Grrl friend!

All together now....ahhhhhh!
Well didn't she look lovely? And what a splendid day too; I don't generally need an excuse to crack open a bottle of something bubbly and have a slice of something Victoria spongey, but I felt it was entering into the spirit of the day and would probably be rude not to!

The dress was a triumph too, featuring stunning handmade lace and embroidery stitched by the good folks at the Royal School of Embroidery, where one of my stitchy chum's Curegreed is studying....I have had a piece of my work shown there, but only in as much as it was a swap piece to Rosa and she had it on her desk for a wee while...but that counts in my book! ;0)

(yoink! Photo courtesy of BBC)

Apparently the stitchers had to change needles every 3 hours and wash their hand every 30 minutes to keep it immaculate; it's probably just as well I'll never be that accomplished because it would've been covered in kitty fur and cake crumbs
Still there's always Harry, I'm hoping he might choose someone with a maverick taste in fashion and a penchant for budgies and jingly bells ;0)

Now talking of stitchy loveliness! I'm sure most of you are familiar with the fabulous Denise Litchfield, the Grrl behind Grrl & Dog. 
I adore Denise and her work: from her guerilla knitting and street art installations:

(Yoink! Photos courtesy of Grrl&Dog...hot chick too I think you'll agree!)

To her glorious vintage softy characters, check out her Esty shop here:

So I was thrilled to the very gills (and also extremely terrified!) when she commissioned a portrait of her top dog and bezzie mate Baxter, a Dingo Kelpie and a very fine chap too!

Denise sent me some glorious photo's of Hound and gave me a few guidelines, sew this is what I came up with :)

He loves the bush so Mr. Baxter is nestled amongst a leafy french knotty bush/undergrowth in various shades of olivey green, metallic silver and greys

Native flowers: the waratah, a symbol for the state Denise and her crew live in, and for courage under crisis, which Baxter has shown in spades. I have hand stitched a big bold waratah blossom in shades deep red, silky cerise and crimson with purple detail, and also a waratah bud with tiddly glass beads

Pink and green together in any combination, so as a tribute to Denise's guerilla knitting, he's standing on guard in front of a yarn-bombed lamp post.
Keeping him company is his wee Zombie penguin. (Baxter had a stuffed emperor penguin that he loved to play with as a puppy..he would kill it and bury it, then dig it up to relive the fun all over again...bless!)

His pet names of Houndy Woundy and Mongrel Dog.  Like all my various critters, who will snub a fresh bowl of top of the range kitty dins in favour of a rancid bit of doin's they found behind the wheelie bin, Baxter also loves to scrounge for "street treats".  I composed a stitchy ode to his houndy self

Mongrel Dog! Houndy Woundy!
Eats treats from the street
And stuff that he's found...y
He growls, he snores, he barks, he farts
And most of all he is lion heart!

(Apparently I'm vaguely related to Julian Grenfell the poet...you can tell can't ya?!) ;0)
And finally a stitched nod to one of their favourite illustrations from the frankly fabulous J T Steiny Dog-a-Day bird shit breakfast!

Hopefully he will be arriving Australia side soon, in the meantime a huge, for the hundredth time, "THANK YOU!" to my stitchy compadre Denise for trusting me with her best mate :)

And if you'd like to see your furry, feathery or fishy friend immortalized Mimi stylee drop me a line or hop on over to my shop!

Before I disappear into a cake induced nap a quick reminder that to celebrate her birthday the fabulous Carina from Polka and Bloom is holding a series of giveaways over the next couple of weeks featuring pieces by fellow stitchers and this wee laughing budgie courtesy of moi...

..who will be up for grabs on Friday 13th May eek...(that's the budgie up for grabs not me...you'd never afford the cake bill!)

Big Bank Holiday loves to y'all and thanks for droppin' by! :)