winter is coming

hee hee hee, hooray - phase two of our heat cave project is now finished, duk duk! i am sure glad mom figured out how to make everything from our drawings.  especially this supercool awning, right?  no medieval tent is really complete without one. the starks had them. and i sure bet the lannisters did too. 

only i bet theirs did not retract!

last one in's a rotten poopie snake! well, a more rotten one anyway.

(shuffle shuffle) (shuffle shuffle) hey hey, pheeeeeeeew! duk duk, didjoo just..oh nevermind i just did one too so we are even.

okay,  maybe at in phase three we ask mom for a pull cord so we can pull george over whenever we wanty want. :)

some behind the scenes stuff and a doot doot dooty doot for know, a supercool print poster and my 2015 desk calendar

When a happy go lucky dachshund stands at the cusp of turning eight years old,  I like to think that his tastes begin to evolve. Boy adventurer detectives and blue boxed time travelers, though still very much close to his heart,  now give way to more complex characters who more often than not, ask questions and delve into topics that an eight year old imaginative dachshund has yet to fully comprehend. And so it seemed only natural that Baxter and his toyfriend duk duk, who by now would have exhausted all the G, PG, and PG13 offerings on Netflix,  would have refined their tastes and discover indie geek classics like the movie Donnie Darko.  And, even though some of the darker aspects of the movie would go over their heads, a movie as engaging and unsettling as Donnie Darko would still be something tiny chumley and duk duk would pick to serve as the awesome inspiration for this year's halloween trick-or-treatery.







I'd like to say it was purely Baxter and duk duk's inner geekiness that motivated their Halloween attire, but truth be told, the makey challenges also piqued my interests greatly.  I mean, it's not like there are many swell instructions out there for this for humans, much less for dachshunds, or for one winged duks.  The challenge would not only be in replicating the Frank the Bunny and Donnie Darko look, but also in adapting it for the actual head and body shapes and imaginative perspectives of an odd but perfectly matched pair of friends.

Today, finally, after months of off and on makey, a peek into the work that went into their costumes, and a link to Baxter's new super cool poster featuring it, that asks what we should all probably ask ourselves at one time or another, why are you wearing that silly human suit?

Happy Monday, friends! :)

PS if you missed the doot doot dooty doot yesterday, here is a link for our super cool and always budgety 2015 desk calendar too! https://www.etsy.com/listing/209493886/dachshund-desk-calendar-2015-tiny?

 

  

heat cave for two :)

There are a few things yet to be completed on the heat cave I started to make for tiny chumley late last week, but try and tell that to a shivery little boy and his duk, on an ever so slightly chilly morning in autumn.  :) 

hee hee mom, we know it is not done yet but our new heat cave is still so very comfy and can you please turn george up to 80?  low breeze please. oh, and a hot cup of monkey chow cider would be nice too :)

etsy fresh: you are invited to our Top Secret Halloween Club :)

Hello my friends, it's me, Baxter, your roving rover reporter, reporting to you today about a very important invitation me and duk duk would like to make to you, to join our Top Secret Halloween Club.  Do you remember seeing some top secret things about our Halloween costumes every once in a while say on our Instagram or our Facebook or on Twitter or maybe even here?  Were you like, hey, when are we ever going to see the results ? Well, ever since our mom finished our Halloween costumes a few days ago, we have been really wanting to show you as much as you have wanted to see them. We even dressed up in our costumes and made Halloween cards that turned out super cool. But then we were like, hey,  Halloween isn't til Halloween and top secret is top secret, right?   But, if some of our friends like you really want to see our costumes early,  or say you need a really super cool Halloween card that will totally be like nothing you have ever seen before,  well, how can it happen and not spoil the surprise for everybuddy else?

Well my friends, that's how me and duk duk decided to form the Top Secret Halloween Club.  If you and your friend can keep a secret and want to send or get our super cool - but kind of SCARY!! - Halloween card now,  you can do so by clicking here, to get the card from my mom's kalyxcraftopia etsy shop.  Oh yeah, did I mention it was kind of scary?    

This is Baxter your roving rover reporter hoping you will join us in super cool halloweeny weenie top secrecy! :)

PS - this is not the actual card although the actual card is sort of on there but like, so pixelated and covered up that u know, it may as well not be the card. :) #topsecretSCARY

https://www.etsy.com/listing/207763820/baxter-duk-duks-top-secret-halloween?ref=shop_home_active_1

PPS (10/22/2014) Wow me and duk duk sold out! Please be patient my friends as we will be ordering more the next time mom places a print order so stay tuned! :)

hiney hole

well, okay mom, since we are still developing the pattern and this is only practice fabric, u can take a couple of pictures so we can study them for fit and make adjustments but remember, mum's the word because my Halloween costume is top secret and even though he thinks he knows what it is, not even duk duk knows what it really is. capoops? 

so, okay, I was thinking now that the front half looks pretty good, maybe we can focus on my back end because I think the hiney hole could be just a little bit bigger, dontchoo? but not so big that it would collect leaves and junk when we go trick or treating because that would be really scratchy. oh and not too small just in case I need to make a know whattie snake. :)

fit to be spied

It always seems to me that little dachshunds are often left out in the cold when it comes to nicely fitted attire.  Something is always too short, too long, too small, too wide, too narrow, or too big.  And sleeves and shoulder lines are practically always a problem, so misplaced and often so big that our stubby legged little friends inevitably - albeit adorably - ensausage themselves.

The little gray hairs sprouting like weeds on tiny chumley's face told me it was time to tackle this Moby Dick of sewing challenges, and so the little kielbasa and I have spent the last two weeks reading and futzing drawing and cutting and sewing and seam ripping and cutting and sewing and seam ripping and, well you get the idea.   It's been a lot of work that has caused me to face many a sewing demon, but it has also been very rewarding in terms of developing my spatial thinking.  And of course, it has also been very rewarding for a happy go lucky, bottomless tummied little boy, who also has some rather grandiose ideas as to what his halloween costume will be this year.

shhh shhhh shushy shuush! mom, please do not say anything more. u never know if the stinky neighbor bassets might be listening with their big ol ears, and that would just spoil everything me and duk duk have already been working on!!  remember, u make the - u make the thing we talked about, and we will take care of the rest. now, shall we start on the back - um, part b?  :)

fun for a girl or a boy: ezpz doxie tube sweater makeyproject

Yesterday while goofing around upstairs,  tiny chumley and I stumbled across a simple and easy way to keep him warm when George or a heat vent isn't nearby. Behold the ensausage-free ezpz cashmere twisty tube sweater! It's really just tube, formed from the cut body of a thrift store cashmere sweater.  Big enough to slide on to his midsection, then twisted once on his back and fed back over his head so that it covers his neck in a snug but not too snug way.  Think of it as forming a figure eight, with one hole filled by his midsection, the criss cross resting on his back, and the other hole filled with his head.  Futz a little with all the folds and twists of the sweater so that it covers the back and chest and such, and voila, an i-made-it-in-two-minutes happy little doxie sweater guaranteed not to hinder movement or trap little forepaws in an unfortunate ensausagification incident.

If you're inspired to follow through or have questions, please feel free to ask or send/link me your results! The little kielbasa wore his all day yesterday so needless to say his is a more than little rumpled up and throughout the day i refutzed to keep things smooth, but I love how toasty he felt when it finally came time to take it off, and I have a feeling he loved how toasty he was in it. :)   




PS - don't worry - thift store cashmere is your friend! go ahead and treat the cashmere as you would a cotton tee - no special handwashing necessary. I just throw ours in the washing machine, and if I remember, I put it on wool cycle, but even when I forget, cashmere turns out fine.  The fibers are soft and smooth enough so that there isn't quite the felting action (and therefore shrinkage) as there is with rougher wools.  :)

PPS - more helpful info added below.

 

jiffy pup pupcave

Cold and rainy Mondays are hardly a welcoming way to start the week, but with a little help from a happy-go-lucky sausage boy now thrilled to have made his own little heat cave, at least Mondays can be a little cuter. :)

brooches & pooches

Yippee! I learned a lot from the brooch class I took last weekend.  The possibilities are one size fits all endless, I think.  And very dachshundable. Not that you might be able to tell that from these brooches I finished this past week, but hopefully patience will be rewarded.

Patience is something that tiny chumley has had to have had in abundance this past week, sweet little boy that he was waiting for me to finish sawing this or hammering that. Til finally, he senses I am done, and then he becomes larger than life. :)

mom, now that these pins are finished and u are waiting to get supplies to finish the other stuff we are working on, can we please go to the pet store and get my cootie vaccine booster? little miss sarah's mom said cassie might be ready to play with other dogs as soon as monday afternoon and that is tomorrow. :) :)

rrrAWWrr means hello my friend :)

Today a peekypoo at the things that will be keeping me and the little kielbasa busy this week.  Finishing brooches like this one from this past weekend's class, making progress on some experimental wienery goodies I've posted a peek or two previously on Instagram and Facebook...

    

...and doing all sorts of elf work to replenish old favorites and add new paper goods into the kalyxcraftopia shop, so that tiny chumley's happy little postcard can go out with each and every Etsy order.


hee hee hee,  mom, after school today, to help u take pictures of our new paper goodies, i will get all the fans in the house and point them at the sky, so we can blow away the clouds and bring the sunshine back.  do not start without me, okay?? :)

as good as it gets

There's actually been a really good reason behind all my visits to TJ Maxx and Marshalls and HomesGoods lately.  I mean, not just to see what there is to see in doxie stuff, or to smell candles, or lament that they usually carry rather unreasonably designed and totally undersized ladies undergarments.  I've been visiting because it was time to take back my makey spaces from the messy monsters, and I needed storage stuff.












I'm glad to say that after a very long two weeks, and with one armoire still in an imperfect state and an entire room next door still prone to falling like a house of cards into a state of disrepair,  I'm as done as I will ever be with the Great Crafty Purge and Organization War of 2014.  Next week it will be time to crank up the make factory again, and I know a certain little helpful boy and his dukfriend will be there, giving me helpful advice all the while.

hee hee - hey mom, this is great, but, where is the shelf for me and duk duk's crafty supplies? u know, our bins for poopie snakes and monkey chow and, u know, glitter and stuff??
 

let me eat cake

Tiny chumley had a fine time helping me start his birthday cake yesterday

even if it did mean he needed a little help of his own. :)

 

hee hee mom i can already tell justby licking the utensils that my cake is going to be dee-licious! are u sure we have to invite everybuddy bcuz my tummy and i are pretty sure we can eat the entire cake all by ourselves!!

coming soon :)

Yippee, weeks in the makey, all that's left now to do with tiny chumley's super cute top secret Santa project is to have him take photos and work on the etsy listings in the next few nights.  

psssst - hints I will give you in numbers of three, tidings of joy and presents of glee, this next surprise Mom made with some help by me, and I hope u will save some room on your tree! :) :) #comingthisweekend

#kalyxcraftopia

workshop elf

mom, are u sure i cannot help u use the drill?

please?  :) :)

Hee hee, more Tidings of Wooty and Glee coming soon my friends so stay tuned! :)

little statues

hee hee, what a great idea to turn ourselves into wood today, duk duk!  now not only do we not have to worry about our walrus report, but nobuddy will recognize us and we can skip school and everything!! there's just one test we have to pass before the bus comes and...

ooo here it is - mom's coming! quick - places everyone - operation little statues is now under way!! and remember, no sounds, no stink, no nothing til the coast is clear!!

 (hwuuuuuuuuuup!)








 

(hee hee hee, to be continued...hopefully :)

payment in full is due at the time of services rendered :)

Somepuppy's ears made it abundantly clear yesterday that their owner, a certain little sausagey boy,  was quite displeased with the way things were going yesterday.  


first of all, his ears flicked as his body wedged between me and the table legs next to us,  how come i am not in any of these pictures u r taking for etsy? it is my job to model, u know.  and not only do we enjoy it, but my tummy and i take our job, and payment in full, very very seriously.

and second of all, ears still flicking one after the other with a little cartoon scribble cloud looking over his head,  growing scribblier and scribblier,  if i am not going to be in any of these pictures nor can i smell, touch, or taste any of these super cool teeny tiny doxie treasure boxes that you will be posting to our etsy shop on tuesday, then cantchoo set up and find proper daylight somewhere that at least does not block the way to my lookout perch? if i cannot do my modeling job, then i can at least still do my job as valiant protector of our home and lands, keeping us safe from dangerous marauders and bunnies and squirrels. but this i cannot accomplish without first seeing them. and to see them means i need to be over there not stuck right here.

third of all, and related to number two, how can i  hardly not be in the way if ...wait, what's that mom? really? my turn now? yippeee!! (clank clank bang clash clank!) okay, when we are done i totally promise to help u load all these pretty boxes to etsy tomorrow!! and don't forget, payment in full is due at time of services rendered.  :) :)

Hee hee, introducing the second litter of teeny tiny doxie treasure boxes.  Uploading to Etsy sometime today, with a little help from u know who. :)

tiny heroes on the halfshell

hee hee no way, duk duk! u stay over there. me and chocobot found this fair n square so poopers peepers.. nyah!

that oughta hold him for a couple minutes! nobuddy breaks the poopers peepers incantation without suffering the wrath of the great grand master - what's that,  chocobot? yeah u r right, t, time's ticking. letssee what we have here....hmmmmm...medium tiny but not teeny tiny...velcro closure...convertible straps for crossbody or backpack use...pretty dyed silk flower...hmmm.....o i know! gee chocobot, this is super cool.  i think mom made this for us to take on our summer adventure!  why else would it be here on the floor for us to find? and if it is as big as i think it is, it will be so very especially handy!  just let me see if i can..

 

yuuup - perfecto!! looky, not only does it an ipoopy ipad, but it my summer reading assignment that i have not started yet, plus a little extra room for your pencils, chocobot!  oh and maybe we can even slide in some glitter jerky.

here, help me try it on!

(fumble fumble fumble)

yeah yeah i know! i bet i look JUST like a turtle, don't i, chocobot? u know, i have always wanted to be a turtle. well, ever since i met mister turtle in our backyard.  which seems so long ago now.  i should probably ask the little misses if they have seen him this year. mister turtle just seems to come and go whenever he pleases and he always seems to come in the later summer after little miss sarah's birth-- birthday....uh oh.... are u thinking what i'm thinking, chocobot?

 

we were so busy packing and celebrating unicorn appreciation day, that we totally glittered over little miss sarah's birthday!

and here we are without a pretty present or anything.  hmmmm....hmmmmm...what's that chocobot?  really? u think? cuz, well, it'd mean u would not be able to bring your pencils, and i would probably start off the school year with an F for not finishing my summer reading but...yeah, let's do it! only we should probably ask mom since u know, it is so obvious that she made this lovely quilty bag for us n all. let me call her - mooooooom, may we please interrupt so we can ask u a question?

mom, wouldjoo mind if we gave this lovely medium tiny quilty convertible adventure bag we figured u made for us to the little miss sarah for her birthday instead? i know she likes the colors blue and green too, and pretty flowers. and even though she will not be able to use it like a turtle shell like i can,  i think she would still look very cute in it and get plenty of use out of it, too, dontchoo? :) :)

 

hook line and sinker

 Alright, ask me like two years ago and I would have haughtily and heartily denied any likelihood of my association with Apple stuff.  Iphones and Ipads were for techbabies.  And hipsters. And very  forgiving minions, the kind who would have stood by the streets of fairytales, impressed by the clothes that their emperor most certainly was not wearing.

But that was two years ago.  My door to IWonderland opened a couple of Christmases ago, when lo and behold an Ipad entered our lives.  Okay, maybe it's not so great for typing intensive projects, but it's nicer to surf the web with, nicer to read in bed with. And, being smaller and less power needy, it was the device I brought to the hospital when my dad fell ill.  The Ipad was a user friendly simple thing, with which I could search on medical terms and procedures, take notes so I could digest what the doctors and staff were telling us, and readily draw pictures to explain what was going on.  All in one handy little compact thing that hardly took up any space at all or heat up my lap.  Typing difficulties aside, a lazy person could get used all this, I realized.  And then I sighed.  Oh how far I have fallen.

It's actually freeing to step off my moral PC high horse.  The laptop PC is still very much a winner for me in some areas and it's still the best device for the kind of work intensive things I sometimes want do, but just like everything in a world full of options, there is a place for my PC as much as there is for an Apple I-whatever in our lives, including what Baxter lovingly and unwittingly sardonically refers to as his new iphoney.    Which you might have noticed has created a bit of an increase in the things he has been posting on instagram and facebook.

For him, a new world as opened up, as it has for me.  Baxter is well on his way to improving his Klout score through posts of heavily hashtagged selfies and smellfies and other such social baxfoolery on Instagram, Facebook, and elsewhere, while I too have spent an inordinate amount of time in iphoney case related activities, researching case after case, and concluding with apple-glazed eyes that we need three, no six, no, ten, no, like, five HUNDRED different cool and awesome iphone cases for the various scenarios our little new fragile baby might encounter.  Planning a vacation in the desert? Or maybe just looking to drop your phone onto the sidewalk then watch it bounce into the ocean?  Why, let's buy an Otterbox. Or maybe the recently released, Lifeproof nuud.  Want to stick it in your pocket? Make mine a Noreve Tradition flip case please.  In pebble leather papaye. Going to the Renegade Craft Fair? Wait, let me get the Grovemade case in that pattern I want so badly.  It's made by hipsters in Oregon, so I can fit right in.   Yeah you get the idea.  It's a dangerous Iphoney case world out there for an OCD shopaholic.

And yet, I still didn't find any dachshundy options that were perfect enough for me to bite.   A couple were close, but not close enough at the price or case design I wanted.  I realized if I was gonna spend the bucks anyway, I should really take matters into my own crafty hands. So say hello above to case number two. Designed by u know who, and made by the folks at Uncommon.   Nah, it's not going to suvive the Apocalypse.  But that's what Iphoney case number 19's gonna do. :)


 

hee hee, thanks for the new iphoney cover, mom! it's so much cooler than the green one and now my darth vader screen lock will be surrounded by sinister black just like he should be! :) :)

b&dd's tiny video: #summerfunwithcardboardscissorsandtape

I remember summer vacation. That golden time that we all looked forward to while we were in school, toiling away at word problems and writing book reports, thinking to ourselves how wonderful things were going to be once we free of the burdens of education. Excited at the prospect of adventures old and new, no matter how blurry they were at the time we imagined them, barely listening to our teachers as we counted down the days, the hours, and then the minutes, til finally the school bus delivered us home and to what was sure to be our summer's Greatest Destiny.

The problem with reaching Destiny, the problem as a kid, I now remember, is that we were always waiting. Waiting for mom or dad, waiting for a ride somewhere, waiting for our allowance, waiting for a certain day or time. Waiting, always for something, for what always seemed like an eternity. And with road trips to California and Disney World and the like, my brother and I have had our share of what might seem to be summer's Greatest Childhood Destiny Moments, but I would argue now that the greatness of our summers didn't lie with such monumental wonders, but in the waiting itself. When all the world was ours to imagine and behold, with  just a little assistance from some cardboard, scissors, and tape.

poopjoy was here

 
Today's view from my work table, courtesy of one seemingly omnipresent nosey little boy,  who has already figured out that what I am working on is for him.  Although I suspect we have different ideas as to its eventual use.  :)