prezzies for the soon-to-be

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two of my natural kids teammates are about to have teensy ones: melissa of sqrl & bee studio , & donna of day of rest.

some of us on the team are throwing them baby showers. well sort of. we are spread out all over the world, so getting together for tea & party games isn't possible. what we are doing is making prezzies for their babes, & shipping them by a set date. our hope is that the gifts all arrive within the span a few days.



assuming they are behaving, & are not reading this post, i can tell you what i've made. well, made & making. you see, a certain elfling snatched one away from manlyman, & proceeded to love all over it. by love, i mean to say that he stuck it in his mouth, & chomp-chomp-chomped! giggling maniacally all the while.



there he is, my sweet doctor horrible, with a cheeky chicken's head in his mouth. i had planned on making a chicken for his birthday, but apparently he wanted a specific one. happily, i have more of this fabric to sew another for the shower.


these chickens are much smaller than those for sale in theshop. i like them, so may have to offer both sizes. the smaller hens don't have crocheted crowns. instead, i used red twill tape. i love how they appear even more rustic this way. i may even prefer it. hmm.


i'll show more photos when i've got them ready to ship. perhaps even links to what the others are making. what fun!

~peace.

of chickens, shops, & blogs...

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my wee elfling loves the cheeky chickens! to such a great degree that photo shoots have not gone well. he wants only to bite, drool, & otherwise bestow his love upon them. because i cannot let him love the chickens as he longs, tears ensue.

it's not as if he doesn't have one of his very own; it's that he wants them all. i did list more cheeky chickens in theshop, though. they just aren't listed with photos of them being loved upon by a beautiful elfling.

speaking of shops; i've finally opened my other etsy shop! it's where you'll find all of my bags, slings, pouches, & other things not created specifically for kids. i don't know how to refer to it. non-kid store sounds strange, & adult store is, well, you know. wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

so the new shop is called kat's belfry. i wasn't sure if i should keep the name similar, or if that would be confusing. in the end i went for similar. obviously. you can find it here. there isn't much in it at the moment, but i hope to have it fully stocked over the next few weeks.

the last thing i wanted to chat about is my blog. i'm sure you've noticed the change, but don't get used to it. i do like it, quite more than i thought i would. the problem is that this template makes my sidebar photos dead. no matter how many times i redo them, they are no longer hotlinked.

i've looked everywhere, but cannot find a fix. if you know of one, please let me know. i know it is not just me, because a friend is having the same problem.

wow, perfect timing! the wee one stirs. have a lovely day!
~peace.

of fish & chicks

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thehobbit's beloved fish, mortimer silvertongue (aka mo) passed on last week. he was 2 & a half years old. we buried him beneath a pomegranate shrub, purchased for the purpose. it has been a painful week for my sweet boy. losing a pet is heart-breaking, but a first pet? sigh. sadness beyond reckoning.

now has begun the discussions (shall we say?) about what creature to be the newest family member at thebelfry. manlyman wants a parakeet, thehobbit & i want chickens. thus far our discussions are getting us nowhere. we say chickens, he says no. he says parakeet, we pretend he asked us what we're planning on naming our chickens. i'll keep you posted.

in the meantime, i'm making chickens! here is the first of what i hope will be many:

she has a jingle bell deep within her stuffing, a crocheted crown, & a twill beak. the beak has been double stitched so tag-obsessed teenies cannot pull it off. each chicken is 8 inches (20.32 cm) from tip to tail. perfect for little ones, as well as teenies. elfling has tried to steal the four i've made, so i'm thinking i have a winner here.

as soon as i can discover why etsy is saying my photos are too large, i'll have them for sale in theshop. i'd love to hear what you think about them. good thoughts only please - all negative commenters shall be ignored. probably deleted. perhaps banned. you know, as usual :)

on that note of love & joy, i am off to catch up on the goings-on of my blog friends, have a lovely one!

~peace.