SAZTACULOUS NEWS!

We're well over half-way in less than two sun-turns!

There's ganticus excitement mounting here in Winchett Dale, as our Kickstarter project reaches a saztaculous 56% funded in just two-days - thanks to the incredible generosity of our 15 'Saztaculous Matlock Folk Backers' in pledging to our project to complete and publish the 2nd in the Matlock the Hare trilogy - 'The Puzzle of the Tillian Wand'...

Such is the excrimblyness here, that we're already hard at work (in-between writing and painting the new book!) beginning to think peffa-serously about our stretch-goals and compiling extra-Matlock rewards for all our backers who have been crumlush enough to pledge their support so far - in order to make the 'journey' as fun and majickal as we can for everyone...

Whilst Jacqui and I always hoped and had our paws-crossed that  we might get funded - the sheer speed and overwhelming response so far has quite taken our hare's breath away!  There's nothing nicer than to know that folk engage and appreciate Matlock as much as we do...it really is peffa-shindinculous....

If you haven't already seen the pitch - then PLEASE take a look, and get a glimpse of ourselves and (more importantly!) the project itself, together with all the rewards we are offering....  

If you like what you see - then please share this link with as many folk as you can, and let's spread the griffles together.... 

http://kck.st/1jjvuHC

In the meantime, Jacqui and I are working full-time on the book, as Matlock begins to get just that oidy bit closer to solving The Puzzle of the Tillian Wand...

THANKING YOU ALL SO MUCH - and have a most saztaculous and crumlushed sun-turn...

INTRODUCING OUR NEW KICKSTARTER PROJECT

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PROJECT'S PROGRESS!

Well, it's been a fairly momentous, if not saztaculous few sun-turns here in Winchett Dale (and pretty hare-raising, too, to be peffa-honest!) as we finally managed to complete and launch our Kickstarter pitch for Matlock's 2nd ganticus adventure - The Puzzle of the Tillian Wand - and less than 24 hours in, and we've already a ganticus 44% funded - all thanks to our incredible crumlush backers - we are eternally grateful to you all...

Ursula begins her long journey home.  First picture from 'The Puzzle of the Tillian Wand.'

A while ago, if someone had griffled to us that we could crowd-fund a novel about a majickal-hare, we might well have thought they had been drinking one or two many guzzworts at The Winchett Dale Inn, but the most saztaculous thing is that it is possible!!  Crowdfunding has allowed independent artists, writers, musicians and their ilk to pid-pad straight past the conventional 'gatekeepers' (editors, agents, pr people and the like) and instead take the work to the folk that really matter the most - the end-users (or, in our case  the peffa-crumlush 'Saztaculous Matlock Folk')  It's online philanthropic democracy (please don't ask Proftulous to say that - especially if he's eating a tweazle-pie at the same time, you'd be pebble-dashed into the nearest wall in less than a blinksnap...) - or put another way - if the folk that really matter think it's peffa-glopped, then they won't back it.  But if they like it, then they become kingmakers to people's dreams and ambitions...

Anyway, that griffled, we are now underway with our very own venture - paws, toes and long hare's ears crossed - taking our place alongside grillions of other projects and hoping for the best - we'll be keeping you all informed every few sun-turns of our progress - and a peffa-crumlushed and most ganticus 'thanks' to everyone who has backed Matlock so far...he's already a lot closer to solving the puzzle of the Tillian Wand...!!!

Please share this blog to help us spread the griffles, and have a most saztaculous few sun-turns, all...!

Urusla Brifthaven Stoltz 'drops-in' to the dale...

Once again, it has been a peffa-buzy sun-turn in the dale - as we continue to spread the griffles about The Riddle of Trefflepugga Path - begin writing and illustrating the new book (The Puzzle of the Tillian Wand) and generally try and keep house and leverets in order...  

So it was a peffa-tzorkly surprise when Ursula dropped-in midweek (she never announces it, just arrives, and assumes you'll be there) to insist that we make the first ever Ursula figure - as she was quite  russisculoffed to learn that Matlock had already beaten her to the honour.

Not wishing to disappoint the white hare-witch, she quickly set a pose, demanding it be replicated, and threatening to vroosh us if we didn't comply, before setting off again, high into the lid on her vroffa-broom....

So, the work begun....

Ursula - inevitably, of course - returned to personally inspect her likeness - and rendered it 'Peffa-tzorkly and quite gerrfuffelled!' - leaving us to breathe a ganticus sigh of relief that she liked it so much...  Aah, well another week over....but rumour in Winchett Dale has it that there could be an oidy dripple on its way to see us next week...

We wait and see....

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Ursula's completely handmade and saztaculously finished, peffa-tzorkly figure can now be found here on eBay....  May she bring her gerrfufflled tzorkliness to us all...!
 

THE MAKING OF A MATLOCK...

Ever since Matlock's first ever watercolour, one thing I've always wanted to do was make a Matlock figure - so this week, and over the last few sun-turns, when not painting or working on the new book, I decided to give it a go - choosing the right fabric, working out a pattern, then giving it a go...

Day 1 - head and ears painted, green cap on...

I hadn't really done anything like this in far too many sun-turns, but it did bring me back to schooldays - rows of us struggling to thread needles as we taught the best way to insert zips etc...  A bit of a glopped-up pain at the time, but something that perhaps has been lost these days.  So it's  saztaculous to see a recent resurgence in handmade crafts and practical skills beginning to happen.  And perhaps that is the real heart of Winchett Dale, Matlock and all the other peffa-clottabussed creatures who live there - a love of simple things...

Anyway, after completing torso, head and ears, I found some more time the very next sun-turn, and took out the needle and thread once more...

Hood and cloak made, hand-painted sleeves and hood...

I suppose that by now I should have been getting on with other things, but the more the little chap came together, the more I found myself wanting to finish it (Matlock tells me that this is always Proftulous' excuse when it comes to eating tweazle-pies!) determined to make his long purple shoes, a wand, and add some handmade copper fastenings I made with a block and hammer, then curled with pliers...

Slowly getting there...saztaculous fastening on!

And then, it was over - he was done - the first ever collectable handmade Matlock cloth figure - hand painted and complete with his very own crystal-mounted magical-wand!  Once again, Matlock had taken me to those majickal places of my youth I'd forgotten - but then, he 's always doing that...and I'm sure he will continue to do to whoever ends up owning him....

  

This labour of love is now available to find a new crumlush home on ebay at: 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=171320986556&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT