Halloween Bibs Are Here!

I posted a set of cool new Halloween bibs I made this weekend in my Etsy shop today. Be sure to check them out! Here is a photo:


I am also working on a series for Christmas. More to come!

Cool new Flickr Group

I was invited to join a great new group on Flickr today. It is called Handmade Childrens Clothing. There are quite a few groups for handmade baby things, but there are not many for toddlers and bigger kids so I was glad to see someone putting one together. I posted a few of my photos out there and I saw a variety of other people with great photos of handmade kids clothing have done so also. I hope it takes off!

Postcards

I found this cool site today (I think I may have found it on one of my blogger friends sites, but I couldn't remember... I am such a bad little internet-surfer!). It is called Postcrossing and it is a site that allows users to send postcards to people and recieve postcards from others around the globe in return. I think it is really wonderful. I have 5 addresses that I plan to carefully go out and select postcards for and get sent off right away. I love technology that brings people together rather than isolates them further.

Patrick thought it was quite the joke and his response was "why do you want postcards?" Well, I do love postcards, but even more so I like the idea of someone in another part of the world thinking about what I might like, maybe writing me a nice note or just saying "Hi". It is sort of like getting a present from a friend.

Anyhow, it is something different so check it out! http://www.postcrossing.com/

Crafty Wonderland Next Week!!

I will be selling my wares at Crafty Wonderland Sunday, July 13th. This monthly event takes place at the Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside, Portland, OR. If you are in town be sure to check it out! The arts and crafts show goes from 11AM-4PM and is free to the public.

Cupcake Set Review

The Dog Gone Knitting Love the Cupcake Onesie Set has been featured in a review by Now What Baby! This blog reviews stuff for babies, kids and mommies and this week they did a huge section on cupcake things. One of the items reviewed was my set! Yay! There are some cute pictures of a darling baby wearing the set so be sure to check out the review.

Fairy Booties and Sunshine Dresses

A few new items in the Dog Gone Knitting Shop this week...

Fairy Fashion Booties make every day magical... they are great for weddings, fairy costumes, and every day dress up with your own little doll. They also make excellent shower gifts! They can be found in the Baby Booties section of my shop!





Also to be found in the baby booties section are my new Lil' Chic Baby Booties. These booties are perfect for that mod little one out for a stroll in the park with Mom. So stylish! (According to Wikipedia "Chic" is an element of fashion and the counterpart of "Posh" so be sure to check out the Posh booties too!)





Also new this week is the Glass of Sunshine Toddler Sundress. This cool ensemble can be found in the Dresses and Pant Sets section of my shop. As sundresses go this one has it all... cute colors, summer orange theme (a-la Moda's new fresh squeezed fabric line). As with all my items I use great fabric and take extra time to put together clothes that have special details.





Before I leave off, I have also taken a few new shots of the pups lounging in the yard. This is their new favorite past time and they do it so well!

June Sale

The special this month in my etsy shop is the Bootie Bundle. Booties are regularly priced between $15 and 18.50. With the bootie bundle you get 2 pair of booties in any baby size for only $30. You also save on shipping as the special ships at the cost of one pair instead of two!

This is a great deal and would make an excellent baby shower gift. The set will come packaged in a nice gift box all ready to be wrapped up and given away.

Sewing Machine Song Video

This is really funny...

My Magic Truck

Today I parked under a tree in full bloom. As it was fairly windy this afternoon when I went to get in my truck to go home I noticed the bed of the truck was FULL of blossoms. My first thought was what a mess and I was rather grumpy about it. My mood was quite the opposite once I got on the highway however. As I was looking in my rear view mirror to merge onto 405 I saw a swirling cascade of blooms flying off the back of my truck. It was quite lovely and for the rest of the ride home I was humming. I drive the enchanted fairy truck! What a happy, magical end to my day!

Custom Ghost Booties

I made these booties for a little girl's ghost themed birthday party. (Her birthday, as you might guess, is in October!). They turned out so cute! I love doing custom work!! Be sure to check out my shop for other cute things if you'd like your little one to have some special booties!

The last picture is just a new shot of Miss Annabelle. She is getting so big!

One Day Left on Sale!

Only one day left on the sale! Get 10% off any one item in my shop for the remainder of the month of May 2008. Just be sure to enter the keyword "TOT" in the comments. I will refund the 10% discount through paypal. This discount does not apply to custom items, just the items in my shop size 0-12 months, sorry! Discount will not be applied to shipping charges.

I have added quite a few new items this week as well so be sure to check it out! Thanks!

Bad Day

I am having just the worst day. I need to vent. This morning our hot water heater was broke so I didn't go to work, but instead worked from home. I didn't get a shower until 1:30. Then my laptop connection started to act weird so I got no work done this afternoon. Then I decided to run to the fabric store to pick up fabric for a custom order. They were out of what I needed so after a week of talking about the fabric and half a dozen trips to look at fabric I give up and went ahead and refunded the poor woman's money. I felt really dumb doing that and it certainly isn't how I want to do business, but after this long if I can't find what she wants I think I am just wasting everyone's time! I only missed getting the fabric I wanted by a day or 2 too. Darn it!

I learned my lesson though... no more putting orders together unless I am certain I can get the fabric. Maybe I should just do away with the concept of finding special fabrics and just go with what I already have. I feel so sad and disappointed that I am not going to get to make the pretty dress I was going to sew. :(

I think I need to convince my husband to go out for dinner tonight. I need to get out of here!

New For Summer!

I have been working on some new things for summer. This cute little baby set is now available in my etsy shop. The dragonfly fabric is part of Moda's Flutterby collection designed by Tula Pink. The fabric is actually a bit more aqua colored so please do look at the closeup for color detail. I am working on a few other sets as well including a toddler jumper dress, a sweet diaper bag, a boys top and pant set, and a few custom items. Busy, busy, busy! Hopefully I will still get to my Amy Butler sewing projects soon!

Featured!

Holy Cow! I forgot to mention that on the 12th my etsy shop was featured in Tot Trends Weekly! You can read the article here.

As a special celebration I have decided to award 10% off any one item in my shop for the remainder of the month of May 2008. Just be sure to enter the keyword "TOT" in the comments. I will refund the 10% discount through paypal. This discount does not apply to custom items, just the items in my shop size 0-12 months, sorry! Discount will not be applied to shipping charges.

Something for Amy Butler Fans

Amy Butler put some free patterns on her website. I am planning to make the business card keeper and the portfolio. These are really great projects! I can't wait. It will give me something to do this weekend. Our reservations to go to Trillium Lake were canceled because there is still too much snow up on Mt. Hood. :(

Anyhow, I will post photo's once I complete the projects. I should also post a photo of the sad excuse for a business card keeper I currently use... some 15 year old freebie from one of those Mary Kay type things. It is actually in quite good condition considering the abuse of living at the bottom of all my purses for such a long time!

Garden Blooming

Thank you to everyone who left such kind condolences for us. They were all really appreciated!!

When we arrived back from Michigan we found our garden in full bloom. Here are some photo's I took after a rain shower today.

Dogs at Pet Hotel

The dogs are at the pet hotel and we leave for Michigan in the morning. I miss my dogs already. This is the first they have been away from us overnight. Duncan is 3 years old and we have never spent 24 hours apart! I took this picture of Annabelle a few days ago.

A Sad Day

My mother-in-law passed away today. It is a very sad day for us. We will be traveling from Oregon to Michigan in the next day or so to be with family.

Etsy sales will be somewhat delayed due to our travel and sadness.

If you are in the mood to help out... please do visit my father-in-law's etsy shop, Tough Dog Bed. He could really use the support and his beds are great!

Etsy Buy Handmade ToughDogBed

New Items in the Works

Coming next week:
Jet set bootie onesie dress- Brown onesie with Jet Set fabric skirt complete with scalloped edge.
Onesies with a multitude of designs and fabrics - Swirls, apples, sea monkeys, and flowers!
New booties - Gorgeous new fabrics for your little princess.

Coming the week of May 25th:
Baby and Toddler jumpers for summer months... many items to match your favorite booties

Thanks for looking and be sure to let us know if you would like to make any custom orders! I am also starting to offer wholesale prices for those interested in buying in bulk. Please contact me at doggoneknitting@gmail.com if you are interested or have questions!

Crafty Wonderland for Mother's Day

I will be participating in my first crafty wonderland this weekend. If you are in Portland please be sure to check it out!!

A New Way to Sew

I had a very exciting weekend. For years now I have been casually mentioning that I would like an embroidery machine. I have always wanted a sewing machine that could just do more than my reliable old New Home. When I started selling on Etsy I told Patrick that I was going to save for the machine of my dreams. He started getting pressure from all the women he works with (thanks ladies!) to just buy me one and this weekend he broke down.

So I am the proud new owner of a Janome Memory Craft 11000. We bought it at Montavilla Sewing Center here in Portland. As part of the package I get free instruction and a bunch of discounts so I was really happy.


So far I have made 3 baby bibs. I also finished most of my weekend projects on the new machine. However, for a bit I need to keep the Janome doing embroidery and keep myself pumping out booties on the New Home. There is less than 2 weeks between now and crafty wonderland! It is a lot of fun though. Below is one of my embroidered bibs. I LOVE the funny monsters and bought a whole set of designs.

Better Coming Soon Photos

Here are some better photos of the onesie sets I have coming...

Both sets will be available this weekend on my Etsy Shop.
I have some cute new booties in the works too. Plus, Friday I am going to a sale at Fabric Depot so this weekend I should be able to really crank out the shirts and booties. Stay tuned!

New Designs!

I finally am ready to start putting out some onesies to match my baby booties! Here is a preview of coming attractions!

Geisha Fan's Onesie















This onesie is also available with long sleeves. It matches the Geisha Fans Newborn bootie. I can make these in newborn to 18 mo. sizes. Sorry, the flower does not get any larger, but I may add more applique to larger sizes. I am experimenting with that over the weekend.

Blue Lagoon Onesie















This onesie is also available with short sleeves. It is shown here with the matching Blue Lagoon booties. This set is really adorable. The photo just doesn't do it justice. Oregon really needs more sunshine so I can take better photos!

Sugar n' Spice Onesie















This cutie matches the Sugar n' Spice booties. All the shape applique's can be mixed and matched. In other words you could get this in a heart or other simple shape you desire.

Be sure to visit my etsy shop to see the onesie that is already for sale! Don't wait long! I have already had interest on the Happy Together Set. I would love to hear your comments on the new designs as well!

Cards that Move

Remember pop-up books? Check this out...

My friend Molly has finally started her own Etsy shop. After years (literally, it has been years) of all her friends telling her "You should sell that!" she finally is going to sell that!

So be sure to go to her shop and check her out. And don't worry, I have already told her she needs to make more!

She is also a great person to work with on custom stuff. She has put up with working with me for years. :)

Good luck Molly and congratulations on your shop!

Hello World!

Buon giorno! Konichiwa! Hola! Al Salaam a' alaykum! Jambo! Ni hao! Bonjour! Czesc! Zdravstvuite! Bok! God Dag! Dobry den! Pryvit! Guten Tag!

My blog is now being visited internationally. It is very exciting and reminds me of what a small world we live in. I hope everyone enjoys my musings and if you are interested please click on the etsy link to visit my shop. Also feel free to leave comments and say hello! I'd love to hear from you.

I am planning to start making onesies soon so check back for more cute things!

Cirque du Soleil

On Saturday Patrick and I went to Cirque du Soleil. They have their tents set up in downtown Portland on the waterfront. They have been performing Corteo. This weekend was their last set of performances.

Our tickets were really fancy. We had these VIP tickets called Tapis Rouge. We arrived at the show an hour early and had cocktails and appetizers in a special tent just for the VIPs. There were only a handful of people. Most of them were couples so it was quite festive even without all the fancy bombay gin drinks.

Once we were good and happy we went to our seats. Our seats were in the second row center isle. Needless to say they were fabulous seats. The performance was bar none the best theatrical performances I had ever seen. The set design was awesome. The costumes were unbelievable and ranged from really simple pj type outfits to elaborate angel costumes like you might see on an ornate Christmas card from the victorian era. I wanted to come right home and start sewing myself a costume!

The best part of the performance was getting to really see and connect with the expressions on the faces of the performers though. It made the acts so much more real and meaningful to me. When you see something in a movie you are so far distint from it you don't realize the creativity that went into it. I got the same thrill I get from being around my crafty friends. It is such a rush to be around such monumental creativity. It is like a drug!

Speaking of creativity and crafty friends... Crafty wonderland was great! I have already sent in my email to the organizers begging to be included in the next one. As I mentioned before I went with my friends Molly and Kathy. It is great going with them as I am so shy around strangers that I would have never asked as many questions as they did (really, sometimes Molly can be a little scary... she is so excited!). Then after our brunch and Crafty Wonderland fun Molly took off and Kathy and I spent about 4 hours shopping. We went to the art store, fabric store, yarn store, kids boutique, and 2 paper places. We also had dessert at a badly organized cafe in the Pearl where my iced latte came hot in a mug and Kathy had to ask for her tea twice because they forgot they needed to get ice. At least it tasted good. Kathy had a canolli that she kept saying some guy in Italy made. No idea what she was talking about, but it was funny.

So all in all a pretty fab weekend.

The Funniest Cards Ever

These are from someone who favorited me. I love it and might sign up. Just had to share.

Cards
Etsy Sale

Bootie Success!

Well, Patrick woke me up bright and early today and told me that... wait for it... I HAVE A SALE! I guess he was talking to father-in-law Bob and Bob looked at my site and told him "she has a sale!" So of course he woke me up and of course I have not went back to bed! (If you are reading this Bob, thanks for letting us know and please comment and tell me what you think of the site! Love you guys!)

Pam, if you are reading my blog, I am very pleased your friends are getting the Jet Set booties. I hope they are a big hit and a gift that can be kept as a keepsake as well. I am going to try and wrap and ship them today as I know your friends are expecting any day now (how exciting!!). I will gift wrap them. I should give etsy the idea of making this an option on the site. I think it is useful to buyers to be able to request it.

I also had 11 people mark me as a favorite since last night. I am not sure what I did, but I hope it keeps working!! These little shoes are too cute to just sit on my dining room table. They need to be worn and kicked in the air by little feet!

Bootie Making Machine

This weekend I am going to Crafty Wonderland at the Doug Fir with Molly and Kathy. Yay, crafts! I am really hoping this is a cool thing because it only costs $35 to have your own table so I may well do this next month. We will see what Kathy thinks as she is the expert!

I bought some new fabric at the Holly Hill Quilt Shoppe in West Linn. I got 5 fat quarters for 12 something. They are really cute and one of them has cupcakes on it. Love the cupcakes! There is a collection of new Moda fabrics (Posh by Chez Moi... this is a HUGE file) that I have to try soon as well. I am just waiting for the fat quarters to be cut.

As you can see from this picture, I have been working hard on the baby booties. I have 11 for sale on etsy now. I still have not had a sale. I am not sure what is up. Other booties of similar cuteness are priced higher on etsy and selling. I am getting a lot of hits though. 129 on the jet set booties! I keep telling myself that I just need to add more stock.

Yesterday I bought Patrick a great t-shirt on etsy. A rather odd shirt about zombies. He wanted it though and it is cute. Not as cute as my sheepy though. Here is a neat pop-up card that I found. I bet Molly could make something like this.

The weather was so nice today that the dogs spent a good amount of time outside. Duncan got out of his new collar and took a walk around the neighborhood. This photo is after he had been re-leashed. Annabelle was very glad to see him.

Dogs are Funny

Duncan and Annabelle were being cute today so I thought I would post their pictures. Annabelle is all of the sudden really into panting at things she likes. Whenever she gets excited this is the face she makes. Pretty darn funny.

I also wanted to share a funny little do-dad I am buying on etsy. I HAD to have this.

Bootie Insanity

The number of booties now produced grows....

Well, I have spent the whole weekend freaking out about my etsy site. On Saturday a nice lady in CA contacted me and asked me if I would be willing to donate some booties to be auctioned off to support a Birth and Baby Resource center in her area. I would have totally done this just because I was flattered she thought my little booties were cute enough, but she also said I should send 400 business cards to be given out at the event.

So now I am freaking out. Yesterday I went to Fabric Depot and a few other places in town to get more supplies. I have been thinking that I needed some different fabrics and I also wanted to start using eyelets with the ribbons. It just finishes things better.

Today I made 2 really cute new pairs of booties. I also cut out a few more so I may be able to finish another tonight.

I found a place online where I think I can do some cute business cards... now I just need to think what to put on them. Cripes! I am in a real state. I am not sure what I will do if I actually start to show a profit. I was just thinking this was a fun diversion and I might sell a thing or two. Really, there is no reason to panic. I still have not sold a thing.

In case you are wondering, no, I did not go fishing. Oh, well it was raining and Patrick was playing on his playstation all weekend so it would have been a grumbly afair to get him to leave his new game alone. Once my package to CA goes off in the mail I am sure I will feel better. If it is going to auctioned to help people I just want it to be perfect.

Migraine Week

The ups and downs of our spring weather has put knots in my brain and my shoulder I think. I am always a little effected by the weather, but with it being 30 degrees and hailing one day and 50 degrees and sunny the next the pressure changes are starting to upset what little balance I am able to maintain. So it hasn't been a good week. It certainly has been hard to drag my butt into work this week! Tonight I came home and took a 3 hour nap. That helps sometimes and tonight it did.

I did manage to start making some baby booties for etsy.com. A few booties went up this weekend and then I completed a couple more during the week. I have been really wanting to sew lately so this will be a great outlet for me. I took a few patterns that I found and have been experimenting with lots of different combos and incorporating my own ideas along the way. I think the booties are turning out pretty snazzy and I have been getting quite a few hits on etsy... no sales yet, but people are looking and marking items as their favorite. I need some more ideas of tiny things I can sew. I like these small, creative projects!

This weekend we are hoping to go out on our pontoons and catch some trout. We are going to try Battle Ground Lake again and see if we do better a month later on a boat. Yay! I will try and remember to bring the camera so I can post a few pictures here.

Will Fish for Food

This is a picture of the trout dinner we had Monday. Yum. We finally caught some fish Sunday at the St. Louis Ponds so the next night I baked us up a feast.

Only 2 more weekends of Oregon fishing and then we can use our Washington licenses. This is the first year we have had Washington licenses so we are excited.

Apparently the new paper the ODFW uses for our license will essentially melt if it gets wet (bright huh?) so my current knitting project is to make a license cozy. I also made some new hats to sell on Etsy. My fish hat has already been viewed 9 times! Yay!

For our anniversary (10 years... holy cow!) we bought ourselves some pontoon fishing boats. I am waiting for some good water to open up so we can use them. I want to take some pictures too!

Etsy and Annabelle

So I decided to get *crazy* and finally post some things to Etsy (you can see my shop with the links to the right). I make all these silly little things that I rarely use or even give away... socks, hats, bags, etc. I really like small, but slightly challenging projects. By selling them on Etsy I feel perfectly OK knitting baby hats and junk like that. I am working on several different types of things. It will be fun to see what sells. Esty was on Martha Stewart last week so hopefully people will be out there shopping for cute stuff!

Annabelle had her girl stuff removed yesterday. Here is a photo of her with her little e-collar on. We are having some trouble keeping her still. It is pretty funny to watch her run though. Even without the collar she waddles a bit, but with it she sort of looks like a black and red fish. Either that or some funny little heat seeking robot!

There has also been an extra abundance of special pug smells as well. She is quite the little stinker.

Here is another picture of the dogs taken last week. Nothing special about the occasion. They just looked cute.

I also finished a ear flap cap I have been working on for myself. It is a little larger than I planned, but it does fit over my big head. At least as an "extra-large" I don't run the risk of getting headaches like I sometimes get with my baseball hats. I have been wearing it today and it is very comfortable. I am calling it my lucky fishing hat.