my 2 week exhibition at weymouth library ...

my 2 week exhibition at weymouth library ..., originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

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 ...

support from local businesses ..., originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

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

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

guess the baby pic ... more local support for my efforts ..., originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

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

competition entries - which one gets your vote ?

competition entries - which one gets your vote ?, originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

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

page layouts with very different themes ....

page layouts with very different themes ...., originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

yes, i was once a lollipop lady !

inside the glass cabinet thingy ....

inside the glass cabinet thingy ...., originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

tools of the trade ....

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

some of these things look like they are on top of the case ..., originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

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

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.

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!

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

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

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 ...

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 ....

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 ....

Oh Blogger - I've Been Tagged!

but as i am always running around trying to catch up with things i am not going to do it, but feel free to read connie's (clothmatters), who tagged me, and do one your self if you like ... it just takes me ages to do a nice hot link, imagine pasting and fiddling with 5 friends!

and in the middle of making that lobster costume i got tagged by caroline of uniqart to do the '8 things' thing, and i loved the way she did hers with a blog entry and pic for each thing. my favorate was a lovely pic of her daughter. but of course in the middle of the lobster costume it was all sew, sew, sew followed by looking after my babies, and i hadly answered any emails and posted just enough so you wouldn't forget me!

anyway - in the spirit at least of being tagged - thanks connie and caroline for picking me ... anyway - im just going off to upload 8 pictures which will also be a bit of a 'round up', since after finnishing that lobster i 'crashed' and have felt rather ill ...

said good bye to my L reg fiesta at the end of last month ... we covered many hundered miles together and i will miss her. she was the first car bought just for me !!! and no - i didn't break it ....

a canadian fan of my work - i am soon about to make something really special for him, guy named chris :-)

a rat bag that was delayed by sea creatures got a lovely unique lining the other week, before being sent off in the mail ...

i make all my children help me with house work ... daisy is fond of putting knickers on her head even tho i say they are knickers, and not a hat ....

three blank canvases i need to get painted and collaged for phil in london .... soon ...

some ceramic painting i did with louise - she gave the striped mug to grandad-gerald for his borthday and he said he liked it ... we even have to fire them in the oven 24 hours after painting and it came out nice and shiney not brown and burned like i thought it would ...
the babies watching a man take down the corner post, and re-build it, to make my driveway wider for a newer car, last week ....
some goregous girls that arrived in the post last week - i swopped with tantehilde - aren't they sweet and summery? like the summer we havent had ....