Scrap Wool Fabric Pet Portrait #4 ~ Black Pug

 Happy Wednesday everyone!

I am so excited to show you the last of my set of 4 Scrap Wool Fabric Pug Portraits!

I had so much FUN making these that I will have to get more placemats to glue my pug shapes onto to make more soon!

I decided I wanted to make a Black Pug this time so I pulled out my stash of felted wool sweaters and pulled out a black one along with little scraps of wool, felt, yarn and leather to make the face with.

I just love how he turned out!

Here are links to the other 3 I made so you can see all of them together...

Portrait #1, Portrait #2, Portrait #3

I took lots of photos for you as I made him for you to see how he changed each time I added something else.

I hung the first two in my kitchen and the last 2 together in my upstairs hallway with butterflies and my favorite photos of my magical first pug, Emmitt.

Tune in again on Friday when Archie visits his Frenchie friends!

They invited him to play at their favorite watering hole!

Spanky and Buckwheat do not know that Archie does not like to get his pug toes wet.

I wonder what will happen! :)

xoxoxo

Melissa

Warm Head & Heart ~ New Tunisian Crochet Hat & Cowl

Happy Monday Everyone!

I have a FUN project to show you that I just finished!

On Friday, Jimmie hinted to you that I was up to something with my Tunisian crochet hook and little balls of yarn from my stash.

And as promised... I am excited to show it to you today! :)

To tell you the truth, when I started this project, I was not sure what I was going to make.

I just felt like switching my stitches to Tunisian from my regular crochet for a bit while also working down the extra yarn I have in my stash so that I can buy more! :)

So I decided it would be FUN to make lots of little squares and figure out what it was going to be later.

From the first photo above, you can see I just made a whole pile of them until I was inspired to start sewing them together into something.

I love this time of year because I have some free time to create new things to enjoy, learn from and SHARE with you. :)

After sewing a few of them into rows of 3, I decided it would be neat to make it into another cowl scarf since I love the one I made last June and thought this tight Tunisian crochet fabric I created would be not only colorful but very warm on our cold Colorado Winter days that will arrive before we know it!

So I joined them together with regular sc back loop only crochet rows in between to give the cowl some stretchy give.

Ta Da!

I just love how it turned out!

You cannot see, but I am smiling under my new comfy cowl! :)

When I finished my cowl I still had some extra squares so I decided to make a hat!

Here is one side...

and this is the other!

Here is my new Hat and Cowl set for 2014!

When I was all done I still had extra squares so I made 2 more hats!

One for myself and one for my sister, Melly, which I forgot to snap a picture of.

I was so excited to give it to her that I wrapped it up and surprised her with it before I took any, but I will in the Fall when we wear them together and show you!

What FUN things are you up to today?

Please leave me a note and let me know!

I cannot wait to hear all about it!

xoxox

Melissa

Friday Funnies ~ Meet Jimmie the Fiber Artist

Happy Friday everyone!

It is me...

Jimmie!

Today is a fiber filled Friday here at my house!

I have been very busy helping my mom with FUN needle felting and crochet projects!

We will show you the crochet projects next week and the needle felting today!

Do you remember the Tunisian crochet doll she made of me a few months back?

Well, we decided that it was just not soft or fluffy enough to be me...

So guess what?

We needle felted a layer of wool onto my tummy and now I am fiber filled and fluffy just like I am in real life!

Ta Da!

Remember... You can always go back and change things you thought were finished when you made them!

New ideas, inspirations and the freedom to change things are gifts for us to explore and enjoy everyday!

That is the beauty of both Life and Art!

Life is Art...Art is Life!

Here are two short movies of me helping my mom create our next Tunisian Crochet project that we will reveal to you next week!

We had so much FUN making them and cannot wait to share them with you!

What are you up to this weekend?

Please leave us a note and let us know!

We cannot wait to hear all about it!

xoxoxo

Jimmie, R-Chee & Melissa

Meet Tink The Tiny Collage Pug Doll ~ Now Available for you to Enjoy!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I had so much FUN making some new art dolls for you to enjoy!

Meet Tink ~ The Tiny Pug Doll!

She is sitting on top of the world today perched on her pretty pink bed!

At only 2 x 3 inches she is the perfect size for hands of all sizes to squeeze and play with!

You could even make her into a pin or a key chain if you like and take her everywhere you go!

I made her by making her into fabric using the pug collage I illustrated and created last month.

R-Chee & I are so excited to let you know that both the Tink tiny pug doll and note cards are available in my Etsy Shop for you to enjoy!

What FUN things are you up to today?

Please leave us a note and let us know!

We cannot wait to hear all about it!

xoxox

Melissa & Archie

R-Chee's Kitchen ~ Peanut Butter & Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Happy Munchie Monday everyone!

Guess what I have for you today?

Drum Roll Please...

A plate full of my Yummy Peanut Butter & Banana Oatmeal Cookies!

And... I am also sharing my secret recipe with you as I have taste tested these for weeks to perfect it just for you!

I N G R E D I E N T S:

1 banana, peeled and mashed
1 cup whole wheat or white flour (I used spelt flour)
1 cup rolled oats
3 Tbls peanut butter
1 egg, beaten

I N S T R U C T I O N S:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Mash banana in a mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients.
Stir well to combine and let sit for 5 minutes.
Roll into 1" balls, place on greased cookie sheet and squish them flat with your fingers into cookies.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the bottoms are browned. 

Cool and refrigerate or freeze to store.
Makes 1 to 2 dozen cookies

Packed with wholesome protein, fiber & fruit!

They are healthy and super easy to make!

Let's make and eat some together!

Gather your ingredients

Mix all of them in a bowl and form some cookie balls and squish them down flat with your paws.

The place your cookie tray in the oven at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes or until they are golden brown!

Oooo!

They are done and ready to eat!

Oh momma...

stop blowing on it!

It is cool enough!

I promise!

Yummy!

Let's dig in!

and then we can go and dig some holes in the backyard with all of our new peanut butter protein power!

Please let me know if you make some too!

I cannot wait to hear how you like them!

xoxoox

R-Chee

Having FUN with Fiber ~ Wool Scrap Pug Portrait #3

Happy Friday everyone!

It is me...

R-Chee!

Guess what my mom and I did this past week?

We made another Wool Scrap Pug Portrait from our felted wool sweater scraps, a little bit of yarn, fabric glue and an old placemat! :)

See how to make them too on this post we made for you to easily join in on the FUN. :)

We took some photos to see the process of making our 3rd one already!

They are so FUN & fast to make that you will have a work of art completed from one of your favorite pet photographs or drawings in no time at all!

Mom said that my expressions inspired her to make this one from one of her pug paintings.

Ta Da!

We have one more placemat from this set of 4 that we found at our local thrift shop for only $3 so we will make another one for you to enjoy soon!

What are you up to this weekend?

Please leave us a note and let us know!

We cannot wait to hear all about your plans!

xoxoxo

R-Chee

Pug Notes Newsletter ~ Summer 2014

Happy Thursday everyone!

Yay!

School is officially out for Summer!

To celebrate with you and your families...

R-Chee & I are so excited to let you know that 

The Pug Notes Newsletter ~ Summer 2014 is now online for your reading pleasure!

It is jam packed with fun news, photos, events, recipes, customer photos and more!

The lunch bell is ringing in R-Chee's Test Kitchen!

To celebrate, he shared his recipe for & made you a special batch of his wholesome & delicious Peanut Buttery Treats!

Peanut Butter & Banana Oatmeal Cookies!

Yummy!

WE also have NEW art, acrylic trays & wall clocks for you to enjoy!

This is only a preview of what you will find. :)

The complete Summer 2014 Newsletter is available here for you to enjoy so please click through when you have time.

If you would like a copy of the Newsletter to be emailed to you every quarter, please just email me anytime or sign up in the green outlined box at the top left corner of the blog. :)

I would also love to feature your pugs and recipes in the upcoming newsletters so please send them anytime you want to!

xoxoxox

Melissa & Archie

Mother Bear Sighting in Africa! ~ Love from around the world and back!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

R-Chee & I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing Holiday weekend!

We are so excited to share a Mother Bear sighting in Africa with you today!

One of our 3 Retro Mother Bears appeared in Africa being loved by his new beautiful little person!

It is magical to receive these special photos our bears in their new homes!

It makes our hearts sing to see them with their new families!

R-Chee & I loved making them!

We are so happy he had a safe journey to bring smiles and love around the world and back from our hands to a child's heart and back to our hearts too!

We cannot wait to make more bears for The Mother Bear Project!

You can read all about The Mother Bear Project, its founder, Amy Berman, and all the wonderful ways we can contribute to their charity even if we do not crochet or knit!

xoxoxo

Melissa & Archie

New Pug Drawing & Collage ~ Bw21 ~ Now available for you to enjoy!

Happy Friday everyone!

Archie and I are so excited to show you the NEW Pug drawing and collage we just finished before the holiday weekend!

We now have it available on PugNotes.com for you to enjoy both as note cards and address labels! 

I took lots of photos of it as I made it to show you!

The first thing I did was to sketch Archie in pen & ink while he sat on his bed patiently waiting for me to take him for an afternoon walk.

The next thing I did (after Archie's walk of course :)) was to scan my drawing into the computer and print it in a larger size on card stock to make a collage with it.

Then I brought out some magazines and catalogs and ripped out 3 pages with the colors and textures I was thinking about as good "paint" colors to use to "color in" the pug and bed.

Why only use 3 pages you may ask?  

I have found that I get overwhelmed by too many options.
So to keep the project FUN & flowing along, I just ripped out 3 that I liked.

You can always go back for more if you decide you are missing something. :)

After I chose my pages to use, I ripped them up into little pieces making color piles to pull from.

Using a little paint brush and my Liquitex Matte Gel Medium to glue down the little pieces, I started filling in the color with different textures and tones...

You do not have to sit and finish this project all at once.

Remember to always stop and come back to it later the minute it stops feeling FUN.

It means you need a break and to step away. :)

Remember... life is supposed to be FUN and that means if it stops feeling good... it is time to switch gears and do something else until you feel like coming back to it. :)

Ta Da!

Here is a close up of the PUG!

As I was creating my collage, I thought it would be a neat effect to leave some of the details as illustrated instead of collaging everything.

You can do whatever you like!

It is your creation!

There are no rules to art, FUN or life!

Remember to enjoy the journey and the result will be happiness that flows into the next thing and the next thing and the next thing... you do through out your day!

What do you have planned for Memorial Day weekend?

Please leave us a note and let us know!

We cannot wait to hear all about it!

xoxoxoox

Melissa & Archie