Holidays!

Holidays are the perfect occasion to give and receive teddy bear gifts. It is a wonderful time for collectors, with family and friends feeding their collecting frenzy.

These holidays, make your own wish list of bears! And don't forget to buy a special Santa Bear to remember the Christmas by.

Also, make sure teddy bears are included in the holiday decorating! A bunch of bears under a Christmas tree would look simply adorable. Santa and other red and white bears scattered around tastefully in the rooms would also give a christmas-y feel to the home.

It is also a time to take a deep look at your collection, and decide upon the objectives for the year ahead. It is a great time to take an inventory of your bears, and may be even decide which bears are ready to be given away to others who might enjoy them more - especially if storage is becoming a problem for you.

Make some new year bear resolutions, and figure out the direction you want your collection to grow in, in the upcoming year. It would be good to do this fairly early, so your wishlist can contain the bears you really need.

Last but not the least - take the time to really enjoy the collection, by playing with them and taking many photos of them posing in various settings!

Themed bear displays

I decided to have seasons themes for my teddy bear collection displays. I will be having themed displays for each season, with bears wearing the right colors and costumes. I can also set the theme by staging certain elements of the season in my bear display shelf - miniature snowmen, hanging snowflakes, santa's deers and valentine hearts for winter; florals for spring and so on. Here is how I plan to arrange the bears each season:

Winter:

Winter says christmas, snow and also valentine's day for me. So my winter display will have my polar bears, cream bears, grey bears and also bears of other colors in winter clothing (think Boomer bear from Russ). Not to forget Santa Bears! The left portion of my display will contain the christmas theme and the right will be a valentine's theme, with all my I love you bears and red bears. In the middle, I will put bears to blend the themes in by using some transition bears.

Spring:

Pastels and green shout spring. A spring display needs lots of pink, lavender, silver, pastel blue and other shades well blended, using bears of that color. Green bears can set a background for the display, or a green spring landscape scene would be the perfect setting for all the pastels to bloom in. No greys or whites here!

Summer:

Summer is for bright colors and daring patterns. I shall put up my yellow, orange, deep blue and other summery colors in this display, all set in a background of sunflower pictures. Multicolored bears can also be a part of a summer display. Light and airy summer or outdoor costumed bears in any color fur can also join in the fun, and will help to set the mood. While it is always fun to mix and match bears of different bold colors, it would be important to create a balanced look by blending the colors well with transition bears. I am even thinking a rainbow theme - bears from violet through red, all arranged from left to right.

Autumn:

A fall display can look great in harvest colors of red, orange, gold etc. One or two purple bears can also add to the fun of the setting and prevent it from looking too orange-y. I would want to throw in a background setting with fall pictures to set the mood.

Some of the bears can fit more than one season. Every bear in the collection gets to come out in at least one season - so none is left forever in storage. Plus, this setting gives me my shopping list, too - "now, if I can find a lavender bear for the spring season, it would be great!" So my bear collection would be more enjoyable and more visually appealing too.

You can try this yourself. Find out themes you love, and put up a display exclusively for that theme. You will have a lot of fun, and perhaps even add more bears to your hug after an exciting hunt for the perfect pieces of your theme. And you never know, you may even end up centering your entire collection around that particular theme!

Finding direction in your collection

Heya,

Let's face it - bears aren't exactly something you can store away in desk drawers, they take up space. And as with any collector, a bear collector also tends to collect first and think later about storage and display. Plus, in these economic times, it is not easy for non-multimillionaire collectors to buy everything they love.

So, what do we do? How do we make sure that our collection doesn't end up wasting money or space? The answer is direction.

The reason why many teddy bear collectors seem to end up with rooms overflowing with bears and hardly any time or space to enjoy them, is because they went around collecting every bear that caught their eye. In the initial stages where teddy bears of any and every type attract us, it is hard not to fall into this problem. I admit I had it too.

But sooner or later, we realize that if we keep doing things that way, we would soon end up homeless, or would have to part with a majority of the collection in order to make room for new comers. Or it may cause friction with your loved ones who once tried to be supportive of your bear-mania by gifting you special teddies.

So, a time comes when we just have to find a direction to our collection. A time when we decide, okay, from now on I am going to focus on this manufacturer / material / character / color / country, and only buy teddies of that area. This would significantly reduce impulse buys, and you would have a collection which looks more professional and appealing. Plus, it might even end up being more valuable than a generic and unfocused collection.

Now, finding this direction would give us specific collecting goals. What is the next thing I am looking for? And the thrill of the hunt begins. It is much more fun to actively seek and find a special bear than to randomly pick up a cute bear at the local mall.

Since you can pick your direction depending on your taste, budget and space availability, chances are it wouldn't end up causing you too much trouble. And you might even be able to enjoy the collection more.

Once you feel you have collected enough from a certain niche, you can always move on to a new niche, so it is not like you are tied up for life. Also, even while you are focusing exclusively on one segment, if a unique and special bear comes your way for a great price, you needn't hesitate to bring her home either ;)

Now, after eight years of collecting, is my own collection starting to find a direction now? Yes, finally! I am now focusing on colors, and adding uniquely colored ones to my collection. So, if you have an amethyst or gold colored bear to spare, feel free to send them my way ;)

Cheers!

2009 November - Bear of the Month

The 2009 November bears of the month are Pilgrim Bears from Vermont Teddy Bear Company, specially made for Thanksgiving fun! These 15" bears are available in Buttercream fur.

Wearing gold-buttoned jackets with white collars, her outfit is complete with aproned skirt and bonnet and his with brown knickers and traditional Puritan hat. Send them as a gift to celebrate the season or let them overlook your festive feast as the Thanksgiving table centerpiece.

Content and picture courtesy: http://www.vermontteddybear.com/SellGroup/Pilgrim-Bears.aspx

2009 October - Bear of the month

The bear of October 2009 is a 5" Gund bear, named "Elvis Love me tender." He comes in three colors: Beige, purple and silver.

Love Me Tender recreates one of Elvis Presley's classic moments of rock n roll in this collectible teddy bear.

Gund has worked with bear designer, Susan Johnson, to produce this fabulous collection of Limited Edition mohair bears and this miniature collectible teddy bear is one of six from the Elvis Presley Teddy Bears Collection - a 2006 Limited edition of 550.

The little bear wears a clown's hat and neckerchief in purple and silver and has three buttons stitched to his tummy.

This Elvis teddy bear will be rocking and rolling right into your heart and comes in a gift box with a numbered certificate of authenticity.

This is a collectible item and not suitable for children under 14 years.

Surface washable.

Information courtesy: http://www.teddybearfriends.co.uk/

2009 September - Bear of the month

The bear of the month of September 2009 is Lady Bukowski Bear from Bukowski. This 12" bear is a light brown teddy bear with soft medium-length plush.

Lady Bukowski is in a misty rose coloured traditional dress with white lace trimming.

On her head she wears a matching bonnet and she has beans in her bottom that enable her to pose in a sitting position without support.

Lady Bukowski bear has small round black beads for eyes and a brown stitched nose.

Information courtesy: http://www.teddybearfriends.co.uk/

A collector's coming of age!

As with any collection, we often find that a collector "comes-of-age" when the focus of the collection shifts from quantity to quality.

Now, in the case of teddy bears especially, quality does not really translate to highly priced collectibles alone. It means owning bears that have a special quality in your eyes. It means selecting bears because they are just ones you cannot live without. It also means choosing bears not just because they are ones you can afford or are the ones that others seem to appreciate.

A true quality teddy bear collection has only those bears which bring joy to the collector. Each bear would be special in the eyes of the collector.

Unlike several other hobbies, a teddy bear collection is one that should be purely accumulated for the joy of it. Investment shouldn't really be a concern. Although, if the bears that bring you joy are top-notch collectible ones, go ahead by all means! But remember that the true quality of a bear is in how much you enjoy him/her.

And, if at some point you feel like you should pass on a bear in a collection to someone who would enjoy it more than you would, don't feel guilty about it! After all, every bear deserves to be loved, and it is only fair that they should end up with people who truly love them.

Cheers!

2009 August - Bear of the month

The bear of the month of August 2009 is Talia, from Charlies Bears' Isabelle Collection. She is designed by the award winning artist Isabelle Lee. She is made from the finest German Schulte Mohair, with glass eyes and a fully jointed body. She is a limited edition bear and comes with her own certificate of authenticity and presentation box. Not a bear to be missed!

2009 July - Bear of the month

The bear of the month of July 2009 is Laura Bearybloom, from Boyds. She is the July bear month, and represents Larkspur, the flower of July. She is a limited edition bear, only 2200 bears made! She has hand crafted embellishments and custom-blended fur. She is adorned in an elegant blend of co-ordinating satins, tulle and custom fabrics. She has a bear of the month foot sash, hand numbered foot patch and customized bear of the month hang tag. Don't miss her!

Candy Month!

Hello!

June is Candy Month! Here are some ways to celebrate it with your bears!

1. Give candy to your bears! Make sure you don't give them too many though, since they may develop a tooth ache!

2. Name a bear "Candy"! Perhaps one that reminds you of a candy?

3. Save up candy money and buy a bear!

4. Take the bears out on picnic and bring lots of candy! June 21st, the first day of summer, may just be the perfect day for that! This year, it falls on a sunday too!

5. Have a candy themed party for the bears!

6. Gift a bear and a candy to a child and spread the joy!

7. Post a blog about your beary special candy month!

8. Take pictures of your bears with lots of candy!

9. Get together with fellow bear collectors and arrange a candy themed teddy bear picnic!

10. Write in your own creative candy month bear experiences as comments!

Cheers!

2009 June - Bear of the Month

Drum Roll please... The bear of the month of June 2009 is Russ Ebbets Teddy Bear, a Limited Edition 14" winner.

Ebbets is a very special stuffed bear. Don't miss an opportunity to own this Limited Edition bear, named by Russ Berrie for his favorite Brooklyn, NY baseball field. Ebbets is made of Mystic Minque, has jointed neck, arms and legs and features a flocked ribbon tie and personal signature of Russ Berrie embroidered on his paw pad.

A 10th Anniversary Signature Bear limited to only 5000 pieces, this heirloom quality teddy comes with a hand numbered certificate that includes images of all ten of the Signature Collection Bears. Wrapped in tissue and gift boxed, each hand numbered Ebbets carries the personal signature of Russ Berrie...and is sure to become a treasured companion for you or someone special!

Cheers!

Organize your bear collection

Hello!

Are you addicted to bears? Do you have so many bears in your collection that you don't know what to do with them? Here are some tips to organize your bear collection.

1. Create a bear catalogue.
This will come really handy not just to identify your bears even after the tags wear out, but also in valuing them later on. You can create a simple catalogue in a notepad or in your computer as an excel sheet. The name of the bear, manufacturer/artist, purchase date, purchase place, bill number, price and any other comment can be included in your catalogue. Don't worry if you don't have the details of any of your bears so far, you can always just write down the names of the bears you own, and fill in the details for the bears you buy from now on. It would be a good idea to save the bill too, by affixing it to your bear's page in the catalogue.

2. Decide on an organizing theme.
You can organize your bears in so many different ways. It would be a good idea to decide how you are going to classify your bears. You can do it by color, by manufacturer, by age (antique, vintage, modern), by artist, by size etc. Once you have decided on a theme of your choice, you can go about classifying each bear to its group. If you have a bear catalogue in place, you can include the classification also in it.

3. Decide which bears to store away.
Often, our collections get too huge and our space too small. In such cases, we may have to store some of our precious friends away in an attic or basement temporarily. Remember to store them in moisture free places, after wrapping each one in a white cloth, and away from direct sunlight and pests. If you have decided on a theme, you can decide to display one particular group only for now, and store all the rest away.

4. Display your bears.
You would be left with some choice bears which you are going to display. You can arrange these bears around your house, or collect them all in one show case. Remember to clean each chosen bear before display. Make sure you display them out of reach of pets and pests. Remember that every once in a while, the bears would love it if you would take them down from display positions and play with them!

5. Rotate your display.
The fun part about your displaying your collection is in rotating. You can rotate your bear display every month, every season (summer, autumn etc), every year or just whenever you feel like it. Rotating your display helps to liven up your living space and give it a touch of freshness. Also, it will make sure that no bear gets stored away for too long, because they do love attention and company! If you have classified your bears into groups, you can rotate each group in a period of time. For example, you may have divided your bears according to color. Perhaps you can display all your white bears in January, red bears in February, yellow ones in March and so on! Have fun with your display, enjoy your collection.

Hope these tips are helpful in organizing your collection and enjoying it more!

Cheers!

2009 May - Bear of the Month

Hello!

May is the month of Mother's Day. So, for 2009 May, our bear of the month is a Mother's Day special bear.

She is a 15" "Home is Where Your Mom Is" Vermont Teddy Bear. She comes with a yellow hair bow, a green petticoat and a yellow smock sundress. This decidedly supercute bear comes in 7 possible fur colors - Vanilla, Buttercream, Honey, Dark Chocolate, Snow, Mable and Espresso.

She is the best possible gift to say "I love you, Mom"!

Cheers!

Teddy Bear Names

Hello!

I have so many bear names that I love, which are yet to be used. Hopefully I will use them on some bears I own in the future! 

The names I have in mind include: Honey, Pebble, Caramel, Cashew, Tiffany, Bell, Bubbles, Buttercup etc. 

I haven't named my duty free bears yet - I may name them Caramel and Honey. Caramel for the boy, of course. They do have light honey colored fur, so it will suit them. Yup, decided then. Caramel for the boy bear and Honey for the girl bear. Great! That means I have crossed off two more names from my list.

Pebble is a great name, I must adopt a bear who suits that name some day...

Cheers!

Teddy Bear Care - Cleaning a bear

Hello!

Today let us go through the ways to clean our bears, especially old and dusty ones. The bears in my hug are very tickled by the cleaning process, but they love the sparkling feel once it is done! 

1. If the bear has the manufacturer's tag, please follow the instructions in it for cleaning. It is the safest way.

2. You can take a white washcloth (it shouldn't be colored, please), wet it, wring it out and wipe the whole body of the bear softly. A lot of surface dirt comes of this way. Repeat if needed. Allow the bear to dry indoors overnight, please do not sun-dry or use blow driers.

3. Brush the bear fur with a soft and wide brush. 

4. Play with the bear often and move him/her around every once in a while, to avoid dust. 

5. I wouldn't recommend throwing even the sturdiest bear in a washing machine, even in gentle cycle. But if the bear is so dirty that you can't help it, then put the bear inside a wire mesh bag and do it. 

6. You can use the upholstery attachment of a vacuum cleaner or a handheld vacuum cleaner to vacuum the bear. 

Hope these tips help you!

Cheers!

Blog linked to from I Love Teddies site!

Hello! 

I have some good news. The Teddy Bear Collection Blog has been linked to from the I Love Teddies website! You can see the link in this page: http://www.iloveteddies.com/documents/document_549.php

The teddies in my home are all real excited! They are holding a party in honor of the blog. :) Yay!

Keep reading the blog for more updates!

Cheers!

2009 April - Bear of the Month

The bear of the month of April 2009 is a beautiful and sweet one - the Steiff Spring Teddy Bear, from the Lladro Four Seasons Collection. On soft, silent paws crafted from felt this lovely Spring Teddy bear can follow the footsteps of the first bear in the collection: The Autumn Lladro Teddy Bear. 

Spring Teddy bear is an enchanting herald with fabulously fine, vanilla mohair. Standing 11 inches tall, she is a friendly bear with warm curious eyes and a hand stitched nose. Crowning her head is a beautifully crafted tiara made of intricately handmade and handpainted Lladro porcelain blossoms: this flowered headress is a genuine work of art that perfectly compliments her delicate vanilla fur. She is a part of Steiff's 2009 World Wide Limited Edition Collection.

Cheers!

2009 March - Bear of the Month

The Babette bear from Gund is a 26" beauty.  She is the bear of the month for 2009 March. She is long-hairedm with a two-toned beige and honey fur. She has an embroidered nose, letherette paw pads, a brown satin neck ribbon and an enamel charm in her ear. She is a special bear from the Gund Premiere Bear collection. Truly huggable, she makes us say, "Gotta getta Gund!" 

Cheers!

2009 February - Bear of the Month

I have always loved Forever Friends Bears. My bear Peanut is a Forever Friends bear in Santa costume and he is the first bear my husband bought for me. So I decided to kick off my 'Bear of the Month' section with a Forever Friends Bear. 

February being the month of Love, I chose the 12 inch Forever Friends Love Bear as the bear of this month.  :) Enjoy!