I had a hard time getting any response from Giggle Moon, but was told in two emails over the past seven months that there were reasons the work couldn’t be done, even though I continued to see photo sessions posted, throughout the same time period, on the Giggle Moon Facebook page. I’ve reported the incident to Etsy, and asked Giggle Moon to reimburse me for the toys.

I’d like to warn anyone on Etsy about participating in trades. I know I won’t be doing any more trades. Everything looked legitimate, and I’d had a good experience with sending my toys to be photographed for a TV show, with another Etsy member, who returned them in perfect condition, in short order. So, I thought this would be a similar experience, and am very displeased over the situation. This is my business. Even though it is pleasant to make toys, most of the time, I don’t do it for entertainment. I do it to make a living. I would never expect to walk into a store, take something, and not pay for it. I don’t expect anyone to do that with my shop either. If anyone else has had a similar experience, please report it to trust@etsy.com. Etsy doesn’t mediate in trades, but they do investigate suspected scammers.

I am continuing to make my toys, and trying not to be angry. This is what my workroom looks like right now, filled with fabric and projects, with hardly any room for me. As you can see, I am not some big toy company, but one person, working from home, making toys by hand. I don’t wholesale, and I don’t send out free samples. I send toys directly to their new homes, where I hope they will be appreciated and loved.

Update, as of April 2012: Janean Linder at Giggle Moon Photography never did pay for the toys she kept. This is just stealing. Beware of dealing with her.

I thought I had it all right, but I switched one dress with another. I thought the one dress looked especially pretty on the doll I accidentally dressed in it, and so we went with the dress exchange.

I then ironed our backdrop, which is quilting cotton, a blend of pink, blue, and yellow.

We set up foam core, on a box, on a table, to get the dolls the right height compared to the camera and tripod.

We take our photos outside on our porch, to get natural light. We always have to wait for the direct sunlight to pass over the house, so we don’t get harsh shadows. I’m trying out my new micro lens for these. The photos look good so far, but it will take me a while to get them all edited and posted on our Ruffing’s blog.

The kittens have been loose in the house during the day. We round them up at night, for bedtime in the laundry room. In the morning, they are raring to go, and start meowing to let us know it is time for them to come play.

Josephine has been very happy to have the girls to play with her. They are closer to her own age than her other friends.

Phoebe doesn’t want any people touching her, but she is the more adventurous of the two kittens. I find her watching me, and hanging out around me too, even though she will still hiss or scoot if I try to pet her. I can tell she likes me, in spite of that. She just wants to set her own rules about people.

Phoebe was the first to try out the cat gym. Josephine is showing her around. Bertie joined them later, but Bertie likes to relax in the bedrooms more, trying out the fuzzy blankets.

They are both settling in very well. They’ll have their spay day soon, and get their microchips, which is good, because they probably will start refusing to go to bed in the laundry room. Already, bedtime keeps getting bumped up until later because they want to keep playing and running around.

and the other is dark purple with a light turquoise heart. Both are made of fleece. I am continuing on my mission to keep adding art toys to my shop.

I took a field trip to Marie’s house this weekend to take some photos of her foster kittens. Marie trapped and rescued these babies, and Alley Cats and Angels has taken them into their adoption program. These are the Addams Family kittens, Gomez,

Pugsley,

Wednesday,

and Morticia. They will all be ready for adoption in about a week, but Alley Cats and Angels is accepting applications for them now, if you are in the Triangle area of North Carolina.

Gomez is looking particularly angelic here. All four are super friendly and playful, and obviously, very cute.

The rescue is in great need of donations. They’ve had more medical emergencies, and special needs kittens this year than usual, including this beautiful tabby kitten. She was found in a feral colony, as were all of the kittens in this blog post, but she had a congenital deformity in her back leg, which needed to be amputated. This hasn’t seemed to phase her. She is happy and sweet. You would never know she came from a feral colony. She will be up for adoption too, as soon as she heals up. The rescue is still working on picking out a fitting name for her.

Siren is a special-needs kitten, in that she has Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH), which also happened before birth. She is healthy and loving and adorable. She just has some tremors which make her unsteady. She is still able to climb in your lap though, which she loves to do. She needs a home that doesn’t have any big cat trees like we have here, or anything too high to climb on, to make sure she doesn’t fall. Otherwise, she should have a normal life like any other cat, with the same life expectancy. I have photos of her brother, Sasquatch to edit. He is amazingly cute too.