Artists Currently Participating in
Edinburgh Incubator's Collection |
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Elke Block
When Elke moved to the US from Germany, she brought with her the love for stuffed animals and bears and her formal training in sewing.
Together with her husband, Ron, she developed Edinburgh Imports, primarily
a teddy bear making supply company.
Elke's bears are sold under the name Castle Bears because she and Ron met in a castle.
Elke finds a great deal of pleasure in creating unique designs and spreading the joy bears bring to our lives. |
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Karen Smith
When Karen’s parents told her they couldn’t afford to buy the wonderfully articulated and detailed dolls she admired, she would simply figure out how to make them herself. If it is flexible, has joints or will stand by itself, it intrigues and inspires her. Married for 42 years, Karen lives in Newbury Park, California and has 6 grown children and 12 grandchildren - most of whom are "flexible and can stand by themselves!" |
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Jody Battaglia
Jody’s main goal is to spark a memory that will bring a smile to everyone! She is married with two grown sons and lives in Marietta, Georgia. She has been designing and making bears and other toys since 1979. Working full time, she draws inspiration from old toys, vintage holiday pieces and old children’s illustrations. |
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Carol Zinn
Carol has been creating bears for many years and she calls them, “her first love!” Born on Long Island, New York. Carol moved to North Carolina about 25 years ago. Married for 41 years; she has 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren. She started making bears for her children and couldn’t stop. All her bears are original designs and usually one of a kind or small limited editions. Each design develops into a unique bear with it’s own individual personality.. Her bears are not limited in size. and she enjoys the challenge of creating bears from just over 2 inches tall to 20 inches plus and crafted from all types of fabrics, even needle felted and crochet. |
Artist to Entrepreneur
Edinburgh’s Incubator
Helps Artists Bridge The Gap
By Sherilynn Amos
Many times artists consider expanding their business, but then say, “I barely have enough time to stock
up for shows – I couldn’t keep up if the business got bigger.”
To other artists, the thought of possibly giving up creative control if someone else helps them produce their works, scares them as much as worrying about
how they would assure their customers the same
quality the artist would provide on a personal basis.
Some artists panic at the thought of the materials investment involved in producing bears in quantity.
Plus, once they are made, they must be sold as
soon as possible in order to recover the materials investment.
Not every artist has the time, advertising funds or marketing knowledge to sell bears on a larger scale.
Most artists are perfectly happy when designing
and creating, but if asked to duplicate something
over and over and they will burn out, quality will
suffer and it’s just not fun anymore.
Creativity and quantity do not often work smoothly together.
While business and finance are sometimes irrelevant concepts in the creative mind; most teddy bear
artists admit that deep down, they would dearly
love to make some money with their bears.
Guiding Artists to Greater Opportunities
Edinburgh’s Incubator, a division of Edinburgh
Imports Inc, was set up specifically to provide
artists with an outlet to increase their business
without having to do the hands-on production,
selling or marketing ends of the business yet
still operate in a profitable manner.
An incubator process is, by definition “a controlled environment where one, not yet fully developed,
is nurtured and protected, in order to assist in his
or her growth and development.”
That is what Edinburgh’s Incubator does for the
artist no matter what stage their career is in.
Here Is How It Works
The artist, who has been making and selling their
bears on a small scale, decides it may be time
to expand by using Edinburgh's Incubator services.
1. the artist chooses one of their designs (perferably
one which is already a favorite with collectors)
for Edinburgh's Incubator to reproduce.
2. The artist provides Edinburgh’s Incubator
with a sample bear along with the pattern,
materials needed to make a prototype, specific instructions and specifications for re-creating
the bear.
3. Edinburgh’s Incubator creates a prototype
for the artist's approval and provides an initial
estimate of production costs. The artist pays
for production pieces, and therefore, maintains
full ownership of the designs and full control
of the production runs.
4. Edinburgh’s Incubator acts as the artist's
agent, protecting and advising, and monitoring
and keeping costs down, leaving the artist more
free time to focus on what artists do best: creating
and designing new artist originals.
As for the quality of the bears that are produced
in this process, even the artist often has to take
a second look to tell which is the original! Collectors
will not have to sacrifice quality for these production pieces!
5. Once the artist approves the prototype made
to their specifications, the design then moves into
the production process.
Based on the production estimate provided by Edinburgh’s Incubator, the artist decides how
many pieces to order for their initial production
run.
Once the production pieces are finished, the artist chooses whether they want Edinburgh’s Incubator to assist with sales, warehousing and shipping.
If the artist opt for Edinburgh’s Incubator to handle these matters on their behalf, their bears are included in the Edinburgh’s Incubator Collection.
Edinburgh’s Incubator advertises all currently available production bears (from all artists working with them) on full color flyers and promotional materials that are mailed to stores and collectors worldwide.
Edinburgh’s Incubator also provides stores with digital images of the current collection to use when promoting the pieces on their own individual web sites.
The pieces are also displayed prominently on Edinburgh’s Incubator website.
Edinburgh’s Incubator staff members travel to trade shows around the world promoting and selling the production pieces.
The artists involved, still maintain full control of all sales and set all prices, while allowing Edinburgh’s Incubator to do the work and act as promotional and sales agent.
In spite of being blessed with a creative soul, most bear makers do not want to personify the stereotypical “starving artist”.
Edinburgh’s Incubator helps artists take the next step towards branching out, promoting their art worldwide and thereby extending their reach, but
not their workload.
The artist actually ends up with more hours in the day so they can continue to create new and wonderful works of art!
For further details contact:
Edinburgh’s Incubator
1121 Lawrence Drive, Newbury Park, CA 91320
Phone: 1-800-334-6274
Email: incubator@edinburghimports.com
http://www.edinburghimports.com/incubator/
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3428 Hillvale Road 
