Monday, June 29, 2015

A World of Wonders ~ Come and Color with Me & R-Chee!



Happy Monday everyone!

R-Chee & I love to color to just relax sometimes!  You can color on anything and make a special thought, feeling or character pop to life right before your very eyes!

I love turning junk mail into little canvases to color on.
It is a wonderful way to recycle messages people are offering that would otherwise be thrown away.

He was so FUN & Easy to make!


To create him...

I lightly painted a coat of gesso on a junk mail postcard mailer and let some of the background still show through.

After the gesso dried, I painted a light wash of watercolor over the gesso to add some color and let it pool to form water stained blobs to find a character in to bring out.

After turning the page this way and that to create some interesting shapes, I let it dry and pulled out my pencil and found a little fox to color in!

I pulled out my Neocolor 1 & 2 Wax crayons and started coloring him in.

He started to come to life and I finished his features with a bit of outlining with a black ink permanent marker.

The final step was to get out my old magazines and paste and cut out letters to form a message he was calling out loud and clear!

After our new friend appeared before our eyes & we heard him as he exclaimed... 

We LIVE in a...

"World of Wonders"

Wax Crayons, Ink & Collage on paper

Melissa Langer ~ 2015





"World of Wonders!"


What a smart message!


We are all here appreciate everything around us!


What things will you appreciate today?

A flower?
Blue Skies?
Clean, Fresh Air?


Please leave us a note and let us know!

We cannot wait to hear all about it!

xoxoox
Melissa & R-Chee


Friday, June 19, 2015

Friday Funnies ~ Archie's Summer Bummlies Slumber Party!


Happy Friday everyone!

It is me...
R-Chee!

Phew!  It is Friday!

Yay!

It is time to kick up our pug feeties and spend a little quality quiet time with our Bummlies today!


Our friend, Bodhi, loves his Bunny Bummlie ~ Beatrice!

They are showing us how it is done with perfect form today!

Photo courtesy of Sara F., WI



Our friend Tweedles is with her Pug Bummlie ~ Stella today and is demonstrating how to take the perfect afternoon nap!

Photos courtesy of Georgie W., OR



Our friend Myrtle is all set with her Pug Bummlie ~ Earl, her favorite pillow and her favorite bone for a midnight snack at her slumber party!

Photo courtesy of Elisa V., CT


Pug Bummlie ~ Earl ~ loves tucking in his sweet pug Oscar every night!

Photo courtesy of Edie B., NC


Maddie the pug is ready for her pug facial, massage and pedicure at her luxury pug spa with Bear Bummlie ~ Luigi and Bunny Bummlie ~ Beatrice today!

Photos courtesy of the wonderful pugs and family at the Militarywifeandpuglife.com blog!


Cleo has tucked in both of her Bummlies ~ Pearl and Betsy today!

She loves telling them bedtime stories every night!

Photos courtesy of Mary R., SC





and the Pugs Bailey, Hazel and Mabel at the Idaho Pug Ranch are plum tuckered out after a FUN week of wrangling up trouble at their house this week!


Photos courtesy of Linda B., ID


Grab your favorite Bummlie by the ear & come & join me and all of our wonderful friends this weekend at our Summer Sleepover party!




I have lots of movies, popcorn and magical bedtime stories to share with you!

The door is wide open!

Follow the sound of the Zzzzzzz and tuck yourself in!

xoxoxoxo
R-Chee

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Freeform Crochet ~ My New Pug Doll!


Happy Wednesday everyone!

I am so excited to show you the new project I just finished!

It is my NEW Freeform Crochet Pug Doll!

I have been learning more about the art of Freeform Crochet!
 You work from your imagination and never a pattern!

It is a completely free flowing, evolving process that unfolds magic right before your eyes!

I loved every minute of making this doll for my personal Pug Art Collection, and I cannot wait to create more wonderful things from this relaxing and exciting way of crocheting unique fabrics!

I began my lessons in an online Freeform Crochet Class taught by Myra Wood on Craftsy.com

It is a wonderful class and easy to follow her instructions, method and tutorials.

Her class is a platform for taking the Freeform technique and making it your own.

The class is not about making the stitches she teaches in the sequence she would make them, but just how to make the stitches from your own hand and see how they evolve with the turn of your fingers.

The first step was just to create some centers...


The you organically grow each piece by adding more details around each piece.

There is no pattern, counting or rules to follow.

The only rule of thumb to try to accomplish is to allow enough give in the unfolding shape to lay as flat as possible so it does not bunch or curl as you go.



Here are some of these rounds a few rows later. :)

These are called "scrumbles" and are small abstract shapes that you attach together and continue building upon to form a rich, wonderful fabric in any size or shape you want!

You can make wall hangings, bags, pillows, pin cushions, scarves, sweaters, dolls or anything you can imagine with your fabrics!



Here I am piecing the together.

This process is called "scrumbling". :)


These are the two pieces of fabric for the front and back of my pug doll before I crocheted a bit more on these bigger pieces to fill in some of the open areas that I wanted to be filled to form the body.




After I got the larger scrumbles to the size and shapes I wanted, I sewed them together leaving the top, bottom and two places to sew in the arms on the sides.

I made the head, arms, legs and tail from scraps of felted wool sweaters from my stash.

I cut them without a pattern and sewed and stuffed them and then attached them to the 3/4 sewn, stuffed body.

I finished stuffing and closing up the body as I attached the limbs.


The I pulled out more wool pieces and started cutting pug face shapes without a pattern to form the features of the pug!

This is where the real magic popped for me.

My pug doll came to life right before my eyes as I glued each piece of felt down, one layer on top of the next.

I did this in the same way that I made my collaged fabric pug portrait wall hangings earlier this year.



Ta DA!


My Pug Doll is complete!






I just adore how he turned out!

There were many times during the project that I was not sure how it was turning out.

That is the point you just need to have trust, faith and excitement for the project that it will be even more wonderful in the end than you ever imagined!

The push through the feelings of doubt is part of the process and it is very important to stop and rest from it when you start feeling it is in any way overwhelming or stressful to you.


Check in often with yourself and pay attention to how you feel...


If it feels FUN then it is the right time to keep creating!

If you feel tired or tense or overwhelmed then time to go and play with the pug!  

:)


Ta DA!

My new pug doll now lives with some of the other Tunisian crochet dolls I created from the fabric I created in a different craftsy class I took on Tunisian Crochet!

I had so much FUN making my new pug doll!

I cannot wait to see what I create next in this wonderful new medium of creating!

What FUN things are you learning this Summer?

Please leave me a note and tell me all about them!

I cannot wait to hear!

xoxoxoxox
Melissa



Monday, June 15, 2015

The Bummlie & Friend's Report ~ Getting Ready for Training Camp!



Happy Monday everyone!

It is me...
R-Chee!

Guess who is entering training camp today?

Me!

I am getting tired of showing my mom my tough big boy smile and her just melting and saying ... 

 "OMG!" 
"You are the cutest thing I have ever seen!"

I just saw on tv that football camp is starting now, so I thought I would join Payton and the other Denver Broncos at Dove Valley today for my 1st workout.

I am a little nervous... so I am bringing...
Arnie ~ my Football Bunny Bummlie for moral support! 





He is the perfect buddy to cheer me on!

Speaking of buddies...


Meet my new friend Tuvok!

He is a brand new member of the Retro Rover Pack!

He is a 6 month old miniature poodle and the cutest strawberry I have ever seen!

He looks simply delicious in his new Strawberry Smoothie Sweater Vest that my mom just made for him.

His mom Kate always picks out the best colors for her doggies' ensembles!

We loved making his new Sweater Vest for him and would love to make one for you too in any colors you choose!


Summertime is so much FUN!

I love playing with all of you in every season of the year!

Just because football, cool breezes and sweater vests are still a few months away does not mean we can't enjoy them together in little ways today like playing games and dreaming of colors and textures we can enjoy now! :)

What are some of your favorite games?

Please leave me a note and tell me all about them!

I cannot wait to come and play them with you!

xoxoxo
R-Chee

Friday, June 12, 2015

Friday Funnies ~ Hitting The Trail with R-Chee


Happy Friday everyone!

It is me...
R-Chee!

Guess what we get to do today?

That's right...
We get to Take A Hike!

into the mountains that is! :)



Here we are at the trail head...


It is just like the Yellow Brick Road but with little brown pebbles instead!

It has been so rainy this spring for the Boulder area that everything is still green... just like The Emerald City in the Wizard of OZ!



Come on everyone!

It is beautiful up here!


...and we even get to take rest breaks for lots of hugs... 


and kisses!


What a FUN day we are having!


Oooo!

The afternoon sprinkles are coming back to give the grass a little drink.


That sounds refreshing!

I will wait here like this and get a little drinky poo too!

Tee Hee!

Thanks for always playing with us everyone!

We love you!

xoxoxox
Melissa & R-Chee