Replacement Koalas - Part 2

I really must stop saying I'm going to blog and then give a definite day - it never, ever works out that way.  Maybe I can be forgiven, though, because we've got car trouble - AGAIN - and getting that sorted, and coping without a vehicle - has taken up a lot more time than anticipated!  Doesn't everyone find that?  One gets so dependent on the flipping things (I don't really mean that - but this is not the right forum in which to let off the amount of steam that I'd like to) doesn't one?

Anyway, back to the nub of this post - the completion of the Koala replacement project. (They can be found at www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com/Etsy Listing #55190188). When I left off last time, I was going to carry on the Koala production line while watching an evening of television.  This took place, and the programme(s) were as good as hoped, so I relaxed as well as sewing another couple of the little bears.  The fourth one was completed next day and I set about the next stage of construction.

This involves stuffing the two bits of each bear (head and bodies).  For once, I did not make my usual mistake (stuffing the heads, before putting in the eyes!).  It's so annoying to have to unstuff the heads, and then put in the eyes!  Sometimes, I think I'll never learn.  However, this time it was achieved satisfactorily, without having to take too much time making sure they were level.  Some of my animals have ended up with their eyes not quite matching!  Which then means one has to take them out and replace them, as the safety backing is so safe that it's almost impossible to correct matters with the original eye!  As I make more toys, though, I'm discovering I can sometimes move the backing and re-use the whole thing.  However, in order to guarantee the integrity of the toy, I feel it is normally best to go the whole way, and replace everything!

Anyway, this time around all four pairs went in first time around, and the stuffing duly went ahead.  The limbs of the Koalas are quite small, so the stuffing has to be put into them first, using small pinches of the polyester fibre at a time - otherwise I find they can develop kinks where the limbs join the torso and the resulting bear does not look comfortably stuffed!  It's a bit fiddly, but worth the effort.

They were all completed on Friday - the day the car episode occurred - and I was then unable to photograph the completed foursome, because I'd run out of batteries for my digital camera.  Mine just eats the things - I do wonder if it is just my camera, or whether it is a general thing with these gizmos?  Admittedly, mine is not as modern as all these things on the market at the moment, but on the whole I achieve reasonably good results and I'm normally quite happy with the final picture. 

Here are two of the foursome, sitting on the arm of a bench outside one of my neighbours' bungalows.  The other two are shown below:

The hydrangea bush they are hiding in is beginning to die on us, alas, but it has been a really beautiful pink this year.  There's sufficient left, fortunately, to show off the little guys, though, isn't there?  Looking at these photos, I do assure you, the eyes are level - it's just the way they've been photographed and they way they are sitting on the bench!

I've now almost completed the replacement Baby Rabbits (those sold at the Produce Sale in Heytesbury Church the week-end before last).  The little Brown one (Etsy Listing #73079287) just needs a ribbon sewn on, and the White One (Etsy Listing #5503616) has just got to have his bob-tail and ears attached, as well as his ribbon, and the stock will be up to snuff once more.  Once this post is complete, I'll be doing these finishing off items.

Talking about the Little White Baby Rabbits, the two that set off to New South Wales a couple of weeks ago arrived safely at the end of last week - and beat their intended Best Friend recipients, who have still to make their appearance!  Am still waiting to hear about the safe arrival,  in Saudi Arabia, of Panda Bear (Etsy Listing #55036116) - but he left the UK a couple of days after the White Rabbits, and he's had to negotiate all the timings involved with Ramadan and so on, so I'm expecting a message sometime later this week. 

Right, that's it for this post.  I'll end with a picture I took this afternoon with Ed Ted, Cy Bear - who will be posting again, soon, I promise - as well as Big Koala, whose Best Friend is Ed Ted's, and who arrived a week or so ago for renovation therapy in the Soft Toy Clinic (Etsy Listing #79124185).  He is in not too bad shape, but his stuffing is incredibly hard.  I just cannot imagine what it is, but it certainly does not encourage cuddling. He also requires a new nose, ears and claws!

Until the next post - Goodnight and God Bless!  Isobel

Replacement Koalas under way

While I wait to get the pricing information I've requested for the two patients currently undergoing treatment in the Soft Toy Clinic (Etsy Listing #79124185) - Brr Bear and Tommy Teddy - decided to get the replacement Koalas (or Tree Bears - Etsy Listing #55190188)  underway.

So, last night I prepared enough patterns on the selected fabric for four more examples.  Using a permanent Ink Pen (which I normally use to label my chutneys, jams and other provisions I store for our future needs) I drew round the template I've used for some time.  The resulting picture is not as clear as some I take in daylight, but it was raining cats and dogs last evening, it was jolly cold as well, so curtains were drawn, and the electric light switched on.  The resulting slightly yellow tone of the photo is thus explained - but you can see the layout.  I'm making all four with all white chests.

This is the reverse side of the very furry plush fabric I use for such toys - which come to me as off cuts from a local upholstery factory in nearby Frome, Somerset - about eight miles away.  I found them when we first arrived in Heytesbury in 2008 by using the local Yellow Pages!  Not only do I get these off cuts, but they are also my source for the polyester fibre that I use in all my toys (both in the shop at www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com) but also for those I renovate in the Soft Toy Clinic (Etsy Listing #79124185) so they are a very vital, useful contact for the Cuddlies enterprise.

The material is extraordinarily furry and once the scissors get going, fur flies everywhere.  I find the only way I can cope is to shut the door (so it doesn't go all over the house), cut everything out and then organise them in piles.  I'm currently using my ironing board as a sewing table, when it's not being used for it's legitimate work!  The trouble is that ironing is not possible after cutting out - unless, and until, the "Dustbuster" hand held vacuum has been used to clear up the resulting fluff.  Here is a photo of the "organised" piles of four Koalas, already for the needles and thread to be applied.

Having done this I usually begin by creating the head first.  One needs to sew the ears first, slot them into each side of the head piece and then sew through all the layers.  Then one sews the seam which results in a completed head.  Turn the completed piece inside out and voila!  one has a Koala head, minus the stuffing.  One then gets the white furry fabric, place the brown fabric right sides together and sew all round the body, leaving a two inch (5 cm) gap in the back seam to allow for stuffing.  This pattern has a circular piece that fits into the neck area once the side seams are complete - and I have, in the past, placed a hole in the middle of this so that I can put a joint in and allow the finished Koala's head to swivel around.  However, I'm not a fan of such mobile limbs for toys that I believe to be suitable for babies from birth to, say, two years old.  A firmly fixed head is somehow a completed, not to mention a safer, toy.  Of course if a buyer has other ideas, I'm more than happy to accommodate them!

Last night I managed to sew one and a half  Koalas - this evening, because there are actually some television programmes I'd like to watch, I'm going to stop blogging, transfer the piles to the sitting-room, and get on with completing as many of the remaining toys as possible, while also watching/listening to the entertainment on offer.  The photo below, was taken today (in daylight - hence the different lighting!) shows the completed efforts to date.

The completed Koala is on the left of the picture, with nose and eyes to be added:  the second head is just next to it, with the bits to be sewn in front. 

Till the next time (tomorrow, maybe - but definitely the next day!) I'm signing off.  Isobel

Successful Dress Rehearsal - here's to the next one!

Hello again, everyone - Cy Bear posting once more.  Isobel and I have just got back from the Parish Church of St. Peter & St. Paul in Heytesbury - the village where we live - and I'm very pleased to tell you that we've had quite a successful morning!

We went along with the little Cuddlies - Baby Rabbits, Koalas and Pandas - as well as returning my new friend, Golden Teddy, so he could get ready to carry on his duties as Church Child Comforter.  I went along - because I wanted to see where Golden Teddy lived and because of course, as official ColdhamCuddlies (www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com) Mascot I have to supervise what happens to my fellow Cuddlies - big or little.  It's the first time I've been in a church, and I have to say it is an impressive place.  But, it's a bit big for me, a little cold and dark, and think I definitely prefer living where I do with Isobel and Peter and the rest of the Cuddlies.  Golden Teddy looked a little lonely when everyone left after the produce sale was over, but then I suppose he's used to it.

When we all arrived our card table was pointed out to us and Isobel laid out the display.  She had made a poster especially for me, which told everyone who visited our table that I "WAS NOT FOR SALE"  and inviting everyone to take one of our business cards if they wanted to get in touch with Isobel at a later date.
She had also done some posters showing the before and after shots of Ed Ted.  These attracted a great deal of attention  and actually resulted in a new patient for the Soft Toy Clinic  (Etsy Listing 79124185). arriving for treatment

He's a small bear, about the same size as Brr Bear, but younger and he's got a nasty burn on the left side of his face.  The rest of him looks absolutely fine, but we think he's going to have to have a completely new covering - because it's likely to be impossible to get the same kind of fabric as he is in now, and he'd look really odd with a different kind of face only.  His Best Friend, called Penny, is in no hurry but has also got another toy needing treatment, when this one is finished!  We're not sure what this Bear is called, but will be talking to Penny soon, and will then find out.  

That now makes two glove puppet bears, a huge Koala resting comfortably in the clinic, as well as Brr Bear and Tommy Teddy- who are undergoing treatment! The Clinic is getting busy, isn't it?

Now, the object of the exercise today, as well as being an opportunity to help with the upkeep of St. Peter & St. Paul's Church, was to see if the Cuddlies would be popular.  Well, in just an hour's selling time, we found homes for two Baby Rabbits (a White one - shown in this picture and listed in our shop as Etsy #55036116) as well as a Brown Baby Rabbit, with a white front (Etsy Listing# 73079287):

This White Baby Rabbit had a pink ribbon

They were purchased by two ladies who are on holiday in England, and have been staying in a cottage in Heytesbury for the last two weeks.  They hail from Tennessee, which I am told is in the United States of America.  The rabbits are not travelling that far though:  the ladies have been invited to dinner with the next-door neighbours who have two children with whom they have made friends while they've been in the village and decided it would be nice to take the baby rabbits this evening as a gift!  Maybe, therefore, Isobel and I may bump into them when we're walking around!  Here is a picture of the Brown Baby Rabbits:

The Brown Rabbit on the left was chosen

Then two of our Koala friends (Etsy Listing #55190188) were purchased by the lady who lives next-door to us at the Hospital of St. John.  She has two grand children with birthdays coming up close together and decided the Koalas would be just the right gift.  She also mentioned that there was a third birthday in the not too distant future - but as she didn't have enough cash with her (having already purchased fresh vegetables and cakes and things, which is really what the weekly sale is all about, (Coldham Cuddlies were a bit of an experiment all round) she said she would get in touch nearer that birthday!

One of each version left us today

Now, Isobel has got to get down to making more of these little chaps - because we are now only down to two in the shop (www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com), so what with the patients in the Soft Toy Clinic (Etsy #79124185) some undergoing therapy and the others resting until their turns, she is going to be busy!

But, as I said at the beginning of this post, it's been a successful dress rehearsal for the MacMillan Cancer Coffee Morning sale on Septembr 30 - so here we go!

Good night everyone!  Cy Bear

Updating with latest developments.

Greetings to everyone.  It is a day or two since I posted anything here, and I think a short update on background developments is needed.

Tommy Teddy and Brr Bear's treatment is temporarily on hold - because Bear Basics, my bear product supplier, would seem to be on holiday.  Have yet to receive a reply to the letter in which I enclosed relevant ears and paw pad (latter for Tommy Teddy) and asking for prices for growlers.  This latter requirement is for Brr Bear, and will be a first for me.

Am lucky, because when I first began the handmade toy lark early in 2010, I had another bear supplies source and they were kind enough to send me a booklet they produced which gave me step-by-step instructions in all such mysteries of the bear fabrication business.  So while equipped to provide the service, I have only just been requested to perform the procedure.  While slightly frustrated at the lack of response from Bear Basics, I have to remember it is still August, the middle of the summer holiday season, and I know Susan has children - so she's probably away from base.  It is only two weeks since I requested the information on fabric matches, etc. so I shall have to be patient.  Does'nt the time go slowly, when one wants to get on with a project and gets held up by matters outside one's own control?

Fortunately, I've been busy completing the toys for New South Wales and Saudi Arabia, which have been mentioned in recent posts.  Cy Bear and I wait to hear of their safe arrival at their respective destinations - probably at the beginning of next week.

Having introduced Golden Teddy to the ColdhamCuddlies (www.ColdhamCuddliescalling.blogspot.com)  world, I am pleased to report that daugther P, owner of Tommy Teddy agrees with me that the former is a pretty good match (in shape) for Tommy Teddy and is more than happy for me to model her re-created bear using his features.  That is a relief - so the next step in the Soft Toy Clinic (www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com/Listing #79124185) will be for me to trace Golden Teddy's seams and use them to create templates for me to cut out the new Tommy Teddy - as and when the fabric makes its appearance.

I propose to attempt to achieve this by taking a piece of the chemical free tissue paper in which all the Cuddlies are wrapped when they are prepared for journeys to their new homes.  Using a felt-tipped pen, I think I should be able to trace Golden Teddy's seams, and then I hope to be able to transfer them to the cardboard sheets I have in hand for just such purposes.  Hope to begin that work tomorrow - once we've returned from a routine visit to Salisbury District Hospital for Peter.  Please keep your fingers crossed for success in this venture - it's infinitely preferably to trying to re-make Tommy Teddy as he is now - as I'll show when I take the necessary photos!

Last night I prepared a poster for use at the Hospital of St John's produce sale this Saturday.

 The poster consists of three pictures of Ed Ted when he first arrived at the Soft Toy Clinic in July beside Ed Ted himself, who will be accompanying me to the event - must say the contrast is pretty impressive, even though it's me who says it!!

Ed Ted and Cy Bear together taking the sun

I'm only taking the smaller toys and Cy Bear for this junket - which is going to be a dress-rehearsal for the MacMillan Biggest Coffee Morning on September 30.  I'm very excited about the latter exhibition - because it's the sort of opportunity for which one has to be invited to attend. None of this going and asking if one can exhibit!  Feel it's an indication, however slight,  that the word is beginning to get out that ColdhamCuddlies (www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com) is in existence.

Obviously, I'll keep everyone posted as to the results - if any.  The arrangement for both upcoming dates is that 10% of any sales will be donated to the specific fund-raising projects involved:  in the case of this Saturday, it will be for the upkeep of  the Parish Church of St. Peter & St. Paul in Heytesbury, while it will be MacMillan Cancer charity will get their share (hopefully) and I'll be taking some of the bigger toys with me on that occasion, as well as the little ones.

Am also delighted to report that as of today, the blog now has 24 followers.  Just one more, and I may be persuaded to join another Etsy team which concentrates on helping blogger-beginners like me to make even more of an impact than I feel I'm slowly starting to achieve.  Annie of Emptyontheinside (we've developed a great blogging and correspondence relationship, which I'm enjoying immensely) is a member of this team and is urging my participation.  Depending on how the two outings turn out, I may well follow her advice.  Thanks to everyone who has followed me to date:  here's to many more, I sincerely hope.

All the best.  Isobel

Introducing a new Friend

We are both very pleased to introduce you all to a new Friend, who has come to stay with  us for a week.  His name (the one we've given him, anyway - because we don't know what anyone else calls him!) is Golden Teddy and he has a very special job to do for us while he is with us.  He is to be the model for Isobel to use when rejuvenating Tommy Teddy - because he is the dead spitting image of how she remembers Tommy Teddy, when he first came to stay with the Morrell Bear Family in the 1970's, and will make the job easier for her to achieve.

Golden Teddy and Cy Bear on a convenient garden chair

The interesting thing about all this is that in all the years they've known him, Isobel has never seen another Bear like Tommy Teddy, and although he is not the same colour(s) as him, he is the same shape and size.  He is also made with a more modern pattern (and Isobel thinks she can improve on that too while she has Golden Teddy staying with us) so rejuvenating Tommy Teddy is not going to be quite as much of a nightmare as he might otherwise have been.  Here is one of the latest pictures of Tommy Teddy - before he was deconstructed and given a bath, and Isobel struggled to put him back together again.

Can  you see the similarity?

Where did Golden Teddy come from?  Well, every Saturday morning each summer, the Parish Church in Heytesbury holds a produce sale, at which the local gardeners donate their surplus produce for other villagers to buy - with the proceeds going towards the upkeep of the Church.  It's a 12th Century building, so you can understand  it takes a lot of looking after.

Well, last week Isobel went to see if there was anything she could buy, as well as to get some raffle tickets, which are also sold and are a real money-spinner.  Isobel has been quite lucky this year, incidentally, which is why she goes back so regularly!  Sitting in one of the pews was Golden Teddy - and she had not seen him there before.  However, upon enquirng, she found out that Golden Teddy has a very important job.  He is the offical Church Child Comforter.  Whenever a little person finds the old building - which is rather large, echoes a bit, and can be rather dark and cold sometimes - a bit overwhelming, then they are given Golden Teddy to cuddle.  Apparently, he has one particular little girl-friend who makes a bee-line for him, whether she is overwhelmed or not!

After checking to see there were no Family Services planned for the Church this coming week, Golden Teddy was allowed to come to stay with us for a week - and Isobel will be taking him back to his duties, when she sets up a table on which the smaller ColdhamCuddlies (Baby Rabbits, Koalas and Pandas in the www.coldhamcuddles.etsy.com shop) will be displayed at next week's produce sale.

The Hospital of St. John residents have undertaken responsibility for organising next week's event, and Isobel has been allowed to show off the little Cuddlies!  This is a first for us - which is exciting  and it will also be a practice-run for another sale which we've been invited to attend on September 30th - which is the MacMillan Cancer Research "Biggest Coffee Morning in the World" - an annual event held in a big barn located on one of the farms in the village.  So, we're beginning to get some local publicity, which we hope will be successful for both the Shop (www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com) and the Soft Toy Clinic (www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com/#79124185).  Isobel is planning to create some posters showing some of the rest of us and, obviously, we'll be telling you all about those as they come and go.

Now we've got to end this post as Isobel must get on and finish stuffing the second replacement Baby White Rabbit and complete sewing and stuffing the replacement Panda Bear.  The Panda Bear destined for Saudi Arabia left Heytesbury for his new home this morning.

Golden Teddy - sideways on

Goodnight from both Isobel and Cy Bear!

Hail and Farewell

Hello again - it's Cy Bear talking to you, as promised during the last post.  There's a lot to tell and photos to share with you all - so here goes.

This morning, Isobel took the two Baby White Rabbits to Heytesbury Post Office and they duly caught the 1125 BST (which I'm told stands for British Summer Time - there's precious little sign of summer here today, by the way) post headed for Mrs. GC's home in Beecroft, New South Wales, Australia.  They were well wrapped up in chemical free tissue paper and bubble wrap and then placed in a polythene air mail bag, so they should be as comfortable as it is possible to be.  I said good-bye to them as is my custom:

 

Sitting on the ground in the garden at home

Then yesterday evening, rather late, Isobel finally managed to list the new member of the Coldham Cuddlies family in our shop at www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com.  He is known as Bear with a Blue Scarf (a.k.a. Little Ed Ted), and his Etsy Listing number is #79522674.  I'd like to officially welcome him to the Familly by including his picture with me below:

Little Ed Ted standing with me in the garden

Little Ed Ted is a somewhat smaller bear than all the rest of us in the Coldham Cuddlies family of Bears, and he's the first of us to have an adornment in the form of a scarf.  When he was completed, Isobel
felt that his neck was a little longer than expected and felt that a scarf would be the ideal way to make him look casual, smart and elegant.  She used royal blue double knitting wool for the main bit of the scarf, and white and light blue wool for the edges, including all three colours in the tassles.  The fabric Little Ed Ted is made from is the same as that used to rejuvenate Ed Ted, which is 17mm Dense Distressed Spring Gold mohair.  Isobel says that she loved using it and will be using it again whenever requested.

Oh, another thing, we've now got three more patients who have joined the ColdhamCuddlies Soft Toy Clinic (Etsy Listing #79124185).  They arrived in the post this morning - from Ed Ted's best friend RFE incidentally - having been discovered in a corner of RFE's home attic just before he handed his house over, the sale having been completed.  They include two glove puppet Bears and a huge big Koala - which is going to be exciting for the existing Koalas (Etsy Listing #55190188)  in the ColdhamCuddlies shop (www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com).

They are going to make an exciting addition to the family and Isobel will give them a real up date once Tommy Teddy and Brr Bear have been rejuvenated.  We're still waiting to hear from Bear Basics - and presume that Susan must be on holiday, as no one was answering the telephone this afternoon.

Isobel is quite busy still completing Panda Bear's replacement, so there's no rush on that score - yet. Panda Bear begins his journey to Saudi Arabia on Saturday, so his departure will be recorded in our next posting.  In the interim, here is another picture of Little Ed Ted, as well as another one of Panda Bear in the garden here at home in Heytesbury.

Little Ed Ted standing on a bench in the garden

Panda Bear on the same spot as Little  Ed Ted

So, with that, I'll end tonight's post.  Have a great day tomorrow, and be with you again soon.  Cy Bear

Getting Ready for their new homes

Good evening, everyone - sorry for the delay in our posting but I've been busy, and so far, Cy Bear has not learned how to input his contributions for himself, let alone me.  As I've said before, do wish there were more hours to each day!

Anyhow, here's what's been happening.  I've managed to complete the order for New South Wales and in the next couple of days (Wednesday is early closing day in Heytesbury - they still follow that schedule in the only shop in the village, which also happens to be the Post Office as well.), the two White Baby Rabbits ordered by Mrs. GC of Beecroft, New South Wales, Australia will be winging their way to their new home.

The earliest I find I can begin to work on Coldham Cuddlies business (www.coldhamcuddlies.etsy.com) is usually the afternoons, and tomorrow is no exception!  So, Thursday will likely be when they are posted from the village.

Oh - before I go any further:  Annie from Okalahoma, newish Etsy friend at EmptyontheInside and blogger at http://doughdirtdye.blogspot.com has kindly included me as a Guest Blogger.  She's posted a version of my post about the Soft Toy Clinic, using Little Red Ted's treatment as her post - and has invited me to provide her with the Ed Ted therapy programme as well.  That's another job for me later this week.  Isn't it great to be so busy doing things one enjoys?  

Meanwhile, Panda Bear is ready for his journey to Saudi Arabia, and with any luck, his replacement will be in place shortly after he leaves us.  His preparations for the trip included a photograph taken today in the garden here at the Hospital of St. John.  The weather finally allowed me to get snapping, and we've got a whole lot shots to share with you, including this one of Panda Bear:

 

Sitting among the marigolds

In addition to this activity, have managed to work out how to put Tommy Teddy back again.  That really was a puzzle and it took me a whole morning, getting increasingly frustrated  and losing pins all over the ironing board, surrounding floor and in my fingers before I worked him out.  Then I found that none of the bits of cardboard in my stock was big enough for me to create the template for me to cut out the final covering for the old fellow.  Today, I got the biggest piece of cardboard I could find in Warminster, and am not sure if even that is going to big enough!  Watch this space.

I've also completed a new member of the Coldham Cuddlies family and will be listing him tomorrow - using his appearance for another posting.  He'd been named Little Ed Ted and mentioned in an earlier post when I was renovating Ed Ted, because I'd been able to use the Ed Ted leftovers.  He's got another label, which will be revealed in the next post.

Meanwhile, here is a picture of Cy Bear - who will probably be doing the introduction of the new Cuddly - with the Baby White Rabbits taken in the garden this afternoon.  Must not put his nose out of joint must we?

 
Goodnight for now.  Isobel