New HRs & a New "Puppy"

Hagen Renaker closed its doors last December after more than 75 years in business and Paul Francis has been selling the very last of the factory stock on eBay. Initially I did not plan to buy anything, but as time passed, I decided that I did want one of the last pieces HR ever produced.

This yellow Lab was available and came with a card of authenticity.

Then, in going through the boxes that my friend sent me and asked me to disperse, I came across a couple more Hagen Renakers.

This tiny Persian kitten that has beautiful grey shading...

... and this sitting Basset Hound puppy (those eyes!!) were among the things she gave me and were tucked in a plastic bag with an assortment of other animals that had been used as props for scenes.

Finally, here is another yellow Lab but he's not a Hagen Renaker.

This is Tammo, Beach Son Kyle's yellow Lab who is still a puppy at 8 months old. 

A very BIG puppy who weighed in at 80 lbs at his last vet check and is still growing.

Pony Pal Melissa, Kyle's youngest, is especially fond of Tammo and loves to hang out with him any time she can. And like most Labs, he is very good with her and loves her right back.

Anyway, back to the Hagen Renakers. I'm still sorting through the boxes my friend sent me to disperse, and with the GLC show coming this weekend, I doubt I will be able to start the giveaway until after that. 

But you never know, so stay 'tooned!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

And, just for fun, the pillow case I made for Melissa, my puppy loving 18 month old granddaughter who calls dogs "woofs." 

Melissa is our youngest grandchild and lives in Florida. When we FaceTime, she always asks to see "the woofs," Pepper, Molly, and Nash. Naturally I had to find her some fabric with woofs on it!

The Quiet Book is Finished!

This is a non horsey post. (Sort of. There is a horse in it, so maybe I should remove this disclaimer? Haha!)

Finally, after two months, Melissa's quiet book is finished! I started it March 15 and would have finished earlier, but I interrupted that project to sew masks for people to wear during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it's completed now and I am really happy with how it turned out.

Beach Son Kyle asked for a sunny theme since he and his family live in Florida. The fabric of the cover depicts things found in the ocean. (I always ask my kids what they'd like to see in their kids' quiet books.)

 I made each page separately on felt squares to give the backgrounds interest.

This pretty fabric is very sunny, but it also has apples on it. That's a nod to the orchard that my family owned and where Kyle and his siblings spent many happy days with their grandparents and aunts and uncle. (This is an in-progress photo - I cleaned all those loose threads up before putting it into the book.)

I could not believe that I could find an appliqué of a beach chair. Ya gotta love Etsy!

This one I drew and stitched directly into the book. My mother drew the palm tree years ago, and I wanted to put a little bit of her in the book since she used to enjoy making them with me. There are some little treasures inside the chest and the monkeys are on velcro and can be moved around.

The flowers can be picked and the snail's shell can be laced/unlaced with the green cord. This is a new page for me. I saw the idea online and adapted it. The pompom grass is leftover trim from another project but it adds interest and is tactile.

 Not only can you braid the princess's hair, but you can put her sparkly hair clips into your own hair.

This was one of my kids' favorite pages when they were little. Kyle's kids requested that I put it in their sister's book for her.

 Another idea I saw online and adapted for my own use. The orange and blue ribbons represent the University of Illinois (my alma mater and where our kids grew up; they're big Illini fans), the blue also represents Brigham Young University where Kyle and Ashley went to school and met, and the black and gold are for Purdue, located here in our hometown and where Craig got his degrees. (I did two years as an undergrad at Purdue and then a certificate beyond my Masters so I root for the Boilermakers, too.)

When you are making a quiet book for a toddler, you have to be very careful that there are no choking hazards. I double knotted these large rings to the ribbon "tentacles" to keep the beads from being pulled off.

The horsey page - at last! And I am so excited about it. I saw a giraffe idea online and changed it to a horse,

 one that eats the same treats as Abby - carrots and candy canes!

The dog's ear is free and flops around so you can put earrings on it or take them off, put them in the bling basket, or even put them on your own ears. (You can put the princess's hair clips on the dog, too.)

I designed this one for Lukie a year ago and have since used variations of it for Cowpoke Susie and now Melissa.

 Color changing sequin fabric is fun, relaxing, and even mesmerizing.

 Another pattern that I drew. I saw the fabric in JoAnns and bought it, not knowing what I would use it for, but determined to add it to Melissa's book. (I've learned that when you cut it, you end up with sequins all over the floor! I am still picking them out of the carpet.)

More orange fabric to reflect the team that Kyle grew up with and has rooted for all his life.

Because the pages have so many three dimensional aspects to them, they do not lie flat.

 Assembling the book can be a real bear as a result.

It won't lie flat, that's for sure! But who wants a flat quiet book? The fun is all the surprises and manipulatives inside that give it that lumpy appearance.

Melissa at home in Florida playing with her siblings' books. (Hers is the twenty-first quiet book that I have made.)

I cannot wait for sweet little Melissa to see it.