Progress Report on WINTERFEST 2017 Preparations: and a Bit Aside Too

Hello Everyone!!

Cy Bear signing in once again and just glad he sits at home in a warm flat, on these occasions.  We've got Arctic air blowing over the British Isles today, and Isobel said she was QUITE cold this morning as she wended her way up the hill to get her weekly lift for Mass at St. Barnabas Cathedral, Nottingham. 

Today, too, is Remembrance Sunday in the UK (as it is all over the Commonwealth, too), and Isobel proudly displayed her late Father, Major Andrew Miller's medals - as she does every year on this special day.  (She worked out that in another 3 years, she will have been doing this for 70 years - as it was on the first Rembrance Day after she became 10, that her Uncle decided she was old enough to wear them for the very first time).  Although Major Miller, "joined up" in 1916  and first saw service with the Argyll & Sutherland Highland Regiment, during 1917 he was commissioned as an Officer and was actually undergoing Officer Training when the First World War ended.  He decided he couldn't afford to remain as an Officer in the British Army, so went instead to become an Officer in the British Indian Army - and spent the rest of his life serving in India (as it then was - although his Regiment (King George V Baluchistan Rifles - where he spent most of his time until his death in 1941, is now part of the Pakistan Army).  During that time, he also served in Mesopotamia (now Iran and Iraq) - as evidenced by one of his Medals, and also served in at least two major Campaigns on the North West Frontier (the area between what is now Afganistan and Pakistan - again confirmed by a medal - fourth from left - with 2 bars).  

This year, Isobel  remembered to take the Medals' Miniatures that she also has in her possession and so younger daughter Clare was able to wear those in memory of her Grandfather's service - during both World Wars.   (Elder Daughter, as the eldest child of the eldest son, is eligible to wear her Grandfather Morrell's medals - but as she has earned her own medal, after 17th years service with the Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps (FANY), she decided to wear that one this year:  it is also traditional, that if one already has earned one's own decoration, one does not display another's, even if you are entitled so to do.)  They are held by Philippa, so she can do so whenever she feels she wishes to - or it's more appropriate for her so to do, while Clare - and eventually GrandsonE - will do the same on behalf of "Grandad Miller" in future years, once Isobel is no longer able to.  Nevertheless, both girls are proud of the service provided to their Country by BOTH  their Grandfathers.

You will see that one medal is not attached to the bar:  that is the War Medal 1939-1945 which was awarded to every member of the British Army who had served during those years - but Isobel only realised Major Miller's was not where it ought to be in 2010.  Because of his early death, Isobel's Aunt and Uncle (with whom she lived as she grew up) had either not known how to apply for it on her behalf, or it had been one of those things they meant to do, but life got in the way and it somehow slipped everyone's mind!  She applied for it, and it arrived very quickly:  but so far, she has not been able to get it properly attached so that it hangs with all the others.  Today, she and the family - en route back home - found a Shop dealing in "Militaria", on the same road, and not far from the Cathedral, where this could be done:  so guess what?  One of the jobs Isobel will be doing (after WINTERFEST 2017 and probably not until the New Year now) is to take the medals in to the Shop, to see if they can assist.  I'll let you know what happens in due course.

Now, moving on to the present, I'm delighted to tell you that the Fleece Rabbit production line is flourishing.  Isobel actually laid out 5 different colour sets of 2 of these ColdhamCuddlies - and this is the situation currently:

The first Fleece Rabbit replenishments are the Pink ones:  the snapshot was taken just before Isobel went to bed on Tuesday evening and show BOTH versions with White Chests.  She had intended to make at least one each of  the latest batch showing what they could look like, if they were self-coloured!

That mistake has not happened since - because, there are the two new Pale Blue Fleece Rabbits:

And, this is where Isobel has got to with the third pair:

She is planning on completing both these Cuddlies today, and hoping to get the penultimate pair at least cut out before bed tonight, although the latter task may have to wait until tomorrow - what with the need for an evening meal to be prepared and other administrative tasks required of her in connection with her responsibilities as Secretary to the Old Chapel Close Tenant's Association - who have a meeting called for tomorrow morning!!  Life is, as ever, busy, busy, busy!!

See you all next week - when the count-down to WINTERFEST 2017 will then be in DAYS, rather than WEEKS!  How the time can fly!!

Your Friend, Cy Bear.

This week's developments on the WINTERFEST2017 front.

Good afternoon Everyone!  

Cy Bear reporting, as is my wont - when permitted to do - so on a cool, autumnal Sunday afternoon.

Dressed Rabbits in the foreground:  Coyote (off-balance), Foxes and Wolves at the rear!

We thought you'd like to see this picture of me surrounded by all our Girl Dressed Toys (Rabbits, Coxes, Coyotes and all) as they were prepared by Isobel for the upcoming Christmas Fair at The Courtyard, Thoresby Hall, Nr Newark, Notts.   These preparations involved Isobel putting price tags on every one of the Toys we have in stock - a process which resulted in her becoming less concerned about our ability to serve potential customers.  While one can always have more, the numbers involved were not as low as Isobel had first thought, so she is more sanguine about how we will cope on November 25th.  The pricing took Isobel 3 days to complete, and based on the number of labels used (not including some that she made mistakes with when writing the information on!) there are over 200 different Toys, of varying sizes, available for display.  Each ticket has the Shop price listed in our Etsy Shop (coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com) tied through the "ColdhamCuddlies" label which every Toy comes with.  (Good exercise for Isobel's fingers, which is why it took her so long, I guess!  While so engaged, she discovered some of the toys hadn't got one actually:  that was remedied p.d.q!)

The Baby Owls I talked about are all completed and in their special carrier bag ready for the event. The next replacement "binge" consists of 8 different Fleece Rabbits - some with the existing white chests, and a few that will be all the same colour - a new departure, just to give people the choice.  The cutting out of the 5 different colour Rabbits - one seen below - took Isobel a couple of hours to do, 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/529259202/rabbit-stuffed-toy-brown-fleece-rabbit?ref=shop_home_active_4

during which time she de-camped to the Resident's Lounge.  There are large tables there, making it so much easier for her to layout the individual pieces of the the pattern involved - and it certainly roused the curiosity of residents' visitors who happened to pass by the picture windows beside the table Isobel was using!  Most know of our plans, and are kindly interested in developments!!  The 5 fleece colours involved are pale and dark blue, brown (like the one shown), pink, and purple - all of them can be seen in our COLDHAMCUDDLIES Etsy shop at

 https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/COLDHAMCUDDLIES?ref=seller-platform-mcnav&section_id=18772504

A "bonus" of sorts occurred while this preparation exercise was in progress.  While picking out the blue fleece from our fabric stash in one of the cupboards where it is stored, Isobel discovered that she had more of the blue fleece in stock than she had previously realised - and thinks we will have sufficient to meet the requirements for Hermy, the Whale, when she gets around to making him early in December.  So, no need for a visit to our fleece suppliers on-line - for the time being at least!  The need for more stuffing is a definite one though - but we're waiting until we've started our final 1.1 kilo bag (circa 3 lbs), so that the two bags Isobel will be ordering can be fitted into the "stuffing slot" in the flat bedroom!   Every move has to be "strategic" when it comes to the fulfillment of our COLDHAMCUDDLIES duties!

The "missing" business cards I spoke about last week turned up on Tuesday morning, having been re-directed by Isobel to Clare's home up the road - because she was out of the flat at the time the selected Couriers indicated they were due to deliver the package.  I promised I'd show you a photo of the two cards in existence:   the new one, which will be officially used on and after 25th November - the top example shown will be handed out until that date, and kept in the background in case our supplies run out.   

We're very happy with the new look, which was created by a proper card designer from that well known provider (or so I am told!),Vistaprint:  whereas our original ones were done by Isobel, who makes no claims to have any such skills. The originals (also printed by Vistaprint), though, have served us well, to date!

Isobel has been gathering the bits and pieces needed in the background for the Show (e.g. the paper bags, the cash holder aprons that she and Clare will wear on them during the Event, and so on), and putting them in a large carrier bag (obtained from our local Lidl Supermarket, whose hard-wearing bags are large, capacious, and capable of holding several Toy-filled bags at one time).  The bags  have good, strong handles on them, which should make moving the goods from our flat to Clare's car, and then into the exhibition space a whole lot easier.  After the show, the bags can be collapsed to a flat shape, and stored until they are next required - if that happens!

While the pricing exercise was in full spate, Isobel decided to admit two of the existing Cuddlies as Patients to the  Stuffed Toy Animal Restoration Clinic - https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/564713751/animal-toys-mended-toy-bear-special-care?ref=shop_home_active_1  for some minor facial treatments.  

Our current  Panda used to look like this:

He now looks like this:

He now has a new, larger nose, and a happier grin, we think!

The other Patient was George Ginger Cat, our Copper Brown Plush Sitting Cat.  Originally, it had looked like this:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/549385205/george-ginger-cat-copper-fluffy-cat?ref=shop_home_active_3

Now, this is George as he appeared in our Shop listing previously.  He looks a little startled we thought, and it was one of those jobs Isobel had meant to do for a long time, and decided that the pricing venture was the ideal time!

I think he looks a bit more appealing now:  how about you?

To achieve George's new look, Isobel managed to turn his green cat eyes so that the "pupils" were sideways when you look him in the face, and also changed his ears, which had not looked "right" ever since he was first made.  We're hoping this "look" will appeal to someone, so he can end up with a new home this Christmas.  He had originally been made at the same time that a customer wanted to give a Ginger Cat to her Grandmother, whose real cat had died shortly before the order came in.  George's friend was called Harry (so had the Grandmother's long time friend) and, so far as we know, he has made himself well and truly at home, and is doing the job for which he was intended.  George meanwhile has languished somewhat in our stock - so we hope this minor treatment will do the trick for him!

That's it for this week, Folks!  Next week looks like being as busy as the last, and I for one hope that Isobel will be a lot happier with the newly acquired smartphone - that appeared in our lives on Friday this week, after Isobel had, had a tutorial with Clare!  She's getting a bit less "frazzled" operating it, but life is not as calm as usual at the moment.  I'm keeping well out of the way - just in case!!!

See all next week - Your Friend, Cy Bear.

Latest News from the Coldham Cuddlies Production Line

Hello again Everybody!  Cy Bear here again with all this week's progress to report.

This photo shows Thoresby Hall, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, England, UK - in whose grounds, The Courtyard (and actual venue for the upcoming WINTERFEST2017) is located.  The Christmas Craft Fair/Bazaar is scheduled for 25/26th November, 2017, and Isobel, Clare and all The Cuddlies are expected to be displayed - over just the first day.

In the excitement of the visit to this lovely spot, Isobel forgot to take photos of The Courtyard, which is a separate facility nearby, with it's own separate entrance. (The Riding Hall is one of the Shops located in the Courtyard itself, together with a very nice restaurant, called The Bay Tree - where lunch was consumed by the the "Reconnaisanace Team"!)  Thoresby Hall is now a Hotel and Spa (formerly the headquarters of the National Coal Board of the UK), now owned and operated by a hotel chain - Warner Leisure - which operate separately, but in conjunction with  The Courtyard (if that makes sense!) .  Visitors to both are encouraged to visit the other, I suppose is the gist of it!!!  (She'll remember to take some photos when she and Clare go to set up the stall, the day before the event - Friday, 24th November:  that is, of course, weather permitting!!)

Clare drove Isobel and her GrandsonE  last Tuesday to check out The Riding Hall in which the event is going to be held - and are delighted to tell you that they are more than satisfied with the proposed location of the COLDHAMCUDDLIES Stall.  The room itself is rectangular in shape and in one corner (the top of the rectangle as it were) Santa's Grotto will be stationed.  On the opposite side of the room, on the outer wall of the room, and furthest away from the entrance (so Isobel and Clare will avoid draughts!), the WINTERFEST organiser, MsRB told them is where our Stall will be located.  There are going to be 20 stalls in all for the event, and ours is the ONLY Toy Stall!!  At the lower end of the rectangle, and on the same side as our stall will be, a Cake Stall.   So the likelihood is that many folk will go past our stall (and, hopefully, stop to look at all the Cuddlies on display!) more than once during their visit.  We're excited at the prospect especially with the lack of direct competition for our product.  So - roll on November 25th!!

That has inspired Isobel to get going on the sewing production lines!!  The Owls are all but completed.  One more needs to be stuffed, and the final Owl Toy Ornament just has a few more seams to be completed before all the replacements are in place.

The Completed Owl Quartet

The Baby Owl booked last Sunday by MrsEH - a family friend who attends St. BarnabasCathedral each week with Isobel and the Family - was purchased today (it was the second one in from the left of this photo!), and another good friend promptly booked another one of the four shown above, but didn't have the money available to complete the purchase today.  However, all parties to this latest transaction decided it always looks good at a Craft Fair/Bazaar to have notices saying "ITEM SOLD", and this Owl will remain with us (even if it's been paid for prior to November 25th!) just so Isobel and Clare can put such a notice in front of the selected Bird Toy on The Day!!

The components required for a Baby Owl Toy Ornament.

Other developments this week include:

The delayed new Business Cards had mistakenly not been sent, and after an emailed enquiry from Isobel, are now expected to be delivered on Monday, 30th October.  I'll show you the new design next week, together with the wrongly delivered old design we still have in stock.  We're going to hang on to the latter until after the event, in case the new version all get picked out by visitors to WINTERFEST2017 (wouldn't that be terrific?), because we only ordered 1,000 first time around, and with 2,000-4,000 visitors expected over the 2 days, that just could happen!!

The Baby Owl ready for the Head/Back seam to be done - NB:  all seams are over-sewn - to prevent fraying.

The purchase of the smartphone is scheduled to take place on Tuesday next week  - or at least, Isobel and Clare are going to investigate what is available, taking the Chip Card Reader with them, of course.  Then depending on their decision (or whether it might be a good plan to then investigate any bargains for the selected model being available elsewhere, on-line!) the deed will be done and the PayPal staff be contacted (once it has been received) so that the necessary credit checks can take place to verify Isobel, and the newly upgraded account between them. (Isobel has had a personal account with PayPal since the COLDHAMCUDDLIES began operations in 2010:  however, we now have an upgraded, business account in the name of COLDHAMCUDDLIES - which requires these checks).  I don't understand what this means, of course (being just a Beaver Lamb Bear) - but apparently, PayPal like to do them when their equipment is part of the equation and when multiple card transactions between Isobel and the public are involved.

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Close up photo showing thread marking for wing placement on each Toy's fronts - wrong side of fabric

Same thread marking, but on the right side of one front

The wings are then sewn on each side of the face, where you can just about make out the orange silk thread marks,  and the entire body/wings etc are turned inside

out and the back of body/head sewn in one seam, with the resulting Owl looking like this:

With facial features showing

Sideways on, with the Base in place and stuffing gap in centre of the base seam.

These pics are the Toy before it is finally turned inside out prior to stuffing.  This can be quite challenging for Isobel, with her stiffening fingers, because the gap the pattern allows is not that big to allow both wings, feet and head to get through, although she's now developed a good modus operandi to achieve the end result, without too much of a struggle.

The final 2 Baby Owls awaiting completion.  Front - final seams required.  Back: Stuffing needed.

Just to change the subject slightly - to one of the projects awaiting Isobel once WINTERFEST 2017 is finished.  I told you about the Whale that had been ordered last week:  well, this Saturday, Isobel took one of the completed Owls, and one of our Blue and White Fleece Rabbits, to show MrsPA, who has asked us to make the Whale as a Christmas present.  

Two reasons for this action:  Isobel wanted to show MrsPA some of the actual Ornamental Toys we make and sell, and also for her to approve the projected Blue Fleece fabric that Hermy the Whale will probably be made with.  MrsPA was happy to approve of both!

Right, that's it for this week folks.  We're looking forward to another action packed week next time around.  But one decision has already been taken.  Once November arrives, Isobel has decided not to do as much Etsy Team-promoting until after WINTERFEST2017 is finished.  It seems a bit counter-productive for her to be sewing like mad to create more stock for the Christmas Craft Show, and still be trying to sell the self-same objects on line.  There will be plenty of time for her to carry on what she's been doing all these months and years, after November 25th, and meanwhile, she needs to have as many Cuddlies on display as she is able to produce in the final 5 weeks before WINTERFEST 2017 arrives!

See you all next week, folks - hopefully.

Your Friend, Cy Bear.