Happy Friday: Hand stamped dog charms

I promised you dog-themed, hand stamped bag charms last week, and here they are.

Just listed on Etsy here...

I hope they are going to be popular.  I've tested them out on dog walks and can confirm they are quite sturdy!

So which is your favourite?  Let me know.

Lucca says he likes them all, but it's been so hot, he has mostly been concentrating on paddling and sleeping in the sun. 

Alison x

Happy Friday: Cute puppy pics and some stamping

This week I needed to sort through my dog pictures to pick one for a competition in one of my Labrador groups on Facebook. This is quite a task when you have thousands of photos of your dog - I'm sure I'm not the only one! - and you're asked to pick the cutest one, so took quite a while. In the end, I narrowed it down to these three.

On the mat - this was Lucca's first day at home.

Waiting to go in. This one really melts my heart!

I love the expression in his eyes here! 

Now it will be interesting to see if you think I picked the right one. Which do you think would get the most likes on Facebook?

On another part of planet Alison, as well as sorting some sales from my shops, I've been enjoying some stamping with a new font. 

I'm now working on a range of dog-related sayings for bag charms and key rings which is keeping me busy. Perhaps next week I'll be ready to show them.

What have you been making, or enjoying, this week?

Alison x

Handmade Monday: Right angle weave

It's been a lovely day here - the first day of the year I've been sitting out in the garden to bead which is always a treat. I've been experimenting with bead stitching and had a go at a simple right angle weave (or RAW) bracelet. 

The bracelet is made of crackle glass beads which are half purple and half brown, and the beads pivot on the string so it never quite looks the same twice!  It's actually the second version because rather-clumsy me dropped the bracelet on the floor and smashed quite a few of the delicate glass beads in the process!

Being challenged in not being able to tell left from right, it was quite a task to find a tutorial I could follow. So I'm recording some pictures here of how I constructed the weave, using different coloured beads to record the steps. 

I found that if you remember you are always making a diamond of four beads, that helps in knowing how many beads to add and what direction to weave in.  

The needle here is getting ready to form the next diamond, this time adding two beads...

...and going through two existing beads. 

One more diamond takes me to the end of the row....

Then it's starting again with another three beads. 

Will I ever go beyond basic bead weaving?  Not sure, it's a bit fiddly and I need more sunny weekend days when there's plenty of natural light to work by. Here's hoping!

Look, I've made the dog yawn!  He would rather I was paying him attention than working with beads. 

Here's a link to what other crafty folks have been doing this week: http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/handmade-monday-158.html

 Alison x

Wordless Wednesday: What on Earth is that?!

Wordless Wednesday: Cute dogs!

Wordless Wednesday: my doggie double

Lucca and a beautiful carved jasper pedant

Wordless Wednesday: Look what I stole from the shopping today

The dog's blog: All four paws in the air

This may be my last jump now that I have been diagnosed with arthritis.  I'm trying to get used to a quieter life!

Handmade Monday: Dragonfly

Last week we were away visiting family, so I had limited access to my beading stuff - always difficult to decide what to take, knowing that you'll have some time but can't take the whole stash as we'd need two cars for that!  Anyway, I had some wire, some glass beads and some sunshine, and this dragonfly was the result! Hope you like him.

It was a bit of a strange holiday.  Normally we spend a lot of time with the dog charging round the beach, chasing balls in and out of the waves and playing football with my OH.  The week before we went away, Lucca had a limp and went to the vets, and to our horror was diagnosed as having arthritis.  At 3 and a half years old, that was not good news.  So restricted walks on the lead on the beach, and the poor boy looking at us so confused.  Despite the limp, he still wants to do everything he always did.  Today he's at the vets for x-rays, so more worry and a house that feels so quiet and empty.  But at least we should know more this evening.

Much better news - a jewellery magazine in the US is going to feature my wire flower necklace in September!  This will be the first time Blue Forest Jewellery has been in print.   How exciting is that!  It's a long time to wait, but they need it sent in the next couple of weeks, so that's something else to distract me today, which is what I need.

Here's the link to see what other crafty folk have been making this week.

Wordless Wednesday: Joining the order of the Blue Monk

Actually, I'm having my ears dried after swimming

Wordless Wednesday: The dog's blog: What I did mostly on holiday

Wordless Wednesday: The dog blogs again

Just look at the size of this!

The dog's blog: At last I get to speak!

So, apparently now that I am three years old, I'm allowed to use my mum's blog occasionally to report important things in my canine life and speak to all you lovely dogs out there about things we find important.  At last!  I have so much to say.

Shall I introduce myself?  Mum says only briefly, because some of you know me already.  I'm Lucca, I'm a (dark) chocolate Labrador, a boy but now seperated from some of my boy bits!  I'm frequently told I'm the best dog in the world, most handsome dog in the world, best dog swimmer in the world, cleverest dog in the world (less often!) etc, etc.  Modesty forbids me from commenting.

I was born three years and 12 days ago on a working farm in the countryside.  My real mum and dad were both chocolate Labs too, and so were my 11 brothers and sisters.  I was torn from my real family at the age of 12 weeks and brought to this small but fairly comfortable house by 'mummy' and 'daddy'.  Obviously I miss the company of other dogs, but to be honest, the sofa, central heating and not having to compete with anyone for dog food beat the rather basic stable where I spent my first three months hands down. 

My only interest in crafts is when the occasional bead rolls off mum's table and finds its way into my mouth.  They are not very tasty at all so I usually spit them out.  So my bit of the blog will be a craft-free zone.  

Enough apparently - I could go on all day. Can I just say what I've been up to recently?  Here goes.

Lots of swimming - especially with my friend Bonnie, the retriever, who has been recovering from hip operations for a long time and has only just come back to join me on walks. Here I am playing one of my favourite games - recover the stick from the water then refuse to give it up to be thrown in again.

Here I am at the International Dog Agility Show at Kelmarsh Hall at the weekend. It was so tiring watching all those collies running and jumping over things that I just had to find a stick and take some time out.  (Wish mummy wouldn't take those pictures of me with my tongue peeking out a bit, it's so demeaning!) I had a go at agility but frankly I couldn't see the point.  And to be honest, my mummy is getting a bit old to be trying to run around alongside of me looking like a middle aged women struggling to keep up with a dog.  The man said I was probably better suited to chasing game, and that is true, I love a good game!

Of course, my life isn't all fun and games, walks and naps and eating (just 99% of it), I have some serious work to do too.  On a Sunday morning, one of my jobs is to carry the Travel section of the Sunday papers home.  Daddy likes it nice and wet and slobbered on apparently.  And I am so proud to serve my pack leader.  People smile a lot and pat me as I go past as well, which is always appreciated.

So, fellow dogs, what have you been up recently?  Let's get a canine conversation going!