in partiucular, PEACHES, that I made for my son Toby. PEACHES' limbs started falling off at one point. Before that, they would flip around wildly, because the joints were so lamely, loosely, done; I was too impatient to wait for disks to arrive and tried to compromise using washers (way too small washers) and cotter pins (the wrong size, and not tight enough, natch.) We'd come into the room to find PEACHES with her head turned around backward, a la Linda Blair/the Exorcist, or with one leg bent entirely back. We started calling her "PEACHES the seizure bear", before she became a limbless amputee. Ah, the early days...
I wonder if there's any market for creepy bears , Shelli!
I've got one mink head and several limbs stashed in a remote drawer. The eyes on that head nearly stop my heart every time I open the drawer. They're beautiful, expensive taxidermy eyes from VanDykes, but they're focused in (at least) two directions, and look demented, positively eeeevil. After hours and hours and hours of trying to get them right, and just about filling that poor little head with sculpting stitches, not to mention wrecking the pelt, I gave up and made another head. One day I'll summon the courage to remove those eyes and try again . . .
Eileen
i had one bear loked just awful had long cury fur silver grey on top charcoal under fur, had terrible accisent trimming his muzzle ended up trimming his whole head, the n his head was too small so itrimmed his body to match, didnt look too bad so took him with me to a fair but didnt fool anybody, so home he came. About a tear later i was short of stock so out he came, i bandaged one ear put arow of large ladder stitching on twoo seams and put one leg in a plaster cast placed a notice saying "bearing up!" in front and he sold to the first person into the fair . she said Oh I cant leave that poor bear. and went away happy and so did i :dance:
What a great story, Estelle!! I wonder if I could sell my little disaster as DecapitatedBonkersBear?
Eileen
I think we should post pics of the bears that are "hiding in the closet" I have two needle felted ones that are HORRIBLE! I was learning how to needle felt... I have two bears that I think are pretty bad... my mom and my mother-in-law have them! That way I dont feel guilty about putting them "in the dark" but I dont have to look at them! LMAO!
I will take pics and post them....
i looked but this the only pic i have of bearing up
Mine only get half finished. I have a half done mini pink bear. The head ended up being too big. At least the next one was was better because I learnt from it. The ones I don't like I get my husband to sell on ebay. Best of it he does a story type write up and gets more than I can. Sympathy vote I think.
I keep thinking that I ought to take those misfit bears apart, salvage their joint pieces, eyes and I could cut the seams of the mohair and reuse the pieces on a smaller bear. But that seems like so much work. And as horrid as the little bear may be, I don't have the heart to disect it. I have but two.... one is comfortably laying, decapitated, in my box of scraps. The other I haven't seen recently but I know he's in the closet somewhere.....
Severall of my misfortunes in minis have become cat toys. Unfortunately that makes the cat think that all the bears are cat toys. and the rotten little brat has stolen a few tiny bear heads!! :redface:
I caught her one night on top of the hutch nose to nose with my latest creation. Naturally I hissed at her and scared her off it. She likes to chew them. :mad:
silly stupid cat!!!
Kathy
Kathy...I can empathize. I haven't had any unfortunate events with my bears. Just recently though I made a really nice crocheted blanket for a baby gift. The night before the shower I washed it just to make sure there wasn't any pet hairs on it. I laid it out on the table overnight to dry. Well, the next morning I got up to find my cat sleeping on the table right on top of that blanket. I picked her up and put her in the floor, turned around for 2 seconds, and I'll be darned if she didn't jump right back on that blanket! Rotten! In another post, I have pics of the lovely work my dog did on the couch! Gotta love em?????
My dog has stolen a bear ear once... he took it right in front of me and I didnt notice until I was looking for it and there he was up to no good in the corner of the living room sniffing it... he didnt chew on it, thank god, it was only a bit slobbery! LOL
I take that back...Kim, you reminded me of a time when I had just started making bears; my dog stole a body part. I'm thinkin an arm. He was a puppy...so I guess I can forgive him.
I saw your lovely couch!! My dogs and cats are just as bad. I love them though. They are constant mischief. stealing or chewing. :redface:
But they are good company for my husband.
grins,
Kathy
The cat is "mine" and the dogs are "my fiance's". The cat, not so bad. We had two dogs, the younger one I'm certain is going to be a "puppy" forever. And my fiancee doesn't care much for cats. He swears she is going to live forever! Yesterday morning he told me he had a dream that Pookie (cat) was 60! I love her so much, so that's fine by me.
I had that thought too Daphne, but the dissecting them seems so unappealing but we could look at it as elective cosmetic surgery. I only have a couple that are complete disasters...they were both "learning" pieces and mini's at that so it wasn't a complete loss. For the most part all of my bears have turned out whether it was as I had originally intended I'm not sure...probably not.
I played with cheap fur and upholstery fabric the first few rounds that way if I completely messed up I didn't have a lot of money into them and wouldn't feel bad tossing them...or so I thought.
I was to impatient to wait
I'm shocked...what happened to you being a perfectionist control freak?
:o
Shantell
OMIGAWD! I AM a perfectionist, control freak! And I can't believe you have quoted me using the word "to" when it should have been "too." Darn me for my inconsistent proofreading... :)
Of course, I have fixed it already in my original post... for any of you who go back up to check. <evil grin>
I AM a perfectionist, control freak. But I am also exceedingly impatient, with certain things especially. Like, things that I COULD have now, but have to wait for, because the store is too far away/closed/doing inventory/etc.
I keep a little motto on my bulletin board: Never give up what you want most, for what you want in the moment. This is the key to avoiding my basest instinct, which is to give in to impulsivity, RIGHT NOW. I think it will be a life long battle.
And one which, in the teddy bear world, produces spastic, limb-flinging, seizure bears like PEACHES was.
By the way... once the disks arrived, the jointing situation improved right away. Laughing here...
Never give up what you want most, for what you want in the moment.
Hmmmmm.... Can I print this and put it on the fridge? Abover my work table? On the bathroom mirror? In the garage above my potting bench?
I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO impatient.... about everything! Oddly, I'm married to a procrastinator (I finally gave him a push... "Propose to me before I turn wrinkled and grey!!!!")
This is my favorite:
"I'd live life in the fast lane,
But I'm married to a speedbump!"
Daphne
I like that quote Shelli, a lot. Do you know who the author is?
I do not, unfortunately. It was something I picked up in my scrapbooking days, from someone else's posted pages, or from a quote book, or something like that. Sorry. :(
Daphne, everyone, post it anywhere you want. It's not mine to keep and hoard. Enjoy!
WooooHoooooo
PigMonkeyBear!!!.....he is planning on a little roving surgery this winter....I could never get rid of him.....He reminds me of my mistakes so I don't remake them, then there is Yentle the Yettie.....who is also anticipating some sculpting on her face.....
If we can't laugh at my mistakes we are in deep trouble
so here they are again! :dance: :dance: :dance:
wow....you won't believe this....PigMonkeyBear seems to have deleted his photos.....and even without a mouth he told me no more u ntil I give him his roving face lift......
I can't find his old pics anywhere on my computer.....oh welll......
AWWW Dilu, I think there is something appealing about her though! I love her nose and embroidery!
i love him
hippy bear flowers in his hair
silver on his nose
more flowers on his toes
smart enough to be seen anywhere :dance: