JANUARY 2022

January 3, 2022: First of all, I do realize that January is absolutely the WORST month for online sales. I went into this plan with that in mind, and I think it might be nice to have the new bears hang around a little longer than they might during the peak retail season. I spent the first few days of 2022 taking photos of the bears-- then hit a snag when I was editing images for the listings and kept thinking "Aw I really love you. You should just stay with me-- no one has to know."  I've talked myself into and out of keeping these particular bears about fifty times. If I don't list them, I'll be satisfied with the ones I have and I won't have that urge to make more bears (which is nuts!).  The pale grayish-green is my favorite color for all things not-bear-related, so Froggie just makes my heart melt with his little sad face and nervous ears. The big guy, Oliver, will be a complete pain to ship because he's over 3.5 pounds and needs a larger box than I usually keep around here.
I guess what I'm getting at is this: I'll try to keep making and listing bears to stock up my shop  during the slower sales months. It's ok if they hang around awhile, to give customers a chance to recover from the past Christmas season.

I have a link to my Etsy shop near the top of the page if you want to check out the bears making their way onto the market.

I'm leaving up the Peaches covered in Christmas Lights just to be a jerk. I love Christmas. I'll change them to something spooky by Halloween since that's my other favorite holiday.

December 11, 2021: Some new synthetic mini fabrics arrived from the Etsy shop MadebyHinme, based in Hong Kong. I made an updated piglet with the LightPink A01 fabric to see how it'd hold up to the tight stitches and sculpting/smooshing. The verdict: they're amazing! I haven't tried to make a micro bear with the fabric yet because it's a bit thicker than my usual mini-bear fabric. However, I think it's worth trying. After this new pig pattern is perfected, I'll make a tiny version of Guillermo to see if the A01 fabric works for the scaled-down minis.  I haven't abandoned the plan to hammer out an equine pattern... I'm still thinking it should be a Donkey, and it should be tested in brown or gray A01 fabric. 


November 26, 2021: ♥ 2022 RELEASE ♥ Four bears are finished and they'll be available for purchase starting in January.   After doing a little research this morning, it's looking like Etsy will be the platform for the 2022 bears. It's funny because I was just explaining to a friend the other day that my bears are not Etsy-type bears-- but I guess I never gave that marketplace the consideration it deserved before now. The fees are HALF what eBay charges, they have a cute little shop setup for sellers, and they collect the state taxes and international taxes that were giving me heartburn. I'm in! 

So far I've stocked up one large bear (18 inches), one medium bear (9.5 inches), and two small bears (6.5 inches).  I'd also like to find some time to draft out an equine pattern. The cinnamon bear head was not cute so I chucked him in the trash then switched gears to work on a piglet instead.

UPCOMING and IN PROGRESS: 

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October 5, 2021:  My trademark for The Peach Peddler is officially registered with the USPTO and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. It took ten months to complete all the steps and waiting periods. The Peach Peddler has been my company's name since 1999, so registering the trademark was long overdue. 

October 21, 2021: On today's episode of No One Asked:  creating a new pattern for my bears involves a whole lot more than sketching out a bear on a piece of paper. First, I-- well, yes, I do sketch him out on a piece of paper. Next, I sculpt the bear using monster clay (which is amazing stuff). I pin non-stretchy cloth onto the clay bear dummy and draw lines along the curviest places to indicate seams and darts with tons of tick marks to indicate where the sides should synch up with their counterparts. After I make a mess of the fabric with the marks, I carefully trim away the excess fabric and snip along the lines I've drawn. The rough pattern has to lay as flat as possible on the paper. Then I trace around the pattern to transfer the lines to the paper.  I cut out the pattern in PAPER this time, and double-check that all of the ticks and measurements match on corresponding sides, making adjustments as needed. FINALLY, I draw the near-final pattern onto cardstock paper. I use a light pad to shine through the paper so that I can mark up the off-side of the pattern (because the sides of the bear are mirrored and need to match up). Finally, I make a few 6.5" bears, to test the pattern until it's just right. I make notes on the pattern pieces as I go, and eventually, when the pattern is perfect, I'll draw a final version and transfer all of my notes to paper. Then I scan in the pattern, archive it in my records, email it to myself, and print hard copies for my patterns notebook. After that's all done, I can make bears in every size based on that one pattern.

How is each bear still one of a kind if I use the same pattern over and over, just in different sizes? The pattern just creates the blank canvas before the real artistry can begin. It's like asking "How can two paintings be one of a kind if they were both created on the same blank canvas?" Someone else could use my pattern and end up with an entirely different bear-- at least as far as the face goes. The heads take a whole lot of sculpting to get the stuffing where it needs to be, to fatten up the cheeks, and round out the head. The body would probably look exactly the same from one bear to the next if they're using the pattern... but to me, the head & face are the really important parts.

**AND SOME REALLY GOOD NEWS! Now that I've settled on which Marketplace Facilitator I want to use for my bears, I can sell worldwide again! ♥ Starting in 2022, my bears will be listed at The Peach Peddler (Etsy). Buyers are responsible for all taxes and fees levied by the destination country, and any fees that are paid in advance through Etsy can be discussed with Etsy and your country's Customs/Import office.

Feel free to stay tuned for updates here, or at The Peach Peddler page on Facebook.  I don't maintain an email notification list because I don't want to be a bother. 🤓
 

I understand that a lot of people avoid social media. I try not to share family photos or personal information anywhere online -- so trust me, I get it. While I keep my personal life offline for the most part, the bears are a different story. I'm plastering them all over the place.

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For the sake of fairness, I'll try to post information on upcoming bears here, prior to updating social media sites. 

I hope that you're all staying safe and healthy. Have a wonderful holiday season! 

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       Chris