Thursday 30 October 2008

zig-zagged


zig-zagged
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

if you like rats, would you like an alphabet book like this?
does this image apeal to adults, or children?

i did part of the alphabet years ago (2002) for an art competition, and even have my mock-up copy i made for the comp ....

i would love to have it completed and published one day - what do you think?

just had to share it - i found it onthe trawl thru my hard drive for pictures proir to printing ....

Monday 27 October 2008

i am soon to be in print ...


i am soon to be in print ...
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

my half page add for the new "rat and mouse" magazine who aproached me for their first issue ....i will also be part of a feature too, i cant wait to see how, and who else is in it, and have it in my sticky paw to read with my cup of tea ....

rat and mouse magazine, click here...

i'll let you know when my copy arrives :-)

Sunday 26 October 2008

looking forwards and backwards ....

this week i spent a lot of time at my computer, in dribs and drabs, deleting and making back up dics of pictures ... it suddently hit me that i could really loose my photographs, all of us knows someone who has lost a HDD full of emails pictures and memories ... and i didnt wan that to be me.

when i finally got down to it i found over 2000 images from daisy' and matty's birth to the last upload, and i took these on just over 4 discs to a small local company in town ... i could have used there on line service, but just inagine how may hours it would have taken to upload them, my images are around 1gig ...

have you ever lost things on your pc?
i used to teach scrapbooking, and might go back to it again, and always stressed gettign those pictures printed. i met a woman and told her about my classes - she has four children - and said, ah, it was ok thanks, she had them all on her computer ... a few years later i met her again in one of my classes - she lots four years of images and gave us all food for thought!

so ive done it
its a HUGE box full
and its going to take me forever to get those into albums - but it will be done !

oh, and in that photo above, daisy is on the left, and matty on the right

cat xxx

Thursday 23 October 2008

Sunday 19 October 2008

fur again


fur again
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

couldnt you just sit and stroke that all day? i could, and then not get any more sewing done !

the grey fur, which is two tone, black and grey, looks lovely as you move and feels softer then a kitten ...
the long white fur is really amazingly floaty, and brushes well, and the short white fur is amazingly dense ...

this is actually one of the sleeves of the fursuit, and i cant wait to get it all put together :-)

Wednesday 15 October 2008

the making of a man ....


this strange shape is a pattern made by cutting fabric to fit and off my duct tape dummy ...the white parts have been removed for cutting out seperately of course, in both long and short white fur ....

the grey fur is made with dark underfur, the back of which is shown in this photo ...

i'm not really grumpy ....



i am going out tomorrow ...

would anyone like to come? click here for the website



cat xxx


Tuesday 14 October 2008

grumpy ....

i am not sure i like this card i got in my veg box this week....
and is it only me that is disturbed to find myself apparently pulling wet wipes out of a babies, erm .... bottom?
thanks morrisons ....

Saturday 11 October 2008

sweetness and light ...


mary is wearing a bib handmade by TANTEHILDE (blog on left, there....)
and smiling sweetly at the aproach of mummy and something tasty!

i have to share this happy rhyme with you - my chewable raggy rats have gone down a treat up in derby ...

Dear Cathy,

In morning's sunshine they appeared
2 baby ratties, muchly cheered.
What shall I call them? Pit and Pat
of pattering feet, well fancy that!

Such snuggly beasts curled in a C
a perfect shape to grab must be
for baby's learning little fingies
such most appealing softie thingies,
also for slobbergums to chew
and stuffing down in nappy poo...
These ratties very much alive
wash-mashine-tumbles will survive.

Once clean and nicely disinfected
the awesome rat is resurrected
and fit for baby-hand caress
to pull its tail and make a mess ....

------------------------------------------------------------
Now you can see where most of my time goes:
writing little rhymy-things to amuse my friends.

This poem is dedicated to the intrepid maker of sweet squeekies
and monster feet and other such things.

With my love and thanks,

minstrel-Margret (struck again ;-)

bavarianminstrel.wordpress.com



photo from margret's blog too ...

Thursday 9 October 2008

making markings move ...


making markings move ...
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

i have dressed my duct tape man in inside out laura ashley curtains, lovingly recyled and the linings removed for another project ...

i have used pins and tape for fixing, and a marker pen to work out how to use the different furs to make markings ... like a stripe along the lower front of the arm ...

i need to add in little bits of fabric here and there where i snipped off a bit too much, easier to do this than get out fur and paper ... this is something i could not have done with measurments alone, and im so glad i have thew dummy ...

when i pick him up and carry him around it's reminisent of 'the doctor' and his assistant - when his assistant was little bonnie langford ! before i break him down, and recyle his innards i will take a pic of us both together ... daisy and matty call him MAN :-)

Sunday 5 October 2008

some things i have managed to get up to ....

painting irises for the fursuit head ... to be cut and trimmed later ...
looking thru the irises with my camera at flash's potrait - click the 'flash' lable for more info on that old boy ....
finnished painting and varnishing the flat-pack freecycled dolls house, i oiled the roof with sewing machine oil, and i gave the house 2 coats of plain old emultion and 2 coats of varnish with a bit of sanding in between. theres a bit of an aging effect on the edges caused by sanding between both coats of paint.

now, how long before i find some bits and bobs to go in it?

Thursday 2 October 2008

cute mary


cute mary
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

generally a happy baby, quick to smile but really very very hungry !
and therefore, so am i ....

Wednesday 1 October 2008

baby-safe raggyrats ...


about time i made something cute and small, these have just arrived at my friends house, so i can show them here. she likes them so much she wants 2 more ...

no beads or plastic bits, i first made one of these for my daughter louise in 1998, and she still has it!

hope you like the NEW lables, this is the ONLY time i will ever buy school lables, by the way !