~~Sharing some pics of bears&kitties in progress~~

Hi everyone,I thought I would share a few pics of my bears and kitty cats in progress.They are all coming along quite nicely and should be ready for their listings very soon.(except for the fuzzy little wee ones in the basket pictured above,they are still waiting their turn!)In the top pic is a sweet panda bear nestling with his pink blue eyed kitty friend,both 7 inches tall and created from mohair.Next is the felt kitty complete with her new sculpted and painted paw pads cuddling with her very good friend,an 11 inch antique style mohair bear which is one of my newest designs.Next we have a group of primitive bears......and a little pug all gathered together for their group photo.The little prim bear on the left is a wee 6 inches tall as you can see by me holding my hand next to him.The larger bear in the middle is also a brand new design and he measures 9 inches tall.The little pug is a dainty 7 inches tall and all are created from felt.I hope you like meeting the gang and I will post them when they are ready to be listed.Hugs~~~~Sharie

***Doing the ~Happy Dance~Paypal 21 day hold was a mistake!*

I have a quick update to the paypal hold issue that was a concerne for myself and many others who accounts were also placed on hold.Turns out it was a mistake!I recieved the email today from paypal stating they accidently sent out thousands of emails to sellers that were not supposed to be notified at all~~~what a sigh of relief!I feel like doing the "happy dance" as a burden had been lifted from my shoulders.I just hope they don't accidently do it again anytime soon!I also wanted to update you on some other options I might consider besides my new Ecrater store to offer my creations.(now that I'm off the paypal hold!)I have been looking into bigcartel and wikilime,both beautiful webstores complete with shopping carts that take paypal checkout.I have will be adding links to both so you can see how nice they are.(I would love to know which one you like!)I had first thought to stay with Ecrater because of the option of googlecheckout,thus hoping to avoid paypal for a time.As I said in my previous post,I am looking for the easiest way to offer my bears without having to sign up to become a member or log in before adopting a new teddy or friend.They are almost exactly the same but big cartel only offers 5 listing at no charge and 9.99 per month for 25 listings where as wikilime is completely free for 25 listings.**The teddies in both stores are only a test so I could get the feel of the stores set up**.I thought I would post these new options incase other bear artists or crafters may be interested in a nice shopping cart to incorporate to their websites or selling venues.~~~~For some reason I cannot get the links to work here in my post so I will add them on the top RIGHT of my blog if you would care to have a peek at them.Hugs~~~~Sharie

January updates on new bears and old favorites in the making

I'ts hard to believe that we are approaching the middle of the month already.....where in the world does the time go?!It has been a long road of recovery for me but I am soooo happy to say I am feeling better and am now on my LAST week of antibiotic.One more doctor visit in two weeks and that should be it,what a relief!In the meantime I have been getting my Ecrater store spruced up for the grand opening of new bears and kitties.I have so many in progress from before the holidays,12 in all that I could not complete and will be listing them as they become available.I also look forword to offering some of my old designs,(and there are many as I discovered from sorting through all of my patterns today lol!)some felt styles and some mohair but especially the old antique and primitive styles that I love so much.I really miss creating them!One of my most favorite bears I created was Dexter,created from felt in the very first(top) pic above.I just loved his sweet expression and would like to created him again,but in a smaller size as he was 15in tall.Next pic(middle) is a ted that I created from vintage handyed mohair.He had that wonderful steiff appearance that made him look old and loved.Then the last pic(bottom)is a sweet old looking bear,made from felt with that well loved appearance.I also want to get started on my new pattern line very soon to be able to have ready by spring.I hope to get on the ball now and have some new creations available next week.xxxxxSharie

Paypal holds may be affecting your account soon!

I thought I should take the time to post about this very important issue that is now beginning to affect many sellers with paypal accounts.This is impacting more than ebay sellers as many who sell on etsy are also being placed on 21 day holds.There also have been talks that it will even affect small business owners who sell on their websites.I am not writing this to cause a scare,just for everyone to be prepared and have a back-up plan if necessary.I myself am on the hold,getting my notice on Christmas eve.Sure enough when I logged into my paypal act in big bold letters I was told future payments WOULD be on hold.I have set up my new ecrater store that supports google checkout and this is where I will be offering a majority of my bears and friends very soon.It is a very nice website in which you recieve your very own store free of any charges.The only setback is the shipping matrix and if it doesn't drive you insane before you finally figure it out its great...lol!Anyway I am going to post several links to discussions on the paypal holds from auctionbytes,ebay and etsy some very lengthy but full of information.I do hope you will find the chance to read up on all of them.You will find all the links above.I would love to hear if you too have been affected by this underhanded policy and what your plans might be if you would care to share.~~~Sharie.