Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Braille TeddiesIs it crazy to wonder how your bears are doing after they've been adopted? I made bears for my mom and sister both. My mom put her bear up, I have no idea where. My sister has her bear in a box because she has been moving a lot. This really upsets me because I made them to help my mom and sister heal, as my own precious bears have done, from the loss of my baby sister. My desire is that my bears will have the same relationship with their humans as I have with Arcto. I know that may not be possible, but I at least want them to be loved the way I would have loved them and do love them. I know that not everybody expresses their love for their bears the way I do, but to just stick them in a box and never think about them again? I just feel bad for them. I know my mom and sister aren't into bears, but I was really hoping the bears would be able to take care of them. They haven't even named their bears *cries into Arcto's fur*. Am I crazy? At least I know my Meemaw adores her bear.
desertmountainbearThis is a hard thing to accept if you are going to sell your bears or give them away. But you have to distance yourself from them. Once a bear leaves your possession you can not have control over what happens to them. I did twice see a bear I have made being resold by the original owner and I did feel bad that maybe they didn't like him anymore. But they were no longer my bears.
I never give bears as gifts to anyone unless I know that they are bear lovers. It is not that I feel bad for the bear but I feel bad for me putting all that work in and not having them really care.
I am a bear collector and lover but even I don't love them like you do. Mine sit in the workroom with me, and they let me know that they are happy there.
Joanne
Is it crazy to wonder how your bears are doing after they've been adopted? I made bears for my mom and sister both.
Well although I've adopted bears from other artists here in the past, I mostly adopt from one artist in particular and always let her know how her bears are doing -- why recently, my posts on Google+ have been doing just that. :)
I suppose it's difficult for an artist to know if their work will be loved, but if they can build a relationship up with the collector over time, then all should be well. Certainly is the case that each and every teddy bear I've adopted has/is well-loved. :) I take pride in that. :)
-- Thomas Adam
Braille TeddiesJoanne, at least your bears are loved. These poor little dudes are just sitting in a box and never even thought about. People who are visual love with their eyeballs, but it is still love. I just put so much love for my mom and sister into those bears and they don't even pay attention to them.
PennsylvaniaPeople who are visual love with their eyeballs, but it is still love.
Bam! You nailed it, right there! 
I've been trying to think of a way to say that but couldn't come up with the right words. That's exactly what I was thinking, only better spoken.
There's two things that I was trying to think of. I hope you don't get upset at me for acting stupid...
First, most people don't understand that being "blind" is as much an identity as it is a physical state. Maybe more.
I don't know whether you are fully blind or partially blind (so-called "legally blind") but it doesn't matter, really. It is how YOU identify yourself, not how others identify you. Calling yourself "Blind" is the same thing as calling yourself "White" or "Black" or "Chinese."
The second thing is that, as a Blind person, you don't "see" the way normally sighted people do. Notice that I was careful to say "normally sighted" and not just "sighted." That's important because you do "see." You just don't see with your eyes. You see by touch and you see by memory and imagination. Normally sighted people who see with their eyes don't perceive things the same way that you do. To be bluntly honest, normally sighted people take a lot of the world for granted.
Your family lives with you all the time. They know you very well and they are used to you being Blind. They probably take you for granted, as well. (Everybody takes their family for granted, sometimes.) Familiarity often makes things seem mundane.
The first time I looked at your Bears, I thought they were nice but I wasn't really impressed. Then, as I started looking at them closer, I started to see them more like the way you see them. Now, I think your Bears are really nice because I finally understood that your Bears are seen with the hands, not the eyes.
As I look at your Bears, I think that the best way for a normally sighted person to "see" them is to do it the way you "see" them; with their eyes closed. People need to touch them and hug them without relying on simple visual images and do it with their mind and their heart.
When it comes to your family, I wonder whether they need to be reminded of that and, for people that adopt your Bears, I think it would be a good thing to tell them from the start.
What do you think about this idea? When one of your Bears is adopted, do you think that he or she comes with a little card that says, "Please hug me with your eyes closed so that you can see me the way my Bearmaker sees me."
Your Bears are special because they were made by you and I think it is important for others to understand that.
I'm sorry if I sound stupid or narrow minded but that's the best way I can say it. It took me more than 400 words to say the same thing you were able to sum up in just one sentence:
"People who are visual love with their eyeballs, but it is still love."
GermanyI know some blind people. They have a special life and it is often to be seen hard things like they. Often we take from sighted our eyes as too natural.
Your bears are something special. I also think which is your history a part of the bear. The people should know it.
Every bearmaker lays a piece of himself in the bear. In the beginning I could also separate hard. However, I hope, it goes well to all and they bring joy to her new home. Only they emigrated within the family. In the meantime, they have also found very far away a new home.
I hope, the translator can translate my words well.
... One sees only with the heart well....
The small prince; Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Braille TeddiesUs Bears, well put. I may put that on my little cards. I definitely let people know I'm blind when it comes to my bears because one, it explains the reason they kind of lack in the visual appealing department, and two, because usually the world of artist bears is so visual and I think it adds something to the bears to know they were made by a blind person. I'm so new to artist bears and collector bears in general. I didn't even know there were artist bears until last year when I joined Teddy Bears Forum. I knew people collected bears, but I thought they saw them like I do. This is why I was shocked as to why anyone would want a hard bear.
Since I now have a few artist bears and one antique bear, I realize they are very cuddly, just a different kind of cuddly. I hate to tell you this, but sometimes I get a bit annoyed with visual collectors because if a bear doesn't have a certain label or look a certain way or whatever, they would just walk by without a backward glance. I wish more people would hug bears with their eyes closed, although of course that wouldn't work for this forum, lol. I wish people could see all bears the way I do, whether they came from the greatest bear artist or Walmart or whatever. Hey, let's have everybody go to the next teddy bear show blindfolded, or not. I can just see the visual people trying to navigate in the dark. Hahaha.
BTW, Usbears, I had never sewn anything in my life except a pillow case in girlscouts several years ago until I made B.G.B., and never gave a flip about sewing.
PennsylvaniaHey, let's have everybody go to the next teddy bear show blindfolded, or not. I can just see the visual people trying to navigate in the dark. Hahaha.
Funny but true!
A little bit of back story:
I work at a Cathoic college, run by the Sisters of Mercy. About every year or so, they have a "Blind Walk" where people have to put on blindfolds and try to navigate all around campus without seeing. They pass out white canes and they have guides to walk along with people so they don't fall down stairs and stuff. The idea is to teach people to be more aware of what it is like to be blind.
Maybe this is a bit too cliché for your taste but it might be interesting to have a "Blind Bear Hug" where people put on blindfolds and meet up with different Bears.
What if every Bear you adopted out came with its own blindfold, too?
I don't know... It sounds silly but it's food for thought.
For somebody who only recently took up sewing, I am impressed to see you jumping into Bearmaking so soon. Then, to know that you are blind I am nothing short of amazed!
Your sewing skills will improve. Just be patient.
Now that I understand better, I kind of like your Bears just the way they are. When the seams aren't perfectly straight or the eye's aren't perfectly lined up, it adds a certain character to the Bear. Mass produced, machine made Bears are somewhat sterile by comparison. Of course, everybody who takes up a craft should strive to improve their skills but I don't think you should be in too much of a hurry. Just let nature take its course. You will improve with experience and time.
Don't be afraid to use the fact that you are blind as a selling point. It might be just an everyday thing to you but other people don't know that and, up to the point where it becomes patronizing, it's important for people to understand.
Braille TeddiesOh, UsBears, you just made my bear Arcto cry with that jab at manufactured bears. Man, you were doing so good until you made him cry. No, manufactured bears don't have the soul of the artist, but they are brought to life when someone adores them. Sorry, pet peeve.
Braille TeddiesOh, BTW, some of the really goofy-looking eyes were where I got my husband to help me. He doesn't have sight either.
Just thought you should know that Hello Joe (Wubbie's avatar bear) is much loved at my house. 
I think what Usbears means about manufactured bears is that they look exactly alike - "sterile" in terms of having nothing that distinguishes them from the rest of the batch (at least in appearance). I really enjoy looking at my group of bears because each one is very unique, whether it's a battered old-timer, a manufactured bear (once they're in my hug, they're unique--not part of a batch), or an artist-made bear. Hello Joe makes me smile, and he's got his own vibe and style that make him special. The rest of the bears love him as well. (You can just tell.)
Becky
Braille TeddiesI've never seen a bear that looked exactly like Arcto. I think I'd freak out if I did. With manufactured bears you have to see them the way I do to appreciate them. When artists make bears, everything in their hearts is revealed visually, but the only way to find out what a manufactured bear's character is like, you have to get to know him, and of course once you cry on a bear, he's irreplacible.
PennsylvaniaThere are more than 1,000 Bears living in our Den. Most of them are manufactured and we love every one of them.
I mean that there is less variation in manufactured Bears. With hand made Bears, there is much more difference between Bears even if he is the same pattern or design.
I'm sorry if I upset Arcto. :cry:
Would a cookie make him feel better. If we ever meet up, you can tell him that I owe him a cookie and an apology. (But the cookie first! 
)
I am sighted (with glasses) but, like Jessie, I like huggable teddies. That is my prefrence. Everyone has a preference and that is OK with me, mine is huggable Teddies. I think that once a Teddy is loved he becomes special no matter where he came from.
Braille TeddiesUsBears, Arcto says he forgives you. Also, I heard you have bears from Build a Bear. My bears TC, Jed, and Dexter say hi to them.
PennsylvaniaThanks, Arcto! :)
Yes, we have many Build-A-Bears! There are a couple dozen living here.
We love having them with us and they get fed regularly. Cookies and scones and all sorts of other yummies.
Braille TeddiesI had a bear from there named Slippy. He was just called the polar bear. I put a music box in him that played the Brahms Lullaby. He disappeared to I have no idea where. I'd give anything to have him back.
