Inspiration, applications and prototypes

I usually keep a little left-over cookie dough in the fridge just in case inspiration happens to strike. In my case, it usually leaves as quickly as it arrives. This time the muse came while I was reading a tutorial on bead-making. Someone had made a teeny little bead of a Pug's head out of polymer clay. Of course it was adorable, but I'm not into polymer bead making and couldn't see myself taking on this particular project. As I browsed the step by step images I began to think.

Why wouldn't this application work in dough?

I started to remember images from a favorite book called "Textile Applications in Metal". When I first skimmed the book at the bookstore (over 10 years ago) I quickly had to find a chair and sit. My brain was saying "but, you knit with YARN". My mind was blown. Inside I found crochet and knitting patterns made in various gauges of metal wire. And there within was the most beautiful Elizabethan collar crocheted in sterling silver, that I have ever had the pleasure to view. It was that defining moment that colored the way I looked at the creative process. I know this is delving a little far into my artistic viewpoint all for the sake of a cookie, but I digress.

In just a little while I had my prototype in hand. I smiled at the sad/worried little face staring back at me. I think with a couple of tweaks, it will be good to go!
This version is my regular sugar cookie dough for human consumption, but I've been itching to make dog treats! I have an all natural peanut butter cookie recipe specifically formulated for our Canine friends.

I forgot to mention, I have the perfect taste-tester already!

Everyone who knows me knows that I adore my funny little dog. His name is Biscuit. He's a Pug and above all else, an absolute clown. He makes us laugh, or at the very least smile on a daily basis. He will walk on your face while you sleep and snore in your ear a moment later. He coaxes patience from an otherwise impatient man. He enriches our lives and gives us a reason to get off the couch and take a stroll. We love the little stinker.