Today’s post is brought to you by Maisy. That’s all.

March 24, 2010 of 365 : maisy’s kohl lined eye

I will have photographed every cute inch of Maisy by the end of the year.

365 : maisy + yarn

Best way to unwind after a day at the fabric shop is to mess up a ball of yarn.

365 : maisy’s snout

What a cute nose!

365 : snowy night in kitchener

Sunday afternoon we drove out to Kitchener to celebrate Andrew’s Gramma’s 75th Birthday. It was snowing there and I took advantage of the fact that I had my tripod with me when I took Maisy out for a walk. Snowy nights are always a bit magical.

365 : maisy in the snow.

I could easily do a 365 project just based on Maisy.

This week’s postings were rudely interrupted by some technical difficulties with my server. Things appear to be back up and running for the moment. Fingers crossed.

Friday seems like a good day to catch you up on a few more of my Twitter links.

• This is the website I wanted to start for Maisy (via notcot)

• YUM! just made kettle corn. thanks Joy the Baker!

• fantastic t-shirt transformation inspiration

• textile amazing-ness. wow wow wow (via Stylebubble)

• just discovered this dreamy blog

• super cute bike basket!

• pretty cut-out embroidery using chainstitch

• i just discovered ‘layer cake shop‘ (via Duet Letterpress)

• knitted lamps! (via notcot)

• parcel purses – i want one. or two.

• the internet was created so we can play funny games

• Selvedge has opened a shop. CUTE. love the girls in Liberty dresses!

• i think this is hilarious – living on the outside of a building?

• i’m starting to love the idea of whole cloth quilts… but with a map hand quilted into it? amazing.

These photos were taken on Brock of a couple posters that were transformed by all the rain we’ve been having. Pretty.

I hope you have a super weekend, I have plans to eat Chippy’s and play some new fangled version of Frisbee in the park tonight with some dear friends and Maisy.

We just got back from Paris and amidst doing tons of laundry and trying to get back on track I wanted to post quickly about my favourite dog in the world. Monday was Maisy’s fourth birthday!

I thought I’d share some puppy photos. The top photo is the first photo I ever saw of her, in the background you can see her brothers and her mother’s tail.

I asked Maisy a few questions and here’s what she had to say…

What’s your background?

Maisy : I was born up near Ottawa in a pound near Almonte. My mom was part Collie and part Walker Hound. I never met my dad, so part of me is a mystery. It’s fun to hear what people think I am though. I was the only girl with about four brothers. I wish I knew where they went. I’d love to see them again.

What are some of your favourite things?

Maisy : I really like sandwiches, resting my head on the front window ledge of the shop, raspberries, all my friends at the workroom, running in the park, stuffed animals (especially my new beaver!), sleeping on the couch, lying in the sun, going to Home Hardware, finding something good to eat in the garbage and having a bone in the backyard.

What don’t you like?

Maisy : I really don’t like dogs that wear clothes, strangers who lurk in the doorway, baths, medicine of any kind and all the cats in our neighborhood.

Do you have any favourite tricks that you do?

Maisy : The usual. I’ll shake a paw (left & right), sit and lie down, especially if there are treats involved. I can also high five you with my nose and I know how to close the door when I come in from the backyard. I’m trying to learn to cut fabric, but it’s not that easy!

Now that you’re four years old, what’s next?

Maisy : Things are pretty great. I work customer service and security full time at the workroom, but I’m hoping to cut back on my hours for the summer and spend more time running around the park.

I’m extra happy to check this project off My Crafty List of Things to Do. I’ve been wanting to make a box cushion dog bed for Maisy for well over a year. I had gotten as far as ordering a 10lb bag of organic buckwheat hulls from Northern Quinoa last November and then the project fell to the wayside.

When Erin approached me about doing some introductory upholstery classes, I knew the box cushion would make a great class and help kick start this personal project of mine!

I had originally wanted to make the cushion out of Denyse Schmidt’s Cheater Print fabric from her County Fair Home Dec line, but changed my mind last minute to this dark Tulip Medallion print from the same collection. This sweet little print has grown on me in the last couple months.

I really enjoy testing out new classes and being one of the students. It’s amazing how many ways there are to insert a zipper in your sewing. I love the version we did here and Erin showed us how to make a little pocket for the zipper pull to slide into. I now wish that I had chosen to do contrast piping. Lauren did and it really added another level of detail. I will definitely do that on my next one.

Each of us also made a muslin casing to cover the inside (foam, rice, buckwheat, etc) and make it super easy to care for and wash our cushion covers. This clever feature alone, makes me want to recover every box cushion I own.

At first Maisy was completely wary of her new bed and would hide when I called her over to it. Perhaps because I was so insistent that she get in it for a photo. I ended up laying out pieces of cheese all over it to get her to realize how great it really was.

As with Erin’s other class, the Upholstered Cube, I learned a lot of really great tricks that are going to come in handy for my future upholstery goals. When you look around, box cushions are everywhere! I have very lofty ambitions of doing a patchwork couch and I’m feeling like it just might be possible now. (kinda.)

What a gorgeous fall/birthday weekend! Saturday night Andrew took me to Le Select Bistro for my favourite meal, steak frites. Everything was incredible; the wine, the crispy fries, the perfectly cooked steak and the yummy creme brule. I LOVE french bistro and this was everything I love about french bistro. Delicious and luxurious!

On Sunday we drove out to the Halton region to hike on the Niagara Escarpment with Maisy. It’s one of our favourite excursions, no matter what the season. With the changing leaves right now, the landscape is especially brilliant. The woodland scenery is filled with mossy rocks, ferns, chipmunks and large mushrooms, so I was endlessly mesmerized by it all. I lifted two tiny little plants for my terrarium and wished that I could have taken home a few mossy logs and rocks.

Sunday night I finished dress 13, which has a bit of a woodland theme. I wore it last night at the workroom’s birthday party, so I’ll be posting it tomorrow. This was definitely the best birthday I’ve had yet!