As reported by Cy Bear, Monday morning saw me finding my way around to the Trade Counter Entrance of Roma Fabrics Limited, here in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, to pick up the metre of fabric ordered the previous week. Somehow, I'd imagined that the material would arrive in a folded condition - after all previous faux fur pick ups from my erstwhile supplier in Frome, Somerset had all arrived in huge plastic bags in bundles or pieces! On arrival, by 'bus, I discovered I was expected to take home a roll of fabric (beautifully parcelled in plastic) which was 66 inches long (157 cms, or thereabouts).
Now I had planned on blithely picking up the fabric and proceeding on the next 'bus to Sutton-in-Ashfield, the next Town, so that I could pick up my newly ordered spectacles. While the roll of fabric was not in itself heavy, it was awkward to manoeuvre and I didn't fancy fighting my way through crowds of shoppers in Mall in which the Opticians are located, so I promptly crossed the road and waited for a 'bus homewards. The services are pretty frequent, and I was back home pretty quickly (it only takes 7-10 minutes each way) having changed my optical appointment for the same time, next day.
Well, the next obvious step was to use my newly acquired faux fur fabric - and by Saturday evening, three new members of the Coldham Hedgehog Family were ready for the next stage in our Saving the UK Hedgehog Campaign. This is getting to be a bit of a mouthful to type, let alone say, so if any of my Readers can come up with a catchy phrase for the campaign, I'd be most grateful.
The 2015 Coldham Hedgehogs now look like this:
I just happened to have the original Brown Hedgehog Toy by me when taking this snapshots yesterday evening, so this is a comparison:
Because I have a limited supply of the brown flecked faux fur, I've decided not to use the fabric for Hedgehogs - because our equally popular Hairy Bears are made with the same material. (In any case, this little fellow is destined for a home provided by our family friend, MrsPC). Now that I have easy access to the new faux fur fabric (called "Laughing Owl" by Roma Fabrics Limited) and the grey plush material (called Silver Fox), future Hedgehog toys will become "grey" hedgehogs, and actually they do look a lot more realistic - to my eyes, anyway. Their antecedents are certainly an animal mix already!
Our new-look Daddy Hedgehog now looks like this:
Now, not only does he look a lot more Hog like, I am not quite sure why the original Daddy Hedgehog turned out the way he did!
I seem to recall, I found him a bit difficult to make when originally attempting him (it was about 3 years ago, around the time that Peter's health was becoming more of a problem than usual, so this could explain things). This time around, the grey version was not a problem - so, as I made them with exactly the same pattern, think the dumpling look must be because I over-stuffed the original. He is certainly a lot harder to hold, and heavier in weight. So, I shall be booking this little guy into the Stuffed Animal Restoration Clinic for a serious "face job". Hopefully, I'll be able to do that quite quickly, so that I can start making another two or three family sets - as there are definite plans for them when they are completed.
On Thursday evening, I met with the Graphic Designer (PE) - whom you may recall was connected with the original Wildlife Sanctuary ("down the road and round the corner" as Cy Bear told you in an earlier post). It was an interesting meeting, and some unexpected developments could well be round the corner. (Alas, the Sanctuary's owner/operator has developed health issues, which prevent its continuation in its present form. It's long term patients will continue to be housed, but newcomers will not be accepted). However, PE had some exciting proposals for me to consider, and he is due to pick up the new Hedgehog models sometime this week, so that he can apply his photographic skills for future use in the campaign. We'll therefore be continuing our discussions then. More anon.
Meanwhile, here is a photograph of the new Mommy Hedgehog:
Now picture taking is not my forte - and these are definitely "snapshots" just for the purposes of this blog. I shall wait to see the results from PE when he's done his stuff, but in the interim, this does give you all an idea of what I've been up to this week. I've been able to prove that if required, I can turn these little guys round in about two evenings concentrated sewing, which is a useful guide for future requirements. So, I now wait what this week will bring. Am hoping in particular that PE will also be prepared to give me leads which will result in Coldham Cuddlies being able to develop contacts with the local Animal Wildlife community, which hopefully I can work with to get my future "ten per cents" sent to both West Midlands Hedgehog Rescue and Tiggywinkles, the two outfits I hope to support.
(Incidentally, whilst I knew the latter was located in Buckinghamshire, during the week while surfing the net, I found out that it is based in Haddenham - which is up the railway line from daughter Philippa's residence in High Wycombe. I am due to spend ten days over the Christmas period with her this year, so hopefully will be able to arrange a face to face encounter - always a better proposition even than current contacts via Facebook or whatever!)
That's it for this week, then folks. Either Cy Bear or I will be back reporting on developments next week. This post is a little late - but during the week, my computer was unexpectedly upgraded from Windows 8.0 to Windows 8.1 (the darn machine got taken over and it happened while I was busy doing my daily Etsy admin) and my first attempt at this post earlier this afternoon ended in my somehow wiping it (when I was supposed to be publishing it!). The world of computers never ceases to perplex: I'm just grateful I manage to get something out, EVENTUALLY! Here's hoping that I've got it right this time around.
Until our next meeting then: have a great week everyone. Isobel
Now I had planned on blithely picking up the fabric and proceeding on the next 'bus to Sutton-in-Ashfield, the next Town, so that I could pick up my newly ordered spectacles. While the roll of fabric was not in itself heavy, it was awkward to manoeuvre and I didn't fancy fighting my way through crowds of shoppers in Mall in which the Opticians are located, so I promptly crossed the road and waited for a 'bus homewards. The services are pretty frequent, and I was back home pretty quickly (it only takes 7-10 minutes each way) having changed my optical appointment for the same time, next day.
Well, the next obvious step was to use my newly acquired faux fur fabric - and by Saturday evening, three new members of the Coldham Hedgehog Family were ready for the next stage in our Saving the UK Hedgehog Campaign. This is getting to be a bit of a mouthful to type, let alone say, so if any of my Readers can come up with a catchy phrase for the campaign, I'd be most grateful.
The 2015 Coldham Hedgehogs now look like this:
 |
| Baby Hedgehog |
Because I have a limited supply of the brown flecked faux fur, I've decided not to use the fabric for Hedgehogs - because our equally popular Hairy Bears are made with the same material. (In any case, this little fellow is destined for a home provided by our family friend, MrsPC). Now that I have easy access to the new faux fur fabric (called "Laughing Owl" by Roma Fabrics Limited) and the grey plush material (called Silver Fox), future Hedgehog toys will become "grey" hedgehogs, and actually they do look a lot more realistic - to my eyes, anyway. Their antecedents are certainly an animal mix already!
Our new-look Daddy Hedgehog now looks like this:
Now, not only does he look a lot more Hog like, I am not quite sure why the original Daddy Hedgehog turned out the way he did!
I seem to recall, I found him a bit difficult to make when originally attempting him (it was about 3 years ago, around the time that Peter's health was becoming more of a problem than usual, so this could explain things). This time around, the grey version was not a problem - so, as I made them with exactly the same pattern, think the dumpling look must be because I over-stuffed the original. He is certainly a lot harder to hold, and heavier in weight. So, I shall be booking this little guy into the Stuffed Animal Restoration Clinic for a serious "face job". Hopefully, I'll be able to do that quite quickly, so that I can start making another two or three family sets - as there are definite plans for them when they are completed.
On Thursday evening, I met with the Graphic Designer (PE) - whom you may recall was connected with the original Wildlife Sanctuary ("down the road and round the corner" as Cy Bear told you in an earlier post). It was an interesting meeting, and some unexpected developments could well be round the corner. (Alas, the Sanctuary's owner/operator has developed health issues, which prevent its continuation in its present form. It's long term patients will continue to be housed, but newcomers will not be accepted). However, PE had some exciting proposals for me to consider, and he is due to pick up the new Hedgehog models sometime this week, so that he can apply his photographic skills for future use in the campaign. We'll therefore be continuing our discussions then. More anon.
Meanwhile, here is a photograph of the new Mommy Hedgehog:
Now picture taking is not my forte - and these are definitely "snapshots" just for the purposes of this blog. I shall wait to see the results from PE when he's done his stuff, but in the interim, this does give you all an idea of what I've been up to this week. I've been able to prove that if required, I can turn these little guys round in about two evenings concentrated sewing, which is a useful guide for future requirements. So, I now wait what this week will bring. Am hoping in particular that PE will also be prepared to give me leads which will result in Coldham Cuddlies being able to develop contacts with the local Animal Wildlife community, which hopefully I can work with to get my future "ten per cents" sent to both West Midlands Hedgehog Rescue and Tiggywinkles, the two outfits I hope to support.
(Incidentally, whilst I knew the latter was located in Buckinghamshire, during the week while surfing the net, I found out that it is based in Haddenham - which is up the railway line from daughter Philippa's residence in High Wycombe. I am due to spend ten days over the Christmas period with her this year, so hopefully will be able to arrange a face to face encounter - always a better proposition even than current contacts via Facebook or whatever!)
 |
| Hedgehog Family - 2015 Models |
Until our next meeting then: have a great week everyone. Isobel
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