Teddies by Laura Lynn

My Work Table - Custom Built Just for Me!

2009-07-13T06:59:00.006-05:00

There's a new blog by a fellow teddy bear artist called Studio Shots - Tuesday. It's a cool blog showing other artists' studios. I love peeking into others' studios! This week the theme is "what have you customized for your studio"

My work table was designed by myself and built for me by my husband. Yes, I do know how lucky I am!

Although I am tall (5.10") , my height is all in my legs. My body is actually short. When I try to work at a standard desk, I am always holding my arms, thus my shoulders - up a bit. After a while this gets very tiring, so I designed my work table to be a bit shorter than a standard desk. It is SO comfortable to work at!

I was asked once why I didn't just get an adjustable chair and raise it up. (a much easier solution!) The reason for this is that then my feet would not be flat on the floor. Feet flat is very important for back health!

My work table was created from solid red oak. The drawers and door were hand crafted from a lovely wood called Paduk. If you'd like to see a larger version of the photos (and be able to read the notes!) just click on the picture :)

2 More Strudels Available to Order!

2009-07-08T14:24:00.003-05:00

I was happy to discover that I was able to get a little more of that yummy fur that Strudel is created from, so I was able to extend his edition by 4. 2 of those have already been spoken for, so there are 2 left available to order.

I'm really enjoying my new studio space! One of the unexpected pluses is that I can watch the hummingbirds visit our window mounted feeder all day long! Those little guys just amaze me ;)

Who's been keeping me busy... Isis!

2009-07-05T09:24:00.002-05:00

Yep, that's my sweet Isis girl... asleep in a basket :) We had been noticing her slowing down over the past several months. (she has congestive heart failure) and lately she had been having some IBS problems. But then a couple of weeks ago she stopped eating or drinking. I wouldn't force her to eat, but I knew water was vital so I'd squirt water onto her tongue many times a day.

As you can see in her photo, she can't "not eat" for very long! Besides which, that is usually the sign that they are ready to "go home". We wanted to give her every chance though... and took her to our fabulous vets - Dundee Animal Hospital. We assumed we would be given the worst news....

But our Isis girl, she is stubborn with a capital S! She always has been, and it has certainly come in handy during her illness :) After Xrays of her heart and blood tests to test her organs, (as she is on some fairly strong meds) it appears she was dehydrated. She did start this on the hottest, most humid day of the year... poor thing! (even in the a/c)

The doctor gave her some fluids under the skin - which is tricky with heart patients... so she gave her 1/2 the normal amount. Also some meds for her upset tummy - which actually works on the brain, not the stomach.. cool. And help for her IBS.

The next day she was feeling better... not totally, but eating and drinking! After a few more days I called the doctor back and told her she felt a bit better, but still had problems with the IBS even on the meds. After a 15 minute phone consult, she had me just zip into the hospital real quick to see one of the techs for another dose of fluids, and some more stuff for the IBS. (probiotics) She also decided to go ahead and cut her digoxin in half. That med is the only one that she is on that would cause the IBS.

Boy did we see a difference within a day! Now our sweet Isis girl is behaving like she was 6 months ago! Full of piss and vinegar, trying to playfully beat up her favorite "sister" Athena :) This is certainly a dog with 9 lives!

Happy Birthday America!

2009-07-04T09:45:00.001-05:00

I know it's been a long time since I've posted. It's been a little crazy around here - mostly due to our sweet Isis. She's doing well now :) Off and running again, but not before I say.....

Sneak Peek! Petal - Mini Mohair Butterfly Bear

2009-06-18T12:15:00.003-05:00

Petal is my latest mini butterfly bear! You can read more about her on her page here.

Major Studio Overhaul!

2009-06-11T20:41:00.006-05:00

I had a lovely weekend in New Hampshire with my awesome friend, Daphne Blau. We had a great time and loved that we were able to "play" all weekend.... this time our visit was not at the same time as a teddy bear show! I'll have a few photos later....

Sometimes the bears just aren't getting made -- it's kind of like writer's block for teddy bear artists. I think it's been going around the teddy bear world lately after hearing from many of my artist friends. This time, I decided I HAD to move my studio!!!!

My studio had been in a 3rd bedroom that I shared with our combined office and our Girls' crates. It could feel kind of cramped sometimes.

Although it does have 2 windows, it really does not get morning light and it can be hard to make myself "go to work" in a dark room (yes, I have lights... but I crave daylight!)

Also, having 5 dogs can be a little crazy sometimes. They are usually fairly mellow, but sometimes they go thru times when they need to pester Mom for one thing or another... one right after the other! Since their crates are IN my studio, I can't just put them to bed for a bit and close the door LOL! Pandora tends to be destructive if she's locked into a room without a person, so she must go into a crate (which she loves by the way :) (Yes, I do see the irony of her personality and her name LOL!!)

Before I left for New Hampshire, I brought up the idea of my moving my studio into the living room (front room, parlor) with DH. We really only used the living room as a place to display my bears and store a book case full of books.

Since my always helpful daughter was home on Wednesday, we just set ourselves to the task of swapping out and moving furniture! Today I was happy to have almost everything in place -- and took photos. I always love seeing where people create!

This first photo is coming from the open kitchen/eat in kitchen to the front door. (We don't use the front door because of the dogs) The next photo is what you would see if you looked to the right, then the left, and then walked into the front room... aka my studio. Please don't mind the tons and tons of nose prints on the window... or the rest of the dirt! That is a project for another day. And yes, I know I need a valance for the top of those vertical blinds... now that I'm actually using this room, I will actually get around to that soon :) Feel free to click on the photos if you'd like to see larger versions of them.

Sharing Photos of Custom Ordered Bears

2009-05-27T21:11:00.003-05:00

Hi again! Don't fall over, I'm sure it shocking to see me post so often all of a sudden LOL! Today was a better day. The meds are better today and my Girls are too :) No sick dogs for the last 3 days (knock on wood!)

I thought I'd share a couple of photos of 2 little cuties I made for a special friend - please meet Smudge and Lil' Strudel. I'll let you figure out who is who ;)

Medication side effects... Yuck!

2009-05-27T08:58:00.003-05:00

Argh! I am so frustrated! My doc told me a little less than a year ago that it's time for me to go on blood pressure medication. I wasn't surprised, both Mom and Dad have high blood pressure. What I AM surprised about is how hard it would be to find a medication that would work for me.

Actually, all 3 I have tried have lowered my bp, but they've had side effects that I just couldn't live with. The first one gave me pain in my hip which would hinder my walking - NOT good. The 2nd one made me very depressed, and now the 3rd one appears to make me feel like I've got a really bad case of PMS... ALL the time!

Right now I'm experimenting to check for sure if that feeling is actually from the medication or not. I think it probably is. After a few weeks when I started it I started feeling that way, but not nearly as badly as I've felt the last month or so. It's really made me feel awful and has had a negative effect on how much I can work.

So... just how many types of blood pressure medication ARE there? LOL! If all else fails, I'll go back to the one that caused hip pain - I can deal with that easier than the 2 other side effects LOL!!!

Piper a Pocket Bear ADOPTED

2009-05-26T22:37:00.009-05:00

Although I've been busy working on some custom orders, I do like to fit in a bear for the website here and there. I'd like to introduce you to Piper - a 6" Pocket Bear. Piper is one of a kind and cannot be duplicated.

If you'd like to adopt Piper, his adoption fee is $65 plus travel charges. It's late tonight, so I'm posting him here for now. Piper will be added to the website on Wednesday if he's still looking for a new home.

Piper has been ADOPTED

Happy Memorial Day

2009-05-24T10:13:00.003-05:00

It is the
VETERAN,
not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the
VETERAN who
salutes the Flag,

It is
the
VETERAN
who serves
under the Flag,

To All Who Are Serving and Who Have Served,
THANK YOU!!!

You are what Memorial Day is About!

I Need to Work on my Patience!

2009-05-22T08:32:00.003-05:00

Yep, I'm still trying to get those bear orders done. It's been a long 6-7 weeks. That's when the food issues started with our Dogs. Right now I think everyone is OK - but earlier this week Athena started having issues again, then she got better (thank you Kayopectate!) and yesterday Isis was having major tummy issues. Isis is so underweight that she can't afford to not eat :(

But this morning it appears that everyone is doing OK. I'm going to give Isis several smaller meals instead of 2 big meals and I'm leaving Athena on the 1/2 old food 1/2 new food for a while. Athena got sick cause I tried to rush the food switch... again. (You'd think I'd learn!) Last week Isis had a rash, and the cream the doc gave her made her sick to her tummy. I stopped using the cream, and started giving her smaller meals so her tummy could handle it. This week Isis got sick cause I tried to rush giving her full sized meals.

Patience IS a virtue ;)

Back from Moms!

2009-05-18T08:31:00.002-05:00

Sequoya sees her first cow

I've actually been back for a week, but it always seems to take a while to get back in the swing of things. Sequoya and I had a lovely time visiting with my Mom and my Step Dad in Kentucky. We didn't "do" anything, but just enjoyed visiting.

When I got back, Isis was having food issues again, so we are back to square one. Athena, however was doing well with the food switch over -- so it makes working with Isis a lot easier.

Today after running out to the Pet Market, I'm back to working on Strudel orders! Thank you to everyone who ordered one. They are all spoken for until I can see if I can order more of that yummy fur.

Truffles - formerly known as Ringo - on Ebay!

2009-05-07T11:04:00.004-05:00

I decided to list the prototype bear for my Ringo pattern on eBay. This teddy told me his name was all wrong and demanded a chocolately sounding name! And so, we have Truffle!

Truffle is listed on eBay for a 1 day auction only - starting at $75 and with a Buy it Now of $90.

If you would like to find Truffle's auction listing, you can find him on my Bears for Adoption Page.

Today I am getting ready to go play with my Mom this weekend :) Yep, I'm leaving the hubby and kid (a 20 year old kid anyways) at home with 4 of our dogs so I can play :)

Boy it takes a lot to get ready though! Need to get to the grocery store not only for munchies for the road, but also to pick up a few things for hubby to prepare for HIS mom this Mother's Day!

Right now I'm about to start cooking... dog food - packaging it all up individually to make it easy, Sorting out all the meds to make it simple for them to administer to the Girls... etc. I'll be glad to hit the road tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day in advance to all you Mom's out there!

Strudel - New Bear, Taking Orders

2009-05-04T12:07:00.006-05:00

Strudel is a 14" faux fur bear. I just love his fur! It's so different from what I usually use (mohair)

I had just placed Strudel on my website but he was adopted before I even finished his listing! I decided to go ahead and take orders for bears like him if you are interested.

At the moment I am limiting the number of orders of Strudel to 4. I currently have enough fur to make 4 and want to be sure I can obtain more of his fur before taking orders for any more. It's hard to know what fur and mohair we can get lately. We can always obtain fur and mohair, but not always the specific colors and styles that we want.

2 Years Since Isis' Accident!

2009-04-28T08:50:00.003-05:00

I can't remember if I've mentioned it before, but one of our whippet dogs - Isis, had an accident 2 years ago that left her paralyzed and then the steroids to treat that almost killed her because she had a heart condition that we didn't know about.

The vet gave her days, weeks, maybe a couple of months to live. 2 years later, she's still going strong!! Last weekend was the 2 year anniversary of her accident. We just LOVE this little Girl and treasure each and every day we get to have with her. I posted more about her on our Whippets' Blog.

A Cold Rainy Day... good to stay in BED!

2009-04-28T07:16:00.002-05:00

Ugh, it's cold and rainy today -- but that cold front should push these rain clouds away. It's just a good day to stay in bed. I'd love to go back... hubby got us up earlier than usual as he had to be at work early.

I wish I could stay inside all day and work on one of my custom orders! But I do have a couple of errands that need doing.. I should get those done right away so I can stay inside the rest of the day! Well, with the exception of taking all 5 dogs outside for their breaks. And they do NOT like rain!

New Bear & Pattern

2009-04-27T21:57:00.003-05:00

He's finally done! This is Ringo. I've had him designed and drawn out onto the mohair for quite a while, but had not gotten around to finishing him till now.

Ringo is the prototype for a new pattern that I have available for sale on my Patterns Site.

Ringo the finished bear is also looking for a new home. He can be found on the Bears for Adoption page of my site. He may go to eBay on Tuesday...I'm not sure yet.

I've got some more new bear ideas floating around in my mind, but right now I need to take care of some custom order bears :)

New Mini Bear on Website

2009-04-21T21:27:00.001-05:00

It's late tonight, but I wanted to get Blossom, my new Mini Butterfly Bear up on my website :)

She's a wee 3.75" tall and made from German mohair. You can learn more about her on my website - www.TeddiesbyLauraLynn.com

Hopefully I'll have a little more energy to post tomorrow :)

I think Spring is Here to Stay in Chicago!

2009-04-17T21:16:00.002-05:00

We're supposed to get one more great day on Saturday - sunny and 70's - but more importantly I don't think we'll get any more snow LOL!

This week I was able to finish up 2 custom bears for my doctor and have started on another custom order bear - but I hope to have another bear for the website sometime next week.

One other little project I finished was to make a quick blog/website about the eBook reader I got myself for my birthday last month. I had some friends and relatives ask me about it - because like me, they had only heard of the Kindle and didn't know there were other choices. I thought I'd just make up a website to explain how it works and where to get books for it. http://ebookwise.blogspot.com/

Update to the "Fishy Email"

2009-04-15T15:08:00.001-05:00

One of my bear artist friends did some further research on the Lakeshore Ministries manner and found some very disturbing news which further justifies our bad feelings about these people.

I've edited yesterday's post with the additional information. Keep away from these people and keep them away from kids!!

We're posting this so everyone we know will be aware of these scam artists. I say we because several of us worked on this and are now spreading the word.

Sorry these last 2 days have been downer of posts... but it's important to know.

Received an Fishy Email from a "Rev. Christi Summerour"

2009-04-14T16:32:00.011-05:00

Seems a lot of "teddy bear" people have been receiving emails from a Rev. Christi Summerour of Lakeshore Ministries to "help raise awareness of our teddy bear ministry". Something about it seemed "off" to me.

I don't know... it's probably the result of being the daughter of a police officer LOL! But I decided to do a little research.

The first email many people receive is simply an invitation to download a free book for children or teddy bear collectors "with no strings attached".

About 5 days later, another email was sent out, this time asking for money. The letter tries to pull at your heartstrings claiming that the "teddy bears are for homeless and hospitalized children" - and "it only costs $20 to sponsor a bear."

They do not tell us what percentage of your donation actually goes towards providing bears. $20 per bear is a pretty high cost for this type of bear. How much goes towards "administration costs"? 4 of the 5 staff members are relatives of the "Reverend". *

This is what I have found out about the Reverend and Lakeshore Ministries of Fort Worth, TX:
I can find NO physical address anywhere after doing both a Google and Yahoo search - only the P.O. Box address that is also found in her emails.

When I tried to look up her address by her phone number with the reverse look up, it comes up as unpublished.

She is an "ordained minister", by whom we don't know as they have no denomination affiliations -- but her masters degree is in business, not theology.

They are listed with the United Way of their county in Fort Worth, TX. The service they provide is "Transitional Housing". (housing for "people seeking to live a clean and sober life, or ex-offenders seeking to re-enter society.")

However those people must pay a weekly fee for this housing.

Lakeshore Ministries state that do include "assistance with employment" and transportation as well as "access" to programs for recovering substance abusers for those who use their Transitional Housing, but both those statements of "assistance" and "access" are really vague terms.

Their ministry just seems a little questionable....as an actual charity and it's ringing warning bells in MY mind. Yes, they are a A Non-Profit, 501(c)(3) Corporation. But it looks to me like they are doing this "ministry" as a full time business and getting paid for it.

The final "nail in the coffin" was when a "christisum" joined Teddy Talk for the sole purpose of posting the following post: (I know it was the "Reverend" because her email address in her profile is the same email address that sent those emails we received!)

There is a bear ministry that is giving away a free teddy bear book on their website in pdf form. No personal info required. It's really cute! Check it out at www.Bear Hugs For Kids.com

I downloaded this and loved it. It's called Chyrsanthemum Cinnebear and the Cinnebear Chronicles.

Now I'm sorry, but if you join a forum and pretend to be someone else (other than the actual owner of the site) in order to trick us into going to your site...I'm sorry... but I'm afraid I think this is a SCAM and you are trying to trick trusting and generous teddy bear people into sending you money!

I felt the need to share my concerns with other people who likely have received these same emails asking for money because this REALLY looks like a scam to me.

EDITED TO ADD.....

One of my bear artist friends (not sure if she wants to be named here or not) is experienced in doing searches and she has found some disturbing information on this couple. The "Rev" Christi Summerour is married to Don Summerour. They both work in their "ministry". Don Summerour has been found guilty in March of 2000 of rape of a 10 year old girl, a member of church youth group led by Don Summerour in 1993 - . The copy of the court document can be found here. But a word of warning, it's graphic.

This man should NOT be around children at all let alone "ministering" to them! I believe that Lakewood Ministries is a scam to try to con people into giving them money.

ON A POSITIVE NOTE HOWEVER>>>>>
*I'd like to mention that Good Bears of the World has been providing hundreds of thousands of teddy bears, for the past 40 years, to help ease the fears and trauma of lost and abused children, accident and natural disaster victims, as well as the lonely, fearful elderly.

Good Bears is 100% volunteer organization and 100% of your donation goes towards purchasing teddy bears for this purpose. They have a very long track record.. if you'd like to help with providing teddy bears for children who need them, I hope you'll consider Good Bears instead. They have chapters helping people with bears all over the USA (including Texas!) and also in Canada, England, the Netherlands & Japan!

What a Great Book on Sewing Artists Studios!!

2009-04-11T10:11:00.004-05:00

I love taking peeks into other artists' studios. I just love it when they post photos on their blogs or in Flickr. Those photos always give me ideas. I love my studio.. but I think of it as a constant work in progress ;)

I was searching around on Amazon for back issues of the Stampington Magazine - Where Women Create and found this awesome book - Dream Sewing Spaces: Design and Organization for Spaces Large & Small.

I am fortunate enough to have a room dedicated to my studio. Well, studio & office. The computer desk takes up one entire wall - and both my hubby and I have to share that. We each have our own laptops, but the bill paying stuff has to go somewhere!

This book covers ideas for entire rooms... large or small and also has ideas for (taken from the table of contents) The Guest Room as a Sewing Room, The Laundry Room, Office/Sewing Room (hey, that's for me!), From Dining Room to Sewing Room/Office, When All You Have is a Closet, Nooks & Crannies.

I can't wait to order my copy!!!!

Recurring Dreams....

2009-04-09T07:43:00.002-05:00

Do you ever have recurring dreams? I used to have two.

One was that a plane crashed in our back yard.

The other was that a "mean" dog that looked like our dog ran into our house and started a fight with our dog.

I don't have either of those dreams anymore, but I do still have a recurring dream. That is that I am setting up at a bear show and I realize that I have forgotten to bring my BEARS! The dreams are always a little different... different shows, different cities - but always it's me forgetting my bears LOL!

Actually I have a check list for when I'm getting ready to go to a show - and you can be sure that the BEARS on are on the list! In fact, they are at the top of the list LOL!

Finally... a day with no place to go! (and new Tag a Longs on my site!)

2009-04-08T08:43:00.003-05:00

I was very surprised with myself! I managed to list these Teddy Tag-a-Longs on my website today before 9am LOL!

I've got some special order bears I've been working on, but have been able to fit these little guys in here and there.

Today I am thrilled that I have no place to go!! That means that hopefully I can have a marathon bear making day! As I mentioned, I have some special order bears that I'd really like to finish for their new owners :)

Yesterday was spent out at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Schaumburg, IL. Yep, the same place where Daphne Blau and myself are hosting the Chicagoland Teddy Bear Show this October 24th.

Yes, I know - the show is still 6 months away! There are still a lot of details to take care of and it is much easier to take care of a few at a time over time - than to try to do them ALL in October!

This hotel is just beautiful! It is going to be a lovely setting for this premier teddy bear event! Let me share just a couple of photos of the hotel...and now, I'd better get to making those bears!

Look what I found on eBay!

2009-04-07T15:36:00.006-05:00

I found this cute plaque to go on top of my new Bear Case! I was just surfing for "signs" in the Bear category on eBay ;)

Do you see that adorable little bunny to the right? That is from my very good friend Daphne Blau! I just love him :)

And I've started something new... I'm "Tweeting" on Twitter now! If you check out the section in the upper right hand corner there you can see "What I'm up to Today."