Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

'Black-Eyed-Peas' is a recent commission for a client who missed out on the 'Nibblets'.  I ddn't want to replicate myself, but I thought this was a fun riff on the idea.  once again, the entire vignette was created out of leather.  I have to say that sweet pea plant was one of the most challenging projects I've tackled in a long time, far more complicated than I thought it was going to be.

:dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:   :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance: (sorry, I just had to dance a little)  :redface:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:  :dance:

:dance:  :dance:  :dance:   Thanks again, folks! :dance:  :dance:  :dance:

lol, you're a funny lady!  even funnier is the fact that I DID leave my Easter window in place last year - until Christmas, when I put this one in.  of course, I planted flowers in the spring, but I never got around to doing a halloween window, and round about November, one of the other shop owners came and asked me if I needed help removing the dead flowers - so I guess some people do mind. . .

I actually put this window in ON Christmas eve.  the idea started when I looked at my decorations, then my window, and thought, 'I really don't have time for this, I wish I could just toss them all in the window. . . so I did.  I liked it so much that I decided to just fill the windowboxes outside with balls, too, so they would look like they were spilling though the glass. . .  it wasn't difficult at all, I anchored the big ormaments and then tied the rest of the balls randomly to fish line and tossed them on.

the best part happened a few days after Christmas. Walmsrt had a HUGE sale and I bought another whole shopping cart of ormanets for 25 cents a box.  When I got home, I started filling in the blanks (and going over the top).  at one point as I worked, a man walked by with his 4 year-old son.  the little kid stopped to watch me for a minute, clearly puzzled by something.  then he said 'What are you doing?" in a tone that obviously implied that he was talking to some sort of nut'

I replied 'I'm decorating for Christmas'

the little kid scowled, stamped his foot, and said 'But Christmas is DONE!' (not just over, or past, but finished)

and I said, 'yes, I know, but I'm getting ready for next year'

and suddenly the boy got very excited and shouted 'NEXT year???  Dad, we've got to go tell mom!  Christmas comes again next year!

so you see, there is sometimes a little perk to being late ;-)  :redface:

:clap:  :clap:  :clap: he's adorable. . . but I think you should have called him 'kung-foo Panda' cause it sure looks like he knows the moves!  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

are you carving all that moose antler by hand, or are you using a dremel?  either way, wowie :clap:

thanks, Karen . . and if anyone would know about movement, it would you and those fabulous cats :clap:

re: the nose. . yes, it starts as a rectangle of plain leather ladder-stitched to the bridge of the nose.  there's no wire or clay underneath, I use the the excess leather to form the 'innards, which in turn helps the nose hold its shape.

:clap:  :clap:  :clap: now that's a little ray of sunshine! :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

oh, shoot. . . EASTER????

(guess I missed that one competely  :redface: )

I haven't been around much these last few months, I've been trying desperately to catch & stay afloat in this less-than-stellar economy, but I really miss my TT-time.  anyway, it occurred to me this morning as I was getting ready to finally pull my Christmas window out in the shop that I had never posted a 'happy holiday' to the list - or posted pictures of my Christmas window, even at my website. . .

so here, much belated, is my holiday greetings (I figure we all need a little holiday spirit about now anyway ;-))

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

and my Christmas window, featuring 'Poof' the bunny who made his magician disappear:

(and before anyone else says it. . . yep, it took a lot of balls to do this window ;-))

:hug:  :hug:  :hug: Thanks, folks!, ya'll are great! :hug:  :hug:  :hug:

:clap:  :clap:  :clap: great little vignette - and cute as heck bear :clap:  :clap:  :clap: (and my vote would definately be pic #1)

:clap:  :clap:  :clap: he is as adorable as his creator  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

RE: 'I know ANOTHER kitten!'. . . .

it ain't just another kitten, sweetie. . .

it's another

FABULOUS

kitten!

whatta babe!  lovin this one as much as the last. . . and can't believe you worked with mouton for 2 big bears in a row!  I think it's soooo freakin tough to work with, even if you don't line it.   they are bothg fabulous! :clap:  :clap:  :clap: hats off to the tough tiny lady ;-)  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

thanks, folks!  I've guess I've got goslings on the the brain these days - our puppywalks are full of goose poop, with all the nestig canadian geese along the river 

Meet Gertie & the Goslings, new from KD&CO

Gertie is 18" long, the goslings are 4.5"

now appearing on ebay at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 0392822913

I think I could use every cliche & compliment known to man  - and still run out of words to descibe how wonderful this pup is.  absolutely amazing - and the cutest thing I've seen in ages.  truly the work of a master  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

sweetie, it happened in less than 15 seconds, and that last bid was during the last TWO seconds (I was watching this one at the end  :redface: I thought she was so wonderful that I was actually sitting in my chair chanting 'go. . . go. . .go. . . come on, come on. . . )

(it was almost as good as a roulette game)

I'm glad you got what you did, you deserved every penny & more

:clap:  :clap:  :clap: really, really great!  I love your bunnies & was wondering when we'd get to see one again!  what a charmer! :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

:clap:  :clap:  :clap: really, really great - and that bunny!!  love, love, lovin it  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

ouCh!!! - she is amazing, and we can only say . . .(repeat after me)

It's the economy. . .

It's the economy. . .

It's the economy. . .

It's the economy. . .

it has to be, cause it sure can't be this little piggy ;-)

:clap:  :clap:  :clap: lady, I just don't know how you do it!  :clap:  :clap:  :clap:

(and I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am that you do it in addition to home schooling your kids - I hope you at least have a cleaning lady ;-)   :hug:

he is amazing, I wasn't shocked at all (just a little jealous  :redface: )

oucH!  actually, my worst spill happened much like that, only I didn't let go of the leash. . .  we were walking on the RR tracks and they ran down the slope to the service road alongside the track to get to another stray dog.  I lost my footing, feet forward, came down on my back almost underneath my arm & got pulled about 50 feet on the ice.  it would have been a riot, if I hadn't had the breath knocked out of me - and cracked a rib.  I lost about 3 weeks of work with that one.

concenus: wear cleats -  except that I usually do.  I wore out 2 pair yaxtrax this winter and had stubbornly refused to invest in a 3rd pair.

I bought them again after that  :redface:

well, I don't have big dogs, but I've got 2 60-pounders that I walk on 'Y' leash at least 2 hours a day.  I got this pair as 8-week-old pups (8# each) and started out with the best of intentions.  I was going to show everyone how to raise a dog right@

I bought 'The Art of Raising a Puppy', the best & most humane (and prettiest) harnesses I could find (Lupine) and had everything set and ready to go when I took the pup home.

The first thing they did was chew through each others $30 harness.  I bought the cheaper ones.  They ate those.   bought cheaper still - and still they ate them. 

I started buying cheap harnesses on ebay in lots of 12.

and I walked them daily, using all of the tips and tricks from 'the Art of Raising a Puppy' by the monks of New Skete.

and every time we stepped out the door, people would rush over to pet them.  People would stop their cars in the intersection to pet them.  Idiots would holler at them from across busy streets. . .and over and over again, I would say 'Please,  don't pet them, I'm trying to train them not to jump'  -  to which every single person replied 'oh, we don't care if they jump on us'

(now they can jump about 5 feet high from a stand-still, and people seem to care a little. . .)

and they learned to pull  - and run and jump to get near every single person they see, because they learned that everyone loves them and wants to pet them.  on top of that, they are beagle-mix, which is a pretty high-powered little engine already. 

I tried everything to get them to stop pulling, every safe and humane harness & halter out there - and I've got a drawer-full to prove it.  I tried the Halti, I tried harness that pulled straps that ran down from the back and across their chest, harnesses that had the leash attach to the chest, ALL of them, and bought in pairs. 

Nothing stopped them from pulling.  one day a walk-in client who trains dogs offered to walk them for me.  She was back in less than 10 minutes and handed me the leash saying " You need to get these dogs on a choke-chain'  When I replied this my 'inhumane' rhetoric, she said 'Nonsense, you need to get these dogs under control'

I didn't really believe her, so I tried a regular martingale next , and still had no luck. (they'd happily choke themselves to death, if they thought there might be some petting involved)

so we switched to a plain choke-chain collar - and saw an almost immediate improvement, although they did manage to snap the d-rings of several seriously heavy-duty chain collars that first year.

Now we use a 'check-choke' collar, which is pretty much like a martingale, with a chain through the rings instead of strap.  The trainer explained to me that the dog learns to 'listen to the chain' as it rasps through the rings, and should learn to stop pulling against it.  I think the check-choke is much easier on their necks than the bare chain, and they do listen to the chain -  usually. . .

as far as using those chain-prong collars, if you've got a big dog with thick neck hair. you might just have to.  (and if anyone give you guff, just do what I did, and let them jump all over the prick.  My guys took a guy down once, in front of the post office, after I warned him not to pet them and he started in anyway - just gave 'em a little slack and the guy was on his back)

The point of all that was just to reassure you that sometimes it's not your fault, sometimes, it's just plain the breed of dog.  I used to have 2 rotties & 2 cockers that never needed a leash and marched like little ducks in row behind me.  Now I know how that mom with a screaming kid feels like in the supermarket checkout. .  :redface:  :redface:  :redface:

The other big problem with all the pulling was the toll it was taking on my shoulders and arms.  it was killing me on top of the stress I put on my wrists & elbows with work.  I tried a lot of leashes, too, and I finally cobbled together a leash system that works well for me.

1 25 foot Flexi leash
2 check-choke collars,
one 'knot-a-coupler' bunggee 'Y'

and one 'Jerk-ease' coupler

I find that the addition of the shock absorber makes a huge difference in health of my joints, but it also give me a little bit of recovery time, helping me catch my balance & brace against the next lunge, and the smaller 'Jerk-Ease' makes a handy second handle when I need to short-leash quickly.  The dogs have also learned to respond to the 'click' of the Flexi-leash.  many times, my voice won't stop them, but 3 clicks of the leash will stop them in their tracks.

one note on Flexi-leashes, though.  If you're like me, you probably laughed when you read the warnings about leash 'snap-back', but the swivel on the end of our flex-leash snapped this winter when the leash was a full 25 feet out & the pups on a full run. . .  the leash retracted at an unbelievable rate & the swivel caught me an inch below my left eye, giving me a black eye the size of an eggplant.  All I could do was thank god for sparing my eye & mop up the blood.  the black eye is gone now, but it left a very discernable 'V' scar under my eye that I'll be passing off as an old dueling scar in the future, so be careful with those flexis and be sure to replace yours at least once a year (if you've got a pulling dog, or jerk on the leash often, you need to replace the leashes & collars about every 6 months, mine have snapped several swivels & clips in the last 2 years)