Hullo folks, Lenny here. If you’ve managed half as many projects as I have, you’ll likely know that sometimes life throws a wrench in your plans. Due to some unforeseen wrench-throwing I’ve got happening, I find myself stuck offsite for approximately 60 days plus or minus 30 days. Trouble is, I’ve already staged a lot of gear at your place. If there’s another bird who loves cargo pants and appreciates utility, could that bird maybe show my gear to the people? I sure would appreciate the help. See you in the summertime!

Yours,

Leonard Blue Jay

Friends, it has been a WHIRLWIND of a week for us here at the workshop! We’d like to tell you a little bit about what’s been going on. Let’s begin with the important stuff that you need to know:

• Our newest visiting animal friend is – dramatic pause for pots-and-pans drumroll from the Villagers – LEONARD BLUE JAY!
• Leonard Blue Jay was supposed to be arriving at the Village next week, along with his collection of utility gear. Leonard Blue Jay’s arrival has now been delayed to early summer, due to an unforeseen situation which we will explain further down this blog post.
• The Industrious Projects Collection will be launching on Tuesday, April 8th at 1PM ET! This collection includes 6 items of doll clothing and accessories which were designed for Leonard, but will instead be cheerfully modeled for you by his understudy Jeremy Owl.

All the details for the Industrious Projects Collection will be coming your way this weekend, so stay tuned! Jeremy Owl says he is quite chuffed to lend a wing to another feathered fellow, and he very much looks forward to meeting Leonard soon.

Now, let’s discuss the reason behind this rather sudden change of plans!

All of our dolls and animals are made from organic cotton fleece. As you can see in our line of permanent handmade friends and in our limited-edition visitors, we typically work within a limited range of colors. Recently, however, we have been excitedly exploring the possibilities of new fleece colors. Margot Cat’s taupe coloring was our first foray into this, and it was a great success. We designed Leonard Blue Jay to be made from organic cotton fleece in ivory, black, and two different custom-dyed shades of blue.

While conducting a routine quality-check on Monday afternoon, our workshop manager discovered that Leonard’s blue fabric was not colorfast – meaning the blue dye bled when it got wet. Not exactly what we hope to see!! We immediately sprang into action: conducting many different wash tests to investigate the severity of the dye bleed, to determine whether this issue was widespread, and to find out whether or not there was anything we could do to correct it.

After reviewing the results of our tests, getting in touch with our doll-making artisan partners in Nepal, and having many difficult conversations amongst our team, we arrived at the decision that this batch of blue jays cannot be sold.

We understand that this is very sorry news indeed. But here are the facts: at Hazel Village we have a certain standard for our handmade toys. We make these woodland friends to be loved, to be played with, and to go about life’s adventures alongside you. We cannot in good conscience sell you any product that we do not stand by 100%.

So, what now? First, we want to be very clear that this dye bleed issue is unique to Leonard Blue Jay and does NOT affect any existing Hazel Village dolls or animals.

Second, we have worked out a plan with our partners in Nepal who will be making a fresh batch of blue jays with new fabric that won’t bleed. We anticipate that this fast-tracked new batch of blue jays will take about two months to make, so Leonard’s belated arrival can be expected in early summer.

Third, we have decided to go ahead and launch the majority of Leonard’s collection without him so that you will still have some exciting new doll clothing and accessories to enjoy. The Industrious Projects Collection will be available on our site on Tuesday, April 8th at 1PM ET!

(Since he knows that wearing the proper attire is important for any project, Leonard kept a few clothing items with him offsite. These items, such as the crocheted hat which you saw in his first hint photo, will be launching alongside Leonard in early summer.)

That’s all for now, friends! We greatly appreciate you bearing with us through this sudden change of plans. As always, please feel free to reach out via email at hello@hazelvillage.com and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Take good care! 💙🪶

Thank you for reading, friend! If you have any questions, feel free to email us at hello@hazelvillage.com. 

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Answering Your Limited Edition Animal Questions

Journey of a Bat: the Making of a Limited-Edition Animal

Answering Your Production Questions