Latest News about Puffin - having departed the UK, and homeward bound.

Hello Everyone!  

Cy Bear once again - a little disappointed not to be able to share the news with you that Puffin has finally reached home in Warwick, Rhode Island - but that,  I am given to understand - is one of  "THE THINGS" about doing business internationally.  Once one has posted an item, one is then in the hands of "THE SYSTEM" - or, as in this case, SYSTEMS.  Not only international postal services, but also the route through each country's Customs Services. 

However, as Puffin was dispatched by Royal Mail's Tracked and Signed For Large Packet service last Monday morning, Isobel has just checked where he's at and can report that he "cleared US Customs at 5.22 February 23, 2017."  according to the  USPS (US Postal Service) Tracking page, and was last heard of "inbound out of Customs".  That probably means he didn't get going towards Rhode Island until sometime Friday, 24th February.  With the week-end looming, that should, with luck, mean he will be arriving home on Monday or Tuesday of the upcoming week - depending on when the local Postie gets around to NR's home in Warwick, RI.  (Let's hope there will be someone at home to sign for the package!)

This is me sitting beside the package which Isobel was just going to put into her shopping bag to take to our local post office last Monday.  I'm waving to NR and his Family, as well as saying "Good Bye" to Puffin.

So, while I could show you what Puffin now looks like, as I explained last week, I think it's only right that NR and his Family see him first, so you'll just have to wait to see the final New Look until next week.  However, Isobel did take some photos of the Traveller before he left us, so - because we don't like to NOT post a bulletin every Sunday - here is what happened to Puffin before he left us last Monday morning.

Once all the usual paperwork involved in sending a COLDHAM CUDDLIES Toy or Patient to their destination had been completed, an envelope was prepared - with the destination address on both sides. (That's in the hope that it speeds up any journey - people don't have to turn a package around to find the address, if it's on BOTH sides!)   Any international postal item being sent to the United States and anywhere other than the European Union, has to have a Customs Declaration Form completed.  (You can see it at the bottom of the package in the photograph above.  Basically, it says what's in the package - in this case a "restored soft toy";  then there's the weight of the package, value of the package and finally at the bottom of the form, Isobel's signature.)

Then Puffin was wrapped up in chemical free tissue paper - looking like this:

You may be able to see a Red "Fragile" label under the "Mail Bag" at the top left hand corner of the package. I know, Puffin is a soft toy, and not normally classed as a "breakable" object.  However,  Isobel always puts such a label on any parcel leaving us - because of how she has seen the postal authorities handle the goods that pass through their offices!  They THROW stuff into big post bags, and she doesn't like the idea of any COLDHAMCUDDLIES Toy or Patient being hurt!!!

After the tissue paper, Puffin got wrapped in bubble wrap - just to make sure that he had an extra covering to shield him for the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. 

The fully wrapped Puffin was then popped into the envelope, his travel documents (otherwise known as a "Delivery Note/Invoice") were put in as well, and the envelope sealed.  Puffin then travelled by 'bus to the Post Office, and his "ticket" purchased.  Upon her return, Isobel notified MrJR that Puffin was on his way home.  At least, we've now learned he got to America BEFORE something called "Storm Doris" reached the UK on Thursday - because the USPS Tracking information tells us that the parcel arrived in ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)   at 4.14 am on 21st February!

So that's all we can tell you for now.   Hopefully next time we're together (next Sunday), we can show you Puffin as he now looks, together with a photo or two of Puffin (Dry Run) and him before the wrapping process took place.

Until then - have a great week:  hope you're not all blown to bits, as we are getting a lot of high winds, and are being promised a lot of heavy rain, thunder, and even snow, for the first few days of the coming week.

Bye for now - 

Your Friend, Cy Bear.

PuffinR's Treatment - Part 3: He can go home on Monday

Greetings Everyone!

Cy Bear back again, now that Isobel has completed her duties in the ColdhamCuddlies Soft Toy Animal Restoration Clinic (https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/79124185/stuffed-toy-animal-restoration?ref=shop_home_active_1).  She can't be attending to patients AND type here simultaneously!

Good News folks - PuffinR is now ready to depart the UK. after a slight delay in departure.  We had hoped to send him homewards on Friday, but Isobel was away from the flat that morning, with a trip into Nottingham, which lasted longer than she'd expected - so everything got put back a bit.  Puffin R was almost completed that evening, but because she was tiring, and didn't want to make a mistake in the final stages, she emailed DadR to tell him that Puffin would be en route first thing Monday instead.  (The initial order actually set a dispatch date of 24th February, so we're still well within the deadline, but we had wanted to get the Bird back to Forever Friend, NR, as fast as possible - but not so fast that things went wrong at the last minute!)  

Photographs have been taken of PuffinR's treatment, and some of them will be shared here - with the final stages shown next week - because, obviously we want PuffinR's Family to see him in his new guise, before showing him off to all of you - our Great Followers.

This is what we've now termed PuffinR-Dry Run version.  He looked quite perky when this photograph was taken at the end of last week, but since then, because Isobel was experimenting with the amount of stuffing that might be required to achieve a "soft" feel, we think he actually hasn't had enough to keep him going for any length of time.  When compared with the final version of PuffinR (who will revert to his more familiar name when he is packed and ready to go - so will be called Puffin when we talk about him next week) it's now obvious he needs to get some more stuffing in him.  This will happen before the PuffinDR gets listed as our newest addition to the Shop (www.COLDHAMCUDDLIES.etsy.com).

Now, I'll hand over to Isobel, who can give you a better commentary on how things have progressed over this last week.

Hi Everyone - good to be able to report on a successful outcome for our latest Patient. 

Proceedings began, obviously,  with cutting out a brand new set of pieces using the template I'd created last week for the Dry Run version of PuffinR.  Here is the Body Front, his two eyes and the new beak - seen from the wrong side.

You can see that his feet have been attached to the front of the body, and the shadowy fabric you can see is actually PuffinR's original front since it was taken to pieces at the beginning of this exercise. Here it is lightly tacked and in such a way that when the stuffing was added at the end of the sewing, the tacking could be removed without disturbing the new piece of fabric.  (To try and ensure that all PuffinR's bits and pieces - feet, wings, tail and neck - hold together longer, I've not only tacked them in, but sewn each seam with blanket stitch ending up with a REALLY firm seam.)

Here are the same pieces, shown on the right side of each pattern piece, but before I'd done the blanket stitch edge to each foot!

I then tacked the original pieces (or as much as I felt would survive the exercise - which meant trimming the old seams really) and tacked each original Puffin piece to its equivalent new pattern piece.  So, the body front (top left) has the base sewn on it, the head is almost together, with eyes attached to the forehead and back of the head.  The bottom two pieces are the back of the lower body.  All have their equivalent "original Puffin" pieces tacked on (wrong side to wrong side) using a contrasting coloured thread - to make removing the tacking easier when required.  (Doing it that way means there is less stuffing required, because the original fabric's pile is doing part of that job).

The body front and head have been turned right side out in this photo, and wait for the original tacking to be removed.  The lower two back pieces are still shown on their wrong sides. and wait for the centre back seam to be sewn together.

Then all PuffinR's peripheral pieces needed to be sewn and fitted to the body in the appropriate places.  Here's the tail and two wings, and the beak, while the head needed sewing together at the front neck, and the body had it's final side sewn together.  

When making PuffinDR, Isobel wondred whether she should stuff the body and head separately and then sew the two pieces together at the neck area.  In the end, it was easier for her to first sew the back of the neck - from wing to wing along the neck seam (finished off with the blanket stitch used for the other peripheral pieces).  There was then a convenient gap in the front through which she could push the stuffing and shape the body and head separately.   Then she was able to close the neck (in the region of the throat) and sew the remaining gap using ladder stitch, which is what she uses most of the time when making all us Cuddlies.  (This smaller seam does not have the blanket stitch finish - it's not possible to achieve it once the entire body is fully stuffed - the ladder stitch is a pretty tight finish in any case).

You can see the wings and tail in situ here, and under the tail I've stitched back a label - which had a series of numbers on it.  Don't suppose that NR will notice this detail, but in fact when he arrived PuffinR had 2 labels under his tail.  One of them probably had the original maker's name on it, but that had disappeared and I didn't see the point of replacing a label with nothing printed on it. 

 (PuffinDR has a label sewn under HIS tail now - which is the ColdhamCuddlies label which goes on all the Cuddlies made for our Shop. He has been listed today -

 ( https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/513131377/puffin-stuffed-toy-stuffed-puffin-toy?ref=shop_home_active_1)

 - leading the list of entries to the February FriendsRUs Team Heart Attack session, which is currently under way as this blog is prepared for publication on Sunday afternoon.   I drafted it on Saturday evening, so that I could participate in the monthly Heart Attack and do the blog post - almost simultaneously!) 

We have taken some more pictures of the final stages of  PuffinR's treatment process  - as well as photos of Puffin fully completed.  But, as we've shared our posts with NR (and FamilyR) as the therapy progressed, I'll wait until next week (or even until I've received confirmation of Puffin's safe arrival in Warwick, Rhode Island) before posting the final bulletin regarding the latest Patient in our Clinic.

This has been a really fun exercise - and Cy Bear and I will miss this Little Bird when he leaves us. Farewell pics will,  of course,  also be taken - and be shown here in the next bulletin.  Now, it's off to give PuffinDR some more stuffing and shape, take said photographs, and then get down to some much needed administration for the Shop - which had to be set aside (happily, I hasten to add!) when PuffinR arrived 3 weeks ago.

Until next week then, 

Your Friends - Cy Bear and Isobel

Puffin R - Part 2: Progress Report on His Restoration Therapy.

Good afternoon Everybody:

Cy Bear starting off this week's bulletin - because ever since I chatted with you last week,  it has become obvious that some of the statements made in introducing PuffinR were a little wide of the mark.  Not intentional you understand,  but discovered during the course of Isobel's attention during last week.

First of all, I did say that PuffinR's feet could be re-used:  when they were taken apart, it was found that the stuffing that was still attached was really all that was holding the limbs together.  Isobel decided that he would end up with two new feet, because the fabric initially used for his feet was too damaged to work with new stuffing.  (You can see some of that stuffing in the right foot, still attached to the original body).

Having taken PuffinR apart, Isobel got to work on the template, which has served her well.  She had hoped to be able to get PuffinR completed and on his way to Rhode Island by the end of this week: however "life" intervened with other distractions during the week.   Plus there were some hiccups in Isobel's working with the New Toy,  and it looks as though PuffinR's journey will now begin towards the end of next week,  That is still well before the beginning of March - which contains an important date: NR's, PuffinR's Forever Friend, Birthday.


Progress has been made, however - and I'm now going to hand over to Isobel, who can explain things better - as she's been doing the work!


Hello there Folks!


I'm glad to report that PuffinR is gradually returning to life - but will look different.  However much I try, because of different fabrics involved - the fleece he was originally made with, and the fleeces available here in the UK - do look and feel different.  He's going to still be very cuddly and friendly for NR, but to begin with he will be different, inevitably.


Here's how he's looking:

The new look feet are in place, and PuffinR's Base is almost sewn in - a gap has been left at one of the corners where his Front and Back meet the Base - so that the stuffing can be put in at the appropriate time.  (When it comes to the stuffing, it may still go in at the top (or neck area):  in which case, the gap at the Base will be closed up - obviously!)

The gap doesn't show in the photograph above (showing the Toy inside out), because it's nearer the tail than the front.  That tail is in place as can be seen below:

His two Wings are pinned in place, and will be sewn in properly when the Head is completed.  That's been a bit tricky, because I'd kind of forgotten the order in which I had dis-assembled PuffinR.  However, that difficulty has now been overcome, and the Head should be sewn together and stuffed by the end of play, tonight (Sunday).


Currently, the Beak is ready to be attached to the Head - but I've not yet decided if that will be when the head has been attached to the body, or whether it will be sewn in place before that important seam is created.  Meanwhile, here is a photograph of the Front of the Head with the darts yet to be sewn in. This is also how the finished beak currently looks:

It doesn't look right yet, because the back of the head has yet to be sewn together, but at least you can see what the new beak looks like - unstuffed.


As PuffinR arrived without any eyes, I have selected a couple of options I have in stock  - shown below.   I'm going to show DadR and NR, so they can choose which one is most like the ones they recall PuffinR originally had.  Currently they're shown with the white cheek as a background.  The finished eye will have a black felt background in the middle of the white fleece pieces shown above, and the eye will be in the middle of that addition.  (I can just decipher the shape the felt should be from one of the original cheeks, and propose to trace it and then cut it out in cardboard for a template - to join the rest of the template pieces.)


The eyes are currently not fixed - but one can see the difference between them.

 If DadR and the NR's extended family and friends read this post (we did get a comment from one of them on Cy Bear's bulletin last week), I'm hoping I'll get a comment quickly as to which one they'd like me to fit.  Otherwise, I'll email the pics to DadR  and hopefully get an answer back early in the week, so that PuffinR can be completed.


Those of you who read last week's blog will recall that I had said his original pieces would be a tacked on the inside of each piece before it was stuffed.  While working on PuffinR this week, I decided to actually make a "dry run" - which is what is pictured here.  It gives me an idea as to the best way to go in creating the New Look PuffinR.  (That will then become the new addition to our Toy Shop - www.COLDHAMCUDDLIES.etsy.com).


The second version, still to be cut out, will have those original pieces tacked in place, as Cy Bear described.  It will result, not only in PuffinR being the same size as this model, but he could actually take a little less stuffing.


(Which reminds me:  when I send the photograph of the eyes, I'll need to ascertain if PuffinR in his original state was a "firm" stuffed toy, or a "lightly stuffed toy").  Some of these "mass-produced" toys, as I suspect PuffinR to have been, can be very wobbly indeed, and if NR is to "take" to the new version, I want to make sure that I don't add to the newness of his cherished Forever Friend by making him too firm.  The polyester fibre I use meets all international safety standards, and does eventually "relax",  with time and cuddles, but I really do want to ease the introductory process as much as feasible)


Next week, Cy Bear and I will bring you all up to date - with, hopefully, a Farewell Picture of the two new Friends before PuffinR is sent on his way back HOME to Warwick, Rhode Island, New York, U.S.A.


Good Bye for now - hope everyone has a terrific week, and that Spring will be here soon!  The weather has been particularly nasty this week, although warmer times are said to be on their way.


Isobel.