Cuddlies' Poultry Production - Update

Hello again Everyone - as usual this week has rushed by:

Cy Bear is still off-duty, as it's better that I take over when any explanations of how COLDHAM CUDDLIES Toys are produced (or Patients are treated), than leaving it to Cyril Bear (in case you'd forgotten that is is REAL name!  He was named that by Peter when I made him shortly after opening up our Shop - www.COLDHAMCUDDLIES.etsy.com, because he reminded him of a really good friend of the family!).

Well, as promised in last week's post in which our Baby Chicken Toy was introduced, developments during the week are shown here.

Our Baby Chicken Toy has just been completed - yes, as an Easter Toy - but also as one that can be purchased (and played with) all year round.  In other words, it is an ANY TIME TOY!

The Fleece Baby Chickens' dimensions are

Height:  2.5 inches (  6.4 cms) - from "floor" to tip of tail

Length:  6.5 inches (10.6 cms) - around middle, under the wings.

Weight:  Very light, they barely register on the weigh scale!

The three Chickens are shown "standing" on their Orange Felt legs which are sewn to the base of their bodies.  Each Chicken illustrated has a different beak - being the first to be produced for our Shop, they are still somewhat "experimental"!  Buyers are welcome to let me know (via Notes to Sellers in the Etsy Check Out Form, at time of ordering,  convo here,  or by email at coldhamcuddlies@tiscali.co.uk) as to which one they would like, or which they consider should be the "norm" for the future.  Two models have felt beaks, the third Stuffed Baby Chicken has an embroidered Orange Beak.  Their eyes have been created with a knot at the end of a piece of Black DK Knitting Yarn and tied firmly through the stuffing of each Chicken Toy, before the final closing seam is done.  The stuffing is polyester meeting all international safety standards, and all three Baby Fleece Chickens have been made in totally animal and smoke free surroundings - as are all COLDHAMCUDDLIES Toys.  Each Baby Chicken Toy is "topped off" with a Red Felt Crop, sewn firmly into the head seams of each Chicken Toy.

NB:  The Eggs in the pictures - wrapped in paper and/or acting as "nests" are purely for pictorial purposes.  They are not included in the purchase price.

The Stuffed Baby Chickens can be purchased singly or as a job lot - but, where multiple orders are made, the base price of £5.00 each (6.25 USD)  will be REDUCED by .50 GBP each (.65 USD) until 4 extra chickens are ordered over the initial single chicken (making up to 5 in total = £20.50 per 5 pack:  25.59 USD per pack of 5).

These are not the first fleece Bird Toys we have introduced to our Flock of Birds in our Shop: our first was this Puffin Toy, who joined us at the end of February, 2017, after being used as the "dry run" model for a Patient in our Stuffed Animal Toy Restoration Clinic - https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/79124185/stuffed-toy-animal-restoration-clinic?ref=shop_home_active_1

Just to remind you what Our Puffin looks like!

They are undoubtedly the smallest to date, however.  They each take about 2-3 hours in total to make (usually over two evenings, which is when I tend to do my toy-making.)  The shipping time quoted in our listing for this toy type is set to allow for any projects in hand when your order is received.  Orders are dealt with strictly in order of their arrival.

These Yellow Baby Chickens are now  listed in the Bird Plush Toy section of our Shop - click here to see our Owls and Penguin as well.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/COLDHAMCUDDLIES?ref=hdr_shop_menu&section_id=18803266

Listing on Etsy can take some time, and it's been pretty time-consuming lately with lots of changes being introduced to the content of  EVERY toy listing in our Shop (now totalling 107!).  While engaged in this undertaking, I've changed some of the previous content, and added some extra information - which hopefully will result in many more Cuddlies finding Forever Homes in 2017. 

Another view of our Three Chicks with their Different "Beaks"

The first paragraph is inviting potential buyers to visit the link below - which allows them to see what previous Customers have said about their experience(s) visiting the Shop. 

"Meanwhile, you might be interested in seeing what other folk have to say about the COLDHAMCUDDLIES Toys that have become members of their household - click here to see the reviews received to date.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/COLDHAMCUDDLIES?ref=hdr_shop_menu&section_id=18803266#reviews

Then this final paragraph occurred to me while I was involved in PuffinR's treatment recently.   The FamilyR were brilliant at responding to hints in this blog!!  However, I don't always use this route to communicate while a transaction is under way!!

Recently, while working on orders received, I've really needed to get in touch with my customers while the production process was in progress. This can be because I need to check their actual requirements (individual measurements, for example), or give them a choice of  Toys - when I have more than ONE in stock. Those who leave an email do respond- because their ever-present smart phones tell them when a NEW message comes in!!!  There are therefore few delays in their Toy, Slipper or Golf Club Cover order leaving our Shop on time.  There have been times though when I've had to send the finished item, based on what I THINK the Buyer wants - not always a satisfactory outcome.  Which is why I "cooked up" this request which has been added to EVERY Listing in the Shop.    It will be interesting to see if this helps when answers are invaluable - and I'm hoping no potential Customer will be put off!

"NB: On line purchasing while undoubtedly convenient, can be somewhat impersonal. At COLDHAMCUDDLIES, we do want to ensure Buyers' total satisfaction with the eventual outcome of our contacts. There can be times when I need to get in touch after your order has been confirmed - particularly when a "made to measure" situation is involved. So, please leave a link by which we can ALWAYS communicate at reasonable times. Thank you!"

Right Folks:  that's it for this week.  Have cut out 3 Ducklings, and am well underway with the sewing of one of them.  Aim to have all three done by next week-end.  

Will now end because I'm deeply involved in another of the Monthly Heart Attack sessions on the Etsy FriendsRUs Team (#EtsyFRU) - which usually begin in Israel where one of the Team Leaders   https://www.etsy.com/uk/people/Viyoli starts off the Thread, to be closely followed by another Leader - who lives in Bucharest - https://www.etsy.com/uk/people/cristinatoys ).  Both then "hold the fort" until the Captain  ( https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MoreFriendsAndCo and other Team Leaders join in (they all live in the USA!) - and team members drop in (and out) during the next 12 hours, with the Thread closing at 0900 EST in the USA on Monday.   I join in usually around 1400 hours BST (our clocks went forward at 0200 hours today - so we're all lacking an hours sleep in the UK!).  But this is a truly international team game, in real time, and it does result in plenty of sales for many members.  Today, our esteemed Leader, actually woke up to 4 sales - and one of them she'd only posted a few minutes after joining in!!  (Anyone interested in seeing how it works, and the international locations of the participants can click on this link - and see how it's going!  https://www.etsy.com/uk/teams/24793/etsy-friendsrus/discuss/18293583/page/9?post_id=373978603&prior_page=8    All hearts very welcome - for whomever, wherever!)

Until next week then!   Isobel

Planned new projects - and first steps in achieving them

Greetings to Everyone - on this typically Spring Day in the UK!

Cy Bear is being given a break this week, since today's subject is more in my field of operating the COLDHAMCUDDLIES Shop (www.COLDHAMCUDDLIES.etsy.com) then his.

Thanks to some invaluable help from a Facebook Group Friend, SamanthaF, who has kindly provided some patterns, I've embarked on some Easter type toys.  Since that Festival is rapidly approaching - and I've been busy trying to re-organise the Shop itself all week - the time has arrived for me to really get down to the business of actually MAKING the toys, otherwise Easter will have come - and gone - before they become realities.

A dry run of one of the patterns has been completed - meet the COLDHAMCUDDLIES Chicken Toy. 

Measuring 2.5 inches (6.4 cms) from floor to tip of tail, this little chap is definitely going to be the smallest Cuddly in the Shop.  He/she is also 6.5 inches (10.6 cms) around his middle - from front to back, under the wings.  I'm using some of the fleeces purchased to make our recent addition Puffin Toy's beak, together with Orange and Red Felts for the crop and feet.  My pattern-maker kindly provided me with the template for a beak, but when I did this first, dry-run version, the finished product looked more like a duck's beak. So I decided to embroider the pointed facial area - which currently does look more like a nose than a beak, I have to admit.  I shall experiment further before the finished Chickens are listed and offered in the Shop.

 (Please forgive the rather unprofessional photos - but they've been taken merely to illustrate the creation process in this post  - rather than the final offering!  The patterns, in particular, are somewhat patchy - but I don't want to give away EVERYTHING!  Our friend the Chicken is also somewhat out of focus - but what else can one expect from snapshots, as opposed to posed photographs?):

Currently, there have been three Chickens cut out.  One is destined to be sent to SamanthaF - so that her children can play with it - together with the finished products of the other two patterns she was kind enough to send me at the same time.  

(I caught her at a rather difficult time:  she's in the process of moving house, and we all know how time-consuming that can be, so I was terrifically grateful that she was prepared to sit down and create this pattern, as well as the two others that accompanied the Chicken template.  She also sent me a batch of several colourful cotton/poplin fabrics - saying she'd rather I had them (if I could use them - and I CAN!) than have to chuck them due to the upcoming move.  There was no charge from Samantha - but we did agree, that if I was satisfied with the outcome, I'd send her a sample of all three completed Poultry Toys in return for her generosity.  Now I need her "snail mail" address once she's settled in!)  

The patterns from which I shall be working can be seen here.

The one for the Chicken:

There is one for a Duckling:

Finally, there is one for a Ducky Doll - something I hadn't thought about, but which could well be a "winner"!!

Now as you all know, I'm not normally a Dolly Type!  But this little chap looks like he/she could overcome my aversion to Dolls, as it looks a pretty straight-forward type to have a go at making. (Normally Dolls can come with all sorts of arms, legs and neck attachments that are far too complicated for me to contemplate - given my lack of patience with such details!)  This Ducky Doll is not so "afflicted"!!.

All the patterns were accompanied with suggested instructions as to how to put them together, too.  I've read them with interest, been guided by them, but confess that so far, I've not followed them to the letter!  I've tried, but suppose that I've got my own way of putting toy pieces together after all this time, and they don't necessarily conform to the suggested modus operandi!  However, I'm extremely grateful to SamanthaF for the time she gave me in this exercise.

Here are the fabrics that are involved in this series of Toys:

I'm still working out how to present the toys eventually.  While shopping in Kirkby Town Centre earlier in the week, I did find these baskets and thought they'd be handy "nests".  Having completed the Chicken though, I think you'll agree that the Toy  is likely to be "drowned" if put into either of these, even if I fill up the baskets with shredded paper, which was my original plan.   (I got two others at the same time, in different colours - as they were being sold two at a time in four different shades),    

They are going back tomorrow, and I'll see if  another shape can be found in which to place the Toys when they are completed:  maybe an egg shape, if one is available.   Hopefully, by next week, there will be something more final to show you!

Until then, I'll close this bulletin from windy Nottinghamshire.  Have a great week Everyone!

Isobel

A Dressed Grey Wolf finds a Forever Home in New York State, U.S.A.

Hello again, everyone - where did last week go then?

Cy Bear back, as promised to tell you about the latest COLDHAMCUDDLIES Toy to leave the UK for a new Forever Home.

This time, it was one of our Grey Plush Dressed Wolves who had been purchased by someone we suspect to have been a parent, or other adult relative, of one CT,  whose address was in Mamaroneck, NY, U.S.A.  Isobel was unable to really know whether or not CT was the person actually ordering the Wolf in a Tartan Jacket.    Because the "user name" of the sender of the email was very different to whom the package was being sent on the paperwork.  So, this scenario is our best guess at the true situation!

This is the Wolf Toy in question, after Isobel had done some remedial work on him, before he left for his new abode.  His original boots did not look right when we bought him out of the Den he'd been staying in since he was made.  He was not standing as well as he should have been - given that his tail is what normally enables the Wolves, Foxes and Coyotes in our collection to stand erect (see below).  So, the decision was made to replace the boots entirely.

Photo taken just after he was made - and we hoped the tassels would settle down!.

Here's a photograph of the Grey Wolf as he was before being listed - and you can see that the boots did not look "right" even then.  Not only did his feet look cramped, but the tassels would not lie down and altogether he looked untidy - and not to the usual high standard we like our Cuddlies to appear.  It's is often when Isobel hasn't seen a Toy for sometime that things like this "look" become really obvious, so the easiest, and best thing in this case was to replace the boots.  

Fortunately, we had some of the original leather still in our stash and it was a matter of a couple of evening's sewing to have the new ones made and fitted in place.  When a Cuddly sells, and there is only one of them in the Etsy Listing, the Etsy Order system is such that it is noted as "Sold Out", and any listings disappear from sight. 

As this  Grey Plush Wolf was only ever a OaaK (One of a Kind) Toy, and we don't have much of the fabrics used to make him in stock, Isobel decided to delete him from our Shop Listings - but subsequent digging through our fabric store indicated that there is enough for just one more version - with enough leather to make another pair of boots too.  So, after this blog, Isobel will be listing him again - to take the total of COLDHAMCUDDLIES Toys in our Shop at present to a 107 total - and Grey Wolf will become a brand new Cuddly to add to our collection of  Coyotes, Foxes and Wolves.  (If he becomes an order, Isobel will be able to make the final version well within the 3-4 week deadline that goes with the order:  that is set to take account of whatever "work in progress" Isobel may be engaged in when an order is received).

He's going to look like this:

You can see from this photograph what the new boots look like - and they are ever so much firmer (and can allow a Wolf to stand upright better too!).  Isobel also decided that her "obsession" with tasselled turnovers for our leather boots is over, and decided to keep the turnover pretty well together, with just the seam showing - as a sort of decoration. There is a still slightly jagged edge to the turnover which is provided by the leather having been cut with a pair of pinking shears (whatever they are - a Bear like me has not got a clue!).   Sewing leather in such small quantities is quite tricky for someone with fingers that are getting stiffer as the time goes by!  So this is how our leather boots will be from now on.

I think Grey Wolf is now standing pretty straight as this photograph of his rear view shows - given that he's standing on the surface of Isobel's duvet and only slightly leaning on the pillow with his nose to keep him steady!

Here's a side view of the new Mr Grey Wolf showing off his new boots.  It was taken while he stood on the heater in our living room, the night just before he was packed for his journey the next morning. (So the lighting is not as good as it might be!)  Before that happened, though - here's the usual Farewell Picture:

Isobel, having discovered how we can keep a track of our parcels once they've left us (she did know the basics, before doing it to tell you about Puffin's trip back home last week) decided to do the same check for our Grey Wolf Toy - and what we discovered a few minutes ago, is shown at the bottom of this post.

Seemingly, our latest Travelling Toy has not been as lucky in following the same flying schedule as did Puffin,  (or travellers to Rhode Island may take a different route than those headed to Mamaroneck) because from the information we've picked up, it would appear that Grey Wolf only reached New York Customs at 0600 hours on Friday, 9th March - and has been stuck there in the system ever since.  Hopefully, as tomorrow is Monday,  his journey will commence once more, and he will be able to get to Mamaroneck on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.  

Before I close, here's a final side view of our Grey Wolf Toy, showing off his rather magnificent busy Plush Tail, behind his Left Paw!

As we don't want to spoil the look of the blog, with different typography in the text, I'll end this week's post here.  See you all next week.

Your friend,  Cy Bear.

Grey Wolf's Travel Itinerary - to date:

Date	Time	Status	Track point
09/03/17	06:01	ARRIVED IN COUNTRYKENNEDY NEW YORK	KENNEDY NEW YORK
07/03/17	AM	ON ITS WAY TOKENNEDY NEW YORK	UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
07/03/17	01:27	ARRIVED (MDN) AT	HEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC
06/03/17	19:57	ON ITS WAY TOHEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC	NOTTINGHAM MAIL CENTRE
06/03/17	19:39	ITEM COLLECTED	NOTTINGHAM MAIL CENTRE
06/03/17	10:15	SENT AT POST OFFICE	1-3 Lowmoor Road NG17 7BE