dapper doxie duds: precious annie's viridian vernal vestment

cool teals, blues, and greens,
another dud for annie.
i like the quilting.

- baxter, 3.25 years old, on having acquired a modest appreciation for fashion details after modelling so many dapper doxie duds

Whee! The fabric I pieced the other day, now turned into another dapper doxie dud for precious Annie. This time Annie wanted something a little spring, in teals and greens and blues, so I made up this quilty wonder from scraps I had kept from a quilt I made for my niece a few years ago. Lined in soft light green jersey knit and embellished with an amazonite and iridescent blue bead dangle, this harness also incorporates velvets, hand dyed fabrics, and quilting cottons I got in Amish country as well as a bright green dragon brocade I scored in the garment district. An amazing tapestry of memories for an amazing little girl. Make room in your closet and get ready to flutter, Annie, another harness is in the works!

project kibble tree: epilogue

dear diary,
well it has been three weeks since i started project kibble tree and even though my kibble tree never spouted, cuz, well, i ate the kibble, looky at all the grass i have! yesterday i snuck a nibble while mom wasn't looking and boy was it tasty. i like having my own garden and now when mom picks herbs from her pots, i can pick grass from mine. and u never know, my grass is tall enough now that maybe the easter bunny will leave me a little sumptin in a couple of days. well, that is if i don't chase him. guess i really should try and restrain myself just this once.

well, that is all for now. i hope u have a great weekend!

toodles!
b.

scenes from a sewing room

A tiny peek inside our day, a pictorial evolution of the work I am doing for an upcoming dapper doxie dud, compared and contrasted with the sleepy evolution of Baxter's day. Both of us happily engaged in our own endeavors, yet ever so mindful of each other's presence.

I didn't realize til after I snapped the center photo that Baxter was doing more than just sleeping while I sewed away. On his hind leg, a thread, evidence that my boy's migrating about had transformed him into an accidental and very oversized lint roller. Just another of the gajillion and one reasons why I love my innocent little boy.

baxter o'chumley

There was a wee doxie named Baxter O'Chumley,
Whose tummy did rumble, all noisy and grumbly.
Said he with dismay,
"No rawhide today?"
And looked at his humans, ever so humbly.

- baxter, 3.25 years old, quietly celebrating st.patrick's day due to the Great Rawhide Famine of 2010.

happy st.patrick's day! luv, b.

poster boy

Mondays are always the least chumley centric days, it seems, and the little kielbasa knows it. Maybe it's because I get up earlier than usual, or at least try to, and our morning spooning is cut short. Or that I actually make an effort to de-hag and smell nice. uh, better. uh, wait. well, you get the idea. But whatever it is, by the time I open our bedroom door on a Monday morning, my little friend knows that today is not his day. And so he wanders off, most times to the office to seek the company of his dad, whom he knows he can count on to be there while I am away.






I can only imagine that Monday comes nowadays as bit of a let down for tiny chumley, still fresh from the hubbub of the weekend, when the three of us typically go for long walkies or just veg in front of the TV, or go for ride-ys or meet new friends like Lulu or Charlie. Or doin crazy stuff, like posing for pictures to help me illustrate some of the finer points of the dapper doxie dud measuring and fitting process.


Fret not, tiny chumley, today is Tuesday and the day is yours again.

dapper doxie duds: precious annie

is that for annie?
okay i'll do it for her,
cuz i liked her treats.


- baxter, 3.25 years old, on how he came around to modeling annie's girly dapper doxie duds.

Christmas once again in kalyxcraftopia, the joy of finishing up a couple of dapper doxie dud harnesses for precious annie with a boy who was more than pleased to model them. First up, a wintry woolen in heathery browns and pinks, that I think will complement Annie's liver colored nose and dappled coat nicely. And a removable flower pin made of silk, freshwater pearls, and seed beads, to show off Annie's beautiful neck.



For Annie's second harness, a happy combination of dyed pink textured twill bound in navy denim, with button and box pleat detail on the back and a removable rose at the neck made from a length of vintage necktie. Everyday girly for year round doxie fun. Thanks Annie and Annie's mom for letting me have so much fun making your dapper doxie dudwear!

project kibble tree

dear diary,
so u know how i like to eat grass, especially in the spring? well, mom caught me eatin it the other day and thought i really shouldn't on account of the fertilizer n all so we planted a patch in my very own pot yesterday.

ooh, can u keep a secret by the way? you see, duk duk told me if i plant a piece of kibble then it will grow into tree and in the fall it will drop yummy kibble same as the acorn tree does in the backyard now. i'd be crazy not to try that, right? i sure hope everything comes up soon cuz for some reason i've been very hungry lately.

toodles,
b.

the kitchen kielbasa: snowball truffles

Hey everybody, it's me, Baxter! Some of you may recognize me as your roving rover reporter, but today I'm Chumley Chowhound, your personal Kitchen Kielbasa, sharing yummy recipes that are sure to please even the pickiest of hounds. Now, with all the snow everybody has had lately, I thought it would be nice to share with you my new favorite wintertime treat, snowball truffles.

Snowball truffles are easy to make with the help of your humans. First, get a piece or two of kibble or your favorite treat. Then ask your human to get a handful of snow and have them stick the treat in the middle. Pack it up like a snowball and there you have it. A delicious, refreshing taste of winter with a tummy yummy center.

Now between you and me, I don't really eat the snow part, but hey, at least I got a treat and if a little snowball fun is all your human needs to get you your extra treat, why not ask for a snowball truffle today?

This is Chumley Chowhound, chowing out.

dressed in black

Today I am off on a week long journey to visit family and attend a memorial service for my Uncle Ed. What a contrast, it seems, from just a few days ago, when I was hammering away at copper sheets and learning how to enamel, staying awake late into the night dreaming up ideas rather than dreaming in my sleep.

Black is a color that has gradually drained out of my closet as I have gotten older and wiser about what works with my aging appearance. Black used to be a color I sought out in my youth, thinking it gave me instant credibility and coolness that deep down, I guess I felt I sorely lacked. It wasn't til I met my friend Robin that I considered color as an asset, appreciated the depths of greens and reds and purples and even pinks and oranges, and worked the color wheel in my head to vibrant advantage. I didn't miss black, but here I am, required to bring it back into my life. One visit to Kohl's and one thrift store trip later, I am pretty much prepared as I ever will be for the need to wear black this time of year.

Tiny chumley quietly slept and played while I spent yesterday transforming my thrift store find, a men's cashmere crew neck pullover, into a velvet trimmed ruched collar cardigan. A fine diversion, while I finish one last thing, so I can dress in black.



ps - who knows what my ability to access the internet will be these next seven days, so Big boyfriend will be managing the posts I've prepared. Happy tails!

nicked

Okay, my fingers are a mess but it's been exciting and fun! Here are some pics of stuff in progress, which are nothing like the things we're being taught, save for the spiculum and leaf work.


Early on in class when I had no idea what to make to take advantage of open studio time, it occurred to me that I should make a dog tag for little kielbasa's woof mitzvah collar, and it has consumed my brain. Oh the possibilities! I wish I had brought the metal alpbabet stamping set on my table, but making do is always a growth experience. Hopefully I can muster up the gumption to post more things on Etsy and drum up some custom harness orders soon so I can buy the goods to get set up to make custom enamelled dog tags and who knows what else! Just what I needed, another hobby!!

dapper doxie duds: baxter's cupid's warrior outfit

With all the transgendered dressing the little kielbasa has done lately, it seemed only right to spend some time making my tiny boyfriend something a little dude-lier for Valentine's day. Something with a slight edge to show the world his warrior side.

Now, goodness knows what the person was thinking who bought the silvery mesh shirt I found at the thrift store, but it's nice to know that they came to their senses and donated it. Awful for a man to wear, but great for a faux chain maille dapper doxie dud of dudely proportions.

Snaps and copper wire help make his layered frayed canvas wings both bendable and removable, as any self respecting warrior knows there are times when he must operate incognito. Posing, perhaps, as a knight of the crusades in his medallion embellished harness.



A studly collar, cut down with scissors from a thrift store belt, completed the little warrior's look.



It's funny, the things doxies can figure out without being told. Unlike all the girly harnesses he's worn, as soon as I put all this gear on little kielbasa, he knew it was his to wear with pride. I am warrior, hear me woof!

cupid's warrior

Be mine, Valentine?

Love,
Tiny Boyfriend & Kalyxcorn

chairman of the bored

Okay, so did I mention the other day that I scored three chairs for five bucks at the surplus store? Yesterday's chair was a dollar, today's chair is a dollar, and that means the last chair was a whopping three bucks. It's all so exciting, right??

Today's chair is for Dana to take home with him, whenever the snow ends up melting in his neck of the woods. At first I had planned to just wrap the chair in one fabric like I did with yesterday's chair, and exclude the seam work.

But it seemed such a travesty to cover up the chair's most redeeming feature, aside from its legs. The beauty of its lines that don't quite seem as 70s as when it was made. (February 1974, to be exact, thanks to the tag that also told me that Frank of the Boling Chair Company upholstered it).

Out came the old newspaper and sharpie, so I could make a pattern and sew everything together.



I've still got the back of the top part to finish, but that didn't stop tiny chumley from stopping by to see what all the hubbub was about and make his presence known. "Again with a chair. Can't you see I'm bored already??"

Just one more chair to go, little buddy.

a splash of doxie

A gloriously sunny but particularly chilly day, with gusty winds forcing their way into our house via every nook and cranny around every window in house. Little kielbasa was hardly aware of the blustery scene outside, camped out has he has been most days in the winter by his heater friend george. But the sound of the front door opening proved too much of a temptation for this little boy, who now believes that a squirrel needs chasing every time he hears that familiar sound, thanks to the birdseed I placed out front.

I had opened the door to let in more light, so I could take a picture of the office chair I just recovered. "Bor-inggg", Baxter decided after a quick squirrel check by the door. "Let me show you how to make this picture exciting."

I must admit, my tiny boyfriend's right. Just like life, everything is better with a doxie in it.

stuffed doxie pups: frances and filomena

Say hello to Frances and Filomena, two stuffed woolen doxie pups I made and finally gussied up just in time to spread the love and joy for Valentine's day.

Little Filomena was still a puppy the first time she made an appearance with Baxter back in November. But now she and her sister, Frances, are all grown up and want forever homes of their own. So they packed up their bones and moved out of my sewing room and into their new etsy playpen. Hope they find forever homes soon! Baxter misses them already.

block prints

Whew. Something finally back in the Kalyxcraftopia Etsy shop. To be quite honest I had carved these print blocks years ago, and sent hand blocked prints out in two successive years as Valentine's Day gifts for family and friends.

First came Cupid's Helper, based loosely on my remembrance of Digger's old man snoozy habits, a classic pose that I catch Baxter doing even today as a youngster. Second came Duo, which reminds me of Kep and Padua when they were puppies and were learning how to climb up and down stairs. We showed them, step by step and paw by paw, what to do.

Time helped me forget how long it actually takes to make a print with roller and ink, a process which takes much longer than entrusting it to technology. But nothing can replace the wonderful imperfections of handwork, and so yesterday afternoon I reminded myself why it is I don't make a billion prints at a time.



Tiny chumley lurked about while I rolled and spooned and peeled and waited for ink to dry. He sat atop his kitty perch, watching for squirrels and listening to the strange sound of ink squishing about, all while basking on the cozy warmth of his sheepskin and in the comfort of his cashmere lined harness, an experiment to test cashmere's warmth and durability as a lining. I have a feeling he's going to need all the warmth he can muster tomorrow. The snow started to fall in the early evening, and it has yet to stop.



Tomorrow, possibly a lazy day, but otherwise, work on Molly's second harness. And maybe another addition to Etsy.

peep show: miss edith's dapper doxie duds

o purple lace harness,
why am i dressed in you?
i am not a girl.

- baxter, 3.1 years old, on being lucky enough to fit Miss Edith's dapper doxie dud.

There's something so very Christmas morning about finishing up a dapper doxie dud order. Aside from the wrapping and sending, there's excitement and anticipation, the kind that's hard to ignore when it's so easy to post and show to the world that I've been doing more than just feeding Jenna all day. I am on a roll, ladies and gentlemen, and only the winds of procrastination can keep me from forging on with doxie dud orders.

Yesterday, I finished up a dapper doxie dud for Miss Edith, the real recipient of the lacy harness that Baxter is modeling. This girl is a sweet, senior doxie who only recently found her forever home, and whose new mom wanted her to have something special. Only Miss Edith knows the secrets of her past, why and how it is she ended up needing a new home so late in life. Somehow, it seemed only appropriate that Miss Edith wear purple, that she be graced with the textures of hand dyed lace and silk, adorned with mother of pearl, and comforted by the warmth of a soft flannel lining. The package is on its way, sweet girl.



Tomorrow, a start on harnesses for Molly, and hopefully some late night Etsy postings.

song of the serger

Hats. Since working with Robin on our crafty adventures, I have realized that people fall into two categories - people who love hats, and people like me who would never think of wearing them. Hat people love Robin's hats, dropping everything to make a beeline for our booth once they've spotted us, same as Baxter would try his best to rush along his potty just to chase a squirrel he's spied from miles away. A primal connection that can't be stopped.

Non-hat people, my brethren, chuckle politely when offered the chance to try on a hat they've been admiring. It's just not a hurdle they're willing to leap, and I totally get it. My disinclination for hats stems from my neverending quest to maintain the miraculous creation that is my 'do. Gallons of gel, hairspray, and perm solution have graced my head since I first decided to work against what I was born with, and I'll be danged if a hat, no matter how beautiful, is gonna mess that up. No hat is going to ruin the only fight I've chosen to pick with mother nature.

A funny thing happened, though. Nobody ever told me there is a silent C in front of the world older, and that as one really does get older, the C becomes less silent. And so as I've grown older, I have indeed grown colder, which is why I found myself trying on what winter hats remained at REI this past weekend, all in anticipation of how cold it's really gonna be soon when Robin and I wander around the streets of New York City in search of all the things that fascinate us and fuel our crafty desires. Begrudgingly I entered, into the world of hats.

There is a bright side, though, to owning a winter hat. Now that I have one, I need coordinating other wear, like maybe a scarf and sweater and who knows what else. And that is how I've spent these last two days, sitting at the serger cutting up sweaters and refashioning other people's visions into my own.

My goals at first were simple enough, a scarf to keep my neck equally warm that would at least kinda go with the colors of my hat. But I can only deal with so much drama while walking the streets of New York, and losing a scarf in the city shouldn't be one of them. So I made this scarflette, a neck tube of sorts, that will I hope will be great for both wearing indoors and out. No long ends to mess with, nothing to accidentally get left behind, just a tidy vision of warmth that I hope to wear without worry.



I'd like to say I stopped there and tended to all the other things calling for my attention, but the song of the serger kept me planted in my seat long enough to finish an experiment that had been brewing in my mind forever. A refashioned men's sweater turned into a cardigan, because pullovers make me look like I've stuffed myself in a hamster tube, and I can't pull off the sausagey look as well as Baxter can. One cut up the middle of the front of the sweater, one cut off the binding on the body, and serge serge serge.



I realize it'd probably be a bit much to wear the sweater and scarf together, but that's what today is for, right? Another day, another sweater. And it all started with a hat.

dapper doxie duds: kate & allie

Hey everybody! It's me, Baxter, your roving rover reporter reporting again from my home, where I'm happy to follow up on my report about Kate n Allie's dapper doxie duds. You see, after Kate n Allie's mom chose from their selection of winter fabrics, my mom finished both their winter and summer harnesses and sent them off while we were on our trip. Here's a peek at how they turned out.











These are Kate n Allie's winter harnesses. Both are lined with flannel and have an inner layer of bottom weight twill to help the harnesses keep their shape. For texture and interest, my mom embellished Allie's red cotton cable knit harness with a flower my mom made from some velvet, and Kate's blue plaid harness has a flower on it that my mom serged from dupioni silk. That way the girls could sorta dress alike but keep their own identity, know what I mean? Believe me, after livin with 40 dogs, I totally get that.




These are Kate n Allie's summer harnesses. My mom made these from cotton interlock, u know like t-shirt or golf shirt type fabric. She interfaced the fabric and also used an inner later of bottomweight, again for structural sturdy reasons. Mom made the flowers by cutting irregular circles of different sizes out of wide ribbon, and then turned the edges against an open flame to seal the edges and give shape to each piece.





Okay are you ready for the best part of my report? Here are pics of Kate n Allie, first sniffing at their new duds, then getting dressed in their winter wear cuz it's cold out, and then runnin around! I sure hope to meet them one day. They look like fun!!



Well speakin of winter I best get back to sleepin next to George. Brrr it's been cold out, hasn't it? This is Baxter your rovering rover reporter wishing you a very warm Sunday afternoon!

digger, part one

It occurred to me that we have no digital pictures of our first dachshund, Digger. I met Digger when he was already an old man, gray faced but still full of life despite the tiny ridge of spine that was already starting to make itself more prominent. He was very spy for his age, though I would not realize this til Kep and Padua reached their own less robust senior years. The old man that Digger was, I hope Baxter will be.

Little DigDog was my first introduction to doxies. I wasn't sure what to make of him, being so low to the ground. He was hard to pet, I remember thinking at first. But nevertheless he was a sweet dog and there was something so easygoing and familiar about his owner that I was sure I would be seeing him again. Digger. And his owner. Who is now Baxter's dad.

As Digger's owner and I started building a relationship, Digger tagged along on our journeys. We would go for walks, with Digger happily trundling about despite the fact that he would misjudge where the curbs were because of cataracts in his eyes, and he would end up jumping not once but twice to get up on the curb, the first time way in advance of the curb so all he did really was just jump for the sake of jumping, not that that was at all what he wanted to do. But Digger was a happy go lucky kind of fella and he took his double jump curb hopping in stride. Just like he did sleeping so hard that his little pink tongue would inevitably peek out of his mouth and he'd eventually have to wake up to remoisten things.

When we journeyed to places where we couldn't bring Digger, and friends couldn't drop in at the townhouse to check on him, we would deposit Digger at the kennel. Being small and older, Digger would be kept in a quiet, small space in the cat section, a humiliation we never really got to see in person though we imagine he ultimately handled himself well. Digger always seemed to have lost weight when we picked him up at the kennel, and he was of course, quite standoffish on the ride home, choosing to stick his nose near the car's floor vent rather than tell us about his stay. When we mentioned on a subsequent visit to the kennel about Digger's weight loss, the kindly folks switched him to canned food and suddenly things changed from picking up a svelte doxie to a picking up a newly fattened piglet. Digger became very happy about the notion of going to the kennel once canned food came into the picture.

There is more to Digger's story, but I'll save it for another day, when I've finally gotten around to scanning some of our favorite images of our first little red. Today, the best I've got is to show you is this, a dusty crafty retro rewind from 1996, when I first messed with polymer clay and first attempted to immortalize our first doxie, white paws and all.



Of course no day is complete without a bit of Baxter to brighten things up. It is still night as I write this post, with Baxter snuggled by George while he sleeps atop his cozy sheepskin. I didn't mean for these photos to be quite so similar in pose but I see now that they are. Life imitating art, I suppose.