Beastie Pugaliers - CrawCrafts Beasties

Flashback Friday – Beastie Pets Retrospective

… Or, as first floated in Tuesday’s post, it’s a Pet-rospective! Beasties love their pets, and at the suggestion of regular reader Queen Bee, I thought it was high time we revisited some of those fuzzy companions from previous commissions.

Let’s start with the very first one – a woolly old English sheepdog I made way back in 2015!
Neurosurgeon Beastie Relaxes with her Beastdog, by CrawCrafts BeastiesMy very first Beastie dogs were knitted. You know me, I love to knit! But although the technique and yarn worked well enough here, I soon found it quite limiting. It’s hard to capture the huge range of dog body shapes, colours and fur textures with yarn!

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before I discovered the magic of needle felting… And all kinds of possibilities opened up.

Enter Mikelet, the miniature miniature schnauzer, who now hangs out with Tierney of tierneycreates and her hard-working blogging Beastie. Here he is just before he left Beastie Towers…
Mikelet, the Super-Miniature Schnauzer, by CrawCrafts Beasties… And he makes a special guest appearance in Tierney’s latest blog post, here. Also, thank you Tierney for listening to the interview I did for From the Maker to the Made and taking the time to write such a lovely review… Or rather, for getting tierneycreates Beastie to write it 😉

Mikelet turned out to be a real trendsetter – that’s like a red setter, only cooler – and I started to get a lot more people looking for Beastified versions of their beloved pets.

So, here’s a pair of pugaliers from last summer…Beastie Pugaliers - CrawCrafts Beasties…And a Pekingese from a little later that same year.Beastie Pekingese Close-up - CrawCrafts BeastiesAnd of course, because I err more on the side of “cat lady”, I also started making Beastie kitties along the way. My first ones were special editions for my first time selling at the Dublin Cat Fair…
Cat Owner Beastie by CrawCrafts Beasties… But I soon started making them to order as well! This Beastie with a black cat was made as a partner for the one in the photo above…
Beastie plus Kitty! CrawCrafts Beasties… And then there’s this handsome fellow, created as a gift for a lady who owns a beautiful polydactyl cat called Paddy.
Paddy the Beastie Cat - CrawCrafts Beasties

And finally, who could forget the best-dressed Beastie pet of them all – Marge the pug!
Beastie Marge the Mini Pug - CrawCrafts BeastiesI still love those glasses.

So, did your favourite make the cut? Let me know in the comments if I missed anyone out!

We’ll be back on Tuesday with more monster antics – have a great weekend and we’ll see you then!

Another Dog Lovin’ Beastie!

Tracy Beastie with her Dog - CrawCrafts Beasties
Well, I couldn’t say before, but I actually made TWO Beasties with canine pals last month! And now that this one has arrived in her new home and no birthday surprises will be spoiled, I reckon it’s high time she made an appearance on the BeastieBlog. Please say a big hello to Tracy Beastie!
Tracy Beastie and her Beastiedog, by CrawCrafts Beasties

Tracy Beastie should fit right in with her new family – not only do they have their own merry pack of pooches to keep her Beastiedog happy, her new mum also works as a dog trainer. So they should have plenty to talk about!

Because these two are off to sunny Texas, Tracy Beastie had to dress for the weather – we settled on her mum’s usual dogwalking outfit of yoga pants and a brightly coloured vest top. Oh, and sunglasses are a must-have!
Tracy Beastie's Outfit, by CrawCrafts BeastiesTracy Beastie's Sunglasses, by CrawCrafts BeastiesTracy Beastie in Sunglasses, by CrawCrafts Beasties
Meanwhile, the Beastiedog looks a little like her new kennelmate Evy – a black lab cross with a white blaze on her front. If you look closely, you’ll see she’s sporting a special running harness for walkies, with a removable clip-on lead too!
Black Lab Beastiedog, by CrawCrafts BeastiesBlack Lab Beastiedog Closeup - CrawCrafts BeastiesTracy Beastie Plays With Beastiedog - CrawCrafts BeastiesAnd finally… I sent them off with a snack for the journey!
Tracy Beastie, Beastiedog and Treats by CrawCrafts Beasties
That one little bag must have lasted them well, because here they are in their new home!
Tracy Beastie in her new home! T Donaldson/CrawCrafts Beasties

Looks like they’re settling in well!

My Biggest Monster Challenge Yet!

Dog Lover Beastie - CrawCrafts Beasties

Regular visitors to the BeastieBlog will have noticed that I’ve been a little quiet of late. And for good reason! I’ve been inundated with commissions over the last month (what a nice problem to have!) and for fear of spoiling surprises, I haven’t really wanted to post any pictures. Now I’m finally in a position to start sharing the products of all my hard work, and I thought I’d start with Dog Lover Beastie.

Dog Lover Beastie was the brainchild of the very lovely Daphne, who I met at a market last month. She generously bought a pair of Beasties that day to give away as gifts, but she got in touch with me a few days later to see about getting one for herself too! As the proud owner of a gorgeous Old English Sheepdog called Crumble, she requested a Beastie kitted out with all the accessories she needs when she and her pooch head out for walkies. So I started out by making a pair of wellies, a grooming brush, a motivational bag of treats and a fetching scarlet polka-dot raincoat!
Dog Lover Beastie Accessories, by CrawCrafts Beasties
So far, a pretty standard day’s work here at Beastie Towers. But I figured that I could hardly have a Dog Lover Beastie without a dog… that would just be mean. So…
Old English Beastdog, by CrawCrafts Beasties Dog Lover Beastie with her Dog by CrawCrafts BeastiesOld English Beastdog with collar, lead and bag dispenser, by CrawCrafts Beasties

The dog is, of course, an Old English Beastdog – a very popular breed with Beastie owners! His lead can be unclipped from his collar, and that pink bone-shaped pouch attached to it is a bag dispenser – for, um, taking care of business. Dog Lover Beastie is one responsible dog owner!

Oh, and I also made a Beastdog-sized replica of Daphne’s dog’s favorite football, to keep him entertained.
Beastdog with his Football, by CrawCrafts Beasties
But wait, folks! There’s more! Daphne’s also training to be a neurosurgeon, and she hoped that her Beastie could have some extra accessories that reflected this. Hey, no problem! All she needs is a sneaky costume change…
Neurosurgeon Beastie, by CrawCrafts Beasties
… And Neurosurgeon Beastie is ready for work! As you can see, she’s now sporting some hand-stitched felt scrubs…
Neurosurgeon Beastie in Scrubs, by CrawCrafts BeastiesNeurosurgeon Beastie with Head Torch, by CrawCrafts Beasties… A pretty cotton scrub cap, and a felt head torch!

She may have a busy day ahead of her at the hospital… but she always has time to hang out with her pup after work.
Neurosurgeon Beastie Relaxes with her Beastdog, by CrawCrafts Beasties
And Daphne was kind enough to share photos of Dog Lover/Neurosurgeon Beastie in her new home! Here’s what happened when Crumble met his Mini-Me…
Crumble meets the Beastdog - CrawCrafts Beasties/D. Chen
… And here are the two of them helping her out on the computer!
Dog Lover/Neurosurgeon Beastie in her new home - CrawCrafts Beasties/D Chen
I’m looking forward to seeing the crazy canine capers they get up to!