Some "Pearls of Wisdom" being considered for the Cuddlies' future.

Hello there Everyone:

Cy Bear being allowed to contact you this week - when there hasn't really been that much happening to tell you about.  As Isobel said, she was not well at the beginning of the week, but having recovered, we've now entered what Peter used call "the silly season" - a well-known journalistic term to describe the summer season, when "normal life" tends to go into "relaxation" mode, and nothing much happens.

COLDHAM CUDDLIES are no different, and it's a time that Isobel usually uses to do some administrative changes in the Shop, and this year is no different.  The next few bulletins may well feature non-Cuddlies items - such as descriptions of visits to nearby "visitor attractions" and holiday photos from trips taken in 2016.   This week, though, as Isobel has been somewhat less than active on line here (although she has kept up the usual daily routines on Teams/Groups) thanks to the cold, as well as working hard at losing weight (so that she doesn't find herself having to become a regular feature in the local doctor's surgery in the future) we thought we'd feature some of the Cuddlies who have been re-listed in recent days. 

Cuddlies get renewed or relisted every 3 months when they become part of Etsy life. There's no difference in the fees involved.  However, when they are renewed, the record for each Toy - number of visits, faves (likes in Etsy terms) and so on - is kept on file.  If they are re-listed, they start off once again - with a "clean" sheet.  As usual, it takes Isobel a long time to "catch on", but she's beginning to master the difference, and accordingly - from now on - Cuddlies will be re-listed each time, not renewed.  

In no particular order of listing, nor title, here are some that got a fresh airing this week: 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/539029047

These little toys are relatively new to the COLDHAM CUDDLIES line-up, and so haven't accumulated too long a "record".  However, they too were re-listed although there's more work to be done on their Title and Tags.  (They had actually become eligible to be renewed, so Isobel decided to do the relisting and do the required changes later).  

There's always a lot of discussion on the Etsy team threads that listing at least one new item every day makes visitors looking for items to buy might find our Shop faster, so that's one aspect Isobel is trying to concentrate on.  We do now have 106 different items in our Shop, to it does give us a few more items to juggle with than we once did.  Accordingly, since we began this year's administrative exercises, we are going to try to follow this guideline. We shall see what difference - if any - it makes!!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/539029527

This is my particular friend, Jasper Grey Teddy Bear.  He's been re-listed for the first time since Isobel learned the difference between the two activities, so we'll see what happens next to his chances of find a Forever Ever Home. Have to say, I'm a bit surprised he's not found one, because he's a clever chap - he can stand up WITHOUT needing to be propped up by a pillow (like I sometimes need) and his fur is particularly soft and cuddly.  However, I'm made with fabric that is ever so much older than Jasper is.  The Beaver Lamb coat from which I (and my twin, Peter Bear, are made was well over 95 years old when Isobel was given it - to "experiment" with).  Jasper is made with much more modern materials.

Peter Bear is on the left, and used to live with Isobel's sister-in-law, MmeIM (both Isobel and that lady share the same initials, so I differentiate between the ladies in this way!) in Normandy, France.  However, in the last year, he moved to live with MmeIM's grand daughter in Plymouth, Devon, UK so one day perhaps the two of us may get together again.  Isobel last saw Peter Bear when she last visited Normandy in May 2015.

Nursery Mobiles became a feature of the COLDHAM CUDDLIES offer last year, and these Blue and White Baby Rabbits were among the last to be listed.  They've been renewed twice since they appeared in the Shop, so became "eligible" under Isobel's new thinking to be re-listed this time around.  We've got Baby Nursery Mobiles with Baby Monkeys, Fantasy Bears, Piglets as well as Polar Bears and Baby Foxes.   They don't all cost the same - because some of them are made with Fleece fabric (as these guys are) and others come in plush or poplin: also, they don't all have the same sized hoops from which they hang.  Readers can find out more about them by visiting our Shop (www.COLDHAMCUDDLIES.etsy.com) and clicking on  

 https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/COLDHAMCUDDLIES?ref=seller-platform-mcnav&section_id=18805745

Right folks, rather than "rabbit" on (pun not intended), I'll end this week's post by wishing you all a good week - and hope that you're all enjoying yourselves, whether you're on vacation or not!

All the best from 

Your Friend,  Cy Bear

News about Grey Cat Puppets - Far Away and Near By

Another week has passed, and here we are once more.  Cy Bear is taking the day off, so I'm bringing you the final updates on the Grey Cat Puppet Saga.

Cy Bear having told you in last week's post that the first Grey Cat Puppet was en route to her Forever Home - and all of us finding out at the end of the bulletin that she had already got to Kennedy Airport, New York - I'm delighted to say that we got a snapshot on Friday afternoon, confirming that she had safely reached her Forever Home in 7 days after leaving us here in Kirkby in Ashfield.  (Really great when the international postal services actually do what they say they do!!)

Apparently, the "American brother and sister" already in situ are actually not that impressed with her arrival on the scene.  However, MsSD - our customer - whose views, after all, are what really matter is definitely satisfied!    Another satisfactory end to an enjoyable business relationship:  I really do enjoy these one on one contacts with my customers.

There are still a few more pictures to show you though:  you will recall that two Grey Cat Puppets were made in the end, and the second version had yet to be completed last week.  Well she has indeed been completed - and will be listed in our Etsy.com shop after this post has been published (and duly circulated over all the various sites on which I regularly post each bulletin as and when it is completed).  That can be in threads on the 9 Etsy Teams on which I work to try to sell the Cuddlies, some of which ONLY are used as sites for this blog.  There are also several Facebook groups and team pages on which I regularly participate.   

Before I completed Grey Cat Puppet Version 2, I did actually change her face.   In previous posts our version of the Grey Cat Puppet had appeared looking like the one on the left of this photograph:

 

She now looks like this:

She now has a black embroidered (using black double knit wool to achieve the look) and her mouth has also been slightly altered.  It's amazing what a few stitches, done differently, will do!!

The following shots are temporary photographs, for the purposes of getting our newest Cuddly into the Shop (www.COLDHAMCUDDLIES.etsy.com).   Any Arm/Hand Puppet really doesn't show well without a human hand inside it to give it a proper body.  However, I'm currently "nursing" an unexpected summer cold, have declared a self-imposed "home stay" (so I don't spread the germs) and have used what gadgets I have to hand.  

For instance, inside the puppet in this photograph is my new telephone (one of those you can walk around the flat with when chatting to friends and family!).  It works for this purpose, anyway.  I will be taking better pictures once I am again "in circulation", as I have plenty of friends' hands to call on by "talking nicely" to my fellow residents!  However, Grey Cat cannot find a new home for herself, if she isn't listed, so these temporary shots will hopefully start the sales process!

Here's a shot of the puppet without any human aids - showing her calico lining (and the COLDHAMCUDDLIES label, too).  This puppet was made with the same measurements provided by MsSD -  so she is really suitable for a lady operator's hand (rather than the other Coldham Cuddlies Arm/Hand Puppets - which were made using dimensions provided by my previous Puppeteer customer from Tulsa, Oklahoma.)

I then moved  the photo shoot into my bedroom - the normal scene for our Farewell Ceremony shots with Cy Bear - and took this one showing Grey Cat Puppet at full standing position.

We ended today's photo shoot with a rear view of Grey Cat standing - and really showing off just how fluffy he/she is!  Believe me, the second version was no easier to sew than was the South Carolina-based version (who has definitely been christened "Henrietta" by the way).

Now it's back to serious replacements once more - pleasantly interrupted by the need to do some Patient therapy to the likes of the Puffin Toy from Rhode Island, meeting the Grey Cat Puppet challenge and being diverted from these projects with trips around and about our local area - in search of likely outings for and on behalf of my fellow residents.  Now the month of  July has caught up with us, Etsy (and many of my Teams) are focussing on "Christmas in July" events  and  I'm involved with those too inevitably.  So, there's plenty for me to be doing- and keeping me out of mischief.

See you around soon, in company with Cy Bear, or allowing him free rein!  Will have to be thinking about our 400th post in a couple of weeks too!  So, until the next time.....

Your Friend, Isobel

Grey Cat Puppet is on its way to a Forever Home.

Good afternoon, Everyone!

Cy Bear here once more - with the good news that the Grey Cat Puppet ordered by MsSD of Conway, South Carolina duly began its journey (as promised) on Friday morning.  The actual dispatch deadline was 23rd June - so we just made it, despite the problems encountered in the creative process!  (Having been kept updated along the way, we had been told by MsSD that Isobel was not "to worry about timings", but we do like to keep to our deadlines as much as we are able.)

This is one of the photographs taken by Isobel prior to the Grey Cat Puppet being wrapped up and posted to South Carolina.  This was taken on Thursday evening, just after the final stitches had been applied.

As described in last week's bulletin, it took rather longer than expected to be achieved:  not because the pattern is complicated, but the fabric - while lovely to feel - is so fluffy that Isobel had difficulty in undoing her sewing on the couple of occasions she DID have to unpick her work:  but because she had actually found a really good match when choosing the thread she used for the job! Also, she's forgotten to put "letters" on the cardboard templates used for cutting out the puppet (because the original pattern didn't have them on either! The missing information is duly in place NOW!). Normally, we always transfer such useful (and necessary, in this case!) information when we are doing the cutting out for the first time.

Anyway, between last week-end's post and the final preparations for the journey, Isobel finished the second puppet's head (you saw the first one in last week's post) and then took photographs of both before placing each over the finished body (hand/arm puppet).  These pictures were then emailed to MsSD - and they looked like this:

These photographs were taken of the Puppet Heads resting on the storage heater beside Isobel's arm chair - in which she sits while making up the Toys.  She then placed the Hand/Arm section of the puppet under each head, to give an impression of how they might look when completed.

MsSD decided on this head, which is the second version of  the Grey Cat Puppet heads.  Isobel decided not to include the felt nose shown on the first version last week  (and on the left of the first photo of the puppets here).  She decided to actually sew the nose on the second head, and agrees with MsSD that the "look" required is better achieved with the second version.  The second version also had shot silk ear linings, instead of the same fabric as the rest of the body, used for the first Puppet.  

When she completes the second Grey Cat Puppet later this week, she will therefore be sewing (using Black Double Knit wool) the nose on - and will then keep the mouth the way it is shown on the first photo in this post today.  Equally, when the nose is completed, she may decide to make it look like it's sad - as MsSD's version does.  The second puppet will then be listed as a new Coldham Cuddies Activity Toy once the work is complete.

Isobel has just checked on the Royal Mail Tracker Service website, and has discovered that Grey Cat Puppet 2 has arrived at Kennedy Airport, New York and is "being processed for delivery".  By posting it early on Friday morning in our local Post Office in Kirkby in Ashfield, she was evidently able to catch an aeroplane headed towards the USA as she had hoped.  Sometimes, if matters intervene at this end, and she can't deliver a parcel until the afternoon - it can take several days longer to get to its intended destination.  Whilst delivery is now entirely in the hands of the US Postal Service - hopefully, Grey Cat Puppet can reach its Forever Home by the end of next week.  Either Isobel or I will let you know as and when we can.

Meanwhile, here's another farewell photograph of Grey Cat Puppet 2 and I:

It's a bit difficult to have a Hand/Arm puppet straight without an actual finger in the finger guide that is provided!.  But the picture does show just how fluffy Grey Cat Puppet 2 is!!

See you all again soon.

Your Friend, Cy Bear.