Patrick and Website Change

Patrick is my latest bear looking for a new home. I have not yet sent an email out yet as I have one more bear to get onto my site. I'd rather wait so I can just send out one email :)

I'm also playing around with the website a little - just a little I promise LOL!

Although I do appear to keep adding more and more things to my "to do" list, I really do try to see where I can save some time. Adding new bears to the website takes up LOTS of time. I think I've found a way to cut down a little on that - which makes for more time to actually make the bears!

I am a member of Bearpile.com. It's a neat site where you can browse for bears and adopt them. No bidding and no membership is required to buy a bear from artists on Bearpile.

I found that I was duplicating a lot of tasks when listing a bear. First, I'd list him or her on my site, and then I'd put the same information on Bearpile.

Once I realized this, I decided to try out a little something new. On my Bears for Adoption page you will find buttons for "More Photos" (as Bearpile only allows 2 photos) "Details" which takes you to the bear's Bearpile page and has all the "Bear Facts" about the bear, and "Order" which takes you to that bear's secure order form.

One feature I particularly like about Bearpile is their secure order form. If the artist accepts credit cards, you can enter in all the information on the order form there as it is secure. The artist is the only one who has access to that information. Of course, if you wish to pay via check or Paypal, those options are available in the drop down menu.

I've been Profiled in TBCI

I was very honored to have my profile published in the British teddy bear magazine: Teddy Bear Club International.

This British teddy bear magazine is published monthly as compared to bimonthly for our US teddy magazines.

The subscription cost to TCBI is a little pricey at $110 USD. But you DO get 12 issues instead of 12 and it does have to be imported also.

The cool thing about Teddy Bear Club International is if you want to subscribe but $110 a year is too steep, they offer an "IMag" for around $20 a year. You can read the magazine online and even print it out.

If you still want the actual paper publication... but don't want to pay for the full year all at once, you can also purchase one issue at a time as they come out.

I'm not trying to sell teddy magazines LOL! Just sharing another addiction :) If you are interested, you can find more info on their website: www.Planet-Teddybear.com

Took a Break from Bearmaking....

The church bazaar is this weekend and the big Schaumburg ABC show is next weekend - the pressure is on now, that's for sure!

But last weekend I remembered to take a break and have a good romp with my whippets! I've been meaning to take photos for ages and decided it was about time.

Some of you may remember Isis - our whippet last spring who slipped and was paralyzed - and then we found out has a very bad heart condition.

Well, as you can see here... she's not paralyzed anymore :) Ball is her favorite game and she looks so happy here! She won't be 100% - she's still a little wobbly sometimes. We call her our "drunken sailor". As for her heart... well -- we don't know how much time we have with her... but we're making LOTS of great memories!

If you want to see all the photos - they are HERE in my Flickr account!

Now... back to making bears!

The Inspiraton for my Next Bear

Candy Corn
Originally uploaded by ಌ♥Jewellove♥ಌ

One of my hobbies is photography. So one of my favorite websites is Flickr!

I was surfing Flickr the other day and came across this photo by ಌ♥Jewellove♥ಌ and was inspired for my next bear and free pattern!

Hopefully I'll have the prototype done by the end of the week.

Bear Show Sneek Peeks!

Hi everyone!

I know there have not been very many new bears on the website - I apologize! I've been busy working on orders and getting ready for my last two shows of the year - the last 2 weekends of October.

I think part of the fun of going to a show is the surprise when you see all the bears! I just can't resist, though, sharing just a little bit of who is ready for the shows so far.

New Blog - the biz of working from home

I've been wanting to talk about the nitty gritty part of working from home... but this blog just didn't seem to be the right place. I wanted to keep this one just about the bears.

So I started a new blog for those who may be interested: Working from Home Blog

Two reasons for starting this blog... (1) To try to help others who work from home with some ideas. (2) To try to help MYSELF with working from home! Sometimes when I talk things out I'm able to figure out what will work for me.

Have Fun with Bear Displays this Fall!

Mini Bears and Pumpkin Teapot

Originally uploaded by Laura Lynn - Teddy Bear Artist

Although the temperature feels like summer right now, it IS October and thus, fall! I love fall.... for the cooler weather (normally!) and the decorating!

Here are just a few ways I have displayed some of my bear collection this fall.....

New Show Added! October 20th - Elgin, IL

Saturday, October 20th from 8:30am - 2:30pm. Epworth United Methodist Church in Elgin, IL. NW corner of Randall Rd. & Highland Ave.

It's not a bear show... but a church bazaar. One of my neighbors helps out at her church and they were looking for artists for their show. This church happens to be just down the street about 1 1/2 miles from me, so I said yes.

The big Schaumburg ABC OctoBear Faire is the following weekend. Since I've been busy getting ready for that... I'll have enough for the bazaar without going crazy (I think LOL!)

I realize that there may not be many artist bear collectors - and that's OK! My main purpose is to get artist bears "out there". I plan on having fliers explaining about artist bears... and I have a large stack of both US magazines: Teddy Bear & Friends and Teddy Bear Review that I'll be giving away too.

Oh, I forgot to mention!!!! I'm going to start giving teddy bear making classes in my home! The bazaar will be a great way to start to advertise this to the neighborhood as well :)