Photobombing

I was going to do a quick post today to prove I’ve done a bit more on the curtain, however Fletcher had other ideas…

And he does this kind of thing quite regularly, he likes to get involved when he’s not welcome…

And a lovely soft wadding pillow for his old man head… I was actually quite annoyed by this – dog hairs!!!- but at least he wasn’t getting in the way/crying/photobombing/getting his nose too close to the iron or sewing machine at the time, he was just quietly minding his own business whilst not being able to be apart from me for an hour or so…

So I’ve changed my banner a little up top 🙂 There will be more changes afoot on this blog over the next few weeks, but hopefully this won’t disrupt anything.

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Back on my feet

I’m back- I’ve not managed to get back in my sewing room though. I think the smell of my hedgehog (or the air freshener I have because of him) is affecting my head which is still a bit delicate. He is going to live with Melissa as of tomorrow when she’s back off holiday so I will be giving him a little bath tonight. I tried to do some hand sewing for the next round of the UK Borders Agency yesterday but I got a stinker of a headache (maybe I should wear my glasses at home?) had a nap for a couple of hours and woke up feeling like I’d fallen out of a first floor (that’s 2nd floor to you US readers) window! My back and head and neck were so sore!

So I think I will be back properly sewing this weekend hopefully. I still want to finish my bag and of course there is always THAT curtain to sew. I also want to unpick the binding on the Giant George quilt and stitch it on by hand. I’m also working on starting up a Folksy shop selling dog collars and leads- you know, because I need another mini-business like a hole in the head. Of course this meant I had to draw something…

Mr B. Fletcher’s Dog Belt Emporium…. Fletcher’s collar was nicknamed the “belt of the ancestors” as it’s leather with running greyhounds on it, however I think that is no more as on reflection it was bought from a market stall at a game fair, not very heirloomy! B stands for Boo, in case you were wondering.

I’m doing clip collars and buckle ones with eyelets and I have 3 I can list so far. I’m waiting til I have a few of each style that I am totally confident in and then I shall be listing!

Really Big George- Finished!

In another avoidance tactic from sewing the other curtain (I really will have to finish that next) I finished “Really Big George”- based on a photo of Giant George. If you don’t know who Giant George, he was- until extremely recently- the biggest dog in the world ever!

This quilt is about a square metre and I have put it in my Etsy shop, but it’s not cheap 😉

There’s several different FMQ styles in there- my usual thread sketching but also I followed the design on the front on the background which gave a lovely effect. The fabric is from Heirloom by Joel Dewberry by the way.

The back is just simply Kona Natural, and the applique fabrics are a total mix of different manufacturers and designers I couldn’t possibly name them all.

Husky Mushing

I just realised I promised you a post about when we went dog sledding last Wednesday and I hadn’t yet delivered!

We had about an hour and a half of riding between the two of us, which was 3 goes each… here are the six dogs:

From front to back… Nanook (not pictured- she’s a white one), Koda, Minx (my favourite), Willow, McKinley and Dashka.

Ready to go…

My first go- two dogs, with Dashka and McKinley just going in a straight line… (rubbish photo, but it was late afternoon in January!)

Koda decided she wanted to go search the ditch on my second ride (where I learned you shout WHORE to go left- yes seriously- and GEE to go right) and had a fight with alpha female Dashka as a result. We tried again but they tried to pull me into said ditch which resulted in a girly scream, but that made them stop very quickly!  So I had to go back and start again, this time with Minx, Dashka and McKinley…

Here’s OH with his three dogs on his perfect second run- you can actually see Nanook in this picture, she was a hard worker (and just a puppy too)!

There doesn’t seem to be a picture with me and the final team (Nook, Willow and McKinley), but I beat OH’s time because he ended up with Koda and she acted up again wanting to cut corners and getting taffled up with the other dogs leads.

We then stayed overnight in a teepee. I say stayed overnight as there wasn’t any sleeping really- there were gale force winds and trees blowing over, etc. The poles moved in 2 inches all the way round which meant the canvas at the top was touching the chimney which is a slight fire risk. As far as I’m aware they had to rebuild it after we left. The toilet tent blew away and the door kept gusting open all night. Needless to say I had a good nap when I got home!

This was me, in a balaclava in the morning after the fiasco of the night before…

Dog Baths and Workshops

WARNING: Image heavy post with lots of dogs!

After ages of meaning to try out the Wash and Wags soap from Just Soaps, we finally got round to it yesterday. Jane from Just Soaps sent me one as a little something for Fletcher after my post about the failed dog show a while back. He thoroughly enjoyed the handmade treat that came with it that is SUPPOSED to be for afterwards (and I think selling them separately somewhere would be brilliant) but with moving house, the soap was put into a box and forgotten about.

Yesterday though we tried it out. Not on Penny though because she requires extra “assistance” at bath time and therefore the squirty bottle stuff must be used. We call her Mrs Pankhurst because of the passive resistance that she has when she realises what is happening. So instead of applying soap whilst OH lathers it up and rinses her, I have to concentrate all of my efforts on keeping her upright (bearing in mind she is making herself as heavy as she possibly can) and not throwing herself sideways or jumping out of the tub… She is very cute in a towel though.

Fletcher is a different kettle of fish. At bathtime he reverts into himself and goes to his happy place, stood as still as a statue. You can try as hard as you like to get his attention but he totally switches off to distance himself from the torture we are inflicting on him. This makes him an ideal candidate for the bars of soap. I was applying it and OH was lathering it and it was creamy and easy, but equally will last us ages. It contains Olive Oil, Eucalyptus and something called Neem- not sure what that is but it seemed very light! He smells good!

After bathtime he goes a bit mental rubbing himself on things, shaking and licking his paws desperately trying to remove the nice smell!

Also yesterday in dog-unrelated news, I was at Jam Jar Beads in Sheffield doing a workshop there. We used my exclusive cupcake acrylic bezels for the very first time and made these pretties… (and I also bought some more beads *ahem*)

Don’t forget to enter your creations over on the Flickr Pool in the Bezel Competition! I can’t believe no one has entered yet- get over there! (Workshop people you can enter too!)

It’s OH’s birthday today so I will be back tomorrow with more dog photos- this time on the birthday cake I made for him!

Death by Chocolate

I had a bit of a scare today. Fletcher managed to eat two boxes of chocolates (about 400g) whilst I was out at the post office today, including a box of Thorntons! I rang the vets and they told me to bring him down immediately. I nearly cried as the nurse took him away from me. I was there an hour as they gave him an injection to force him to vomit. Apparently it’s the most chocolate they’ve ever seen a dog throw up, and if I’d left it he could have been dead from organ failure by now.

He was a complete vegetable when he got home, pretty much too weak to move. He laid on the rug in the living room and slept it off for a bit and then had scrambled eggs and rice for tea.

He’s pretty much back to normal now thankfully….

Thank you Miya, Make 50: Week 20 and other stuff…

Sorry this post has been a while in the making- my laptop spectacularly broke and I’ve been working on articles and other stuff as well as going to unsuccessful craft fairs!

Firstly, the garden swaps should all have been dispatched by now, so if you haven’t got your package, you should expect it quite shortly, and please share photos on the Flickr group here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1121311@N21/pool/!

I didn’t photograph mine, so hoping Miya will do when they arrive (any day now!), but here’s what she sent me!

From left to right… Four little stitched notecards- I love these, very simple and useful for everything… A little fition book based around real life photos with a Gocco printed cover (I think- Miya please clarify this one for me I’m a bit dumb!)… A green pouch with seeds as an interesting spin on the edible part of the swap… a biiiig floral bag, perfect for all my kitchen miscellanea… Some fabric to add to my ever increasing collection of interesting designs and some earwires which are always useful!

Thank you Miya!

For my make last week (yes I need to blog another later this week) I actually finished a couple of Heart on Sleeve cuffs. They are completely handstitched, edging, buttonholes and all. If you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you probably know this already, but they are a new bracelet concept, here’s the official spiel:

“Wear your heart on your sleeve with a new concept bracelet from PennyDog. This bracelet is made from fabric and backed with felt and designed to fit snugly around the wrist like a shirt cuff. This cuff will fit a wrist circumference measurement of 15cm. The cufflinks are interchangeable with others in the series and create a snug fastening.”

Only available at www.pennydog.com

I also have some new stuff in the shop, so keep your eye out as I’m currently going through a phase of adding new, here’s a few new bits…

And I should probably introduce you to Fletcher, Penny’s great-nephew, who has joined the ever increasing number of animals. Now we live in a bigger house we can have two dogs, though he has caused quite a lot of strife in the two weeks we’ve had him in the form of peeing, vomiting, jumping, stealing, running away for miles- and I haven’t even paid for him yet! Luckily he gets on with the Penz fine!

Magnets

Thought I’d give a quick update on one of the things I have been up to this weekend, other than wistfully looking at the bandsaw I cannot yet use to its potential!  Made some little bottletop magnets (go homebrew section of Wilkos!) and put my little resin pieces I had kicking about to use… Thinking of selling these for £3 a set at craft fairs. Whilst I’m on that matter, I will update the blog to show the events I will be attending.

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PS

My dog is sleeping stupidly at the moment: