A Bear Beauty Parade - Meet Hairy Bears 10 and 11

Hello again, Everyone.   Cy Bear back, this time at our usual time for posting news from the Coldham Cuddlies Shop (www.Etsy.com/shop/COLDHAMCUDDLIES). Well, the two Hairy Bears are completed and now look like this (the cord hanging over my head is the light switch - very convenient for Isobel when she gets into bed.  She forgot to tie it up before taking the photograph!)

In our last post they were referred to as No10 (he's the one on the right of this photograph) and No11 and that's how I'll continue to call them, because although we've sent this picture and some others which will follow shortly to MrsTB in Glendale, Missouri, we've yet to receive a response as to which one she's going to want us to post to her.  It will make it easier to distinguish between them that Isobel has put different colour ribbons around their necks. Also No11 (on the left of the picture) looks a little smaller.  Please believe me, he's been made from the same pattern from which both No10 and myself have been made.  But because No11 has the bigger head, we've had to lower his arms a bit.  Also, so that he didn't look too top heavy, Isobel also fixed his legs a little higher up his body.  That makes him look a little shorter when standing up. 

  The ribbons around the Hairy Bears' necks are a recent purchase from the supermarket both Isobel and Clare go to get their weekly food shopping done.  From time to time they have fabulous offers for all things haberdashery, and Isobel takes advantage of them.  This time, she got five rolls of this satin ribbon, some plain, some with small polka dots (what ever they are?) and others with gingham pattern on.  All will come in handy when Isobel begins replacements and makes more new Cuddlies in the coming weeks - although we have a pretty good stash of ribbons, there's always room for more it would seem!

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Here's No11 standing all on his own - putting the legs a little further up each side of his body makes him sturdier and he's doing it without needing to be propped up by the pillow.

This sitting down photograph shows that No11 is just as hairy as his brother, No10!

It's been great fun this week having both of them to sit between and I shall miss whichever one does eventually leave for Glendale, Missouri, U.S.A.  The remaining one will sit with me for a while - until we find space for him in the flat or Toy Store (a.k.a. The Body Bag).  
(When Isobel, Peter and the Girls returned from Canada in 1987, they packed all their clothes in four of these big canvas bags and the clothing travelled well given the distances involved.  We still have them, and one is used to house all the Cuddlies and it's reasonably easy to transport them to Craft Fairs when we attend them.) Oh, and talking of  Stores - a new Craft Shop has opened in the last two weeks in Kirkby-in-Ashfield (where we now live) and there is a definite possibility that some of us Cuddlies will be exhibited on the shelves there.  With Easter coming up shortly, Isobel and the Shop Owner, Claire, have agreed that some of the Rabbit Family will be the first to appear.  I'll let you know how they all get on.   It may be that some of our Bears might be displayed there too - it will make a nice change from being in a chest of drawers.  Us Bears take up a lot more space than do the Rabbits, Foxes etc and my other Bear Friends currently lie in relative comfort in two of the drawers of the chest of drawers at the end of Isobel's bed. Returning to the Hairy Bears, though, it's unusual for us not to have heard back from MrsTB, because when discussing the colour of the Hairy Bears' eyes and other details, the responses have been pretty immediate.  However, I believe that Missouri is in a part of the United States that is suffering some awful wintry weather, and it may just be that internet communication in that part of the world  has been affected.  

When we do hear back, the chosen one will be wrapped up - as usual - in chemical free tissue and then surrounded with bubble-wrap to give him some protection for the rough handling that I'm told does happen to parcels when they travel around the world. (I'm always glad that I've not had to face such difficult conditions!) In my last post, I mentioned that we'd asked MrJS of Tulsa if we could tell you more about how he hopes to use the Tiger Puppets that have been made, as well as the Puppet Bodies.  Yesterday, Isobel received an email saying that he would be delighted for us to tell you all - as he'd be interested in hearing your reactions to what he is hoping to do with them.  So ......  watch this space.  I think it will be Isobel who will be writing about those things.  She understands such things better than me.  But before I leave tonight, here is a final photograph of us three Bear Friends, sitting on Isobel's bed - enjoying each other's company and basking in the Spring sunshine coming through the bedroom window one day last week.

Good Night to you All.  Your Friend, Cy Bear

Production of the Hairy Bears in progress - Introducing Hairy Bear No10.

Hello Everyone!

Cy Bear back to tell you all about a new Friend of mine - Hairy Bear No10.  He's just been finished and is awaiting the completion of Hairy Bear No11 before we organise a Bear Catwalk Parade, so that MrsTB from Missouri, U.S.A   can decide which one she'd like to adopt.

This close-up makes it look as though he doesn't have a mouth:  but, because there's SO MUCH fur around his face, the black yarn Isobel uses to embroider noses and mouths doesn't really show up that much.

We managed to find the polyester hollowfibre stuffing Isobel was looking for in High Wycombe, and have just opened one of the bags she purchased to finish No10 off yesterday afternoon, after some hiccups along the way.  This is what the two Bears looked like before we started to stuff them.

One head is slightly bigger than the other, because MrsTB specifically requested that her Bear had a big head:  she finds that very appealing in a Teddy.  So, hopefully, that is what will end up happening.  I think, but cannot confirm, that the one on the left of the picture is No10.  As this post is being prepared, No11 has got all limbs attached to the body, and the arms have been sewn up.  Just the legs need to be finally stuffed and sewn, and then will come the inevitable battle involved in getting the head attached to the body.

(This post is being prepared while we have floor laying experts in our home re-laying the floors in our kitchen and bathroom - so everything in the flat is upside down and all about! Isobel cannot reach anything in the kitchen, and she's not sure she will have access to the bathroom this evening, so emergency arrangements are in hand for her to sleep over at Clare's.  She's dining there this evening at any rate!)

These Hairy Bears are so hairy, that when it comes to putting the limbs together and attaching them to the body, there can be a real problem deciding the right way they should be facing.  On this occasion, all four limbs were fixed on, but Isobel then found the arms were facing one way, and the legs the other!  So, as we need to make a fairly substantial  hole in the fabric to pass the plastic discs through, one leg had to be re-sewn entirely.  Whilst we could have got away with darning the hole and allowing the hairy fur to cover it in some cases, because there is so much fur involved, here we had to cut away the top layer of pile around the hole (on both the body and limb) so that they can move slightly when fully made. (To begin with, the limbs are very stiff - but as the years go by, and they become less firm - a natural maturing process for Teddy Bears - that stiffness will relax.)

These two pictures demonstrate just how hairy, No10 really is!  And you can see his mouth a bit better  in the one above, from this angle too!

He looks a lot bigger than me standing up, and he does it better than I do too - when he's not on the duvet on the bed!  But when both of us are sitting down, there's not that much of a difference - except in fluffiness!  But then, Beaver Lamb fur is not as fluffy as faux fur fabric can be - and my hide is nearly 100 years old to boot!

I'm very pleased to be able to tell you that the Tulsa-bound Puppet Bodies dispatched by Isobel before she left for High Wycombe actually arrived at the end of last week - their journey taking a few days longer than they were supposed to, but a jolly sight faster than the previous three packages did.  So, the result is that for the remaining two puppets we have to make and send, we will be using the Royal Mail International Tracker route.

That's about all for me to tell you today - we are both sorry for this post being a bit late, but until Isobel had managed to sort herself out after getting back from High Wycombe,   plus dealing with one or two other things that interrupted her planned life, in the end there was nothing much to tell you until, No10 was finished yesterday.

We think we're going to be able to tell and show you how some of the Puppet Bodies have been used too, as MrJS  has sent us photos as and when they've been completed, and Isobel has requested permission for us to post and talk about them here.  So that could account for a couple more posts here, at least.

See you all again soon.  Your Friend, Cy Bear.