Strangers in a Strange Land

It’s been a while since we heard from intrepid globetrotting Beasties Paddy and Plunkett, hasn’t it? And now I’m beginning to think there might be a good reason for that… Take a look at their most recent set of holiday snaps and you’ll see what I mean!

What a weird, alien landscape… Are they even still on Earth?
Paddy, Plunkett and some Crazy Rock Towers - H Crawford/CrawCrafts Beasties“Paddy, look at these – they go on for miles!”
Unusual Rock Towers - H Crawford/CrawCrafts BeastiesOf course, Plunkett was in his element – a field full of precariously-balanced rock towers? YES PLEASE!
Investigating the Rock Towers - H Crawford/CrawCrafts BeastiesBut then Paddy spotted something else off in the distance, and he just had to climb down for a closer peek.
Paddy's Off Exploring Again! H Crawford/CrawCrafts Beasties“Hey! Plunkett! Check it out…”
Paddy Discovers Rock Pools - H Crawford/CrawCrafts Beasties“…ROCK POOLS!”
Paddy at the Water's Edge - H Crawford/CrawCrafts BeastiesAnd they were absolutely teeming with wildlife…
Sea Anemone and Hermit Crab - H Crawford/CrawCrafts Beasties…Including this sea anemone, hermit crabs and one rather luxuriant sea slug!
Sea Slug - H Crawford/CrawCrafts BeastiesPaddy could quite happily have watched this fellow grazing away on the rich pastures of underwater algae all day, but Plunkett was a little less keen…
Plunkett's Take on Sea Life - H crawford/CrawCrafts BeastiesSorry, Plunkett! I promise we’ll stick to rocks next time!

What’s the strangest creature you’ve ever found at the beach? Let us know in the comments!

Oh, and be sure to join us again on Friday… I’m doing an extra bonus post this week to share photos from the day trip Explorer Beastie and I took to Ireland’s northernmost point! See you then!

Get Along, Lil’ Beastie!

Yeeeeee haaaaaa!

It’s been a while, but at last… It’s New Beastie Day again! I’m so happy that I’m FINALLY able to share my pre-Christmas commissions with you all. And we’re going to kick off 2017 in style, with Cowgirl Beastie!
Cowgirl Beastie, by CrawCrafts BeastiesShe’s got everything she needs for a long day out on the ranch – first, a classic blue and white checked shirt…
Cowgirl Beastie's Checked Shirt - CrawCrafts Beasties… A toasty jacket…
Cowgirl Beastie's Jacket, by CrawCrafts Beasties… With real leather fringes on the front and back…
Beastie-Sized Leather Fringed Jacket, by CrawCrafts Beasties… And of course, a lariat tied with an authentic lasso knot!
Cowgirl Beastie's Lasso Rope - CrawCrafts BeastiesThis miniature cattle wrangler was requested for a real-life rancher, and she was already looking forward to helping her new friend out on her huge farm in Saskatchewan, Canada. She’s expecting to work hard, so I put her hair into a nice chunky braid to make sure it doesn’t get in her way!
Cowgirl Beastie's Hairdo - CrawCrafts BeastiesThen I added one last finishing touch…
Cowgirl Beastie's Hat, by CrawCrafts Beasties…A felt cowboy hat, complete with a star on the brim in tribute to sharp-shooting queen of the cowgirls Annie Oakley!
Cowgirl Beasties, Ready for Work! CrawCrafts BeastiesTa-daaaaah! Ready to go!

With a long journey to her new home ahead, I sent Cowgirl Beastie on her way good and early – and luckily, she arrived well in time for Christmas! Here she is – looks like she’s settling in nicely, don’t you think?
Cowgirl Beastie at Home - N Couture/CrawCrafts BeastiesThe new Beastie bonanza continues next week, so be sure to join us for the intriguing tale of a little woolly monster who got lost in space… See you then!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2017, everybody! Thanks to everyone who visited us here on the BeastieBlog in 2016… Here’s wishing all of you a year filled with fun, laughter and lots of monster adventures!

We’ll be back with some fresh Beastie fun in a couple of weeks… In the meantime, what have you planned for the new year? Let us know in the comments!

Explorer Beastie at Christmas - CrawCrafts Beasties

Merry Beastmas Everybody!

Phew! We made it!
It’s been a hectic month, and the more observant among you might even have noticed that my Tuesday post went AWOL this week! So the Beasties and I are looking forward to putting our toes up by the fire, getting some well-earned R&R, and catching up with the rest of the WordPress community at last!

So, all that remains is to wish each of you a very happy holiday season, and we’ll be back with more monster fun in the new year. Hope to see you then!

A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man!

A New Barróg Beastie, by CrawCrafts Beasties

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Well, I promised you a new Beastie today, and here he is – another Barróg (that’s the Irish word for “hug”, if you haven’t seen it before) Beastie, proudly holding a pint of the very finest felt porter!

Some of you might be thinking, “Big deal! We’ve seen Pint Beasties before!”… But let’s take a closer look at that pint, shall we?
Pint Barróg Beastie by CrawCrafts BeastiesHere at Beastie Towers, we’re always on the lookout for new ways to make some of the Beasties’ favourite accessories! So I decided to put my recent obsession with needle felting to good use, and rework my existing pint design. You can see one of the old-style ones in this photo…
Groom Beastie's Pint - CrawCrafts Beasties
The stitched head on the pint has a tendency to pop up a little bit once everything is sewn together – fine for Eastern European lagers or some Belgian-style ales, but if your pint of Guinness looks like that when it’s served, you should probably send it back. Being something of a perfectionist/masochist/certifiable basket case, especially when it comes to the accurate portrayal of fine ales, I’ve been working on seeking out the perfect Beastie-sized pint. And that’s where the needle felting came in.
Pint Collage - CrawCrafts Beasties
Behold! Smoother sides! A flatter top! And a texture that more closely resembles the creamy surface of a freshly-poured pint of the black stuff!

All that adds up to a better pint – and a happier Barróg Beastie! Cheers!
I'll drink to that! Happy Barróg Beastie, by CrawCrafts Beasties
In fact, he’s so delighted that he’d like to share one of his favourite books with you… Now you’ll see where we got the title of this post from!
Pint Beastie Meets Flann OBrien - CrawCrafts Beasties
As for me, I’m looking forward to brewing some more reworked Beastie pints soon – I might try a nice red ale next, or perhaps a summery Weissbier. Any requests? Let me know in the comments!

Save

A Sprinkle of Fairy Dust…

A New Arrival at Beastie Towers! CrawCrafts BeastiesHooray! It’s time to spread a bit of new Beastie magic here at Beastie Towers!

This friendly little monster may look like any other Beastie…
Just Another Beastie? CrawCrafts Beasties… But her accessories might give you a clue about her special secret identity!
Beastie Accessories, fit for a Fairy Princess! CrawCrafts BeastiesCrown, sparkly wings, tutu, wand… Yep, I think we might have a Fairy Princess Beastie here!

All her accessories are handstitched and embellished by yours truly… Well, apart from the tutu. I’m proud to announce that, for once, I embraced 20th century technology and used my sewing machine for the waistband!

So, without further ado, let’s see how Fairy Princess Beastie’s outfit comes together.
Fairy Princess Beastie Collage - CrawCrafts BeastiesBeautiful!

This little monster lady also marks another step forward in Beastie-volution – look at her paws, specially adapted to help her hold onto her wand without help.
Fairy Princess Beastie Collage - CrawCrafts BeastiesAs we’re now just heading into summer here in the northern hemisphere, Fairy Princess Beastie should definitely be warm enough in her elegant floaty skirt. But what happens when the weather starts to get colder again?

Don’t worry, Fairy Princess Beastie – we’ve got you covered!
Beastie Sweaters! CrawCrafts BeastiesI couldn’t resist knitting a couple of Beastie-sized sweaters in colours that would complement her lovely fuschia-pink skin tone. The blue one even has sparkles!

And of course, these open up all sorts of mix’n’matching possibilities…
Fashion Show! CrawCrafts BeastiesThis Beastie has already headed off to Germany, to help her new best friend celebrate her birthday! She made sure to bring along a gift, too… Beastie colouring-in pages!
Beastie Colouring In! CrawCrafts BeastiesHere’s wishing them lots of magical monster adventures together!

We’ll be back on Friday to share more tales of Beasties abroad… In the meantime, if you’d like a special monster friend of your own, give us a shout. We’d love to hear from you!

Summer Colour Inspiration!

The Colours of Summer in Ireland - CrawCrafts Beasties
Summer in Ireland is a fleeting thing! Our unpredictable four-seasons-in-one-day climate means that a balmy evening can turn chilly in a heartbeat, and a day that starts out grey and drizzly can transform into a real scorcher by lunchtime. That’s why the very second we see a blink of sunshine here, we drop everything and rush outside to enjoy it… because in five minutes it could be pouring again!

So I’m sure you can understand why I was delighted to get a sunny morning while I was away in the west of Ireland with Explorer Beastie last week. And I brought my camera along to capture all the colours of the Irish countryside, which have inspired the colour palette for my latest round of Barróg Beasties. In case you’re new to the BeastieBlog, Barróg Beasties are a subspecies of Beastie native to Ireland. They’re made from Irish wool, and sport particularly Irish accessories! They get their name from the Irish word “Barróg”, which means “hug”.

These are the colours I chose:
Summer Barróg Beastie Yarn Colours - CrawCrafts Beasties
I picked blue and white to represent our summer skies – there’s usually a cloud or two up there somewhere!
Irish Summer Skies, by CrawCrafts Beasties
And these colours match a couple of the plants you see at this time of the year too! On my wanderings, I found tiny blue forget-me-nots and a few tufts of bog cotton that had survived the recent downpours.
Forget-me-nots - CrawCrafts BeastiesBog Cotton, by CrawCrafts BeastiesOf course, including green was a bit of a no-brainer.
50 Shades of... GREEN! CrawCrafts Beasties
And as for that rich bronze-brown… That’s what the bog looks like in summer! You can see it a bit in this picture – unfortunately the bog is incredibly tricky to capture in photos!
Summer Bog Colours - CrawCrafts Beasties
And finally, I chose purple because it’s just about everywhere right now – tangled through the hedgerows, creeping along the ground and peeking out from among the tall grasses!
Purple, purple... Everywhere! CrawCrafts Beasties
More Natural Purples - CrawCrafts Beasties
And after all that (plus a bit of knitting), some Beasties appeared!
Summer Barróg Beasties, by CrawCrafts Beasties
I’ll be giving each of them a unique Irish-inspired accessory today… I wonder what they’ll be?

PS WordPress tells me that this is my 100th post! Thanks to all my readers, especially those of you who have been here from the very beginning!