Cy Bear back again with this week's news from the ColdhamCuddlies Shop and world. Technologically, it has been a bit frustrating. Things seem to be moving on the Facebook front that I mentioned last week - in that it looks as though someone has realised Isobel is in a bit of pickle with their site, and are trying to rectify things! However, it isn't helping yet at our end,however - because they don't get in touch in response directly! Now most of our posts are not being read - except two or three days later (which kind of misses the point don't you think?) Well, as promised (threatened?) last week, last night Isobel copied and pasted her missive of last week, and sent it to the second link that our Department of International Trade (DIT) contact sent her. We'll see if anything more transpires this time around.
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| This was a Grey Plush Custom Order of a Grey Tiger Who Lost His Stripes - the Buyer remembered the original character as more grey than beige from his childhood, but wanted the same nose! |
The Grey Cat Arm Puppet Isobel told you about last week (now to be made with the same fabric as used for out Elephant Toy - see photo below) was also cut out, sewn and sent off on Friday, so it should be on it's travels to Denton, Texas by now - if all the travel connections worked - see our postscript.
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| The Elephant's rump, showing the fabric it's made with |
We're going to list it as a New Coldham Cuddly Toy - even though we do have a Grey Cat Arm Puppet already listed in the Shop. This one looks very different from this first one - which was one of our first Custom Orders some years ago. The latest Cat Puppet has had the photographs taken before it was posted last week, and Isobel has uploaded it to the computer photo files, but thanks to the recent Microsoft upgrade - and the arrival of the new smartphone Isobel is starting to suspect - has somehow disappeared into a new "Personal Vault" where such things can now be "safely" stored (without Isobel knowing it now existed!). Technology really is a frustrating thing when it doesn't actually help us!!
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| The Custom Ordered (special fabric) Grey Cat Puppet |
As part of our on-going re-arrangement of the Shop (now that we've done several "one-off" custom orders) Isobel is going to create a new Section in our Shop - and our original Grey Cat Puppet - seen above and now also a One of a Kind Puppet in future, will be joined by the Arm Puppets we told you about just after we resumed posting a few weeks ago. (Blue Teddy Bear, Bun-Bun Rabbit and Teddy Bear Dog Arm Puppets among them - 26.06.20).
Alas, one of our Tiger Who Lost His Stripes Arm Puppets still hasn't reached his destination (after 12 weeks en route!). The Buyer, understandably cross, contacted Isobel on Monday. We refunded her the total cost of the order, and Isobel has claimed the lost money from Royal Mail - the reason why we send EVERY Toy by either Special Delivery (in the UK), or International Tracked & Signed For service if going anywhere else in the world (not JUST the U.S.A.).
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| It's one of the current "new-look" Tiger Who Lost His Stripes |
Fortunately, Isobel had all the necessary paper-work to hand, and copies of it accompanied the Claim Form, which was posted to Royal Mail Lost Post services on Tuesday. This incident happens to be the first of its kind for COLDHAMCUDDLIES in the 10 years we have been operating, but it's annoying and upsetting all the same. We don't like disappointing youngsters who might have been expecting to have a new playmate by now. Isobel suspects that the Tiger is lurking in a Customs Shed somewhere in the U.S.A, and she's hoping that now the Tracking system has been activated we will flush it out from wherever it's been languishing. We've had Toys take their time getting home, but never actually seemingly lost for good before. We hope we've alerted the authorities in time, because MrsSG the disappointed buyer was VERY patient and waited almost 3 months to tell us it had not arrived, and Royal Mail has a time limit on when claims can be registered! We think we just made it!!
We've also uploaded the photos of the new version of the Panda Head Golf Club Cover - which we presume is also currently "safely" stored in the Personal Vault, as we can't find it where we used to before the Microsoft upgrade! Isobel is going to have to add it to this post when we finally run the latest photographs to earth (or, now we've got some relevant photos, we'll have a separate post once we've unravelled the latest technological developments). We'll have to do the same with the new Grey Cat Arm Puppet, but meanwhile, we do have photos of a previous Grey Cat Puppet, made with the same pattern but using a Grey plush material chosen by the intended recipient himself, so Isobel will include them in this post - to break up all the printed matter.
With that, I'll close for this week. Isobel is currently unstitching the shirts sent to us by MsVS that belonged to our dear former friend/designer MrSS from Tulsa, OK. Whoever made them certainly did not intend them to be undone! She's on the third and final garment, and has already spent two evenings solidly unstitching them. Then will come the important creation process - which is still a project-in-planning".
See you all again soon - hopefully in a more technologically friendly space once more! You All Stay Safe now though.
Your Friend
Cy Bear
PS: Isobel has just checked the Royal Mail Tracker page - and we can confirm that our latest Grey Cat Arm Puppet is "In Transit!" - and we'll be able to check his progress once he reaches the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Fingers crossed he doesn't get way-laid en route too!
