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May 18, 2008

I've hired a model.

Fortunately, she doesn't have Naomi Campbell's cell-phone-throwing abilities, Tyra Banks' craziness or Kate Moss'...er...issues.

My Felted Pups and Kitties were in need of someone to hold them in their photo shoots for etsy. And after seeing all those Flickr sets of Blythe dolls, I couldn't resist anymore and headed over to ebay to find one. To be honest, I find Blythe dolls to be both cute and freaky...what a fabulous combination. And no, I don't think it's stupid for a 34 year old to play with dolls. Nyah!

Meet Gretel Hildegard Hsu, pictured with her new friend Amici (who is still looking for a good home)!

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Gretel will be much more stylin' soon, in a new dress from this shop.

Cute...
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FREAKY!
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May 16, 2008

Shelter Cats

I've given so much blog time to the dogs at the shelter, so this week, it's time for some kitties!

My welcoming committee.
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Willy, with the gorgeous blue eyes and a personality to match.
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Puff and Magic, two sisters who really, reeeallly love each other.
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Trooper is the king of the cat room. He's been at the shelter for a long time, and makes it clear to the other cats that he is the one whose tail they need to kiss. He's also quite famous for jumping on the backs of unsuspecting volunteers when they bend down to pet someone other than him. He made himself very comfortable on my lap the moment I sat down, and guarded me from the curious onlookers.
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Bert--such a sweet cat. Even though Trooper was monopolizing my lap, he kept trying to politely climb aboard. When he got smacked down, he resigned himself to leaning against me like a dog.
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Puff or Magic? I'm not sure. But what a yawn!
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May 15, 2008

Herbert has a home!

And the winner is...IveyHandcrafted!

I used an online random number generator, and it chose 8. Since her comment was 8th, she wins the pup. Congrats!

Thanks for all of the nice comments, everyone. I'll be having another giveaway next Tuesday, so please try again.

May 13, 2008

Free Plushie Tuesday!

Instead of asking you guys to send in names for sock dogs, I'm going to do a little giveaway for the remaining Tuesdays this month. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and you're entered to win. How cool is that? I'll randomly select the winner on Thursday morning and will let you all know who won!

This week's prize is Herbert, an Original Sock Pup.

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Good luck!

May 12, 2008

Weekends are for...

...trying new things! Saturdays have become "daddy's day" with the kid, so I got a little time to myself. (And yes, we did spend Mother's Day together!)

An appliquéd doggy onesie:
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What I learned:
- You can handsew an appliqué on if you use tiny stitches, close together.
-Do not use embroidery thread, even for accents. It comes loose in the wash. This poor pup lost his mouth in the washer. **UPDATE: After hearing from IveyHandcrafted on this topic, I've reflected and realize I was very unfair to embroidery floss. I don't think I secured the floss as well as I should have, so the fact that it came undone was my fault. I use embroidery floss for a lot of things and really love it, so I'll be giving it another shot on the onesies.**
-Make sure you attach ears to head. These ears are sewn directly onto the onesie and when the fabric is stretched, the dog looks like his ears are flying off. LOL
-Steam-A-Seam 2 works great for applying the felt backing on the inside of the onesie.
-Wash in cold, delicate cycle.
-Air dry after washing!
-Prototypes make great gifts. My sister is having her first baby in September, and she'll be getting this onesie. Hopefully, I'll keep improving and send her some that aren't as misfit-y.

And some slightly odd, big-eyed felt cat heads:

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What I learned:
-Do not let your child see plushies if you plan on selling them.

Hope all you moms--of human kids and furry kids--were celebrated properly yesterday!

May 08, 2008

Tiddlywinks-What a Doll!

**Disclaimer: I'd hoped to post this a bit earlier, but somebody refused to take a nap today! So I spent the better part of my day entertaining her. She's out for the night now, so here we go.

Scottie, the creator of Tiddlywinks dolls, and a really swell person, is one of my favorite sellers on etsy. (She also has one of my favorite blogs where she gives away a ton of great dolls.) She makes all kinds of dolls--you name it, and she can do it. Seriously--send her a custom request and stand back. I'm amazed at how many things she has made, and the number of sales she's had attests to her talent. This girl has a ton of creative energy!

I was one of her first customers on etsy when she first started her shop. I purchased Olivia (the bunny) and Audrey (the kitty). As you can see, my little stuffed animal lover likes them quite a lot. She didn't want to part with them, even for a quick photo shoot.

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I also adopted Slither, who has changed my opinion of snakes for good:
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A couple of weeks ago, Scottie and I agreed to do a trade. One of my Original Sock Dogs for one of her new girl dolls.

I only asked that she have light brown hair, little pink tennies, and some indication of my kid's big love of dogs. (Wonder where she picked that up?)

So, this is what Scottie made--isn't she fabulous?

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I love all the little details--her blanket stitched cheeks, her little smile, the laces on the shoes, ribbon on her dress and that fantastic hair, complete with bows! And as if that wasn't enough, Scottie threw in some pretty neat surprises for me, including some really great plush fur, some buttons and ribbon and other stuff for the sock dogs. Wow.

The babe has officially chosen this doll for a new best friend. (She tends to carry armfuls of "friends" around with her...it's getting so she can barely walk around the house without tripping over their arms and legs! No doubt this is my child. haha)

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Thank you, Scottie!

May 07, 2008

Spicy pup!

Congratulations, Kristen! I thought Paprika was the perfect name for this colorful dog.

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Kristen is probably the biggest animal lover I've ever met online or in person. She's taken in countless strays, nursed sick animals back to health, and even put herself in chains to protest dogs being tied out. She's one in a million, and a real angel for animals. Thanks for all you do, girl!

May 06, 2008

Dog naming time!

This girl needs a name. Based on her colors and collar, I think she might be from India.

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This week, the winner will receive a blank, scalloped edge note card and envelope featuring Akina, a Felted Pup that was in the shop a couple of weeks ago. (She's since found her home.)

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And as always, the winner will get credit for the name in the listing on etsy and if they have a blog or etsy shop to promote, I'll do it here! The deadline is tomorrow night at 7 CST. Just leave a comment with your ideas. Good luck and have fun!


May 04, 2008

Squeaky Green

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That's the title of a book I picked up this afternoon, at Babies R Us of all places. (Anyone who knows me knows how I dread superstores like this, and the crowds that go with them, but alas, we needed a convertible car seat for our little sprout.)

The book was the first thing I saw, and was surrounded by a display of Method cleaning products. Since becoming a mom, I've tried very hard to "go green"...which has not been easy. I threw out all the Teflon, started buying primarily local and organic foods, and even paid closer attention to the treats I get for the cats and dogs. I've never been big on using chemical cleaners, so I've always tried to go light on them. In addition to buying the book, I purchased a few Method cleaners and some shampoo/body wash for the kiddo--they're all non-toxic, never tested on animals, and safe for the environment. They're also super affordable, costing about the same as the harsh stuff.

To be completely honest, this book does have the ability to push me over the edge with all of its recommendations, including buying a PBDE-free mattress--we just got a new one and I'm pretty sure it's chock full of PBDEs. Shucks. BUT...there are a lot of doable things. And it's written in a conversational, friendly, down-to-earth, bite-size way.

So here's one for you pet lovers who, like me, are tentative about putting Frontline or other chemical pesticides on your dogs or cats.

**Cloves and eucalyptus oil, when rubbed on your dog's fur, help to control fleas. You can also feed him a few cloves of garlic every few days, which seem to work too.**

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OK. So I just gave the dogs garlic (coated in feta cheese, so they'd eat it). I'm on the lookout for cloves and eucalyptus oil now. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, and you might want to get rid of any dog or cat toys made of "flexible PVC or vinyl". It's super toxic, and with so many safe alternatives out there, why not swap them out for something healthier?


May 02, 2008

Excuuuuuse you!

A little Friday fun: my girl Ava showcasing her ladylike manners.

I thought you guys might like to see our crazy weather from last night. When you live in Kansas, it helps to actually like thunderstorms. Which I do. But last night was so freaky, even I was a little bit nervous. Here are some photos I took around 7:30 last night. We had a really big hailstorm, and were pretty much surrounded by supercell thunderstorms and the weirdest looking swirly clouds I've ever seen.

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Handful of hail. They had *baseball* sized hail in north KC. I can't even imagine the damage that would do. With this pea and dime sized stuff coming down so hard, it sounded like our windows were about to break.
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A rainbow.
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Auntie Em!
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Sirens make everything scarier. This was the first one...we had about 3 different tornado warnings. Fun!

Things calmed down after this first round for a couple of hours, but we were jolted awake around 2 AM with this:

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It's a "bow echo" which is basically a storm being pushed by really high winds. Some areas had gusts up to 80 mph, and a few houses were destroyed up north. We were fortunate and didn't even lose a branch off any of our trees. I was really worried about the little trees we have out back that I just planted in pots, but they made it through fine. Crazy night!