still life

Sometimes there isn't much for a little kitty poop eating dachshund to do when he isn't allowed to roam unsupervised in his backyard while his mom and friend Henry Gumption do yard work on a hot hot day. And so he sleeps his afternoon peacefully away in breezy air conditioned comfort, til finally it is time for everyone to come back inside, and his happy little pack is whole again. :)

no more gruel please

Tiny chumley isn't normally a picky puppy when it comes to his meals, but spending a weekend with his kitty friends and tasting their delicious kitty kibble always seems to temporarily put his tongue at odds with his tummy when he gets back home.

mom, thanks for dinner and all but, well, i really do not think i can eat this.  are you sure sammy did not send us home with a bag of his super delicious ocean fresh teeny tiny kitty kibble kuts? :) :)

 

fountain of couth

ooooOOOOooOoOoooooo! thanks for showing me, sammy! when we get home me and duk duk are so gonna try that. :)

happy Father's Day weekend :)

give...dad...the...gift...of..frag..oh, duh, fragrance!  give dad the gift of fragrance. 

gee duk duk, we've been celebrating Father's Day every day and did not even know it. :) :)

get crafty: simplicity 1808 (doxie not included)

So, I'm a little bit blurry on how it all exactly happened, but I think the prequel goes something like this. Last summer, I started buying a few thrift store shirts to frankenstein into something new.  As summer turned to fall and fall into winter, the pile languished. Then this spring, somebody I know got a new sewing machine.  Then patterns started popping up on my pinterest feed from the somebody I know who got a new sewing machine, and I liked what I saw.  I started hearting. Then I created a make folder.  And then, I clicked. And then I fell, hook line and sinker down the makey rabbit hole, lured in by what is now the story of my life on things I find on Pinterest and elsewhere, a sewing pattern that had been discontinued. The Lisette Portfolio Dress/Tunic to be exact, Simplicity pattern number 2245.  Discontinued. The fact that it had been discontinued only made me want it more.  The little square detail and cute roundy neckline that's not on the new and improved version, the mid panel piece that made nice front pockets for carrying goodness knows what.   It would be so pretty in the linen I bought forever ago from the garment district in NYC.  Oh how could you be so cruel as to discontinue this pattern, shopping gods?  If I'dve only found you a couple years earlier, I would have been able to buy this pattern at Joann's for a dollar on a good sale day.  But now, if I wanted to make it and be part of the cool girls club, if I wanted to scratch that festering giant creative itch by getting the pattern off ebay,  it was gonna cost me a small fortune.  So, I better darn well get my people pattern sewing skills in order before I do that.  And that is where we begin this summer's ongoing crafty story, because, well, you may not be aware of it, but almost everything usually make and sew is done with my own intuition, my own newspaper drawn patterns, and my own sewing rules.  Taking the time to patiently interpret someone else's instructions and cut out precise pattern pieces, marking dots and making notches?  Uuuuuuugh.  Buckle up people, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Project number 1 on the Road to Lisette finished up a couple of weeks ago with a dress for little miss Sarah (Simplicity 1787).  Trust me, if they had this in an adult size, our story would have ended here cuz it's close enough to Lisette 2245 to make me happy. But they didn't. And I'm not sure this would linen up as well as the 2245.  And it seemed like a good idea to start with a kids dress anyway, because little miss sarah and her mostly still stick straight body would be much less of a challenge to fit than me.  Skills Improved: cutting and marking patterns, consistently sewing with a 5/8" seam allowance, following almost all the directions, setting in sleeves.

Today's project, Project number 2, was fueled by another Pinterest encounter from a post a person had made a year ago.  A giant schlumpy 2XL unisex souvenir T from madwilly's, henry gumption's and my trip to the beach,  transformed into something smaller and way more flattering with the help of Simplicity 1808, and some additional piece work. Yeah, I didn't realize until I was beyond the point of no return that tiny chumley and I would be coordinating twinsies if he ever wears his h r d puffnstuff dud when I wear this tee, so, there's that.  And even though I have a serger, I didn't use it so, no peeking on the inside.  But all in all, a superfudgeable keeper pattern with very happy results!  Skills addressed: transferring a pattern to freezer paper, working with knits, using a pattern sized to my high bust size rather than regular bust.  Skills regressed: following directions (I read zilcho and just made it the way I saw fit to make it).










Well, if you've read this far and you're still awake, congratulations, because I know this post is rather rambly.  And if you don't sew, you might also be feeling as tiny chumley has been feeling these past couple of days.  Waiting for something interesting to happen that involves a super cute little dachshund.   And I promise, tomorrow, we'll be back to regular monday wednesday friday cuteness programming.  Happy Thurday, friends! :)

b is for bored

mom, the little misses get to miss the last two days of school and get to go to funfun Princess spendy world and get to go to splooshy station USA and get to go to crazy captain karl's cartoony corner for kids, cats, and canines and that is all just in the first week of summer vacation.  

so..no, I do not think it would be too much trouble if u would take me and duk duk to the robot store after school today and to the movies and the swimmyquarium this week once school is out. :)

fruit of the day

these are no-i-cant-aloupes...

hee hee, but these...are yes-i-can-aloupes! :) 

the blog days of summer 2014

With so many things that we want and need to do this summer (and so that we can help liberate a few more pigs from their gravity bound existence),  tiny chumley and I have decided to take a break from our usual daily blogging schedule, and instead we will post to our happy little blog on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (and sometimes other days :) ).  The same random no-ID-required fun will still be happening as usual on Instragram, Facebook, and Twitter, so please feel free to join in the fun there, and until Monday... hasta la poopie, my friends! :) :)

once in a blue moon

well, i am not sure, lil pink puppy. it was a long time ago when i overheard her say it and mom was not very specific at all. only that it would happen when this day came and the day has definitely arrived because before she told us we had to stay right here, i saw her take the bucket out and she put all the kitchen stuff in the family room......i wonder if he will do it on his own like superman..or maybe he will sprout tiny wings...yeah i think wings too because really if u do not have wings, it is not really flying, is it? 

ooh i think mom's trying to say something..

yes mom, we promise to stay out of the kitchen until the floor is dry. and besides we are busy!

hee hee, didjoo hear that my friends? mom is finished so u know what that means hopefully.  houston, prepare for liftoff...

u can do it, mister piggy! flying is your destiny now that mom's finished mopping the kitchen floor!! :) :)

teeny tiny viney videos: #petstorescore

Vine is usually just a raw playground for tiny chumley's videos, but this series of vines featuring tiny chumley carrying his new snackies to the car from yesterday's visit to the pet store were so cute, they deserved its own little place our happy blog history.  :) #petstorescore

creature of the night

Tiny chumley's nite nite routine doesn't normally have him sniffing out an open window before I lift him into our bed, but that is exactly where I found him, staring out into the darkness with his little noggin half covered by curtains.   The cool night breeze had brought Baxter's nose an encrypted message, and bedtime, it became clear, would simply have to wait.  :)

etsy fresh: a super cool gift for 5 lucky dads

Hee hee hee, hello my friends, it's me, Baxter.  You may know me as your roving rover reporter, but did you know I am also super shop assistant extraordinaire for my mom's Etsy shop? And did u know that Father's day is only three Sundays away? 

If u do not have time to make your dad a super secret stinkeriffic poopie based father's day present like I plan to, then why not check out my mom's Etsy shop, where not only will you find a lovely selection of Father's Day cards, but also a super cute new get well cootie card, and also these extremely cool tiny handmade wire doxie head forms, or busts as I learned u call them in art class.  I thought they would be great Father's day presents for five lucky dads, so I put them in the Father's day section of the shop.  Here is a link in case the hot links do not work. http://etsy.me/1kluUt2

Oh! And in every bust listing description, me and duk duk posted a link to the tiny viney videos we made of each bust like the one below,  because sometimes we figure, even though pictures are worth a thousand words, videos are worth like, eleventy million!  And this way u can see how super cool the busts are from every angle.

Well my friends, my friends Madwilly and Henry Gumption are coming to town this weekend so I just wanted to also say if I miss a day or two posting, u now know why.  But do not worry, I will still be helping mom ship out Etsy orders on time.  And I will be having lots of fun this weekend, like I hope u do.. This is Baxter your roving rover reporter and kalyxcraftopia Etsy shop assistant, wishing you the foofiest of Fridays. :)

PS - if u need for a happy hound birthday part hat really soony soon please convo me via the etsy shop because mom just finished a batch for boys and girls but they will not be posted to Etsy for a bit on account of all the fun I will be having with Madwilly and Henry Gumption. :)

#tpt

sigh, throw poop thursdays even sound funnier tan throwback thursdays, dontchoo think? :)

copper penny

My little sewing buddy loves his new view out to the backyard, and I love watching him as the dappled sunlight of morning dances on his shiny little noggin, like a copper penny glinting on the floor of a fountain. :)

summer plans 2014

mom, after we finish this dress for little miss sarah, can we finally work on the speed dampening parachutes me and duk duk need for the dragsters we will be building this summer? :) :)

happy memorial day

"...and the hooooome, of the, braaaaaaaaaave!"

today we take the time to remember and honor the men, women, and dogs who have fallen while in service to our country. and to thank those they left behind, the families and friends with whom we join in spirit today, to celebrate their memories and remind ourselves that all that we have, and all that we cherish, exist because of the sacrifices they have made.  so in closing, I would just like to say..

thank u, thank u verrr much :) ❤️

room with a new view

oooOOOoooOooooo! i had no idea there was so much to see from this window! now that the shrubs are gone, i can see my backyard, and indy's backyard, and kitty trampoline, and i think i can even see
new kitty crossing!  oh yes this will be a great help in my kitty patrol duties. in fact, there is only one more thing we need to do and my new watch spot will be perfect.

mom, because you are so busy and are not always able to open the back door in time for me to follow through with my bunny and kitty chasing duties, well, do u think we can hang a slide off the windowsill?? :)

plank roasted

tiny chumley decided to roast himself like a little piggy on the planks of our sun warmed deck yesterday morning, plopping himself down and claiming his spot much like he does when he is in our bed, oozing into place and securing himself so mysteriously well that it took me more than one uncouthy grunt to roll him back on all fours and shoo him back inside, before the mosquitoes found him and made his sausagey body their daily feast.

sheesh mom okay okay, but when we go back inside, may we please make some ez pz frozen puppy pops? :) :)

And of course, the answer was what it should be. :)

pointy

o, nothing to see here really, mom. I was just wondering what it would be like to have pointy ears that stood up all the time :) 

it's as easy as 1-2-3

hee hee no problemm mom, it's as easy as 1-2-3! :)