did you vote for mrs pack rat?

many thanks if you did - here is the outcome of that little contest ...

http://www.plushteam.com/2009/02/drumroll-please.html

getting furred ....

wow the head is looking rounder and fluffier and cuddlier and i am on the home straight with this now!
i may have to re-think the plastic dome 'eyes' if they dont fit my vision for the character - which really just changes as the thing grows and hopefully fits whats in mine and my clients heads !
now im off busy shaping the cheeks, building the pattern for the muzzle fur - 3 kinds of fur, and getting hot glue gun burns again !

the ear goes here ....

the ear goes here ....
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

looks like a map of the wold type thing ....but this is what the surface of the foam mouse head looks like laid flat. this is pattern making using the old laura ashley curtains method, using tape or pins to make the darts ...

this method makes lovely 'organic' darts !
and its why you wont find many stright lines on the fursuit, too, including the white under-arm strip!

after making this pattern i sliced the top of the head and cut it from longer fur to make a cute top-knot ... i hope !

click through to the flickr photo to see some notes of what goes where ....

the boys from scotland also wrote to me today ...

Hi Mum
we are doing well learned to play the guitar , we gig as a duet , [wee moose ceilidh band] lol
yours roger and raymond

sometimes, when creatures go to live very far away ...

... they send pictures home to let me know they are ok ...

vote, over on the etsy plush team blog !

vote vote vote, for mrs pack rat ...

that is, unless you find another softie there who floats your softie-boat ...

http://www.plushteam.com/2009/02/voting-for-janfeb-challenge.html

her new years resolution is to 'get on top' of her Mousework, and Clutter - just like me! i wonder if she has made a start yet ?

im a proud new member of the etsy plush team, and this is my first competition :-)

a certain raspberry giraffe left my hands today ....

if this image were an album cover, what would the music be?

giraffe thinks, 'is louisianna very far?'...

picture* me on my chicken, mummy ....

*take a photo of ...

one ear pinned on gives you an idea ...

one ear pinned on gives you an idea ...
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

and no nose of course, does he look like a mouse yet?

chirs says yes, so im very happy, and i have been filling inthe gaps since i took this photo, and gluing the jaw together, and turning those teeth white with the same pvc i used for the claws .....

visiting, and meeting up ....

on thursday we met lots of animals and birds, and also chris http://mygrandfathersgooseberry.wordpress.com/

arriving at jax's house with the help of my trusty sat nav ! chris helped me park and too pics of our first meeting. why do i always look half asleep?




daisy and matty stare at chris camera - they didn't cry tho !



i cuddled a baby african grey, who was quietly waiting to be fed (every two hours, how does jax do it!) the girls were very taken with the baby bird and want to see it again...



time to feed mary too, and laught at daisy's jokes!



thanks for a lovely morning jax, the very fresh eggs, and for the great photos chris
next time i'll bring my BIG camera along with everything else !

cat xxx

i have got plenty of glue-gun glue now ...

at least i hope so, i want the foam to stay glued together ...

very pretty out here in the frosty grass ....

but my feet are cold !

matty may not like the snow very much ...

but she really does like to paint ...

sorry if i have presented it upside down matty!

flowers in all the snow ....

a bit of inspiration came in the post, usually the junk mail we get is 'read' by matty and daisy, but i stole this pretty picture, with thoughts of spring around the corner ....

WIP mouse head - sketch ...

after seeing character screen shots like this http://raggyrat.blogspot.com/2009/01/mouse-fursuit-commission.html i had a better idea of building the mouse head for the costume...
i made this drawing, sketched from the head i have build so far ...

the markings are based on deer mice and the little white eye markings that spiney mice have ...

i just need some information about how the back of the head should look ...

WIP wednesday .... gurt big furry mouse head ...

not that i stick to a theme or anything, but for those of you that are pondering my great fursuit project, here are some pictures of the head being built ...

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

and here is a picture of my very small snowman, photographed to make him look bigger!
his eyes fell out, and to be honest, he was mostly made of hail, not genuine snow!

i DON'T like the snow ... so says MATTY!

yesterday, it snowed a bit ...

today, it snowed a bit more ... enough to keep us from trying to leave town and go to the drop-in choir ...

'i dont like it, i'm not coming,'says matty ...

'i'm not coming,'says matty ...

'I'M not coming,'says matty ...

so we went back inside, but only after i had made a VERY small snowman ...!

better blog some more crafty sewing, cat ...

i had this toy, it played a nice lullaby but it didnt look so apealing, also the stuffing was very soggy and lumpy ...



so i gutted it
lets call it recycling
the stuffing and the musical box i put aside for re-use



and i made this rabbit ... upholstery and a nice fairy cotton-print ...



the stuffing is so firm, i believe i can hear base notes i couldn,t before ...

20 posts for january, a personal record?
i dont know, i'll have to have a poke around ...