Kona

What a silly looking puppy! She's in a growth spurt right now and she's got all this skin that she still has to grow into. And she's getting these goofy facial expressions now. For example; when she's begging for food she looks at you with half closed eyes and her head sits way back on her neck. She kinda looks stoned, but I think she's trying to look nonchelant (sp?)...just in case one was to give her a little nibble or a small piece of something were to fall on the floor. Then she springs into action. Her nose has also grown quite a bit in the last little while. It's larger and longer.....a more 'mature' look than she had before. Her eyes look small here, but they aren't really. I guess her head has just gotten bigger. And she still has her curly hair. Apparently some labs have a double coat; they keep their curly hair into adulthood, whereas sometimes labs will have a curly coat when they are small, but then they grow into it and the curly hair disappears. I hope Kona's hair stays curly. It gives her character.

So, she's been allowed to become a couch dog. (NOT by me). And she has picked out her favorite spot on the couch. Her on one end of the couch and Mr.Man on the other end of the couch. I now have to sit in a different chair....which is fine as my cross stitch stand is all set up nicely with one of the other chairs. So I won't complain!!! Kona is about 21 weeks in this picture...I guess that is about 5 months old!

Dog vs Cat...

I had to break up a fight the other day. Our puppy is getting very big. She's not really a puppy anymore, but there certainly is lots of puppy attitude. And she's got energy. I really thought that Labs were supposed to be laid back and lazy. This one is not. She gets into these moods where she runs laps around the house. I guess I don't blame her. She does have to stay home along during the day when we're at work. And we don't always get a chance to take her to T-Park for a super run. Anyhow. No puppies or cats were hurt during this confrontation. I must say that Jingles (the cat) is getting much braver during these 'confrontations'.
Kona usually corners Jingles in the guest bedroom (or Jingles' bedroom as this is where the cat has hung out since we've gotten the dog.) By the time I get upstairs to interfere, Jingles is usually under the bed and all one sees is the swiping of paws out from under the bed. It is funny in a sense; I wonder what goes through the cat's head when all this is occuring. I don't know if she is really scared more than she is just mad that her life has been interrupted by this goofy puppy. I guess we should have forced more 'meetings of the pets' when Kona was still a baby. I just didn't want Kona to get hurt. Now I'm afraid for them both.







The picture is kind of blurry, but you get the idea. I'm not sure who looks more scared here, the cat or the dog!

Another nifty artwork project...

To go along with the birthday that that nifty cake was made for, I also made the kids picture frames. I was inspired from many hours of surfing scrapbook blogs on the internet, then decided to visit a scrapbook store and promptly became inspired when I saw the bestest paper ever! Yeah, I know that sounds weird, but sometimes scrapbook paper just speaks to me and says....'Buy me! You won't regret it!!'

So this is a windowbox type of picture frame, which turned out really cool. This was for a little boy (obvious little boy colours!), and really didn't take all that long to make. In fact I made two in one night as I also made one for the little girl too.

I was quite happy with how both picture frames turned out (did I say that yet? Maybe a thousand times?). It was one of those really satisfying moments. So satisfying I may in fact create some more. So all those related relations and friends...look out! You may already know what you're getting for your birthday. (hee hee).

And for all those people who aren't all that familiar with scrapbooking, all the decorating on these frames was done with precisionally cut paper. So there!

Oh that cake!

I was commissioned to make a cake for a birthday, and of course I jumped at the chance. It was a 1st birthday, and since I'm not much of a baby person (didn't really know what to put on the cake) I kind of went generic. I was told 'no limits! Do whatever you'd like to do!' So I did. And this is what I came up with!

I am quite pleased with the final outcome. In all, the cake took me all day to bake. In reality I baked the actual cake the night before, then spent the morning and afternoon assembling it (which didn't take all that long...only 2 layers to the cake) and then tackling the decorations. The part that took the longest was mixing the colored fondant. I've found a recipe to make my own fondant, but so far have found it easiest to use it right after making it. According to the recipe, it should sit overnight. But I find it gets tough and is hard to mix and mold. Go figure. Don't know what I'm doing wrong. BUT the most important part...although the cake looks cute, it also tasted yummy! It was chocolate of course as I haven't found a satisfactory vanilla/white recipe yet. And it had this lemon pudding/cream cheese filling. I still have some of the filling left in my fridge. Yes, I've been eating it plain...without the cake. It's really that good!