New Black Pug Painting - A70

Happy Friday everyone!

I am so excited to introduce my 70th Pug Painting to you!

He is a very happy black pug waiting for a cookie!

He is available on all of my products where you can choose the design.

The weather here in Colorado is warm and sunny. We plan on doing some gardening with Emmitt there to help.

What do you have planned on this last weekend of May?

Punchneedle Fun!

I have been having the best time teaching myself Punchneedle Embroidery. It is so much fun and easy to do.


I have had it on my list of things I want to learn for years and I finally bought the supplies and a great book a few weeks ago. I had some time to sit down and read it this weekend, and I was punching away at my design within about an hour.

I would describe it as a cross between embroidery and rug hooking. I am having so much fun.

I got all of my supplies online at http://www.joanns.com/ . I think the supplies and the project book I found on amazon.com cost me about $40 including shipping.

Here is the book, Punchneedle Fun that I highly recommend...

I found the book to have better directions in the introduction about Punchneedle than the instructions included with the kit or the punchneedles themselves. I highly recommend getting it too if you want to try this craft. :)

http://www.joanns.com/ has everything you need to get started and they always seem to have a coupon code on the home page that you can use at checkout. I saved 50% off of the most expensive item when I bought mine.

All you will need to get started is a

• punchneedle kit with your favorite design,
• a set of punchneedles & threader,
• a locking embroidery hoop size 7" or what is indicated by the kit you choose,
• permanent fabric glue and
• sharp pointy embroidery scissors.
  

I chose a retro flower design kit for my first project. The image was already stamped on the fabric and is only about 3" x 4" . The perfect size to learn and get hooked as the feedback is fast and fun as the little loops fill up the space as you punch.

I think it is so neat that you are working on the back of the piece and the loops form on the front. You actually flip over your project to see what you are creating!



Here is my design inside the locking 7" hoop. I have begun to fill in the light yellow section.

This is what you see when you are working which is the back and...

Here is what is forming on the front. Look at all the cute little loops!

As you can see, I am having fun as I did all of this in just a couple of hours or so.


I am following the chart to see what sections get punched with the thread colors the kit provides.


Here is the front of the project so far and soon it will look like this...

I just bought 2 more kits and some blank weavers cloth to make my own designs and the projects in the book I showed you.

I think I see some punchneedle pugs in my future. :)

Please let me know if you try this fun art. I would love to see what you make!

Somerset Studio Gallery - Dogs Rule Project

I am so excited to announce that my pug art along with 12 other friends, has been published in the Somerset Studio Gallery - Summer 2009 Issue!

Here is a quick synopsis of the Dogs Rule Project from my Pug Notes Press Page:

The Dogs Rule Project 2008 is the brain child of artist, Jill Beninato, who invited 12 other artists to collaborate their efforts to illustrate how and why dogs rule. Each artist created 14 pages to be bound into 14 books. One book was sent to each artist while the 14th book was auctioned off on Ebay in November 2008 and raised $350 for A Place to Bark Animal Rescue. Please click here to see how my page was created.

Please feel free to click on the links above to get a more detailed view of the project and how it was created.

The layout in the magazine is amazing. It spreads across 9 full color pages 152-160.

Here is a preview of all the article for you to see in a PDF Format that I put together.

The publication also has a bonus page online that shows more images that were not included in the article.

I am thrilled that the pop-up baby Emmitt I created for each page is also featured. :)

Here is the list of artists, their web sites and blogs that were part of the 2008 Dogs Rule Project:

Manon Doyle of Hoochie Poochie Studios , blog

Jill Beninato of Sit Stay Smile Photography, blog

Jamie Pflughoeft of Cowbelly Photography, blog

Leigh Jackson of Noisy Dog Studio, blog

Moira McLaughlin of Dream Dogs Art, blog

Melissa Langer of Pug Notes, blog

Linda O'Neill of Abby Creek Studios , blog

Rebecca Lansdowne of Art Paw, blog

Nicole Mlakar-Livingston of Nicole Mlakar Photography, blog

Wendy Crumbley from 2 Dog Studio, blog

Bernie Berlin from A Place To Bark, blog

Anne Leuck Feldhaus of Anne Leuck Feldhaus Studio Ltd., blog

Kathy Weller of Wellerwishes Illustration, blog

Party Pugs

8 x8 Paper Collage

Melissa Langer 2009

I am excited to say that Jill is now hosting a 2009 project called Party Animals. The self published book and auctions for all of the original works will be available in The Fall of 2009.

My contribution is called Party Pugs and the original will also be available in the auction to raise funds for A Place to Bark Animal Rescue.

I will keep you posted!

More Fun Art!

Hi everyone! I have been having fun this past holiday weekend making little gifts just for fun. It was so fun just to pull out little scraps of paper and yarn and make some art and smiles.

I had two of these brass lockets and made one for each for Melanie and myself decoupaged with Emmitt and Moe!



I also crocheted some more flowers and put them on my refridgerator with two little magnets I got on Etsy last year. I got the cute felt pug magnet from an etsy shop located in Hong Kong and the Emmitt magnet from my friend Kim in AZ. Don't they look cute together?

I also made another pansy!

We also spent the weekend relaxing, gardening and re-organizing our garage. It was so much fun!

Emmitt enjoyed watching us ...

What fun things did you do? We would love to hear all about it!

xoxox

Melissa and Emmitt

Summer Fun!

Hi Everyone! Emmitt here!

As you know mom is back, all unpacked and we are looking forward to a great Summer.

To kick off the fun times...

Here are 3 features Pug Notes art was recently in for night lights, note cards and dolls...

The Living Cozy Blog


Etsy Treasury

Etsy Treasury

We are honored to be mentioned among so many talented artists including our friend Rebecca's print, Pug Van Gogh.

What fun summer things do you have planned? Please leave us a comment and let us know!

New Pug Rings and The Give Away Winner!

I am so excited to introduce two new Pug Rings into my Etsy shop. They are silver-plated adjustable rings with my pug art decoupaged into the settings.

Emmitt says he gives them four paws up with all of his pug toes wiggling!

In other fun news...

I want to thank everyone who played in my give-away contest this week for an issue of the May/June 09 Somerset Studio!



After putting the numbers through random.org, the winner is... Sue and Roscoe of Roscoe's Round Up. Congratulations! Sue, please just email me your name and address and I will get it in the mail to you right away.

Have a wonderful Holiday weekend everyone!

What do you have planned? Emmitt and I would love to know!

We are just going to hang out and have fun at home!

Pug Show Tidbits ~ A Blast from the Past!

I wanted to show you my new banner I made for my shows this month. Vistaprint.com has new vinyl banners in 3 sizes and indoor and outdoor weights.

Since I already have a large outdoor weight banner, I chose the smaller 3' x 1.6' indoor weight as I thought it would be lighter and easier to hang off of my table.

I am so happy with it, and it was practically free! Vistaprint.com is amazing! Their quality, prices and service cannot be beat!

Another fun thing happened at the show. I got to meet alot of customers that have been with me for over 10 years. Sue S. came to say hello with her 17 year old pug, Mario, and her 12.5 year old baby Mimi. She bought one of my decoupage pictures frames on Ebay that I made in 1998! I have not made them in over a decade. How fun to get this wonderful picture and a note from Sue when I got home telling me that this is her favorite photo of her first pug BB that she keeps in the frame.

BB

Sue with Mimi

Mario

Mimi

I cannot tell you how happy this made me feel. All of the wonderful friends I have made on this journey mean more to me than I can say. Emmitt has opened so many magical doors for me in my life.

I am so lucky to have him. :)

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Fun Square Update and A Crochet Bouquet

Hi everyone! I just had the most wonderful gift delivered to me by way of e-mail all the way from South Africa!

Do you remember these bobble squares I made for the Knit-A- Square Charity that makes wonderful blankets for needy children in South Africa?

Well, I sent them off weeks ago with a smile and good wishes for them to arrive safely and to one day keep a small person warm and happy in their part of the world. I often leave the post office hoping that the package will arrive and imagine what squares they will be combined with to make someone happy.

Well this morning I got my wonderful newsletter from Sandy in Australia who put together this whole wonderful project and guess what?!...

The last picture is a blanket made with my bobble squares! They arrived safely and I can see the finished blanket! It brought tears to my eyes like I was seeing old friends!

Here is the blanket and the newsletter!

Wow! I am not only amazed at the wonderful work Knit-A-Square does, but the dedication to keeping everyone around the world really in the loop like we are right there helping them sew the squares together into blankets. Click here to read the past newsletters and subscribe too. They are so inspiring!

In other fun crochet news... I finally got to try out my new book on making crocheted flowers!

Posies

Pansies

I give the book 2 thumbs up on originality and great photographs. However, if you are a beginner, I would not choose this as your first book as there is no glossary of stitches or directions on how to make them if you need help or a reminder. I found myself checking my other books on creating some of the stitches or looking them up online.

Other than that, I had a fantastic time making these little posies and pansies. I will definitely be making more. They are fast and a great way to use up little pieces of yarn in my stash!

What projects do you like to make that you feel are fun and fast? Please leave a comment and let me know. I would love to try them too!

Have a wonderful day!

A Fun Give Away: Somerset Studio - May/June 09

I have a copy of the new Somerset Studio May/June 2009 to give away to a lucky person who comments on this post.

It is a gorgeous book filled with collage and mixed media art and techniques. Click here to see some of what is inside!

A winner will be announced this Friday, May 22nd.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Customer Photo Gallery ~ New additions!

I just love when people share their photos with me!

Here are 3 new additions to the Customer Photo Gallery...

Heather's puggy, Harry , loves his dog bowl he got for his birthday!

Otis and Manon love their new 24 x 30 Boston Terrier Dog Bed!

and Stacy and Brutus love their new 11 x 14 canvas transfer!

Thank you so much for taking the time to snap and send these wonderful photos!

Have a wonderful day!

xoxoxo

Melissa

More Crochet and 2 New Organizers!

Fawn Pug Finger Puppet


Black Pug Finger Puppet

While I was travelling, I brought my crochet hooks and yarn and made more of my fawn and black pug finger puppets for my etsy shop.

I love these little guys. They always make me smile!

They are available as individual puppets or you can buy them as a set with my children's book, Emmitt & Olive.

After I finished those, I started crocheting some 6 x 9 rectangles for a new charity that I just learned about. HAP makes beautiful afghans for our veterans. They are an all volunteer organization based in Maryland. Click here to learn all about them.

6 x 9 Crochet Rectangles

Speaking of squares for charity, I think I forgot to post my latest batch of "bobble squares" and "circle in a square" Squares for The Knit A Square Charity in South Africa. I have been making these for the last couple of weeks. I did not do them all in one day. :)

8 x 8 "bobble squares"

I got the new bobble pattern from one of the two new crochet books I just bought. The book is called Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs.

8 x 8 "circle in a square" Squares

The circle in a square pattern is from my favorite book, 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton.

I have not had time to start the flowers yet, but I made these stars for Gilbert and my sister's parrotlet, Dunkin. I love both of the books. They are easy to work from and I will make more stuff to show you soon.

Gilbert loves his star!

I love all of these projects because they are small, fast to create and portable. :)

Speaking of portable, I found this great canvas organizer made by Rubbermaid at Home Depot. It is canvas and collapsable with pockets you can form in whatever configuration you would like. I think it is made to store cleaning supplies, but I use it as a portable caddy to take my crochet projects from room to room. I tried to find it online to give you the link, but was unsuccessful. It was under $10 at my local home depot.

I just LOVE containers and can never get enough of them. The Container Store just opened down the street from us and I am just so excited. Look at this cool basket I got there on the grand opening day!
What fun things do you use to organize your crafts, studio, home or office? I would love to know.

You can never have enough containers!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!