Friday Funnies ~ No Sweat... I'm Flexible

Happy Friday everyone!

It is me...

R-Chee

My momma laughed at me the other day when I was trying to catch my curly pug tail.

I spun and spun and landed in a ball with my tail in my mouth.

It is one of my favorite games, and she smiles everytime I do it!

She says I am a great yogi pug like my friend Scarlet and pointed out that I am flexible enough to master all of the poses if I practice!

Look momma...

here is my downward facing dog

...and upward facing dog!

Tee hee!

How did I do?

What is your favorite yoga pose?

Please leave me a note and let me know!

I would love to learn it too!

xoxoxo

R-Chee

Happy 1st Hatchday Ollie!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Melanie's little bird Ollie turns 1 today!

He is a whole number already! :)

To celebrate this special day I made him some new crocheted toys to play with!

Oooo!  Are those for me?

Thank you!

I am going to have FUN with those today!

I have never had a hatchday party before!

This is my very first one!

Please come and celebrate with me!

I will put sprinkles on your ice cream cone in any flavors you like!

xoxoxoox

Cousin Ollie

A Pot Holder Crochet-A-Long!

Hi everyone!

Happy Wednesday!

My friend Lynne is hosting a FUN Pot Holder Crochet-A-Long for all us all to make this month!

She has a wonderful tutorial on her blog for us to follow.

I asked if I could make mine round as I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to try and she was so excited to give me the green light to crochet away! :)

This is what I came up with!

I love the retro colors and motif. 

To make it, I just made a lot of little circles and sewed them to a bigger circle to make this neat formation.

Speaking of circle formations, Archie curled up in my lap yesterday afternoon, and I had a pen and some paper nearby so I grabbed it and did a quick sketch of him for fun as he snored away. :)

Quick sketches are so amazing to me because they feel like they come out of nowhere. :)

I love to see what appears as they require no thought or planning.

Just relax and draw the shapes in front of you.

It always feels like a fresh breeze blowing in on a hot day. :)

What things do you do to relax and refresh you during the day?

Please tell us!

We would love to try them too!

xoxoxo

Melissa & Archie

Fireworks Fiber Bowl & Sculpture!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Yesterday I shared my first crochet + wool roving bowl that I made and here is bowl #2!

I finished it right before the 4th, and I think I had 4th of July celebrations & fireworks displays in my head as I chose the colors! :)

I used The Ruby Red Amazing Yarn from Lion Brand + blue and white wool roving to create this neat bowl.

I finished it the same way as the first bowl and then sewed on some wood beads to the bobble edging.

I thought it would be fun to make a sculpture to sit inside my bowl so I took some wool roving and wound it around a cardbord paper towel core.  I then put a ceramic button that I purchased from my friend Tara Ross and some felted wool bead balloons that I made.

How FUN!

I just love how it turned out!

I just finished a 3rd bowl that I will show you next week so I do not bore you with all of these bowls that I am addicted to making now! :)

What FUN things are you doing this week?

Please leave me a note and let me know!

I cannot wait to hear all about them!

xoxoxo

Melissa & Archie

Fabulous Fiber Art Project ~ Wool Roving + Single Crochet Stitch

Happy Monday everyone!

I have the most fabulous new project to show you!

It is so easy and FUN to do!

I made this fabulous fiber bowl simply from crocheting a single crochet stitch around wool roving strands!

I first saw the inspiration from a photo on Pinterest and followed the link to www.craftsanity.com .

I immediately purchased the PDF issue of Volume 2 and quickly jumped to pages 40 & 41 to read how to make these amazing bowls!

The technique is so fun and easy to do that I have already made 3 bowls that I will show you in the coming days.

This is my first one in the process of crocheting it, and I love how it turned out!

It reminds me of a volcano!

I used Olive Medley Amazing Yarn from Lion Brand crocheted with a G hook around a 1/2" or so diameter strip of wool roving that I purchased from A Child's Dream Come True.

It is crocheted free form in a circular pattern, increasing and decreasing stitches at will to make the bowl fatter and skinner until it was the height and shape I liked.

For the last 2 rows, I used only the Amazing yarn and did one row of single crochet and then for the second and final row, I made a bobble stitch around to form the edging.

Ta da!

I love finding new ways to incorporate all of my favorite fibers together!

It is soooooo FUN to use the wool roving and make a very thick and pliable piece of yarn while you are actually making the bowl/basket.

I can see so many applications for this technique such as baskets, coasters, hats, table runners, scarves and toys!

Changing the fibers to nylon, jute, cotton or rope, you can apply this techinque to making baskets, rugs and more!

Please let me know if you try this too!

I would love to see what you create!

I will show you my second bowl tomorrow and my 3rd bowl next week!

xoxoxo

Melissa & Archie

Friday Funnies ~ Archie's Day at The Dog Park

Happy Friday everyone!

It is me...

Archie!

Here I am reporting to you from the dog park by my house!

I am so excited to be here!

I am on an important mission today!

My momma just read me her children's book, Why Am I Special? ...

It is a story about Emmitt in his quest to find out what makes him special.

His adventure leads him on a journey to a dog park to meet lots of different doggies in hopes of learning what makes him Special. :)

The story of Emmitt and his quest has inspired me to answer the very same question about myself!

This is going to be so FUN!

There are lots of doggies and people to play with and interview!

I am going to ask them all what makes them special so I can learn more about my special talents in the process too!

Hmmmm... What is that fluttering feeling in my tummy?

I think I am a little nervous about just how to get started!

So... my dad is here with me to help me break the ice.

I have never done a personal interview like this before!

This is Bogart the Beagle!

He is a super friendly guy that loves to play & sing!

He says he loves to throw is head back & howl and has an extra good nose to sniff out snacks for us to eat!

Bogart has two very special talents!

I am learning alot already! :)

Oooo!  Here comes a friendly Golden!

He says he loves to explore!

I love to do that too! :)

This is Lily!

She is a Puggle who loves to be scratched and smile!

The German Shepherd's name is Hans...

He says he is a police dog and is on duty at the moment.

He cannot talk now, but that he is off at 5:00 pm and will treat me to an ice cream cone while he tells me how he patrols and protects the dog park!

 

Oooooo...new friends, ice cream and a story!

What a great way to spend the day!

What FUN things do you have planned this weekend?

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

I cannot wait to hear!

xoxoxo

R-Chee

(The Puggy Reporter on Special assignment!)

Over & Out!

A Story & An Honor!

Happy Thursday everyone!

R-Chee and I cannot wait to hear about what you did for the 4th! :)

Little R-Chee is still in a food coma from all the wallymelon and BBQ he ate yesterday so I thought I would share a couple of neat things with you today.

The first one was a wonderful surprise and honor to be mentioned last week on the Lion Brand Yarn Blog!

Our Circles Table Runner that we made from Lion Cotton and their generous FREE washcloth pattern was featured on a FUN Summertime Project post!

The second neat thing is a New "About Page" on Etsy!

They just created a new easy to fill out page for artists to tell their stories about how they started their creative journies!

I really enjoyed sharing my story of how Pug Notes came to be!

Angel Emmitt & R-Chee always bring me the the most wonderful smiles, friends and inspirations that just fill my heart with JOY!

It just spills onto whatever I am making!

Thank you for always sharing in the FUN and  playing with us!

xoxoxo

Melissa & R-Chee





Happy 4th Everyone!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Have a fabulously FUN and safe day!!!!!!

Here I am coming in for my watermelon bites.

What yummy things will you be eating today?

Please leave me a note and let me know!

I will put them on the shopping list for my momma to get for me today too!

xoxoxo

R-Chee

Customer Photo gallery ~ A Little Birdy's Precious Perch

Happy Tuesday everyone!

We have a SMILE to share with you today!

Flora and Tiffany made our day today by sharing this wonderful photo of the crocheted robin they won from us in our Birds of A Feather Giveaway last Spring!

Archie & I are soooooo happy you still love him Flora!

We are sending you huge hugs!

Thank you everyone for always playing with us!

You all make our world a very FUN place! :)

xoxoxo

Melissa & R-Chee

Crocheting in Circles ~ New Round Pillow!

Happy Monday everyone!

R-Chee & I are so glad you enjoyed seeing our new family pug cave. :)

We have been busy working on pillows for the new space.

I found some fabulous free patterns on Tangled Online Magazine that I have been having so much FUN combining into new patterns for this round pillow I just finished!

I made two large circles with drop down sides decorated with bobbles to cover an old pillow I had in the attic!

I just love how it turned out!

The front is so bright and cheery!

On a whim, I made a little free formed flower for the center that really makes me smile!

Here is how I made the pillow...

The front begins with a circle I made from Tangled's fabulous FREE Bullseye pattern.

The yellow and white rows that I added are from the record pillow pattern that I also followed last week to make the tummy of my Sunflower Owl Pillow. :)

I then kept increasing the circle in a mustard color wool yarn from Universal Yarn adding bobble rows to make the circle big enough to fold down and wrap the sides of the old pillow I was covering.

This is the back that I just made up using single crochet stitches and some alternating bobble rows from Lion Brand Amazing yarn and Fisherman's Wool.

After it was large enough to cover the back, I got out my handy dandy yarn needle and sewed it to the end row of the drop down sides. :)

R-Chee loves the new cushion and asked if it could be a pug bed for him. :)

He said he thinks it is big enough to park his pug butt on and watch me while I work. :)

I smiled and told him I would make him an even bigger & squishier one for his little pug butt to perch.

Somehow, I got him to agree and placed the pillow right in the center of the new comfy day bed!

Front of the pillow

Back of the pillow

Ta Da!

Ok, momma... I am holding you to that promise!

I will go into the yarn room & pick out my colors for my pug bed ...Okey Dokey?

Okey Dokey R-Chee!

What colors do you think I should use for R-Chee's new bed?

Please leave us a note and let us know!

I cannot wait to hear your ideas!

xoxoxo

Melissa & R-Chee