Some Sweet Stuff For Your Sweetie
February 17, 2009
Valentine’s Day may be over, but you can still get something super sweet for your four legged sweetie, courtesy of Ottawa Dog Blog.
To celebrate the one year anniversary of her site, Liz Kerrison is giving away a set of 3 Room Candy toys plus your choice of either a mug/clock/bag to a lucky winner. I’ll have Liz’s dogs show you a couple of the toys up for grabs.
This is Corduroy, a Malshi (gesundheit!) with our chocolate sprinkle-licious donut toy.
And not to be left out, here’s Paddington (Morkie), getting a well deserved white ice cream cone “snack” after burning all those calories doing the down dog pose.
But wait, there’s more! The Ottawa Dog Blog is not your typical dog blog – it’s really a comprehensive resource for all your doggie needs (e.g. Parks, stores, services) for folks living in the area. I just wish that Liz could clone herself and do a similar site in Los Angeles. :)
Thanks for including our toys in your giveaway, Liz! Happy anniversary, and I’m looking forward to many more!
Linny
Room Candy – always yummy!
Itza A Puppy!
December 14, 2008
I was surfing Youtube the other day and came across this video of a Yorkie puppy called Chewie playing with toys.
Wait a minute – isn’t that….
By golly gee, it’s our Lulu The Lamb toy! I’m such a dork, I started cheering at the screen when I watched the video. And not to be left out, there’s our Joey The Monkey toy as well!
When I designed these big head toys, I wanted to make the head ball-like in shape so that they will roll around on the floor. Looks like mission accomplished!
Cue the obvious pun: I just realized a second ago that the video is about Chewie chewing on plush chew toys. :) And what a perfect name for this boisterous boy because Chewie is so cute I can just eat him up!
Linny
Room Candy – always yummy!
J’adore Bartok
November 10, 2008
Congratulations to Bartok, a tres beau French bulldog owned by Brandon Scott, who won 4th place for pamperedpuppy.com‘s September Dog Photo Contest. Considering there were 1000 entries, Bartok is indeed top of the pack!
Oh, those eyes are hypnotizing! And what a sharp dresser with that aqua polo shirt he has on him.
Bartok won five of our knit toys, so plenty to go around and share with his sister, a fellow French/English bulldog named Beaux.
If you’d like to do a cute-off with Bartok, the November Dog Photo Contest is still under way at pamperedpuppy.com – there are five more knit toys up for grabs. :)
Linny
Room Candy – always yummy!
Under My Bella
September 27, 2008
Got this lovely e-mail from Courtney a few weeks back about her new English Bulldog puppy, Bella:
I just wanted to tell you how much I love your products! We just got a new puppy, and I stocked up on your super cute toys beforehand (the muffin boy is my favorite). Our puppy, Bella, loves them, and so do we! (She loves her Room Candy bed, too!)
Thanks for making such cute things. :)
Love,
Courtney & Bella
Ciao Bella! Even at her young age, Bella is already a pro at being a top model.
Wanna take a ride on my bike?
Modeling is hard work! Time for some beauty sleep!
Thanks for sharing these pictures, Courtney! She may be an English Bulldog puppy with an Italian name, but she’s an all American sweetheart!
Linny
Room Candy – always yummy!
Hello Molly! Hello Kitties!
August 23, 2008
One of the perks of walking my dogs is getting to know my neighbors and their dogs that we bump into, and Jill is one of those people that I’ve gotten to know over the years. Jill has a shih tzu called Molly, and she is entirely devoted to this furball! Molly gets two walks daily, and she even has play dates with my other neighbor’s shih tzu Abby. What a life! Jill is also a cat lover, so I visited her house yesterday and got to know the other animals in the household.
Hello, Molly! Molly is eight years old this year and is quite the lady!
A lady always sits with her arms properly crossed!
Oh, it’s not easy being this beautiful.
It’s so funny that Molly always can go from full go-go-go mode to plopping down and tucking in for a quick snooze. She seems to know where all the good spots are in the house too!
This sofa is a good spot.
And who says only cats can enjoy a catnap on a cat tree?
What a ham!
As I mentioned, Jill is a lover of both cats and dogs, and it’s evident by her home decor. Check out these humorous dog and cat paintings!
And cat themed mini teapots!
Talking about cats, this is Misty, a rag doll that Jill adopted seven years ago.
Jill also two other cats named Suzie and Tiger, both which were a little camera shy that afternoon. Misty is a very expressive cat, and she was not shy in expressing her displeasure by all the commotion caused by the humans and the other animals during the photoshoot. I couldn’t help chuckling every time she would pass by me as I was snapping pictures of the other animals and emit a disapproving and drawn out meowl. A very adorable grouch that one!
Misty has her own mini sofa. A pink shabby chic sofa with mini pompom trim on the bottom!
And surprise! Jill told me that she had found three kittens in her backyard born by a feral cat, and has been fostering the threesome for a couple of months now. She would have loved to keep them for herself, but having three cats and Miss Molly (plus a very understanding husband Alex) is quite a handful already, so if you live in the Pasadena/Arcadia area and are interested in adopting any of the kittens, please e-mail Jill directly at jferris392@aol.com. The kittens are currently about 14 weeks. Let’s get to know them a little better, shall we?
This is Claudia, the only girl of the bunch. She is definitely an outgoing kitten, and was the first one to come out and play.
Claudia loves to play with her toys, and is both outgoing and mellow at the same time. Such a lovely gal!
That Pepe Tiger toy looks like someone I know…
Hi, Jerry! Jerry, short for Jeremiah Sunshine, is a little shy at first, but quickly warms up to strangers. Jill told me that Jerry acts as big brother to the two kittens, and Claudia is especially bonded to him. Every night, Claudia will knead her paws on Jerry and they will both cuddle up for the night.
These two adore each other!
What’s that up there?
The other boy in the litter is Casper, and he’s the shyest of the three.
Casper checking out the scene from a safe distance.
Getting closer…
We finally lured him out into the open with a little kitty food.
I guess she’s okay!
Casper’s got the most amazing markings and mesmerizing amber eyes. He reminds me a little of our Leonard the Leopard toy!
Doesn’t it look like a painter took a thick brush and drew across his body with bold black strokes?
Casper’s sitting style is the Tuck, where he curls his four paws under his body.
What a sweet boy! Due to his shyer nature, Jill’s wish is that whoever adopts Casper would also adopt either Claudia or Jerry so that it will make the transition for Casper easier. I think it just takes a little patience with this handsome guy. I was only at Jill’s place for a couple of hours, and within that time, Casper was already comfortable being in the same room with me and playing a couple of feet away.
Towards the end of my visit, all the kittens were pooped and settled down for a catnap.
Claudia settled for the top of the cat tree.
She looks like she’s having a good dream!
Jerry’s favorite toys. Jill had given Jerry the small white bear on the left as a sleeping companion when he was smaller, so he has a special affinity to white furry things. What a coincidence, I had brought our white oodles of poodles donut bed with me as a gift, and I decided to see how Jerry would like it.
What is this giant white bear?
Oooh, it is as soft as my favorite teddy bear!
Getting sleepy….
Okay, Pepe, you take the right side of the bed and I’ll take the left.
Awwww!!!
I think this is the best photo I’ve ever taken! I’ve read somewhere that all cats are photogenic, and I have to agree! It is impossible for Jerry to take a bad picture!
Even with the camera in his face, Jerry drifted off to sleep again.
Closeup of Jerry’s pink paw pads.
How can you possibly resist this boy?
Sweet dreams, Jerry!
Again, if you live in the Pasadena area and are interested in any of these kittens, please e-mail Jill directly at jferris392@aol.com. Claudia, Casper and Jerry already have their kitten shots and are litter box trained. They are also good with other cats and calm dogs like Molly. I will also give a free bed compliments of Room Candy to each of the lucky families who adopts these special kittens so they will be set for their new homes. Please pass the word to your friends and family about these kittens!
Linny
Room Candy – always yummy!
Abracadabra! It’s A Magic Garden.
August 21, 2008
I was browsing through my local toy store recently and found this Magic Garden crystal kit.
Image source: Schylling Toys
Oh my gosh, I used to looooove this kit when I was a kid! Of course, the one I played with was the single tree version, where you basically put a paper card shaped like a tree trunk into a shallow dish of the crystal solution, wait an hour or so, and voila! Instant crystal blooms!
This version is certainly more elaborate with the mountains and hedges and pink trees. Hold on, did I just end that sentence with just a period? Let me do a mulligan. Blah, blah….and PINK TREES!!!!!! I shall have to document the process so that I can savor the pinkness. Here are the shots I took of the kit over a period of six hours. I actually made a flipbook on Photoshop that I wanted to post here so that you get the cool National Geographic style time lapse effect in fifteen seconds, but alas, wordpress is not letting me upload the flipbook file, so here are all thirty pictures in sequence. If you just scroll down the page real fast, hopefully you’ll get the idea!
Ready? Scroll!
Cool, right? I suppose this is an homage to Japan’s Mt. Fuji and the country’s iconic pink cherry blossom trees. Did you know that on our cherry toy, there is an embroidery of cherry blossoms as well?
Real life cherry blossoms’ blooming period only lasts for a week, but our cherry toys are pretty hardy!
Closeup pics of the crystal version. So pretty!
So if you can’t travel to Japan for the annual Hanami Festival (flower viewing festival) or Washington DC for a similar National Cherry Blossoms Festival, you can at least get the Magic Garden kit here and enjoy a little flower appreciation day right at home!
Linny
Room Candy – always yummy!
I Love Ikea!
August 19, 2008
Ikea ranks as one of the top five companies I admire greatly – not only because they have such an amazing array of products, their ability to innovate and continuously come up with great designs at unbelievably low prices is enviable. I just received my new Ikea catalog the other day and wanted to check out the items myself, so I made the pilgrimage to the one in Burbank, CA yesterday afternoon. Here are the products that caught my eye. You should grab yourself some refreshments and a light snack – this post is gonna take a while to go through!
Look, it’s a cherry patterned sofa! What can I say, even Ikea knows that cherries are timeless!
Gotta have matching cherry curtains to go with those cherry sofas.
How cute are these side tables? The one thing I love about Ikea is how bold they are with their colors, and so spot on with that bright yellow! The curve and stance of these table legs kind of look like those of a french bulldog’s.
Photo credit: wikipedia
See what I mean? A few of my retail customers have french bulldogs themselves, and these compact dogs are adorable in person. They are really sturdily built and very muscular, but they tend to waddle when they walk because they have a wide stance. So cute! No wonder there is usually a long waiting list for a french bulldog puppy!
Entrance to the kids section. This is easily my most favorite section of Ikea because kids just get the coolest furniture (so unfair!). Or it could be because in Burbank, the Ikea kids section is right next to the cafeteria!
Frogs and dragons and mice, oh my!
Aqua themed mobile.
And fishies in every color!
Red air balloon mobile with little plushies in the basket. Someone help me call a doctor because I’m overwhelmed by all these cuteness!
Glowing night lamps in the shape of ghosts. They are also squishy to the touch – too clever!
Our scully toy is spooky cute too. I wonder if he’ll make a good night lamp?
Whaddaya think? :)
Plush finger puppets. You get ten different styles per pack – what a great deal!
Penguin dining set. The clear blue plates even have air bubbles trapped inside them.
A seal top that doubles as a ski mask? Awesome! I’ll have to try this look with our penguin toy using a tube sock soon!
Frog themed dining set kits. Now your kids can go ribb-eat like a frog!
And now we’ve come to the toy section.
Whale, what do we have here?
Hello, Foxy Mama!
This bulldog means business!
Same with this beaver!
I bet this rat toy can smell the yummy food in the cafeteria right next door!
Give those prince charmings a kiss!
But watch out for that bug in his mouth. :)
I first thought the winged frog toy was related to Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit characters, but I guess not. I’ve never really read her books, but her watercolor illustrations are so full of personality. No wonder they are so well loved!
Free Beatrix Potter desktop wallpapers found here.
Ikea also has crocodile plushes galore.
Tiny crocodile plushies with red polka dots. My two nephews recently came down with the chicken pox – I should have gotten them these crocodile plushies to cheer them up!
JUMBO crocodile bolster…
…and the life sized, JUMBO-JUMBO crocodile plush! This plush is over five feet long!
Saw this on the floor of the toy playground/showcase area. Hey, there’s a kid wandering around with his left croc slipper missing!
Now that you have your arms full of Ikea stuff, where to store them?
You could use these colorful hanging net bins which also come in mini sizes.
My personal pick has to be these mini storage bins in the perfect shade of pink.
Phew! Walking through Ikea was quite a workout – time for those swedish meatballs with tart lingonberry jam! A lot of the products you see are available on the Ikea website, although most of the plushes are only available in the physical stores. You know how the Room Candy’s company slogan is “always yummy!”? If you apply that same concept to Ikea, then it would read: Ikea – So Swede!
Linny
Room Candy – always yummy!
Lucky Number Eight
August 18, 2008
I bet if Michael Phelps gets a dollar for every time his name is mentioned by someone, he would easily be a millionaire this past weekend! I’m one of the many who’s been on pins and needles this past week watching his every race in pursuit of eight gold medals, and even when I cheated and found out beforehand that he had won race number “x” in the late afternoon via the internet, I would still watch the same race later on at night on TV and cheer like a maniac when he was in the water. What an amazing feat indeed! Not that the guy needs any more accolades thrown his way, but here’s a Room Candy tribute to his amazing accomplishment.
Count them – eight goldfish!
And let’s not forget about Darra Torres, who got an impressive three silver medals herself! Silver may be second place in the olympics, but considering that she beat dozens of swimmers half her age, I say she should consider those three medals as platinum, which is worth more than gold!
Three silver sharks
Thank you, Michael and Darra, for providing a week’s worth of such high entertainment for us all. Well worth the few dark circles under my eyes for staying up late every night watching the olympics!
Linny
Room Candy – always yummy!
Paint By Numbers
August 16, 2008
Back in the day when I was going to school in Singapore, we would have mandatory arts & crafts classes which were great because it’s basically a scheduled hour of playing with colored crayons/pencils/paints and enjoying one’s creative side. I don’t know why companies don’t do a mandatory “arts & crafts” hour with their employees once in a while – maybe it’ll cut down on employees’ stress levels! By the way, at Room Candy, I usually take the crew out for a nice meal every so often because that’s how we lower our stress levels. Especially if there is dessert to look forward to at the end of the meal. :)
Talking about arts & crafts, these are Paint By Numbers kits I found at Michael’s (only $1 each!), so I thought I’ll make an afternoon activity out of it.
Puppies and kittens!
You even get a practice paper to perfect your brush strokes!
So I gathered up my bowl of water, popped in a movie into the DVD player, and was all gung ho about creating a mini poster of a puppy.
Look, it’s my Martha Stewart moment!
….fifty-five minutes later….
Okay, I give up! The problem with this activity was not the paint by numbers part, it’s just that for $1, the paint that comes with the kit ain’t exactly easy to paint with. The plain water could not really dissolve the glob of dried up paint no matter how hard I agitate the paint glob with a toothpick, not even when I tried using hot water.
Let me start over. I was mulling painting the puppy with crayons, but at this point, this art project is more complicated than it is relaxing! Let’s see, what’s relatively easy to draw? How about our cherry toy?
Forget the bowl of cherries, I’m just going to do that one cherry by itself!
Step 1: Get yummy colored crayons
Step 2: Draw outline of cherry and fill in primary colors
Step 3: Use darker colors for shading and experiment with different colors to make the drawing pop
You can see I kind of screwed up the shape of the second cherry, but no worries, I will redeem this drawing with a happy background and an authentic signature!
Ta-da! It’s real art imitating a “fake” cherry toy that’s imitating a real cherry – it’s the circle of art!
Linny
Room Candy – always yummy!
This Show Is Dino-Mite!
August 16, 2008
I was flipping channels earlier this evening and came across a documentary on the making of Walking With The Dinosaurs – The Live Experience show. It’s an awfully long name for a show, but I think just by watching the behind-the-scenes documentary, I can sum it up with just one word courtesy of Keanu Reeves in The Matrix – “Whoa!” (does that even qualify as a word if it sounds more like an exclamation? I digress…)
The Live Experience show is like The Muppet Show meets High Tech Animatronics meets Jurassic Park featuring life-sized dinosaurs controlled by multiple puppeters. I heard one of the commentators mention that it took a few miles of fabric to “skin” these giant dinosaur robots – can you imagine how big that cutting table has to be?
The show has a total of fifteen dinosaurs, and it looks like the show producers recreated all the crowd favorites – there’s the dinosaur with the very long neck, that rhino lookalike that has two horns, the one with the rows of giant spikes on the back, and the bird dinosaur with the bat wings. Oy, I need a refresher course in paleontology!
Awww, it’s a baby T-rex!
The crocodile is not part of the show, but it is an animal that hasn’t changed much since the dinosaur age. Our crocodile toy is pretty JUMBO at 21″, but it’s not life sized like these dinosaurs! The tallest one clocks in at 36 feet high – that’s like a three storey building!
When I did my research on the show, I found out the show has been touring various US cities since last summer to sold out crowds, so it proves two things:
1) A million spectators can’t be wrong
2) I must have been living under a prehistoric rock to not have heard about this show!
Click here to find out more about the show and check if it’s coming to your neck of the woods.
Extra yummy: There’s a ton of really cool games based on the dinosaur show available on the BBC website. You can choose between a full-fledged computer game or other equally entertaining flash games. My two favorites are the jigsaw puzzle game where you try to piece together dinosaur skeletons, and the dinosaur poop matching game. I’m not kidding – it’s a guess-which-dinosaur-pooped-this game!
Linny
Room Candy – always yummy!
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