Monday 31 December 2007

three big chicken pouffes for christmas!



and a happy new year to all blog readers, remember i am happy to exchane blog links with you ... its one of my favorate time wasters, hopping blog links

well all the girls enjoyed their chickens and louise carried hers all over the house to ensure comfort while playing small electronic games ...

daisy has got the hang of climbing on, but matty isnt so keen yet ...

i am very pleased with them and hope their cousin mia likes hers too ...

Monday 24 December 2007

a happy christmas !


thanks to all my new friends in blog land and over on flickr, for your friendly support and encouragement over the past year .... hugs !

3 large chickens will be unwrapped by my girls today ....

a second cuttlefish puppet - finnished !


a second cuttlefish puppet
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat
finnished and delivered to make a young man very happy this christmas :-)

Monday 17 December 2007

maus, the little fidget, 20 weeks ....


maus, chin on chest ....
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat
yippeeee, maus looked very healthy and lively, and the placenta is where i would like it to be, away from my CS scar and my cervix!

that's enough of the big words ... we had a fun day, seeing the baby on tv, getting some pics, and taking the toddlers to the hospital returant to eat nice food, daisy put away a lot of pasta salad and a few beans and i was very proud of them, they behaved very well, even waving goodbye to the empty scan room ....

the sonographer declaired maus a real fidget and i have to agree, they feel like a very lively baby. hope they stop lying transverse soon, must be because of my 'room for twins' womb !!!

hugs
cat xxxxx

Thursday 13 December 2007

WIP - another cuttlefish created ....


the belly and swimmers of a cuttlefish i am creating in fleece, which will make a lovely christmas present this year, and i am to deliver to shaftesbury when he is finnished ....



here are the markings to give a hint of that shimmer of changing colours, in rust thread and 2 kinds of shot fabrics ...



a familiar face apears next to me on the sofa, needing some more padding and giving me the evil eye!

we really need to buy some christmas cards - i have not written a single one!

Saturday 8 December 2007

ok, a belly pic ... not a very good one!


me and my trusty camera ....
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat
and baby maus inside of course - 19 weeks and very kicky :-)

busy working on a new cuttle fish puppet to be ready for christmas ...

Thursday 6 December 2007

more mice, for christmouse ....


i have a fair few friends who also have twins, and one of them asked me to make two very small mice for her girls, after having seen the one i gave away on my blog and caroline won ....




so i did, in slightly different shades off woolen fabric so they can each have thier own mouse. i used embroidery thread for whickers as nylon doesnt stand up to play very much, and i am quite pleased with them, made them last weekend at quiet times ....

Saturday 1 December 2007

remembering a special lady ...


mum, nannie, crafter, gardener and super neighbour ...


went to sybil's funeral yesterday, she had died on sunday, mine and steves wedding aniversary...

the service was lovely, lead by the 'sally army', and afterwoods it was nice to eat buffet food with lots of my dear neighbours making me feel very happy we live where we do ... nearly been here 2 years, and sybil and bill made us very welsome indeed...steve looked after the girls, and took them shopping, so i could go along.

we will all miss sybil.

this photos shows my girls wearing cardis that she knitted for them, and the blanket that i will also use for my next baby, the foetus known as maus, if all goes well .... one of the cardis had no buttons or button holes and sybil thought it wasnt any good, and i said dont be daft, and put 6 pairs of 'poppers' on it, and all is well ... these should fit for a while too :-)

Thursday 15 November 2007

sniff...


sniff...
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

just listed a whole bunch of critters on bid4bears - click left for link or paste .... http://www.bid4bears.com/otheritems.php?owner=449&nick=RaggyRat .... into a lovely browser ....

my ginger cavy is back inthe etsy shop too ....

wow i am 16 weeks pregnant and almost stopped throwing up !

cat xxx

Sunday 11 November 2007

we live at number 1 :-)


we live at number 1 :-)
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat
a fabric collage and machine embroidery number for our numberless house ... louise drew a big number 1 and coloured it in, and also designed a border and then traced it onto muslin for some sticking of different colours and textrues of fabrics ... i machined all over it then cute out round louises lines and machined to some cream fabric ... (the muslin we worked on get puckered)

we might take commisions .... :-)

i can't put my clay 'number 1' that i made while pg with the girls on the house, as the pointing needs doing soon - sea winds and all that .....

Thursday 8 November 2007

esther, woollen rabbit looking for good home ...

esther, the bunny at the back with the news-print lines ears, is going up for adoption currently at bid for bears, click the link left or paste in the added link below ... i will make it hot later if i feel clever!

flora and nora now live with ania in poland, so esther has got left waaaay behind, poor bunny!

http://www.bid4bears.com/otheritems.php?owner=449&nick=RaggyRat

lables, desinger lables ...


lables?
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat
i am thinking of sending this lable off to get some quotes ... its been a long time since my cheep lables ran out and i was busy having twins and not doing much sewing ... but now im a happy creator again i have been pondering getting some nice woven ones to prove im the mummy of my softies and other works ....

do you like this ? i did a page of sketches before inking this one in a bit ....

Tuesday 6 November 2007

steam for 1 hour = felting !


steam for 1 hour = felting !
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat
i made this as one of my many entries into the softie awards ... but none of my festive creations came into the top 5, booooh ...
never mind, the competiiton motivated me to peer out thru the foggy pregnancy brain, and get something sewn which did me good i'm sure ... !

i am starting to feel a little less tired - esp on some days - and will show you a collaborative work between me and 9 year old louise soon ...

Saturday 3 November 2007

my first mohair bear, here is eddie and friend ....

A SUPER SWAP!

check out my flickr pics - i posted a few pictires of me openiing the exciting package from poland, as out tumbled eddie, alfroggio and some extra goodies too ...

i send some bunnies on their way to poland at the same time and they have been welcomed by the lovely ania, eddies creator :-)

the babies wanted to share their rice cakes with eddie as soon as he arrived :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/raggyrat/tags/eddie/

Saturday 27 October 2007

car seat make-over....

at 18 months it was time to move the petit twind up from the rear facing car seats even tho they are not yet 20lbs in weight ....
one seat given to us from a collection steve's mother has had a very worn and dirty cover...
i stripped the cover and stuck back some of the boken polystyrene which has fallen down, then i washed out all the yuck and crumbs....then washed all the scraps and fastenings in a mixture of liquid wash and disinfectant... my bowl gained its pink tide-mark when i was busy dyeing fabric for the lobsters long red bits....
matilda is standing on the cover which i have removed... all things placed on the ground must be stood on, also all manhole covers and grids must be stood on too
i cut off the slack elastic edge, and opened up the side seams which makes the seat the baby sits on...now you have a pattern to place on your lovely new cover. instead of wadding and so on i have used 2 layers of sherpa fleece, very snuggly and looks good ... this is about the 3rd car seat i have covered ....
here the finnished seat, looking 10 times better... i forgot to take pics of me sewing it back togather, and making a small seam for running some elastic into, but you might know how to do this already, and anyways i'm pregnant i do get distracted and forget ....
ta-daaaaaa!

Tuesday 23 October 2007

i have been keeping a big secret from you folks ....

right after i finnished the lobster costume i suspected another project was on the way ... i call this little creation maus - spelled german but said english - and maus is nealry 13 weeks ....

im tired and very sick a lot so its hit my crafting quite a bit ... and my blogging ... but im also very happy and proud, this is baby number 4 :-)

look at those tiny fingers ..... sigh....
xxxx

Monday 22 October 2007

who is this?


who is this?
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat
why did the chicken cross the road?

this one looks ready for adventure ... and is a christmas present idea inspired by 1 - chickens and 2 - some amazing vintage purple flowery curtains ....

Tuesday 16 October 2007

Merry Christ-Mouse ....


dont sneeze anyone ....
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

a pyramid of mice entered into the softie awards ....
i am hoping so hard for a nominee ... then i can go mad nagging you to vote for me/us etc .... so these mice join the berries, just pop over to flickr to see more entries by all kinds of folk ....



sorry - i dont normally 'do' christmas so early, but i love challenges and competitions ....

Friday 12 October 2007

Holiday softie awards ... my first entry ....

i missed this years softie awards - see sofies central linked over on the left ....
but i have entered the holiday softy awards....



meet the holly berry triplets!



go and see other entries in the holiday softie flickr group there are some spooky ones too ....

Friday 5 October 2007

steve trying out his new apple bag ...

i made it using scrap fabric .... and an apple aplique ...steve said was i taking pics of him of his bag ! you can see the golden apple aplique hiding in the leaves.

of course steve said he didnt need an apple bag but i knew better - he has both his hands free for sneaking onto next doors wall !

Saturday 29 September 2007

my 2 week exhibition at weymouth library ...

a little taster .... i teach this subject of album making and have been in the paper a few times publicising this ... i decided in spring - when i had more energy - to book some space to show off what we and my customers/students do :-)

support from local businesses ...

much better than a banner - a page about your work :-)

guess the baby pic ... more local support for my efforts ...

from a bevvy of 4 bouncy babies .... one is me of course !

competition entries - which one gets your vote ?

one of the entries is a double page layout ...

page layouts with very different themes ....

yes, i was once a lollipop lady !

inside the glass cabinet thingy ....

tools of the trade ....

some of these things look like they are on top of the case ...

..... otherwise known as toys !!!

Thursday 27 September 2007

Rusty Red Rabbit - a twin !


Rusty Red Rabbit - a twin !, originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

Rusty is still looking for a home, after his twin was sold this summer ... he might pop back onto bid4bears again soon, with sexyier pics, but to link quite smartly - here is some more news from bid4bears .....

In October, we'll be playing BINGO at B4B!

Register at the bid4bears.com site and get your card. It\'s free to play and everyday a number will be placed on the bottom of one of our auction pages. Find the number, and mark it on your card. There are 4 Games to be played in total, and great prizes to be won!


Game 1: One line for a $25.00 Gift Certificate from Edinburgh Imports
Game 2: Four cornersf or a Prize TBA
Game 3: Letter H for a one year subscription or renewal to Teddy Bear and Friends Magazine and a plush Steiff bear designed especially for TB&F
Game 4: Full Card for a beautiful hand crafted creation by Kim Endlich of Friends-Fur-Life.

Sellers ... this is a chance for you to really get people looking at YOUR listings!

Stop by Bid 4 Bears now and get your card!
The game begins October 1st.

Saturday 22 September 2007

slothful ?


take a look at this super sloth!
the creator of this amazing creature is only 19 years old, and you can read more about her on the listing - another lemonade bear!

Friday 21 September 2007

Bid4bears challenge win, and a charity bunny ... bid now !



ok, just to digress from the rest of the exhibition, i had good news the other week when i won a 'survival challenge' competition on bid4bears ... this means i have a whole years free listing on the site and so bid4bears will remain my main shop untill the end of my grand prize ....
to celebrate my good fortune i created a last minute entry for the lemonade bears benefit, this wee rabbit
made from real fur, and have just listed it under the official means so that all the money for the bunny goes to fight childhood cancer ...
she starts at a poxy £5 so go along and make a bid, also, enjoy some of the other artist bears in the charity auction which will be around for the next 3 days ... THANK YOU
cat xxxxx

Wednesday 19 September 2007

the contents of the glass case ....


Selections from My Memory Vault, originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

i have experimented with emailing from memory manager directly to flickr and my blog at the same time ... just trying to catch up a bit haha

anyway - i will put the rest of the gallery up later, these are just some of the tools of the trade, but for now i must rest !

cat xxxx

Friday 14 September 2007

saturday ...

got to nip into town early today and i cant keep pace with steve and his power walking, buggy pushing, so im going to drive as -

1 - i dont have any energy

2 - my bike is still being serviced - oh i didnt tell you about my new bike did i?

i had better nag steve again to take a pic .... when it comes back ...



going to collect some photos from exhibition sponsors and deliver some receipts ...

will be setting up ealry monday morning and i will take some pics too and share it with you. you will be amazed and astounded at my multi-talented self! well, maybe ...



here is a silly picture i made the other day after i saw one on someone elses blog, but unlike them i have not been clever enough to save the link. i bet you can find it tho and then you can have fun with rude words and family names...




any one like the idea of being stuck at RAGGYRAT for an hour for delays/leaves on the line/essential maintenance/a busking job?

enjoy the autumnal sun ...

Thursday 13 September 2007

flowers and more flowers ....


sorry i have negleted you for a bit dear readers/fans/stalkers ....

i have been pretty poorly, but steve bought me a huge bunch of flowers which have looked good for a week in my dining room :-)




the girls have learned how to climb up onthe garden bench - another thing to give daddy a heart attack with, esp if they stand up on there !!!


windfall apples make great toys too, although they dont bounce too well ....



i am making some thing very small with 'real fur', and have been chasing up some things for an exhibition i need to set up on monday ... now why did i have that silly idea? booked it ages ago and hardly have the energy for it now :-) i'll share it with you tho ....

Wednesday 5 September 2007

woolley headed - thats me!

i had to squeeze in one more blenny for my builder who is also a sea-fisherman ...
he originally asked me to make a sea bas 2 years ago and what with expecting twins and feeling sick i never got around to it. when he heared i had just made a blenny puppet he asked for a blenny softie...

how i made fins for this softie version ... below is a sandwich of 3 pieces of fabric - the lighter fabric is in the middle and you can see the stiching using the same thread in both bobbin and spool ....
three layers of scottish woollen, plus close stiching to give strength .... isnt my skirt pretty?


carefully cut between the stitching thru only the top layer of fabric to leave veins of darker fabric ...


all done on one side - now flip the fin over and do the same onthe other ... lovely isnt it ? i did it the hard way when i made the blenny puppet !!!!


his top- knots are felted woollen jumper again, all rolled up and stitched ...


this long awaited book arrived inthe post just as i finnished this fish ... what a super antidote to all this larger-then-life-marine creatures ..... i devoured its contents and then, by way of celebration, threw the rest of the wool i used for the blenny into the washing machine to felt it .... insert evil laugh !!!


the darker fabirc is shown here with colours belnded beautifully and it hasnt got too thick to work with ....
the lighter woollen is slightly thinker and difficult to sew and but has a gorgeous texture and seems to now consist of stripes ... smells lovely too :-)


a bunny was born ... i might get one more bunny out of the lighter fabirc after tweeking the pattern a bit ....


do i look like that? bunny is based on these in my new book ... he thinks he is cuter - of course ! and he's up for rehoming on bid4bears now ....