ColdhamCuddliescalling

Introducing another New Cuddly and an update of a former one;

Please allow me to introduce you to Ben Barn Owl - the newest addition (as of half an hour ago) to the ColdhamCuddlies Family.

He is an experiment - using another pattern from the book which was the initial source for Winston Wombat earlier this month - but  Ben Barn Owl has just been completed  and listed in the shop at www.Etsy.com/shop/coldhamcuddlies.

 He could have been online earlier, but there seems to be a blip on the photo-uploading mechanism (if that is the correct expression?) on Etsy this afternoon.  It took for ever to upload all five of them, whereas it's not usually a problem.  It was to begin with when I was an Etsy Newbie, but then it was a case of not having a powerful enough server - which is when I moved to Firefox.  That's the problem of having a computer that is now all of five year's old!  Cannot get my mind round how quickly electronic hardware gets "old"!  Once we've been to France (at the end of this month!), the next thing the ColdlhamCuddlies will hopefully help to finance is a new computer, which hopefully will serve me for sometime to come.  I certainly now use my laptop a lot more than I did when it first appeared on the scene in 2007 - but that was well before  I'd even heard of Etsy or conceived the Cuddlies enterprise!

To return to the Ben Barn Owl though:  he's made with the Light Brown Plush fabric that hs been used previously for the Baby Koalas (Etsy Listing #55190188) and the Light Brown Furry Bear (Etsy Listing #69778158).   As an experiment, Ben Barn Owl has turned out rather well, in my view - do hope you think so too, my Followers (now numbering 178).  Ben will be the first of several versions I intend to make in the coming months.  They will not all be the same, as his eyes will only be replicated once more. There are only one more pair exactly like Ben's, but I do have some Teddy Bear ones that are similar, and can be used for other the versions -when required.  He took me just a couple of evenings to make, so not a difficult proposition and one I've enjoyed doing. 

 I've been fortunate since starting the ColdhamCuddlies enterprise because eyes and joints have not needed to be purchased too often.  An elderly neighbour, who used to make Smaller Bears than Light Brown Bear - and still lives with over 100 of her creations! - was forced to stop because her fingers stopped working and donated her remaining supplies to me!  That donation is now rapidly diminishing and stocks will have to be replenished when the Shop (www.Etsy.com/shop/coldhamcuddlies) closes for my vacation at the end of this month.  More of that anon!.

( Light Brown Bear is currently shown as "Sold Out"  in the shop (www.Etsy.com/shop/coldhamcuddlies), but I am in the process of sewing another version and will be showing the production process in an another post shortly.  The last Bear was part of The Italian Mob who departed to Sequals, Italy in February this year - posted about by Cy Bear on February 1 here at www.ColdhamCuddliescalling.blogspot.com).

Here is another photo of Ben Barn Owl, taken this afternoon in our garden here in Heytesbury, Wiltshire,  in front of a collection of yellow poppies that have appeared following our recent rains!

Before closing, in a post authored by Cy Bear on March 21 this year, you were introduced to Barry the Beaver, who was a custom order toy for a young girl living in Denmark called Astrid.  Astrid is mad about Beavers, and knows a lot about them,  so I was a little apprehensive as to how Barry would be received.  All is well, I am pleased to say.  Astrid's Grandparents delivered Barry to his new Forever Home just after Easter and last week, I received the following two pictures of Barry - just to prove how well he is settling in.

This one is with Astrid herself:

While this one shows Barry with his other furry companions.

That's the lot for tonight folks!  Must get back to the production of replacement Light Brown Bear - about which you will hear shortly.  Meanwhile, have a great week-end all of you.  Isobel