A Sunday Smile...

Melanie just completed two more bears and I had to share them! They are made from upcycled wool sweaters that have been felted and cutter quilts.

They really make me smile. She promised me one for Christmas. I am so excited. It took everything in me not to buy them from her Etsy Store.

She made me promise to let someone else bring them home. They are now available in her Etsy store, ShopMoeMoe. I cannot believe they are under $10 each. What wonderful gifts these will make.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Happy Birthday Moe!

Moe on his 4th Birthday!

Melanie's Cardigan Corgi, Moe, turned 4 this week!

Here is the birthday card I made him and him receiving a massage with his new Rubby Buddy massage tool.

Emmitt got one too (thank you Melanie) and he really likes it. It is a fun way to relax them and relieve some stiffness for them at the same time.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Have a wonderful day playing...

resting...

and eating!

Here is Emmitt with his Turkey Meatloaf.

He cannot wait to dig in! Here is the recipe for his favorite meal for you to enjoy!

Everyone here at the Langer house is wishing you a wonderful day filled with love, laughter and lots of food! :)

The Creative Entrepreneur

The Creative Entrepreneur:

A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real by Lisa Sonora Beam (Author)

I wanted to share an exercise I am doing in one of my fabric journals I been creating over the last couple of months.

I enjoy planning, journaling and writing down my insights, dreams and hopes for the future. I tend to write it in lists and pictures instead of writing formal business or life plans.
I found this guidebook, The Creative Entrepreneur, to be a unique approach to make a business or life plan in a more visual, and in my opinion, fun and free way.

I have completed the first chapter and wanted to show you a few of the pages.

The book begins with questions that you answer in a free flowing 3 minute time span where you just write and do not judge. After you answer the questions, she asks you to leave it alone for a few days and then go back and circle words and phrases that pop out at you that you would like to explore more.
She also encourages you to color and draw on your pages.
I had a great time doing this and have already recognized somethings in my writings that I was aware of I think but had not really put into words. I have found that really interesting and fun.

The next visual exercise is to create a Creative Entrepreneur Mandala. I am excited to see what comes from it. The author describes the mandala as a "great tool for seeing areas that call for further exploration and development. "

I also see it as another opportunity to draw and color. :)

I love this process because everyone is different and connect to themselves and the world around them in an unique way. I think I hear myself best when I am quietly creating something either painting my pugs, crocheting, walking Emmitt or riding my bike.

What ways do you take time to hear what you have to say?

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

Paper Bag Journal - Week 4

This cover was made from a brown paper bag!

I painted it with green acrylic paint, let it dry, and then applied a layer of modge podge and again let it dry.

After it was completely dry, I crumpled it! That's it! After fusing it to the stiffner that we use for every journal I sewed a snowflake border around with my sewing machine.

and made a fabric button with one of those kits you can get at the fabric store.

Here is the inside of my book. I digitally collaged and printed my stamps for the cover pages and sewed in a print of my new pug drawing to the inside flap.

Melanie made hers look like leather! Can you believe this used to be a lunch bag?

Next week is our last week of this class. I cannot wait to see what we make!

Emmitt has been helping me make our second bear and he says it is almost done.

He is busy trying to pick the pug hairs off of the yarn he has been laying on but says as soon as one is picked up, 3 more fall. Poor puggy. I can see he has a busy day ahead for him.

Have a wonderful day!

Emmitt's Thoughts...

Emmitt here today talking to you about my thoughts about...

Yarn!

I love yarn! Whenever my mom is crocheting, I promptly sit right in the middle of all of it. It is so soft and it is comfy!

Here I am helping my mom get ready to package her first bear up for The Mother Bear Project. Amy from this wonderful organization thought I would look cute on her website with our donation, so here I am!

We have just started our second bear. I helped mom pick out the colors. :)

A question to all of you puggies and doggies out there... What things do you like "helping" your pawrents with? I cannot wait to hear all about it!

Happy Monday Everyone!

xoxoxoxo

Emmitt

Friendship...

My good friend Diana Evans has started a new interactive art blog called the Daily Art Stop that teaches, inspires and challenges its readers to create art and follow their hearts.

The theme this week is friendship, and I am posting my two carvings above as my entry. I can truly say that Emmitt's friendship is one of the most wonderful things that has ever happened to me. Emmitt touches everyone he meets . The first carving reminds me of Emmitt and his best friend Oscar, and the second is a self portrait of him and me.

Another very important friendship in my life is with my twin sister Melanie. I am so lucky to have her.

Here is a bear she has created out of felted wool sweaters. It is now available in her Etsy Store. Isn't he just amazing?

This last drawing is all because of my friends, Sandy and Marianne who both blogged about their new sets of Inktense Pencils that I had to try after their reviews.

I just got my set of 24 pencils from Dick Blick today with a free pad of drawing paper!

I ripped open the package and drew this little pug. Isn't that fun! I felt like a little kid in a toy store and it is one of the best feelings in the whole world.

I appreciate all my friends that are fuzzy, family and in the blogosphere!

Have a great day everyone!

The Mother Bear Project

The Mother Bear Project

Make a Bear. Make a difference.

I met a wonderful new friend on the blogosphere last week. Her name is Mare and she has an inspiring blog called Moon & Stars Studio.

As soon as I visted mare's blog, I was inspired by the teddy bears she was making for the Mother Bear Project .

"The Mother Bear Project is dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of a hand-knit or crocheted bear. "

I immediately bought their pattern in the crochet version and made a bear to donate. The crochet pattern is very well written, easy to follow and fast to finish.

Here is my first completed bear.

I loved making him.



Emmitt thinks he is pretty cool too. :)

Whether you like to knit or crochet, the patterns they provide are a joy to complete.

It fills my heart with happiness thinking about who will soon be loving him.

If you would like to learn more about the Mother Bear Project and how you can help, please click here, and be sure to visit Mare's Blog to say hello. She is a talented artist with a huge heart.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

A Library of Possibilities...

I love creating books.

One of my favorite projects has been creating coloring books filled with renderings from my pug and dog paintings for children of all ages to enjoy.

I have 3 volumes to choose from with a 4th on the way planned for 2009. Each volume has different pugs and dog pals so that each book is unique from the others.

Over the last several years I have created several children's books that I will share the details of how they came to be in future posts.

You can see them all listed on my website in the Books & Calendars section.

I have self published all of my books except for Emmitt & Olive on lulu.com . I just love Lulu.

Their print on demand technology has opened up unlimited possibilites to create without having to spend oodles of $ on printing like I invested in my first book, Emmitt & Olive.

If you have a book in your head that you would love to see in print, I highly recommend checking them out.

What are you reading? Many of my blog friends post book reviews and I always find them facinating. I would love to know what you recommend to read next!

Fabric Journals - Week 3

This week our fabric journal class had us make a book that works really well as a photo brag book or travel journal. It is made from two separate covers that are bound together with screw posts that can be extended to hold more pages.

I filled mine with paper, but you could easily add photo album pages or heavy cardstock with photo corners attached.

I like how the front cover flips back for easy access and how flat it lays when closed.

I used a Japanese fabric on the front and a polka dot pattern on the inside covers.

Melanie used a whimscial retro design that reminds me of candy. :)

Our teacher Sue Bleiweiss has created a new class for 2009 that is called Creative Box Making for the Fiber Artist.

Melanie and I are planning on signing up for the February Session. Please join us in the fun!

What classes are you taking either online or person that you enjoy? Do you have a favorite craft book or pattern that you are learning from? Leave a comment. I would love to hear all about it! :)

Corgi Art Doll - Fiber Art

Cardigan Corgi Art Doll

Introducing the second doll in my new collection of fiber art made from my original carvings.

Both of the pug and corgi dolls are available in my Etsy Shop.

Arent' they cute? I just love corgi feet. :)

I also wanted to let you know how I made my fabric labels for the back of the dolls.

I just make them on my computer. I set these up in Microsoft Publisher, but Microsoft Word works great too. The size I used is 1/2 x 1 3/4 which prints 80 labels per sheet. Then I print them onto inkjet fabric paper and cut them out and sew them on.


My favorite type of fabric paper is June Tailor "sew on" 100% cotton paper, and I get it from Michaels. The package looks like this...

Voila! Easy Peezy!

Have a great day everyone!