Old Barney ....

In March, an old dog called Barney came to live at The Raggy Rat ...

His forelimbs are almost parting company from his body and his wood wool leaks out. But I love him. And so do others, it would appear! 

I think Barney appealed to me because I'm also a work in progress ....

I recently made another rat ....

I made the rat using button hooting and some vintage balding mohair from Bridport ...

And the rat turned out so sweet it was soon snapped up and sent to france!

So I suppose this rat won't be present at Dorset Art Weeks!

Bear finished!

He was fun to make, a friend of mine thinks he looks like a Matthew! Do you agree? Made from vintage mohair throw!

Bear bits!

Making a new tiny bear...

I finished the button-joined rat!

I bought a lovely vintage throw from Bridport, which was made of two pieces of vintage mohair, and spoke to me with great potential!

this little rat is firmly stuffed and how button joined, and make from short sparse mohair ... I love adding the face features and the whiskers!

The tail is partially filled with tiny glass beads, so ratty can stand up too!

A dusty-pink ribbon and little key charm finish my new friend off! She is looking for a forever family ...

Old Bear, well loved, seeks carer!

Here i am carefully stripping a dear old gent of a bear ... beloved companion to 2 generations, whos clothes are holding him together, and who could do with a bit of a rest!



I covered him in scrap fabric to form a pattern to create his twin, who actually might well make a nice girl friend for Andrew panda!



The same but different? I am sure they wont mind the age gap, and I hope my friends daughter enjoys unwrapping her on Christmas day! (I might sneak in to see her face!)

hamster battery car makeover ...

granny bought the girls a box of boot-sale cars for christmas, among them this green one which has a motor and off set wheels so it almost walks too, and can even climb a bit ... diasy likened it to a hamster and it gave me an idea so i reached for the screwdriver!


mohair, beads, felt and hot glue and hamster-car was born!


daisy played with it all afternoon! today it has been riding on a break-down lorry. as a passenger, it isnt broken down !

have a happy new year everyone !
cat xxx

scruffy dog, doesn't shed ..... house trained ....

i had great fun with this one, inspired after meeting a charming wire fox terrier at the sculpture hut. i used a recycled jacket, two different kids of mohair and leather scraps and beads for her collar.

he's cute and hes looking for his tea-pot ....

just who is he?

new kitty in the shop

this smiley cat is over in the etsy shop

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19765789

and was begun a long time ago when i went to hospital for surgery, well, it feels like a long time, anyway!

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit ...

after easter and there are still time for bunnies ...


this one was given to my dear nhs midwife lynn, as a huge thankyou for lots of support at home, doing all my checks so i didnt have to get myself and young twins to clinic, especially helpful as they are shy and dont like medical places ... actually neither do i!


and this little bunny now lives in france, it was given as a present when some french friends travelled all the way back home from weymouth to france after living here a while ...

today is sunny and i am sleepy ....

say hello to apple ...

say hello to apple ...
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

apple the pig will soon be listed on

http://www.bid4bears.com

and she was admired today by my independent midwife debs,

http://www.dorsetwiltshireindependentmidwives.co.uk/debs.php

after we did our booking visit ...

spooky, i pick one with a love of pigs!

i feel very relieved, as i can now plan a birth instead of wondering what will happen all the time, and i am pleased to say that we found baby heads down and a good size, not too big or small :-)

clever me ... and i can do cute mohair creatures too!

back ....

hello inez!
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

there is am artists power campaign going on right now at http://bid4bears.com and i have listed little Inez as my first critter, she is feeling nervous ...

if you are looking for a friendly alternative to e***, now is the time to list some bears and dolls and try it out - it runs for a few weeks ...

enjoy browsing and let me know how you found bid4bears

thanks
cat xxxx

collaboration ...sneaky peek ...

this is art bear he looks super and is made by wendy-matilda
... although he is not finnished as he needs a little more input from 'me', and now the seafest is done and dusted (apart from the matter of a large cheque), i can work on cute again, yippeeee!

art is pictured with the charming 'figgaro mouse' made by me and adopted by wendy... and i love this image she sent me as they look so great together ...

so lets shrink the world :-) one bear at a time ....

Paying It Forward ....

and the winner is ...


(bits of paper fall off desk)


Caroline B :-)




send me your address quick before the cat plays with the mouse too much
and i know i owe you a reply to your lovely email Caroline, just popping off to shops now,
thanks everyone
cat xxxx

Pay It Forward ..

A Wee while ago i put in a request on Teddy-talk.com for mohair scraps as it was my ambition to try this stuff, even just to handle it and see what it was like ... a dear member of teddy talk send me about 4 different colours and a couple of different textures and i was smitten ... i just bought a piece of english loom mohair on Ebay ... and apparently some more scraps are on their way to me soon ...

I send the person a handmade thank-you and after i finnished a couple of projects off i got, to playing with the mohair and this tiny brown mouse was the first thing to be born ... it was such a wee tiny scrap and i loved the challenge of seeing what i could do with it :-) All hand stitched ...

Now i am giving it away to someone else, and all you need to you is leave a comment below and i will do a little draw, at least by next week :-) If you want to trade blog links you can add your request in below too ... the white mouse is a mock-up for Wendy's special Commission.

Thank you ....

WIP - for wendy - and my first play with mohair ...

wip - for wendy - and my first play with mohair ...
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

Wow, i loved the fuzzy feel of this mohiar, although i dont think its suitable texture for this small scale ...

the brown mouse baby is created using what i could from a tiny scrap of mohiar kindly donated by Chloe (from teddy-talk.com) and i loved the think woven backing and sewing it by hand ...

my ambition of wanting to get my paws on some of this intruiging fabric has been fulfilled ...

the white mohair mouse-to-be is hopefully what wendy is looking for, size and shape wise!