Educating The Masses.

I can’t sleep. So I wanted to talk about my day. 
Almost every Wednesday we set up at the Yorktown Farmers Market. Twice a dj from a local radio station does a short coverage of the market for local advertising. 
Well. He doesn’t give our booth the best advertisements. The first time it was “purses and…………. suff?”. I was talking to Hedgie Man about it right when I saw the radio station’s van pull up. It ticked me off. I’m The HEDGIE Lady! No mention of hedgehogs. And I have two totes. Out of everything he focused on totes. 

I was telling Hedgie Man he better give a little more than “purses and stuff”. And this time he was running through everything again, things from everyone’s booths, gets to mine and says “quilts, I know it’s random but they’re here”. 

Ok. Not as awful as last time, but still ruffled my quills. So I was saying how I should just walk up to him with one of my cards and be like “let me tell you what I’m really about”. Hedgie Kid was like “no, you wouldn’t really don’t that”. At that time the dj walked up to the booth next to us.
I grabbed one of our cards and waited. As he walked by I walked up to him, said hello and handed him my card. He looked at it and said “Hedgie, what is hedgie?” 

(Everything about to come next is snipits of our conversation and I know it’s probably not in order, but it’s late and it only lasted a couple minutes. )

I said “Hedgie, like hedgehog, almost everything I make is hedgehog themed.”

His reply was “Hedgehogs, do you have hedgehogs? ”

“Yes, I have two, Thonic and Thonia.”

“Can they be trained to do tricks?”

“It’s more like they train you.”

“How many people actually even own hedgehogs?”

“There is a Facebook group I’m a part of that has over 8000 members. (Was mixing up HWS’s over 6000 members with Hedgehog Happenings over 14000 members) I’m also a card carrying member of the Hedgehog Welfare Society.”

“I have never heard of that.”

“We take in abused and abandoned hedgehogs from owners that get hedgehogs and know nothing about them. Like how they are more compared to owning a reptile than a hamster. They need special diets and heat lamps…”

“So like education then?”

“Yes, you could say that, we try to get hedgehogs the best life they can have.”

After this he said I had taught him more than he’s ever known and it was good talking to me. He shook my hand and left.
I felt pretty good about today after that. I had taught someone something new about hedgehogs. We may not get any better advertising next time but at least I had spread some hedgehog knowledge. 

Meet And Greet: We

If you’ve seen any of our sites, Etsy, Facebook, etc., you’ll notice I never say “I”. It’s always “We”. So why “We”?

There is a lot of myself in everything we post. I run all the sites. But there is a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on. I have my awesome family helping me in everything.

Hedgie Man is my bfbf. Best friend boyfriend. My “gopher”, if you will. He helps fund my crazy endeavors. Gas, fabric when I’m short and must have it. Lol. He does a lot of the setting up help as well. I shot a very short “perfume” commercial for our mint sticks and he did the dropping.

He also proofreads all the stuff I put up. So if there is ever any spelling or grammar mistakes, blame him. Lol.
Then there are the Hedgie Kids. Hedgie Baby and Hedgie Kid. Hedgie Kid is kinda my set up manager. Back when Hedgie Man use to work every day we were at a market she would run the setup. She would help me set it all up and then take it all down. In my videos she rangles the pets. I set up the set while she gets the animals. Like for our fleece blankets.

Hedgie Baby is only 6. So she does a lot of the opinions, even on things I didn’t think I need an opinion on. Lol. She helps pick out fabric for projects and hands us pins while we set up markets. She’s usually off doing her own thing most of the time. But I appreciate her help just as much as anyones.
And of course our pets. Nothing would have even started if it wasn’t for them. I’ve done a Meet And Greet: Hedgehogs. I’ll have to do one for the Hedgie Kids’ guinea pigs too. But, I’m allergic to them, and don’t get to play with them as much as the hogs. Except this week while Sprinkles is recovering from an eye injury. I’m the only one mean enough to deal out the meds. I am going through Allegra like it’s candy.

Mint stick?

You’ve seen those green sticks almost every hedgehog owners raves about. And you’ve seen that video of Thonia going to town on the one for the Braid- y bunch set. 

Well, I’ve decided to sell just the mint stick! 

Get it HERE!

Braid-y Bunch

I have made a complete gift set! So excited to share it with you. Go check it out HERE!

I’ll let the Etsy description do all the describing for me. lol. I’m lazy, It’s late. I’m sorry. I can’t go home, I’m already here.

Although I didn’t do a “Making Of” for this item(s), it took me days and so many steps, I did make a special little video for the blog.

I wanted to give you all a look into the “after completed” photo shoots that I do. So I bring to you…..

Thonia.

And a mint stick.

PSA: Hedgehog Welfare (Society)

Whenever somebody finds out, sees, that I have a hedgehog their first response is “Oh I want one!” then my reaction is “No. You don’t.”.

So, why do I shut people down like that? When I myself have two hedgehogs. Two things happened today that give me extremely good reasons to say no.

1. People do NOT read up, study, look up anything, etc. when getting a hedgehog. Example: Customer at work today said her daughter( later teens) has a hedgehog and was thinking of getting it a friend. RED LIGHT! Hedgehogs are a solitary animal. Maybe, MAYBE, like only one out of a thousand cases, you could get two same litter sisters to live together, but that’s rare as heck. When I said this to the woman, she then proceeded to tell me her daughter let her female hedgehog play with her ex boyfriends male hedgehog. I about passed out! I was like “Ooooooooh nooooo!” She assured me it was a long ago ex and no babies were ever created. But I just couldn’t stress to her enough “NO FRIENDS! Especially boys!”
2. People are selfish, just see hedgehogs as dollar signs. Example: Saw someone post about selling their hedgehog on facebook a couple days ago. She posted on two different pages. She wanted $250. I said give the hedgehog to HWS(I’ll get to them in a minute) and then just sell the stuff. She was appalled! How dare I tell her to hand her sweet baby over to a complete stranger without all her things! Again, I will explain HWS in a minute, but, most of the people in the HWS have back stock of wheels, totes, snuggle sacks, etc. So no, poor baby wouldn’t have been without at all. Well, her first two posts got taken down. She posted again today. Same exact message, just this time, She wanted $300. It’s sad. I asked for the hedgehog, without all of it’s things. Never heard back. That post too got taken down. Looked up the persons name in my hedgehog groups, pages, etc. and found out she had only gotten the poor baby in EARLY JUNE! It’s July 14th.

 

So now. I beg everyone reading this, read read read, ask ask ask, soak up every bit of information any experienced hedgehog owner has.

 

Now I will give you the links to read, ask, and learn.

1. HWS – Hedgehog Welfare Society – Here is their website http://www.hedgehogwelfare.org/  They have all the beginner basics you need to learn first. Like temperament, food, nearby vets, FAQ, housing, everything that you would need to get your feet wet in the world of hedgehogs. But WAIT! Now you need to actually talk to hedgehog owners.
2. Also, If you have a hedgehog you can no longer care for and would like to do the right thing, Contact them and no matter where you are in the US or UK, I think, the can have someone meet to rescue your hedgie.
3. They also have a Facebook group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/98972897221/
4. Facebook groups. I have seen a lot of the “Buy the hedgehog first, ask questions later” situations, which is not the way to go about it at all. These fabulous groups are extremely helpful. You may have to ask to join, but it’s worth it.
5. Hedgehog Happenings – https://www.facebook.com/groups/hedgehoghappenings/
6. Hedgehogs Anonymous – https://www.facebook.com/groups/382631271838164/
7. And just for fun, The Fat Army – https://www.facebook.com/groups/1280893978630986/

Please study these lovable spiky floofs. I will not plug anything in this post, I just want people to learn.

The Making Of: Fleece Braided Tie Blanket

I got a feeling to make something today. Didn’t know what. Looked around online for ideas. Then saw someone use a braid on those big fleece blankets everybody gives out around xmas. Hey! My hedgehogs each have a small regularly knotted one, and love them. So. I set off.

 

First I had to choose the fleece. Luckily I have a ton of hedgehog fleece to choose from. I choose this cute pattern, which a had a solid to match. Lucky.

Then to cut out the pieces. I figured I could get 3 out of one cut of WOF so I decided to make just that many, and then make more if they sell nicely.

 

Then I did line work so I could pin them and cut elsewhere. Don’t worry, the marker I used is 100% washable.

 

 

 

Then cutting. I even got the help of The Hedgie Man. Lol. After we got the lines cut I cut a slit in the middle of each one.

Then the braiding.

And done!

Then the photo shoot. Oh was it hard. I wanted a picture of all four animals enjoying the blankets. And it was an event.

First was Thonic. He was NOT Happy.

Then Thonia. You remember how I said Thonia wants to take over the world. Well, today she wanted to melt my phone. Not even mealworms could make her pose. You’ll see her final picture with the others later.

Next was Blossom, Hedgie Baby’s guinea pig. She loved the blanket so much she was ready to set up shop and take a nap. See her leg all out.

Then Sprinkles, Hedgie Kid’s guinea pig. This pig. Let me tell you two things about her. One, she’s huge. Fluffy fat. Two, no matter what we try to get her to do, other than cuddle, she tries to leave. Bath, photo shoot, etc. Get away! This is her trying to leave by backing up.

This is the four pictures that I chose to use for our Etsy Shop.

See what I meant about Thonia. This was the best I got out of her today. Mealies was not enough. Too early for this crap, she said. Sprinkles looks like a deer in headlights. Blossom was sniffing around. I love Thonic’s cute little face. He can’t “Thoon” like Thonia can. He has honey face. 

I wish I had a better camera. I know all my pictures come out really pixelated. I have the blanket on sale HERE and I hope you enjoy it.

Meet And Greet: The Hedgehogs.

This is where it all started. A snuggle sack for this butt head(I really love her, I do.).

Her name is Thonia. She is an African Pygmy Hedgehog and she is about 2 years old. I got her when she was 8 months old. She wasn’t in that bad of shape when I got her. And she was my first hedgehog ever. It was, and still is, a learning experience for both of us. She’s had several upgrades to her cage and many tests on good food. She has helped me in so many ways. I can now give her fantastic care and she gives me lots of love. Her favorite thing is our night time snuggles together. At the end of the day, when I need to edit one of the several websites or if I’m just relaxing, I’ll have her snuggled up on my bed with me and she gets nice warm body heat and stretches out. We like spending the time together. She is my princess, but she wants stuff her way. I think she’s secretly planning world domination. I mean. Look at her.

I thought we were having a nice bit of floor time and I saw this staring at me over a toy.
She has an Instagram if you would like to see more pictures and get a feel of her attitude. (She has a big one. Lol.) Click Here to check it out.
Now for my other baby. Thonic. Thonia and Thonic. I love it.

Anyway here is my baby boy.

I haven’t had him that long, only a couple of months. I’m unclear on his age exactly, but I think he’s about 10 months old. He is still aggressive from not being handled a lot in his old home. When I got him he was in rough shape. Overgrown nails, really bad dry skin, leather ears, way too skinny and half of his tail was dead. But I got him all cleaned up and vet checked. His tail ended up falling off a couple days later and didn’t need surgery. Thank goodness. Still working on the ears. And I have him on a high(er than normal) fat food to put some weight on him. But I fell in love with his little face. He is so cute it hurts. He piffs whenever a stoopid hooman is around but he’s started to like being pet and cuddled. He just has to throw a piff out there every once in a while. You know, just to show how tough and dangerous he is. Lol.

He is also an accomplished rapper.

He has an Instagram as well. Click Here to see it.

 

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The Making Of: Foxy Blue Snuggle Sack.

First thing’s first. You can purchase this adorable snuggle sack Here.

I have to tell ya, I am in love with this fabric. I am not the biggest fan of foxes, but this is just cute.

First is the pinning. Even on something small. Sooooo much pinning. Lol.I had forgotten to take pictures cutting out the pieces. But I did get every other step documented. Except the corners.

After pinning comes my favorite part. Sewing. Had to sew the outside and inside pieces together.

And then pin those together. 

And sew together. 

When they get turned right side out it always looks so weird to me. 

A

nAnd then more pinning………

And…. TA DA!

Next it was photo shoot time! This item was being modeled by Miff Thonia Piffles. For some reason she wasn’t happy about being woken up and having a flashing camera light in her face.

After a few minutes of bribery of mealworms and twenty pictures later, I got one that would be the cover picture. 

But that was all she would give me. After her snack she was done. Just fed up. She decided to give a short demonstration of how a snuggle sack should be used. 

All the sacks then went into the washer(without Thonia).

And all this has been The Making Of: Foxy Blue Snuggle Sack. <—That’s another link to the product. 🙂

I love making these and hope your pets will enjoy snuggling up in them!

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Here’s a picture of a Thonia.