After the Royal Wedding - what next?

We've spent practically all day glued to the television - watching the crowds in London watching the Royal Wedding.  Was very restrained and did not switch the television when I first got up (the broadcasts began at 0600 BST) but waited till my husband got up and allowed him to put it on instead (that was about 0800 BST) and it stayed on .... and on..... and on. Very moving and thoroughly enjoyable:  makes one proud to be British again.

However, am pleased to say that it did enable me to finally repair the damage to Big Red Ted.  The interrupted photoshoot will thus take place tomorrow, and then I will be in a position to blog about the production of both Red Bears (Little Red Ted's rejuvenation as well as the production of Big Red Ted).

The rejuvenation process was indeed a challenge, but it's given me an idea:  to broaden the Coldham Cuddlies shopping experience (visible by visiting http://www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com/)  by offering to rejuvenate the beloved Teds of everyone else.  There are few households around I suspect that does not hold a beloved soft toy (not necessarily just Bears) that is in need of some TLC. Some folks might say the tattered toy has "character"  and it would be shame to lose it - but how about prolonging its existence for a few more years instead?   If I did proceed, dolls would not be included - have never been a "doll person" and I'm not planning on becoming one now!  Have nothing agin them:  just prefer cuddly, furry animals instead.

It needs thinking about - but meanwhile, wonder what the great big Etsy (and others) world might have to say?  While I await - with bated breath - any comments on this idea, I'll end for today with a picture of Cy Bear with all the new Baby Rabbits, four of whom were included in yesterday's post.

New Listing on Etsy as part of the Social Media Blitz e-course

 

www.etsy.com/listing/01234567/light-brown-baby-rabbits is the actual Etsy.com listing (further information regarding these new members of the ColdhamCuddlies family can be found on my shop site at www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com). These little guys replace the former Brown Rabbit who recently left the ColdhamCuddlies family for a Canadian home They are made from the same pattern but look smaller than the original Brown Baby Rabbit because the plush fur fabric from which they are made is thinner overall Also when making them I inadvertently left out a pattern piece However I think they have a better overall appearance than the original Brown Baby Rabbit and will be selling them at a slightly lower price with the pattern piece missing They measure 6" (10.5 cms) from tip of their ears to their sitting position and can be made with a white front or be completely self coloured They come with their own ribbon enabling them to be used as pram or cot toys This ribbon can be easily taken off if needed All baby rabbit toys are made in a smoke free and animal free environment and can be machine washed to 40 degrees Personally I would stick to 30 degrees just in case the dyes in the plush fabric are not fast ones Hang by ribbon to dry although they probably would survive a short tumble drying session

Re-opening the blogging posts

Blogging regularly is about to re-start - in a day or so.  However, yesterday, I began to follow the latest offering from Tim Adams, leader of the Handmadeology Team on Etsy.com which is designed to help those of us who are clueless about Social Media - full-stop!  Believe me - I'm the original  in that department.  Know that there is something called Facebook, have used it to post photographs of my toys being offered in my Etsy shop (http://www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com/) but am still not sure that either of the sites talk to each other or how to correct the fault if they do not.  Am a Twitterer, and tweet occasionally (when I remember) and yesterday registered with Digg, Stumbleupon and a couple of other sites recommended by the Social Media Blitz course. 

Was supposed to blog about it yesterday, but I find myself doing all this internet stuff quite late at night, and being a Silver Surfer, can get in a bit of a muddle at times as a result.  Doing it during the day doesn't always work - husband, Peter, often comes in and wants to know what is happening, without really being that interested.  However, he can have a malign influence on my computer - so his enquiries are not always appreciated!

So, having discovered Handmadeology, following my interview on the http://www.insideetsy.blogspot.com/. site earlier in April, I've been trying to keep up with all the helpful hints being provided.  They are wonderfully helpful, but they don't seem to be doing much to assist my problem in making sure that folks are actually reading the blog.  However, now I think about it, I was warned by a fellow Etsian (Yenbo), who was kind enought to create the Shop banner for me,  that it could take 6 months before I began to get regular comments on the blog.  SundayAfternoonHousewife has also been most helpful, and I hope soon to be able to follow her helpful hints too.

This may explain the lack of blogging from me in the last couple of weeks - and I've also been up to my eyes in Red Teds.  Little Red Ted is now fully rejuvenated - and will form at least a couple of future blogs (stage by stage pics will be included) and so, too, is Big Red Ted.  However, this afternoon, the latter suffered an unexpected injury by losing his left arm while involved in a photoshoot.  Until I've re-joined that to his torso, photography has had to be suspended (much to Cy Bear's annoyance - he rather likes his involvement as the ColdhamCuddlies mascot!).  However, it's not such a big deal, and I hope to resume progress in that matter tomorrow - as well as find out a bit more on how to make Facebook and Twitter work for the ColdhamCuddlies product and myself  - from the Social Media Blitz e-course being provided via Tim Adams.

Till then - bye for now.Isobel