We’re off to go make some bears. Woohoo!!!

Jessie is having another bear making day with her mom, grandma, and a few friends, and of course I’ll be there in her big purse. She’s almost finished with her little bear Philippe. She just has to put the joints in and the ears and nose on. I know she’ll be excited to see him when he is finished.

We Got a New Sister

Not a bear this time, but a doll. She is a Mattel Baby Tender Love from 1974 and this was the first doll Jessie has ever adopted online. She usually doesn’t like to do this because she likes to feel her bears and dolls before she adopts them, but when she read the description from the lady who refurbished her, something clicked. As soon as Jessie held her, there was an instant bond there, and I’m glad because this poor doll, Carlie, had been waiting a long time for someone to adopt her.

We’ve all been getting to know her, and she can tell some pretty hillarious stories. I love hearing the older bears and dolls tell stories about their kids that loved them im the past. We have several in our hug from the 70s. Carlie has really connected with Paddington Bear from 1975, probably because they’re about the same age and have shared similar life experiences. I think it’s so cool that Jessie gives the older toys a second opportunity to be loved. i know I’m not an old bear, but I have had the privilege to be loved the way most teddies and dolls don’t get to experience. I wish we could rescue all the unloved dolls and bears, but there isn’t enough space. I’m just thankful I get to live with someone who truly loves bears and has just recently discovered that she loves dolls.

Bear and doll love,
Arcto

A Gorgious Day

Today is a good day to be a teddy bear. I’m sitting here with Jessie and a very well-loved antique bear named Johan, watching movies and youtube vids. Hopefully we’ll be able to sit on the porch when it warms up. I’m excited about that. Unfortunately, Jessie is a little afraid to take us out there because she’s afraid people will laugh at her. Some people just don’t get teddy bears. We’re not just for kids, folks. If more people held teddy bears, the world would be a much better place. If only they would listen to us and what we’re trying to teach them, they would be a lot more loving to other people.

Boogity Boogity Boogity!!!

We’re watching the race in Phoenix. I think I’m the only bear that follows Nascar. Let’s just hope they don’t have a disaster like what happened at the Daytona 500 last week. The bad thing is that Jessie’s driver was the one involved in the accident last week. Be careful out there, guys.

Update

Holy cow, I haven’t updated this blog in ages!!! We’ve had a lot going on, so Jessie hasn’t been able to help me type in a while. I’m still her favorite bear of course.

Right now we’re staying with her parents for a while because of some life changes. The plushies are all in her bedroom, which isn’t as much space as we’re used to, but it’s cool. Jessie has also started collecting dolls, so we’ve got several dollies with us. I’ll try to figure out how to upload pics here so you can see THE CREW.
Bearlove,
Arcto

A Productive Day

Well, this has turned out to be a productive day. At first Jessie was feeling crummy so she kind of crashed out on the couch, holding me of course, but this afternoon she perked up and has almost finished making a bear. She still needs to stuff him, but she’s trying to wait until she can get another pack of those safety eyes. She loves those things now. Right now the bear is sewed and turned with a button nose and two holes for the eyes, but he’s sort of like Ray Charles now. Poor little flattie bear.

Becky Chase, the great bear artist who goes by DangerBears, sent her a few little bitty scraps of mohair, so she gave the bear an applique on his tummy of a little patch of mohair. The bear is made out of a little fleece baby blanket. It’s pretty soft, but not fuzzy like fur. The mohair is furry, of course, but it’s a different type of furry than we’re used to.

I got to be her assistant while she sewed. She held me in her arms and I watched her and was thankful that she wasn’t coming at me with that big ol’ needle. She loves to make bears and I love seeing her so happy. It’s so cool watching those little pieces of fabric turn into a bear just with a needle and some thread and a bear artist’s love. I wish I would have been made by a bear artist rather than a manufacturer, but oh well. I’m loved by a bear artist. She thinks I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread. Wheew, sorry for the sappy stuff.

Well, I guess I better go. We’re about to watch old Big Brother episodes on Youtube and Jessie says she may start work on another bear, my new brother Drayfis, who was on the receiving end of her first mohair applique. Bearlove to all of you,
Arcto

The Story of Solomon Bear

Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while. Jessie battles with depression, unfortunately, so I’ve had to do a lot of major bear therapy. Oh well, such is life when you’re a bear.

I do have to warn my readers that this post is going to be one great big, gigantic plug. We just read a story called The Story of Solomon Bear by Phillip Laird. I wish I knew how to post a link, but I can’t figure that out. If you love teddy bears or of course, you are a teddy bear, you really REALLY need to read this. It’s about 50 pages. I don’t know whether it’s supposed to be a short story or a full-size book for kids.

I don’t want to give the whole plot away, but basically it is about a little girl who lives in a family of straighties (Jessie’s original expression), who have no love in their hearts. The only ones in this dysfunctional family who know what love is are the little girl and her teddy, Solomon Bear. She carried the bear everywhere and talked to him and played with him. He was basically her best friend. At one point they promised each other that they would always be together.
Unfortunately, the straightie stepparents thought she was too big to carry around a bear, so they decided they were going to make her get rid of her beloved Solomon. When they dropped this bomb on the little girl, she ran away into the forest. To show how evil this family was, the only one who showed any concern that she was missing was Solomon. He does everything in his power to find her, as well as trying to teach all the other toys in the house about love. I can’t tell you how it ends because you really need to read it.

This story is written for school-aged children, but it’s one of those stories that everybody can enjoy, especially anyone who has ever loved a bear. Oh, and let your bears read it too. They’ll love it. Although, I do have to warn you, it made both of us cry. Jessie has had to deal with several people in her life as a kid who thought she was ridiculous for having teddy bears and she even believes that a few of them were taken away by these people. This story brought back those memories for her and it made me think as a bear that I don’t know what I’d do if I lost Jessie.

I hope it’s okay with the author if I do this, but this is a public service announcement to all parents of kids with bears. DON’T TAKE AWAY THEIR TEDDY BEARS!!! There’s nothing wrong with loving teddies. They’re not childish, they’re arctophiles.

Sorry for the rant there, but this story just hit a chord with us. I do have to say though, that you should definitely check out Phillip Laird’s story, but be sure you have some tissue handy because you’re going to cry.

Archie

I’m so happy!!! Jessie had to go to the doctor today, so she left me to hang out with the Quartet, but when she got back and took me off the bed, I nearly jumped for joy. She finished making Archie, the bear that looks like me. I mentioned him in a previous post. He’s smaller and flatter than me, but his fur is similar. That’s why we named him Archie, because it fits with Arcto. Jessie has been holding us ever since she got home. She loves all the bears she has made, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her fall in love with one of her artist bears like she has with Archie.

An adventure and a whole bunch of new bears!!!

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I have just had the most exciting week a bear can have. Jessie and her husband had to go to North Carolina to apply for a job, which they didn’t get, bummer, and Jessie took me with her because she refuses to travel without me. There was also an artist bear named Joanie, made by Becky Chase, whose trade name is Danger Bears *plug*.

The airport was a completely weird and scary experience for me, especially when they took the bag we were in away from Jessie to search us. I was afraid we would get lost or they would do something to us, but they just looked at us. The plane ride was extremely fun, especially the takeoff and landing. Jessie had flown before back in 2003, but her husband had never flown before and he was nervous about it. I had a blast, though.

While we were there, she adopted four more bears. They went to the store to pick up some necessities and she came back with this soft, fuzzy brown bear named Bearbear. She was told he was designed to be safe for babies. His eyes are embroidered rather than the safety eyes like I have.

On Wednesday she and her husband were bummed out because they found out they didn’t get the job, so they decided to walk around the mall. Of course, Jessie had to go look at the bears. A security officer who was assisting her around the mall actually took her to Build a Bear and got two bears for her. They are so soft and cuddly that I was almost jealous of them because I thought they were going to steal her love from me, but now we’re hitting it off pretty well. Their names are Dexter and Jed. Jed plays the theme music from the Star Wars movies and Dexter has a giggle box in his paw that sounds like a baby laugh.

Thursday morning the manager of the hotel brought Jessie another bear while she was eating breakfast. He said the bear’s name was Fluffy, so Jessie didn’t want to change it. He’s about six inches tall with one side made out of soft fur and the other side is some kind of velvety material. We’re curious about that guy’s history because we wonder if he isn’t an artist bear. We’ve never seen a manufactured bear like that before.

And to top it off, Friday we were in her office playing on the computer when her husband walked in with a package and put a bear in her arms. A friend of ours, Elize Fouche (SP), the administrator of the awesome site Teddy Bears Forum *another plug* sent her a package with some fabric and the basic stuff to make a bear. It took the package two months to get here, but we finally got it. The cool thing is that there was also a red artist bear and what we think is a golly that she made. Jessie is totally in love.

She thought the bear was already sewn together and just needed to be closed, so she went ahead and turned and stuffed the bear. When she turned him, she realized that the fur feels identical to me. I really like this bear, of course. We’re trying to find a name for him and it definitely has to be cool, according to Jessie, because he looks so much like me. Right now we’re stuck between Shaggy because we both has shaggy fur, Chip as in chip off the old block, or Archie because it sounds similar to Arcto. What do you guys think?

Well, I guess I better go now before this turns into a novel. It’s almost time for Jessie to go to church. I think one of her good friends there might have another bear for her, so I’ll have to update you on that tomorrow.

The Velveteen Rabbit

We just finished watching the 2008 version of the Velveteen Rabbit. If you love teddy bears, or in my case you are a teddy bear or plushie, you should seriously watch this. It goes into more of a story than the original. There’s actually a story about the little boy’s family. By the end of that movie Jessie was sobbing into my fur. She thinks of all the bears and plushies she has lost over the years and it kills her. Some people think we’re just dust collectors, but teddy bears and those who love us know that’s not true. We have a lot of love to give and if someone loves us, we will come to life. Other people may not see it, but the one who loves us will know.