Puppet Bodies are Tulsa Bound - plus news from the Coldham Front

Good afternoon once again Friends! Cy Bear back with you for this week's installment.   As Isobel is somewhat under the weather today - she's suffering from a bug that she's just described as "back to front" and isn't enjoying the experience - this post will be quite a lot shorter than of late, but we are determined to keep up our New Year's resolution to post at least once a week throughout 2015. 
 (By that I gather she means that the Post Nasal Drip with which she lives 24/7 decided to descend to her chest mid-week, so the Pharmacy was prevailed upon to provide a Chesty Cough Mixture to loosen it up.  That it did, but the whole caboodle now seems to have lodged on her chest and she seems to be developing a head cold which is not part of the normal pattern! So, it seems to me that  a visit to the GP Surgery is on the cards for as early as she can get an appointment on Monday morning!).

There are 4 Bodies here, but one White One isn't showing!

Thus, as the title implies, the first batch of Smith Puppet Bodies were posted on Friday - and Isobel is testing a theory. 
 In the past, when we've posted Cuddlies to their Adopted Homes in the  United States (or elsewhere for that matter, but particularly the United States) on a Friday they have tended to get to their destinations within the allotted time quoted by UK Royal Mail.  We offer our Buyers the option of using the quoted service (International Airmail Signed For - which is the most expensive journey on offer) or the customer can opt to go with the "normal" International Standard Airmail Package route, which is cheaper, but takes for ever to reach where it's headed.  The former is supposed to take only 5 Working Days from date of posting.  Recently, admittedly with Christmas postal services in chaos internationally, that has not been the case - Grandpere Tiger, as you may recall took 22 days, which is not much shorter than it would have been had he just gone Ordinary International Airmail.

So, as both the Tiger Puppets sent to JS in Tulsa were posted at the beginning of the week they left the UK, Isobel decided to try sending these Puppet Bodies on Friday of last week.  There is always a get out clause for the UK Postal Authorities.  Because provided the package reaches territory in the USA within the 5 Working Days, they then cannot track the package any further - so their part of the transaction has been fulfilled.  So, it is then dependent on US Post to take up the cudgel on our behalf, and of course they could say the contract was not with them!!!   On the other hand, a Baby Koala that was headed for Hong Kong who left us when we were in Heytesbury, Wiltshire on a Friday, was at his new Home by Monday afternoon the next week!  So it can, and does work! However, when Isobel, Peter and Girls lived in Canada they always told folks in the UK to try to send packages to them in Alberta (way over on the west side of Canada) on either a Thursday, Friday or Saturday - because usually there are more aeroplanes headed towards the American Continent at a week-end (whether just cargo or passenger) and therefore more chance of our parcels getting to where they've been addressed quicker.  Now, admittedly, that was way back in the 1980's and technological "improvements" in postal services have been introduced which are supposed to be better than ever for their customers.  We'll see, and I'll let you know how things pan out with the Puppet Bodies.

I do promise you that this Black version of the Smith Puppet Bodies is a new one, because as you can see it has matching black drawstring at the neck, where the one we showed you in last week's post - the one with Alan's arm in it, has a white one.

This latter Body is currently waiting to be attached to a Black and White Cat Head which has been completed as a Dry Run for a future Smith Puppet.  It's not ready for display, as one of the ears is definitely wonky, and Isobel has yet to figure out how to fit the head to the neck of the body!  She's waiting till she's feeling capable of the battle.  So far, the attempts have not been impressive!
Meanwhile, a pair of Grey Rabbit Head Slippers will be ready by close of play today to be sent to Huron, South Dakota first thing Monday morning (January 12).  It's a week later than planned, but still within the published "ready for dispatch" date requested by Etsy.com on their sales sites.
So, until next week, I'll let Isobel go off and huddle in her armchair - and finish the second Rabbit Head. Till next time - hopefully with everyone firing on all cylinders.
Your Friend, Cy Bear.

Old Friends Renewed - and the latest from the COLDHAMCUDDLIES world.

Hello Everyone!
Happy New Year to all our Followers!  This is Cy Bear signing in for my first post for 2015!

Newly relisted Baby Kolas sending New Year greetings too!

Well, the snow has all gone - but not before it apparently caused a lot of problems in and around the grounds of where we Cuddlies now reside and the surrounding streets.  Being a public holiday (what ever that is) no gritting crews came out to put de-frosting stuff on the roads, and as a result lot of people slipped around and some hurt themselves.  Isobel was firmly told NOT to walk to get her daily paper, once the shops opened after the Christmas holiday, and it was delivered to her by Alan and Dotty, who took their early morning walk in a direction which made it feasible for them to pick the paper up en route homewards.  

Theoretically that should have given Isobel a bit more time to do more things, but somehow it seems that she finds ever more things that need to be done, with even less time to achieve them.  She gives the impression of chasing her tail - if she had one, that is.  Having seen Dotty do that sometimes, I think it's a very good illustration of how Isobel can behave sometimes!  I observe these actions from my perch on her very comfortable bed, where I am allowed to sit for the day time hours.
Anyway, some news on the Smith Puppet front.  To everyone's astonishment, in the first postal delivery after Christmas, the felt and pattern for the Hands that Isobel has been asked to make arrived from Tulsa, USA.  They were only posted on Christmas Eve - so for the second time in our relationship with the Tulsa based Puppet emporium, it would appear that it is faster for them to post stuff to us than it is for us to service them!  
The dry run for Puppet Bodies - using some of the recently acquired Black Fleece fabric was successfully accomplished last week-end.  

The reason that this will only be a dry-run is that Isobel is not satisfied with the thickness of the black fleece.  It is not as fluffy as will the White bodies be, and as there is also a need for experimentation on a Cat Head down the road, it was mutually agreed between JS  and Isobel that she would use the black fleece now so she can see how the bodies will work.  The experimental body will not be wasted, as once the Cat Head is made, it will be attached to this body and become a new Cuddly in our Etsy Shop - https://www,Etsy.com/shop/COLDHAMCUDDLIES.  (The thicker black fleece, together with further supplies of the white fleece needed for the other three white Puppet bodies and one Blue Body, have been ordered, and we hope will arrive fairly early this coming week. The factory from which we get the material are normally very fast suppliers, but they only open for business after the Christmas season on Monday, January 5.)
The Tulsa White Puppet Bodies (outer skins and linings) are ready to be sewn together, following the pattern established here, and once the new Black fleece materials has arrived, the black outer skin will be cut out and sewn (the lining is already made).  This is what the finished dry-run puppet body looks like - with Alan's  hand and  arm in  the operating position.

The Tulsa puppets' heads are ceramic ones and the idea of the drawstring at the neck is that the bodies will fit around the necks of the ceramic models and they can then be operated by the Puppeteer.  
The dry run Cat Head on the other hand is going to be sewn on to this body's neck - and at the moment Isobel is working at creating a neck - using the patterns she used for the two Harry Ginger Sitting Cats we wrote about in a recent post.  The head bit is looking quite promising: but it is currently looking a bit weird because of the missing neck!  Isobel has created a template, and hopes to work with it later today, or tomorrow.  She's hoping it will look something like Harry here - but in black and white plush.

During correspondence this week Isobel requested permission to use the puppet body pattern being used at the moment for all future Coldham Cuddlies puppets - both hand and arm versions.  It looks so much more comfortable to operate in this format than the current and former Puppets.  I'm pleased to tell you that JS has agreed,  so henceforth my Puppet friends will have their arms/hands in this position, rather than as they are now.  They are perfectly workable in their current format, but these just look a lot more professional - and comfortable to manipulate too.
In between all this sewing, there have been a lot of renewals and relisting going on in the Shop, and I'm expecting to be telling you all about these in a day or so's time.  Meanwhile, I'll end this post for now and hope that everyone had a really great Festive Season and that you are all ready for what 2015 will bring us all.
Good Night and God Bless!  Your friend.  Cy Bear.

Christmas Update - and Preliminary Plans for 2015

                                              






Greetings Everyone!  
Well, Christmas has passed - very quickly, as is it's wont. 
The celebrations were wonderful, with both daughters together, and Alan as well.  Dotty, the Dog 

Getting to know Pingou, the Penguin

and two cats - Mo and Alfie -

Not sure what Alfie was expecting:  Mo, an elderly puss,  did not grace us with her presence at this time

enjoyed themselves too, and the snow held off until Boxing Day, at which point here in the East Midlands (we are on the edge of the Peak  District, which as it's name implies is quite high by UK standards, anyway) six inches of the white stuff were dumped on us overnight. 

 We woke up on Saturday morning, with a blanket of snow (which meant it took me 30 minutes to get my daily paper, instead of the more normal 15-20 - depending if I meet folks en route with whom to pass the time of day!)  Actually, the need to concentrate on where one puts one's feet and the over-arching temperatures don't encourage too much of the chatting at the moment.

I'm pleased to be able to inform you that Grandpere Tiger Puppet did eventually make it to Tulsa, Okalahoma.  He was picked up by JS on Christmas Eve - when a packet containing a pattern for some puppet felt hands, and some actual felt fabric, was sent to me for transforming into three pairs.   I assume these will eventually end up on the bodies of some of the Puppets, I've already been booked to make.  
Samples of the fleece fabric I intended to use to make these items had been included in the same parcel in which Grandpere Tiger had been packed.  The pink fleece sample was, as feared, somewhat "too pink" for the purposes intended.  So at my suggestion, since dyes in the USA are obviously different to those readily available here in the UK, JS has found some felt more suited to his needs, and I shall attempt to produce his requirements once the package arrives from Tulsa.    (Both sides of the Atlantic sincerely hope that it will not take 22 days for the journey to be accomplished now that the Christmas Mail hurly-burly is over!)
In the interim, two other Cuddlies have found new homes - one is actually a custom order version of 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/107350815/sleepy-teddy-art-doll-yellow-plush-furry?

The Buyer, who lives in Torquay, Devon, England, UK wants to have her Sleepy Ted made in the same fabric as our Baby Koalas.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/55190188/toy-koala-tree-bear-grey-fleck-and-white?

 This I will be happy to do, in between making the first batch of our Puppet Bodies for JS.  I intend to make the templates for these bodies later today, or sometime tomorrow, so that the production process can commence.  (Orders are met in strict order of receipt, and as JS's requirements have been ongoing since November, the current batch of 4 needed will get attention first).
Then on Christmas Eve, another order from Huron, South Dakota from someone looking for Ladies Size 5 Novelty Slippers arrived via the Etsy.com system.  (As these are already in stock, I shall be able to meet this order immediately and intend to ship them off by the end of the Year.)  The Christmas mail hold ups should by then be pretty well over, and South Dakota does suffer from cold temperatures at this time of year.  So, the Grey Rabbit Head Slippers ordered, which are similar to these                                                        

https://www.etsy.com/listing/153816646/ladies-novelty-slippers-brown-plush?

                                                   will definitely keep my customer's feet toasty warm once they arrive - for her, or a family member.  (As I currently am wearing a Size 7 version of our Panda Bear Slippers, I am in a position to attest to that claim!)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/155281164/ladies-panda-slippers-novelty-gift-black? 

Thus, you can see my days are set to be very busy with replacements (currently there are 15 Cuddlies waiting to be remade, or reintroduced in a different form!) in the coming weeks, so I'd  better get on with planning them. 
 In addition, there are several Cuddlies due to be renewed by New Year's Day, so  a rolling programme of relisting/retagging has begun - which hopefully will result in them all meeting their respective deadlines, together with some new descriptions of each particular Cuddly Toy.  By the end of the week, therefore, https://www.Etsy.com/shop/COLDHAMCUDDLIES. should have a new look - in time to welcome in 2015. 
Do hope we'll be seeing lots of you there!  Until then, I'll close this week's post by wishing everyone a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year.
Your friend.  Isobel.