Bears&Buds Third  Annual Competition                   Official Entry Rules

Major Award Competition is open to all bear and soft sculpture artist world wide.

Contest is now officially open for 2008 entries.

April 1 to June 7, 2008

Accepting URSA Award entry forms and fees.  Final entry deadline June 7th, no exceptions.

Early entries win top positions on the category pages. First come, first serve.

July 1 - July 30, 2008, First Round of voting begins. The URSA Contest is decided by popular vote from our collectors, readers and friends. Read more about the voting process.

August 14 to September 14, 2008 Second round of voting - the one with the most votes wins the URSA Major Award. First, Second and Third Place awards in each category plus gifts and cash cards! You campaign for votes by sending the URSA page links to your friends, family, customers and post on your web site too. Ask them to vote for your entries.

October 15, 2008 the URSA Awards will be announced and presented.

Entry Form link below - Enter now!

Cut and paste the entry form in to an email. Complete the form and eMail it to us.

eMail your entry to bearsandbuds@aol.com

Or print the page and mail it to the address below.

One entry per eMail with 3 properly sized photos attached with the description.

One entry per envelop with photos mailed to us.

Tips on how-to photograph your bears/buds see Photo Tips Page

Entry Fee:

Worldwide non-member: $60.00 USD for First entry and $30.00 each for additional entries.

By becoming a Professional Member of Bears&Buds you will benefit in many ways. Join BearsandBuds

Bears&Buds Professional Members: $20.00 USD per entry.

URSA Contest Categories - Choose 1 category with each paid entry fee.

You may enter as many categories with a different bear/bud in each category.

  1. Wee Little Bear or Bud - under 6"  Dressed or undressed - single piece.

  2. Medium Bear or Bud   - 7" to 14" - Dressed or undressed - single piece.

  3. Big Bear or Bud - 15" and over - Dressed or undressed - single piece.

  4. Costumed Bear or Bud - All sizes - single piece. 

  5. Fairies - All sizes, all mediums, soft-sculptured fantasy and exotic creations - single piece.
  6. Good Golly! - Gollies in all sizes - single piece.

  7. Caricatures - Clown or Zany Bear or Bud; all sizes - single piece.

  8. Needle Felted Bear or Bud; all sizes - dressed or undressed - single piece.

  9. Amigurumi Japanese-Style Bear or Bud; any medium, all sizes - single piece.

10. Crocheted Bear or Bud  - Dressed or undressed; threads, all sizes - single piece.

11. Vignette - Bears or Buds in a scene - all by the same artist - multiple pieces & props.

12. Holiday Inspired Bear or Bud - Father Christmas and Santa Claus - with accessories.

Official Entry Form - Enter now

How to Write a Description of your entry. Please 100 words or less.
Include the name of your piece, size, fabric, paw pad material, type of eyes, construction features, nose details, stuffing types, costume or dress materials and any additional details.

Refrain from using words like wonderful, beautiful, darling, adorable, cute, pretty,

Please do not use "w/" or "appox." or "&" in your descriptions. No abbreviations. Replace 'appox.' with the word 'about' and 'w/' spell out 'with'.
Please do not capitalize words unless they are trademark or proper names of things and places.

Do not include your name or text embedded in the photograph, or any fuzzy or ragged edges.

Photograph titles

Please name your photos as follows:

Your business name followed by the name of bear/bud.

No symbols or spaces in the photo name. (No '#', '&', '( )', no spaces, '!' - only alpha and numeric.

Abbreviate your business name or bears name should it exceed 18 characters in length

This is how your jpg photos should look for the three photos you are submitting.

You can leave the word bear off the title if it is part of your company name.

Mybearco-Unicorn.jpg  = the full sized photo - facing to the front.      

Mybearco-UnicornR.jpg = Looking to the right or right side of the bear/bud.      

Mybearco-UnicornL.jpg = Looking to the left or left side of the bear/bud.

Photograph sizes - See the example

Submit 3 photos with each entry.

First photo; 500 pixels wide and 300 dpi

Right photo: 245 pixels wide and 300 dpi

Left photo: 245 pixels wide and 300 dpi.

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ

eMail your entry along with your PayPal payment to: bearsandbuds@aol.com

Please include the category and the bears/buds name in the subject line. Entry Form

Regular Mail:

Mail photos with your business name and the name of entry, along with the entry fee to:

Make checks payable to Bright Star Promotions, Inc. Print the Entry Form

Mail to:
2008 URSA Award Competition

3428 Hillvale Road

Louisville, KY 40241-2756 USA

PayPal Payments are made to "Goods" and payable to Bearsandbuds@aol.com

Please indicate in the comment box your Entry Name, Category, your Business Name along with your name and contact information. This is very important considering some PayPal accounts are different than your business or personal name.

All professionally printed photographs must be copyright free or be accompanied by a copyright release from the photographer. Photos not be returned unless a self-address stamped envelop is included with your entry form. All photographs are given the rights, by you the artist, to be used online and for publicity material advertising the URSA Awards and Bearsandbuds.com