Greetings Everyone!
Your Friend, Cy Bear at the helm this evening - and delighted to be able to introduce four new COLDHAMCUDDLIES to the Shop - www.Etsy.com/shop.COLDHAMCUDDLIES.
Literally, Isobel has only just finished them so they have not yet been listed on Etsy.com - that's a job for tomorrow. However, because the last Fox was proving somewhat troublesome - the boots and coat were proving difficult to fit apparently - we missed our usual Sunday afternoon blogging session, so I'm being allowed to post something for you all to read tonight.
You saw two of the four in our post here two weeks ago. Since then one more Fox and another Wolf have been completed, and they all now look like this:
Allow me to introduce you to them, starting with the Fox on the left of the picture.
Isobel has made them from the same template used for all our Foxes and Wolves, and they just differ in size, depending on the fabrics employed. Instead of the White Felt for the jodhpur trousers, a beige corduroy fabric has been substituted here. This Mr. Fox has a Buchanan tartan waistcoat, yellow cravat and a red jacket (or Hunting Pink as those who ride to hounds like to call it). The jacket is fixed by a golden button, held in place with a hand made button loop. The boots are made with brown glove quality leather, with tops ending in tassels. His face, ears and paws are made with our usual chestnut plush fabric, with the ear linings made from polyester silky fabric.
He also has a black plastic nose. We've taken to using plastic noses on some of the Toys, and Isobel can't make her mind up as to which look she prefers. Two of the Toys being introduced this evening have these as facial features: the other two have their noses embroidered with black double knitting yarn. We'd be interested to hear what our Followers, Friends and new Readers prefer.
Next, on the second left, is Mr. Wolf, dressed in a plaid jacket, crushed strawberry pink tweed jodhpur trousers, with black suede leather boots, a mauve felt waistcoat and pink felt cravat. His nose is embroidered and he has green plastic safety eyes, which we feel look more wolf like than the amber coloured eyes we've used for the Foxes. His jacket is fastened with a silver button, held in place with a hand made button loop, which does undo to show off the waistcoat. But that's as far as this, or any of the other three Boy Toys undress.
This Wolf Toy has head, paws and ears made from a fabric called "Silver Fox" plush fur and his boots are a grey suede leather with a blue streak through them. His nose is embroidered with the same black double knitting yarn used for Mr. Fox on the left. (I'll let you into a secret here: this is actually the "wrong" side of the piece of leather, but when Isobel came to make the boots, she felt that the blue, "right" side was a bit strong for the whole outfit and the grey went better with the outfit as a whole. You can see the original blue colour since the tassels have been made by cutting the boot turnover to achieve the finished result.)
Then we come to the second Mr. Wolf, splendid in his aquamarine blue felt jacket - whom you have already met in our previous posting.
His jodhpur trousers use the original white felt that Isobel's vintage pattern called for. (This version was printed in the early 1970's) and underneath his jacket, Mr. Wolf has a pale blue linen waistcoat - lined in grey-brown satin, as are all the Toys' waistcoats. He has a dark blue felt cravat and has green plastic safety eyes. The jacket has a silver button with the usual handmade loop to hold the jack in place while he is on display
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Finally, we come to another Mr. Fox and his jacket is a little different. It's made with the same crushed strawberry pink tweet fabric as one of the Wolves has for trousers , but since the tweed is a very much thicker material, Isobel decided not to line this one. It would have made the jacket far to bulky if she had done so. The result was that when sewn together, the jacket was a lot larger than the other three Toys' coats (less seams involved - whatever they are) so instead of the loop fastening, Isobel made two button holes and purchased some lovely black buttons, which have a slight pattern on. You can't see the pattern, unless you have a magnifying glass, but the buttons can be undone, so that you see Mr. Fox's magnificent waistcoat - which has a red background, with a Liberty print in a blue floral pattern. His trousers are made in a red heavily woven fabric, that has a basket weave effect. His outfit is completed with a pair of black suede boots, and his nose is one of the embroidered variety.
As I said before, these four new Cuddlies will be listed during the week and thus be officially introduced to the World. Meanwhile, they're occupying one of the chairs in the living-room here, because Isobel is hoping she will be able to take outdoor shots for the publicity photographs. Clare's garden, three doors up the road from here, has apparently got some lovely places where Isobel thinks the Foxes and Wolves will show up well. Now we've just got to wait for suitable weather for the shots to be taken. At the moment, that looks as though it might happen on Wednesday.
Next on the production schedule are a couple of Fleece Rabbits, with their white chests - both destined for "The Artful Buttoner" - the craft shop where one Purple Rabbit has already been sold, together with one of the small Rabbits Baby. (It's also where the new buttons came from) Isobel has recently purchased more Blue Fleece, but it's a slightly different shade of blue from the pastel ones we currently have in the Shop, and she's interested to see what a Rabbit made from this new fabric will look like. Pictures will of course appear when they're ready to be sold.
Then, it's back to the Puppet making for the Tulsa Puppeteer, JS. Fabrics have now been selected, and the plan is to make a prototype of the Cat Puppet, as the pattern that has been chosen is not one Isobel has made before. As you know, before launching any new Cuddly, she likes to have a dry-run, and the proposed Cat Puppet is no exception.
So, that's it for this week. So nice to be back with you again. Hope you're all well, and looking forward to the Spring. Our clocks go forward this week-end, I've heard - which I think means we're supposed to be entering "Summer Time". I'll believe that when I see some proper sunshine coming through the bed room windows onto my daytime sitting area!
Until then, this is your Friend, Cy Bear signing off.
Good afternoon Everyone:
Cy Bear is taking another week off from posting - or rather, I've decided to do it today, so that I can get it posted and duly publicised (by posting everywhere I can think of - Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Etsy Team Chat Threads and so on) and then get on with finishing off the third of the Fox/Wolf replacements.
Two of them are now complete - waiting to be listed. Have yet to decide whether they will have names, or just be listed as Fox or Wolf (as appropriate).
It never ceases to amaze me how two Toys, made from the same pattern, and utilising similar weight fabrics, can end up looking so different from each other in size. However, that I suppose is the point, and unique selling point, for Home Made cuddly toys.
The third (out of the four that Cy Bear posted about a couple of weeks ago
http://coldhamcuddliescalling.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/dressed-toy-production-line-foxes-and.html is almost there as you can see -
This is the second wolf, and the pink felt - on which the tail is laid - is destined to be used as the fabric for Wolf 2's scarf, which will cover the white empty space you see in the unfinished Toy.
With any luck, he should be complete by end of play today, or certainly tomorrow. (When selecting fabrics for the Cuddlies, I fear gender trendy colours do not play a part. I tend to select them on the basis of what goes best, from what I currently have in the fabric supply cupboard).
Meanwhile, as a follow-up to last week's post, when I told you about our expansion into selling in "The Artfull Buttoner", the newly opened craft shop here in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, I learned on Friday - when I dropped in to see how things were going - that our Purple Fleece Rabbit
https://www.etsy.com/listing/183226229/bunny-rabbit-toy-stuffed-animal-art-doll?ref=shop_home_active_14
has been successfully adopted, and was last seen departing the premises with his head looking out of a carrier bag borne by his new Best Friend. (He will be replaced just as soon as Fox No2 is done and dusted, by the end of the week). But, needless to say, I'm very excited by this unexpectedly fast development. I've signed a three-month contract, and will be exhibiting the Rabbits I told you about last week, until the week after Easter. Then, I think it will be a matter of taking a different selection of the other Cuddlies in - probably on a two-weekly basis.
On the Tulsa Puppet front, some more photographs of how the Puppet Bodies have been transformed into useable Puppets by JS, and I hope, very soon, to be able to show them here in a series of posts illustrating how they are all now looking in their home surroundings. I do like to keep up with my Toys and am looking forward to sharing the news with you all.
Then there was another unexpected development over the last week. A lady from Portland, Oregon contacted me to see if I could repair her son's beloved Teddy Bear, who had come off badly in an encounter with the family dog, just before Christmas. He now only has one leg! (Alas, the relationship with dogs and Teddy Bears is a necessarily fraught one - especially these days with the tendency for folks to give their canine friends Cuddly Toys to play with. How is a sensible dog to know the difference between his Teddy Bear and the one his Best Human Friend plays (and/or sleeps with) on a regular basis?) Even though I pointed out that the distance between Oregon and Nottinghamshire could well render the idea uneconomic, we have come to a mutually satisfactory arrangement, and Audrey, the Forever Friend of this lady's eleven-year old son, is hopefully en route to the UK for treatment. Description of her individual therapy programme will of course form a future post - as happens when a Patient arrives in the Stuffed Animal Restoration Clinic
https://www.etsy.com/listing/79124185/stuffed-toy-animal-restoration-clinic?ref=shop_home_active_1
Meanwhile, with all the sewing ahead of me, together with my Etsy duties for the day to accomplish as well, I'll close now. Cy Bear (and Hairy Bear11) are still comfortably ensconced in the bedroom, and send their good wishes to one and all.
Until the next post - hope everyone has a good week. Isobel
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