Felt Christmas Doggies For Your Tree!

Here's a few Christmas items I've been adding to my Dogbarks shop!  

Isaac

Angel 

Bing 

Some day I hope I have a whole Christmas tree decorated with little felt dogs and cats! 

New Red, White, and Blue Art and Clothing!

I've been on the red, white, and blue kick lately and added these to my shops in the last week. 

This first one came into being as I was considering the plight of the greyhound. The good news is that only seven states still allow racing. But that is also the bad news. One day it will be just a shadow from the past. It can't come soon enough. 

Visit  http://www.grey2kusa.org/  and follow @grey2kusa on twitter for ongoing updates about  the state of the racing industry. 

This watercolor pencil work was just for fun. Kittens are just so cute, and I envisioned a little CAT-det hiding away on July 4th, taking everything in. 

Keeping with a red, white, and blue theme, I finally used this cheery polka dotted fabric to make a skirt. I love polka dots - they are always happy! Add a little bird and a few cats and it becomes triple happy!

Click on any photo to be taken to the listing in my shops. 

The American Cat and Dog

I do believe that to be a cat or a dog in America is probably one of the best, if not THE best, country to live in! Animals rights aren't everywhere. So thank God - and hug your fur friend this weekend!

Weekend Skirt Creations!

Some new creations from the weekend! I found this lime green dotted fabric while at my local thrift store on Saturday (which I love). It was a sundress of sorts - rather ugly, actually, with this yucky green lacy stuff all over. But the fabric itself was very cute. So I bought it ,and after washing it, cut it into a skirt. I added some ribbing I had on hand and then mixed some fabric paint Itogether - red, white, and blue - to make the kitties. I had just had a customer tell me the day before that she liked my cat themed clothing in Catcalls, but there were no plus sizes, so this is, hopefully, the beginning of more of those sizes. It was quite fun to make! 

Not to leave my Dogbarks shop out of the fun, I pulled out the left over flannel you see here, and after looking it over, decided a skirt would be a cute creation for this remnant as well. So I did the same thing again, adding pockets and a waistband from a black t-shirt. It's very comfy! 

Just click on the pictures to find more info on them. 

So what did YOU create this past weekend? 

Boxers Anyone??

 Who doesn't love a pair of soft flannel boxers? Custom orders always welcome for both pants and shorts and any dog of your choice! Both guys and gals available.  

Click HERE to see any of these in Dogbarks! 

Mention this blog at checkout and receive 10% off any pair or order! (refunded through paypal)

Ink and Watercolor Cat and Dog Art

I'm getting ready to head back to Ohio after spending almost four glorious months in Montana. I'm having moments of breakdowns as I think about driving AWAY from the mountains, the blue skies, the dry air, the milder winters and heading into damp, cloudy, sunless, snow-filled Northeast Ohio. I will go hiking in the mountains one more time before I leave Friday. Hopefully I will be back next spring. 

Since I don't want to add much bulk to my inventory that I must take back, I have been painting and drawing. These are all available in my shops and can be accessed by clicking on the art. They are all affordable,original works, not prints. 

"I Did It"

"Napping Furkids"

"The Scolding"

"The Righteous Man and His Cat"

"Feline Lickin' Good" 

New Cat and Dog Artwork with New Pens!

I have been in a drawing mood the last few days. I sold several pieces of artwork in the last week and wanted to replenish. I sold my all time absolute favorite kitty painting to a cat lover which made me happy! I almost pulled it many times, but now I am glad it has a good home. 

Full Tummy 4" x 6" Watercolor 

I have used the IDenti-Pen and Ultra Fine Sharpie for most of my art.

But I wanted something finer, so bought these two new Micron pens last Saturday. 

You can see the difference in these pictures.

The series, Cat and Spider, was done with the IDenti-Pen and watercolor pencils. 

Yummy!

To Eat or Not To Eat

Uh Oh!

*********

This was my first ink drawing with the new pens. It was going to be completely in  brown, but I didn't like it so added the black for definition and shading. And I used blue ink for the kitty's eyes. 

In a Punk

This one was going to be another complete ink drawing but looked too plain, so I used watercolor pencils, too.

Morning Visitor

I sold both of my Greyhound art pieces in my Dogbarks shop, so added this yesterday. It is a combination of the Micron pen and watercolor pencils. 

Is This What They Call A Couch Potato?

These are all ACEOs, or trading cards, 3.5" x 2.5" and are available in my shops. Just click the photos! 

I have yet to make any prints of my work. Everything is an original, signed and dated on the back. Sometimes I think I should offer them for those who want art for less money. The original ACEOs are $8-$10. Any suggestions? 

Meet Baron - my first plush German Shepherd!

A couple of days ago I started offering custom made plush dogs. You can choose a breed I have already made or one that I have yet to make! I received my first order the next day for a German Shepherd. I was pretty excited. I thought I would share what happened so you can see the process I use. Nothing Harvard would approve of, but nonetheless, successful. At least mostly. 

First I look at the dog breed. I pull up dozens of pictures on the web: live shots, drawings, silhouettes, clip art. I mostly study the live shots. The hard part about the shepherd is that almost all the photos are of a dog with his mouth open! I had to guess. I then start drawing on whatever piece of paper is available...newspaper, drawing paper, bags, magazines...anything available. I have quite a colorful collection of patterns for dogs and cats! I usually end up piecing the pattern together. This one is a combination of yellow paper and brown shipping paper. With lots of tape! This is actually the tweaked pattern. You can see how I shortened the legs by folding and taping. I'm so creative!

I thought a nice black and white fabric might be kind of cool. The buyer left fabric choice to me. So I carefully cut out the shepherd and sewed it together. I knew from the start that the ears were going to be the most difficult. Something about pointy ears always gives me trouble. As soon as I started stuffing, I realized my mistake. This is going to be a zebra! I could also tell the legs were too long. I always have to remember that fabric stretches, no matter what kind, when stuffing. This is what is left of my first attempt. Go ahead and laugh....

Pathetic dog...scrap that.

I decided flannel is good. I love flannel and have made many dogs from it. I cut again. I sewed it all with a zigzag stitch on the outside like all my dogs. Looked pretty good. I stuffed...and stuffed....and stuffed. BIG dog! Almost a whole pillow! (I use standard pillows for fill) And then.....arrrrrgh! Neck too long, legs too long, not buff enough in the chest. The tail was awesome though! Here's what's left of that one. Head is still stuffed and tail cut off. 

I hate to destuff a dog that is almost finished. I feel like I am killing it! I name them all and they become my little buddies, my fosters, if you will. Fortunately, I hadn't named this one yet. 

After fixing the pattern, I cut again. I could tell this was much better. But I still had the ear problem. I decided to go with just stitching them on at the top and hope they looked alright. I had tried to place them on the side and hand stitch them on, but they looked funny. After all of that, I finally ended up with a shepherd I approved of.

I decided he needed eyes. I don't put eyes on a lot of my dogs, but this one begged for eyes. Felt eyes and a felt  nose. And a nice country collar. 

Say  hello to Baron! If the buyer does not want him for some reason, I will put him in my shop. He will be $35.00

Here is one of my listings for a custom dog. There are two so you can see a variety of dogs. Click the photo to go to the listing in Dogbarks. I will add Baron somewhere in the group of photos. 

Wearing the Cats and Dogs of Autumn

I've been adding some more fall and Halloween things to my shops. It is such a colorful time of year that helps us get ready to bed down for winter. Click on any photo to find out more.

Pumpkins in the cornfields
Gold among the brown
Leaves of rust and scarlet
Trembling slowly down
Birds that travel southward
Lovely time to play
Nothing is as pleasant
As an autumn day!

~anonymous

A fallen leaf is nothing more
than a summer's wave good bye

~anonymous

And this was just too cute to pass up!