D is for Dog, every day

Attila and I have a secret.  Every morning, we meet at the kitchen window and I sneak her a little snack without the other dogs knowing.

It's been years and we've never been caught.

Rain or shine, when I put the kettle on, she's there waiting for me.  I love this quirky animal so much.

 

She makes a pretty picture.

There is an amaryllis plant outside the window.  Last spring, for thirty days, I took a photo of Attila and the flowers as they grew.

Here's a slide show.

Wishing you a lovely week.  And the devotion of a dog.

The dog's breakfast

Sometimes the things I make look like a dog's breakfast.

 Um, it is a dog's breakfast.  Several of them.

Attila is not impressed.

I cater for cats too.

Making miniature Whiskas has been a challenge.  The scale is not quite right, but I'm at my limit of patience with very tiny things.

It's that time of year again.  We are preparing for the annual Miniature Festival.  This is the 25th annual show and I've been to every one.  Where has the last quarter century gone??? Note the new venue.

Puppy Love - Another Workshop

Last weekend we had yet another Puppy Love workhsop.  This time the weather was beautiful and we could work outside.

Some new breeds showed up at this class, note Elizabeth's German Sheperd on the right.

And some can not be identified as any breed at all, but darn, how cute!

Here is Phillys' completed Dalmatian puppy from the previous workshop.

Puppy Love is on the air

Puppy Love is finished! Here are pictures of the dog, and the workshop at Tin Soldiers last weekend. We will repeat the workshop on 3, 4, 24 March and 7 April. 

The workshop includes Puppy, his romper and his alphabet blocks.

First came the romper.  Each participant hand painted their own design. 

Another masterpiece hanged up to dry.

While we waited for the fabric to dry we got down to business constructing the puppy.

Colani came to check that we are doing it right.

Then we broke for lunch. All that work makes you hungry!

In the afternoon we painted patches and spots on our puppies with alcohol ink dye and got down to the final assembly of the dog. 

Wow, wild!

Spot On

Puppy Love is coming along nicely. 

Yesterday I mixed the ink based dyes that we will use to put markings on the puppies at the workshop. I had lots of fun naming the colours and in the end decided that each colour needed two names.  So we have Dalmation/Liquorice to Labrador/Caramel.

After testing the colours on fabric swatches, I used Terrier/ Milk Chocolate to make the markings on  my puppy.  And that's how far I got before I was rudely interrupted by real life and had to put my toys away.

Today I am busy with the less glamorous task of getting the pattern pieces digitized and labelled, and writing the instructions.  Many hours of work still ahead, but as soon as that is finished it will be back to creating again when I complete the face and the romper.

No Barking!

It's late in the evening but I promised, so here it is, the first images for Puppy Love. This is our 2012 Valentine workshop. The workshop will be held at Tin Soldiers on 11 and 12 February, and in Randburg at Elaine's studio on 24 March. We are open for bookings!

The puppy is made from mohair, about 28cm tall, and will have lots of painted detail, coming tomorrow! At the moment it looks like a little ghost.

Here I used the same pattern and miniaturised and adapted it to make a pug. It is not part of the workshop, but I will be showing you how to create many dog breeds from the basic pattern.

Puppy Love wears a romper. I have hand painted the fabric to get the exact design I want. This is part of the workshop, you will have the opportunity to paint your own fabric in class. There are more accessories, I will have pictures of that soon.