The day I first met Baxter at his foster home, I never expected our lives to be as they are today. Back then, I only knew that despite the recent loss of our geriatric doxie boys, my husband and I still had plenty of love to share. And after spending the first ten months of his life in a hoarding situation with 40+ other dogs, this impressionable, loving little jiggly puff of boy knew he was ready for a home and mom and dad he could call his very own, that he wouldn't have to share with anypuppy else.

Kalyxcraftopia started the same way as our blog, kalyxcornucopia, came about after Baxter's arrival into our lives. I started it on a whim, fueled by a calling to spread the cheer and joy that overflows in awesome abundance from the little kielbasa and dachshunds like him. It was, and still is, an opportunity to blend my creative passion with his cuteness, and to give others the chance to pass along and share the doxie love.

I suppose it's fair to say in looking at my work that I design and make things that evoke retro nostalgia in a fresh and modern way. Sometimes with humor, sometimes with detail, sometimes by looking at the world through the eyes of a happy go lucky little dachshund and his circle of toyfriends. But always inspired by the firm belief that every dachshund already knows, that every day can be a bright and sunshiney day, if only we look hard enough.

My weapons of crafty choice depend of course on the medium in which I am working. Baxter's wearables are mostly a mix of vintage thifty store finds and things I have made for him, born out of my compulsion for fit and form. A point and shoot camera with the autoflash permanently turned off, a copious amount of delicious snackies, and of course, a certain little someone with his bottomless tummy round out the elements required of my photography work.

I sew with a Pfaff, developing my own patterns as time permits and refining others to meet my artistic goals. I love to sew in the morning, when sunlight streams into that part of my dining room studio. Hand sewing often occurs in the afternoon, when the sun has moved into the living room studio. I have enough fabric to last a three lifetimes, probably four. Let's not even count the fabric I have stashed in my bathtub.

Metal work is a growing interest for me, but one that often takes the back seat when life and other priorities take hold. When the stars do align, I work either at a local metals studio or at home, drilling and sawing and shaping, and etching with both the acid and saltwater methods. Enamelling in my garage, using my trusty torch, occasionally doing so alongside lidded plastic tubs stuffed with fabric, percolating away with fiber reactive dyes.

As followers of our kalyxcornucopia blog world already know, and perhaps atypical of many makers here on Etsy, I prefer to remain anonymous here in cyberspace. I am known simply as Baxter's mom, sometimes Kaly to those who think I need a name, and both are names I use proudly when I think of the connections we have made here, of the lives we have touched and friends we have made, all because of our happy go lucky boy, the stories we tell, and the things we make. :)