A Happy New Year to everyone and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.
Just a reminder that World of Bears advertised specials end on 31st December and are only available on-line. I will be repacing these in the new year with some new voucher specials.
Also there are some new releases: Gund 89110 Warm Hugs bear, Gund 89112 Thnk of You Makes Me Smile bear, Gund 89111 Need a Cuddle bear and some UK exclusives Hello Kitty pink or gold Angel.
Current best sellers include Steiff EAN 663413 Cosy Year Bear 2010, Hansa 3703 Meerkat, Steiff EAN 036170 Rocky Grizzly Bear Cub and Russ Berrie 85062/85063 Scorch Dragon Blue.
My youngest son, Daniel has worked very hard making me a video for my website. I'm very happy with the end result and so proud of him. Children are so clever at technical things. I don't know what I'll do when he leaves home to go to college. He's the only one who can fix the television when I press the wrong button and get a totally blue screen. He has told me how to fix it many times but it just doesn't click! The problem is all the gadgets attached to the television, there's the pay TV box, the video player, the playstation and so on, it's all very confusing! Anyway, back to the new video, Daniel has put some of the images from my website, labelled them and added music and it's very effective. Here is the video :
Teddy bear eyes are the most expressive part of a teddy bears face, so you will need to decide what sort of eyes to use, what size and colour and where to position them. If the teddy bear is for an adult or a collector, glass eyes should be used.
Glass Teddy Bear Eyes
Glass eyes come in a huge range of colours and sizes and most of them are hand made, it's very hard to choose which colour although black is the most popular.
I love to use one of the many choices of blue eyes for bears that are white or light coloured. I like to also trim the fur around the eyes so that the eyes are more visible. I use coloured head straight pins to decide where to place the eyes. I prefer the eyes to be set fairly close together, but they can be wide apart if that's the right look for the bear. Move the pins around until you're happy with the position. I use dental floss to sew in the eyes as it's very strong and almost impossible to break. Pull the eyes in tight so that they make an indent in the teddy bears head. This makes the eyes look like they are in an eye socket.
Safety Teddy Bear Eyes
Safety eyes should always be used is the teddy bear is for a baby or a child. These also come in brown, black and many other colours.
Eye sizes range from 1mm for small bears to 30mm for large bears. Safety eyes are placed in the head before stuffing the head. Glass eyes are sewn in after stuffing. I find that putting larger eyes on a teddy bear makes the teddy bear look younger. Most bear makers tend to use black shiny eyes but I like to vary the eye colours and sizes that I use.
Where to buy Teddy Bear Eyes
Glass eyes can be bought from craft shops that sell teddy bear supplies or they can be bought easily on-line.
Happy Bear-Making!
First of all, your teddy bear or stuffed animal needs to have a name. If he or she doesn't come with one or you don't like the name given, choose one that you like and which suits the toys character.
Check out the laundry instructions for washing your teddy bear or stuffed animal. Some can be washed in the washing machine, but check the label first. Please don't put you mohair collector teddy bear with glass eyes that you paid a fortune for in the washing machine. These bears can be cleaned by dusting, light vacuuming and wiping with a damp cloth. I personally like to wash teddy bears and stuffed animals by hand and hang them by the ears on the washing line out of direct sunlight. This sounds cruel but I'm sure they don't feel any pain!
Dressing the teddy bears is also fun, clothes can be bought or made if your handy with a sewing machine. Some teddies have a very nice collection of clothes for various occassions.
If your teddy bear or stuffed animal gets injured, sew him up or his stuffing may start to fall out and the hole will get bigger. Use a strong double thread to sew up any loose seams.
If you have a very fluffy teddy bear or stuffed animal they can be washed and brushed then dried with a hair dryer to keep them fluffy.
Teddy bears make good friends so spend some time with them!
