Living with a Student - and more tales of the 2014 Shop Spring Clean

Hello again, Everyone.  After the Koalas Saga, its me, Cy Bear, here to have some fun with you all once more. Let's clear one thing up though:  the "student" is not me!  Isobel has signed up for a month long course being run by Etsy.com (in case you'd forgotten, our Shop can be found there at https://www.COLDHAMCUDDLIES.etsy.com) which we're all hoping will result in her making the Shop more "relevant" to internet search engines (whatever they may be - as a Beaver Lamb Bear they don't mean much to me).  I believe the idea is that we're hoping it will mean more Cuddlies finding more Forever Homes - which means more work for me, saying goodbye to them all!  The Course is all part of the Spring Cleaning session in the shop apparently. It's been sometime since we've told you about the renewal programme which involves lots of new photographs being taken of my COLDHAMCUDDLIES friends, and thus me being able to tell you some more about each of them, as they get renewed.    Today, I'm going to concentrate on our Hedgehog Family -  here is  Daddy Hedgehog who, rather unusually, is made in an upright position.  

Etsy Listing #95652141

This latest picture shows him in more natural surroundings than his previous picture did, and he looks as though he's enjoying the Spring sunshine too.  We're very fortunate here at the Hospital of St. John because we have a lovely big garden, where the residents are encouraged to sit, walk or otherwise enjoy their surroundings.  There is a resident Site Supervisor who looks after all the gardening, and fits light bulbs and things when they go wrong.   There are all sorts of flower beds (with not too many flowers in apparently - although there seem to be some nice bluebells for Daddy Hedgehog to smell) and other nooks, crannies, and ancient walls (some of which have been around since 1766-77) which Isobel can use to take some unusual shots of us Cuddlies.  

  Daddy Hedghog can be made to look more like Mommy - seen below - but we think he's an unusual Cuddly Plush Art Doll the way he is.  

Etsy Listing # 95653310

Both Hedgehogs are made with some lovely fluffy Dark Brown Faux Fur fabric that we've got in our fabric cupboard.  The pile is quite long and there are black and cream flecks throughout, which makes them material look as though there are real hedgehog prickles.  At least our Cuddly Hedgehogs make soft, fluffy and safe Toys for anyone from birth upwards.  

   (Isobel says it's awful to cut and sew, because it flies all over the room when she's making the Hedgehog Family - but that's the case with all the faux fur and plush fabrics used for us Cuddlies)

Etsy Listing #95653745

The picture showing the current Twin Baby Hedgehogs clearly illustrates the flecks in their dark brown fluffy pile.  These guys have proved very popular as first birthday presents since Isobel found the patterns for them.  Thereby hangs a story -
When she first picked up the fabric, she used them for our Hairy Bears - there were seven of them in total, but really was looking our for a pattern for hedgehogs.  She happened to mention her hunt to one of her Etsy customers (who bought one of our Panda Bears (Etsy Listing #55269914) and lives in Missouri, USA)  and learned that MrsVY was a real hedgehog lover. She'd had real ones when she was a child and really liked them, but by the time of their Etsy conversation, she was "into" Panda Bears!     (Not all Cuddlies go to children you know:  we think quite a lot of them are bought by adults for children, but they don't always reach their intended Forever Homes!).    

Hedgehog Twin One

Anyway, a couple of days after their Panda Bear conversation on the Etsy site, MrsVY sent us a link which was offering a vintage pattern for the Hedgehog Family.  Isobel purchased it - and then found that the Seller was actually based in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK! (What a small world!)    Anyway, once the pattern arrived, Isobel set to - and the rest, as they say, is history.  Isobel has since made cardboard templates for all versions, and now she's demonstrated she can make patterns  bigger, she'll have no trouble in enlarging the one for Mommy Hedgehog, should a Buyer prefer to have Daddy looking like her, instead of the way he is.  

Hedgehog Twin Two

 Although we've shown each member of the Hedgehog Family separately, there have been several occasions when Mommy and Baby have gone to the same Forever Home together.  All three can also be bought at the same time - in which case there would be a discount offered.  Isobel would be absolutely delighted to hear from anyone wanting to do that - or indeed to buy just Mommy and Daddy (whichever way the latter was standing!).    (We no longer have an example of a Hairy Bear in the Shop, because there isn't an unlimited supply of  the Hairy Faux Fur. The fabric really does look better as a Hedgehog, but if anyone fancies a Bear (shaped like me, but in this fluffy material, just get in touch with Isobel, and I'm sure she'll be happy to oblige!).   That's enough for this post I think.  Isobel is busy working on editing how the Shop looks when people visit it on line, so she's going to be quite busy.  She's also going away for a week, starting May 21, when she's going to Nottinghamshire to visit Clare and Alan.  She's taking the computer with her, but no sewing, so she'll probably be doing a post on my behalf while she's away.   In which case, I'll say Good Bye for this session - and look forward to being with you all again at the end of the month.  Until then, hope everyone is having a splendid time.    Your Friend - Cy Bear.