Dig out the warm clothes - soon you'll need them

I'm quite sad to see summer leaving in such a hurry. August didn't even end before the weather started getting cooler around here. While its been a change from searing hot to comfortable, and i am actually able to take the dogs for a nice long walk without worrying that they'll burn their feet on the incredibly hot sidewalk, its still disappointing to see summer go. I don't know, for as long as i can remember summer has been my favorite season and has never lasted long enough. Part of it is because i really hate cold weather. I have an incredibly low tolerance for being cold - something my dogs and i agree on. And before I know it, it will be rainy and damp. And maybe even sleet and snow following. Some people are excited by snow but I'll take 90 degree heat instead anyday. Half the time i even forget to turn on the a/c...

And for those of us who have dogs that are not blessed with thick insulating fur, its a good time to start thinking about how you will keep your dogs warm this fall season.

So lets see what interesting dog apparel i can find on Etsy.

Acme Couture features doggie coats that are very stylish. They are also practical - some are made just for the spring or fall and others are for colder days. Coats are custom made to fit your dog's measurements, so the fit is just right.

This fleece design is more familiar to IG/whippet people. It hugs the curves of the sighthound and is incredibly soft and warm. This particular design is brought to you by Warm Whippets, and as the cold weather is rolling in there will be new selection available. This shop particularly caters to Whippets and Italian Greyhounds because unfortunately they have such deep chests and dimensions very different from your typical dogs - and must have clothes custom made in order to fit properly.

warmwags has a slogan that goes "from mini to mighty... keeping dogs warm!" This particular coat is made custom for any large dog. They are fleece on the outside and fully lined with sherpa on the inside so they'll keep the large but shorthaired dog toasty. Warmwags also has a selection of very warm coats for the teeniest toys.

Furkid Fever features a full selection of clothes so that dogs can match, or even outdo their humans. When I say full selection, I mean everything from pajamas to shirts, skirts and full fancy dresses. These clothes are more for fashion and cuteness than for warmth, and they are absolutely adorable. Especially if your toy pup doesn't realize that they're not human. Most clothes are custom made.

D-Lishus--dog dudz features a selection of hand crocheted sweaters for your pup. They can be custom made to your dog's size and have fun yarn accents. Heh even whole sweaters made of fun yarn so that perhaps your dog can feel like they have a mane.

And of course don't forget that Halloween is coming up. SewSweetFinery features some adorable hat/masks so your dog can join in the party fun.

Cool green

I've got progress on my remodeled room! Again, its mostly why i haven't been posting lately. I've been without a room for over three weeks during the remodel. Hard to find a muse when I'm stuck in the kitchen with my parents walking back and forth. But now the remodel is pretty much complete, only left to obtain the rest of the furniture and to "move back in" :)

That's what I've got so far - polished wood floors, lovely green paint, a new bed, a chair, and a computer desk that isn't in the shot. BTW see if you can find Anton in the picture ;) The blanket is going to change, too, this is my old faithful grey-green comforter. The wall colour is not exactly what i was going for (I was thinking something of a richer shade of green) but I like it a lot and in the afternoon this room practically lights up from all the sun I get. The only drawback is that in incandescent light the paint looks more of a cucumber shade rather than citrusy. But anyway I'm thrilled.

Now i need to move the fishtank back in, get a book case, and I'm thinking of getting a flat TV sort of thing. I was gonna move my old clunky tv back rather than upgrade, since i rarely watch it. But honestly i looooooove how much free space i have right now, so i am thinking of spending a bit more and getting an LCD tv after all, and mounting it on the wall. Decisions!
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I turned 21 on July 22nd. You know you're getting old when you start getting sophisticated gifts! ;)

My boyfreind got me this lovely wishbone necklace from EmilyEJewelry, in white gold. He was a good boy and picked something out of my favorites like I told him to, lol. I LOVE it though :) Its really simple and fancy at the same time. I haven't taken it off since he gave it to me, except to take that picture.
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This wasn't a birthday gift, but it coincidentally arrived almost in time for my birthday :P Its a custom pin of Perry and Marco! My friend Emily from Dreameyce Studio made it herself. I absolutely love it! She captured a great quirky look. Its just not like anything else that I've seen, very different. Made with skill and great detail :) Thank you Emily - its marvelous!
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One last thing...

Is this not the most magnificent face?

Felted pets.

Hey its been a while since i did a feature of stuff I found on Etsy. I don't have any new art to show you, so lets talk about the art of others :)

Lets talk about needle felting. More specifically, needle felted sculptures. I've heard of felted hats and bags and stuff, that's easy. But until I came to Etsy, I have never heard of needle felted sculptures. It turns out that a handful of etsians specialize in needle felted sculptures of pets - many will even make custom sculptures of your pets.

Let me start by saying that this is an art that I really know absolutely nothing about (hell, i don't even know how to knit besides "knit" and "purl"). But from what i gather, this is a process of carefully matting yarn into specific shape and texture with the use of a needle. Needle Felted sculptures are not cheap and this is because they require a lot of time and skill to make. I admire needle felters a lot - I have seen a lot of magnificent pet sculptures on Etsy :)
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This lovely Pomeranian in full coat comes from Gfelted made by Gerry. The fur texture is amazingly realistic-looking (and I'm a groomer, I can tell ;). Gerry has a huge range of dog breeds in her shop, with all sorts of fur textures, from silky to double coated to wiry to corded. The little Chinese Crested on the right shows a combination of smoothness and silkyness. Wonderful skill! and of course... I just had to include this last one - and Italian Greyhound! I'm in love! Definitely click on these pictures and see a larger version to see the detail!


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Amelia of Amelia Makes Art makes felted sculptures in a very different style. Those big expressive eyes are felted along with the rest of the sculpture. I particularly love how she handles patterned coats, such as this brindle puppy below... Most of Amelia's work is custom and these are examples of dogs based on other people's pets! Pet sculptures are not the only thing in her shop - she's also got felted soap, paintings and prints of her artwork, as well as commissioned pet portraits.


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Kay of KaysK9s makes keychains with the felted portrait of your pet. The details in the face are amazing. She also has a vegan options, for those that are allergic or do not wish to use animal fibers but still want one of these amazing sculptures.

Kay also makes full body wool sculptures, brooches, pins, and adorable cards and magnets featuring lovely photographs of her sculptures.

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Like I said, I am totally in awe of their talent. There are many other needle felters on Etsy - and not all of them focus on pets - search for it. They are an amazing gift for a fellow pet lover, or for yourself. And a wonderful tribute to pets that are no longer with us.

*snort* *snort*... *sizzle*

Friggin finally! I've got something new in my shop! Custom orders aside, its been forever since i listed a new shell in my shop.

And today I'm devoting it to the push-faced breeds. Behold - a pug and a frenchie :)


Man, those wrinkles are a challenge! Easy to outline, not easy to shade. I think her ears look a little funny, but overall I like how this chick came out :) She's got that "innocent" look on her face that all pugs master because they want whatever you're eating.


And this is the french bulldog. He's got such a serious look on his face. I think he needs a name. I'll call him "Robert".

What's cool about this shell is that its got some cool weathering. The upper left corner of it has a whole lot of teeny little holes. Who knows what this clam went through in life. Realistically those pores probably appeared as the shell aged, long after the clam was no longer attached to it. But anyway its pretty cool.

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subject change - i've realized something odd about Etsians. They apparently love crochet bacon. Yes that's right. Crochet bacon. Its the most necessary thing I have ever heard of, lol.

but really, for fun, do a search in the handmade category of "crochet bacon". A whole number of pieces will show up.

Here is an "economy" priced bacon piece by yummypancake. Yes, you CAN shop for your crochet bacon by price, lol.

spidercamp makes a simple yet elite crochet bacon slice, aptly titled "Pocket Bacon, Seriously the Dumbest Thing I Have Ever Made But You Guys Seem to Like It".

Now if you REALLY love bacon, you might want to wear it! reddhynes makes that possible with this "kosher and vegan friendly" bacon wristband!

If wristbands are not your thing, you might want to try a scarf! reddhynes makes this option available to you!

But if you're gonna wear bacon, you might as well go all out and include eggs and toast. This set comes with a bacon scarf, an egg hat and a toast bag. worthysoycandles brings you this whole set that is totally customizable. Have breakfast your way. ...on you. And I mean that in a very somber literal sense.

I saved the best for last. Its the crochet plushie creepy breakfast monster by yummypancake! He's got a toast body, an egg head, sausage arms and of course bacon legs! Alas, no syrup is included with this guy.

I find this all very strange, somehow. The need to wear bacon. Or to have a piece of crocet bacon just sitting there. I prefer... edible bacon. But uhhhh not judging anyone here. I found those pieces very amusing :P

All sorts of treasure

I just discovered something really cool and thought I'd share! TimothyAdamDesigns had a brilliant idea (one of many, lol)! He put together a blog of EtsyMinis from all sorts of users. Its called BuriedTreasury. The idea is that there are just sooooooo many awesome things on Etsy that get buried and not seen - here's their chance to get some exposure. Check it out and sign up! Its free and convenient - and there are paid avertising opportunities as well.

BuriedTreasury <<< definitely give it a click :)

speaking of treasuries! I've been featured in two recently. I'm jealous of people who proficiently snag treasuries. I've never been able to catch one yet.


Thank you for including me, thirtydash9!

and one more..

thank you, CecereDesigns :)

another treasure? Reptile fans might think of it as one. Meet Gordon! Gordon is a red ear slider who currently resides with another slider , Matthew, who looks just like him but smaller. They both now live with my boyfriend. These guys were actually abandoned at out grooming shop - someone came in and asked if we wanted turtles. We said "sure" cause we knew that he'd just dump them if we didn't take them. They were fostered by Danielle for a while (who is great for all the foster work she does with homeless animals). Now they're gonna be spoiled with a gigantic tank and a state of the art filtration system and all the food goodies they could ever desire :)

Longest Entry evar - getting back into the groove

okay okay. I've finally got some decent updates!

First of all, I'd like to mention that we did not win anything at the show in Trenton on sunday. Marco thought it would be fun to walk on two legs instead of four - he had the judge laughing. Perry, bless him, lol, was excellent. He stacked well, gaited well - I was very proud of his performance and cooperation. He beat one dog in Open class but got defeated in the Winners ring. I had a lot of fun though, the weather was great, so no hard feelings. Our next show will be at the end of May.

In other news, I got interviewed! Check out NanjoDogz to read it! There were some fun dog-themed questions and Nanjodogz chose great pictures of my dogs and shells to go along with the interview. Thanks, Nanjodogz!

Now here's some long-awaited new merchendise! ;) As always to the right there's an Etsy-Mini where you can see the items in my shop if you want.


My first attempt at something Brindle - this is a Boxer with uncropped ears. As much as I am personally pro cropping and docking (at least in the show ring), I know that among pet people its a dying fad. And that's just fine, the floppy ears definitely bring extra cuteness.


A Jack-slash-Parson Russell Terrier in full body.


This one I'm excited about - Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier (or "wheaten"... or "wheaton" for those who don't know the correct spelling) on a soft shell clam! My three experimental soft clams all survived shipping perfectly - so I'm ready to introduce them for sale in my shop.

That's all I got painted thus far. I always have a major urge to not put any shells up until I got like 6 finished. I'm not sure why - efficiency i guess. That way I don't have to take my camera out as often, I can get all the pics done at once, I can get all the shells up at once and then spend time checking back every ten minutes to see if i got any new views. Such newbie mentality, I know. I know its best to stagger stuff rather than put it all up at once, i know. lol so I stopped myself at 3 shells and decided to get them up before i go on to make any others.

I tried to force myself out of my boundary with that brindle boxer. Mostly because I've never done brindle before. But I'm gonna need to because I'll be making a portrait of two brindle corgis soon, and i need practice.

Its funny, as much as i claim that I don't do custom portraits, I'm "signed up" to do two right now. The other day someone convo'd me and asked nicely and i couldn't resist so i said I'll give it a try. She asked for three dogs on one shell - two of which are sorta shaggy fuzzy dogs. I gave her a very fair price because this is gonna be out of my comfort zone, probably even more than the brindle dogs. But I'll give it a try and hopefully it will go successfully enough that I overstep the hurdle and finally offer custom portraits to the public.
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anyway - we got presents! Sorta. Actually I took part in a trade with PunkyWoofster (also known as Jenn). But it feels like I got a present anyway. Jenn makes collars for bad ass (punky :P ) dogs! The designs she uses make me think of classic rock. Of course my boys are too fruity for skulls and rock and roll, so I chose the greenest fabric she had and Jenn made me a collar with a fabulous Celtic design.


Perry showing off his 1.5" wide martingale collar. Italian Greyhounds have long slender necks and heads, so they do best with a martingale-style collar. It tightens if the dog puts pressure on it, but it does so without choking the dog. But because it tightens the dog can't slip out and run away. Of course if the dog relaxes and doesn't pull, the collar relaxes too. Personally, I'd recommend it for any dog with a slender head, not only sighthounds. Martingale collars can also work well for dogs with long coats because they don't put pressure on the dog's neck, and don't break the coat.


Marco got a green martingale collar too! Funny story, Jenn made me a collar and was going to scrap it and start over because the label was a bit off. She insisted on being a perfectionist and making a new collar. Pfft, if you ask me, the first collar looked just fine (who's gonna see the label when its on the dog?). But since this collar was gonna be scrapped anyway, I volunteered to give it a home... on my other dog ;)

We finally got a chance to test these collars out today. They're great, very comfortable. Marco (who has no manners) tends to pull and didn't choke himself once wearing his. The extra width spreads out pressure and makes it easier for slender sensitive necks! It also shows off the design better :P

I think Jenn deserves something extra for the added effort (even though she insisted on making the extra collar herself ;) So I'm gonna try to send her something extra one of these days. After all, she said the nicest things about the shell that I sent her as a trade... (this one - blue IG with bead necklace).
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meh. this is turning into the longest entry ever. So I'm gonna shut up here. Believe it or not I actually have MORE to talk about. That's what happens when I slack off from posting here. evil organic chemistry...

Wearable dogs

Sorry guys, I've been MIA. I spent all of my spring break studying for an organic chemistry exam that i really really needed to pass. I spent so much time agonizing over it. Well I bombed that test. It was time I should have better spent hugging the dogs and painting shells. Matter of fact I've got a bunch of shells pencilled out that i juuuuust need to paint, and they've been sitting in limbo for two weeks now.

I'll get back to painting tomorrow. At least I'll try. For now I'm exhausted.

So lets talk about a subject I looooove - ways to represent your dog breed/love/ownership. By wearing dogs on yourself :P These are all from my hearted shops on Etsy!

I am absolutely in love with this pendant! Really i think that making origami out of silver is incrediby cool. And its a dog. Infinitely cool :P It is made by AllegroArts - I should have started with that part i guess :P Its available in his Etsy shop, and also comes in cat, bunny, and elephant varieties!

Now here is a pendant by Boneofart. This is a schnauzer pictured, but there are many many breeds! These are very simple in appearance and yet they capture the essence of the breeds. Less is more, its great. And really an extensive variety - at a glance i saw puli, tibetan terrier, schipperke, and lots of others. People with uncommon breeds are always on the hunt for paraphernalia displaying their breed. Chances are they've got your breed :P

Does your dog have "attitude"? Heheh, i love this clever little pendant. Its actually a collage. InaBit makes very creative designs, especially featuring labrador retrievers. Most of them portray little idiosyncrasies of every day dog life - things you don't even think about such the blessing of having an inground pool in the back yard and a fire hydrant to pee on in the front :)

If you prefer your worn imagery to come with text, you can get some awesome buttons (or in this case keychain) by Thedogcoatlady. There's a whole assortment of subjects, from promoting spay/neuter/adoption to dogs and politics to animal rights to puppy mills. And a bunch of others. They're amazingly afforadble, these pins, and many of them feature very important messages and realities that many may not be aware of (how many people never heard of puppy mills until Oprah, huh?). Do check these out :)

Back to the pendants - Kayannworks makes marvelous ones! These are incredibly detailed and colourful. And they're made on domino tiles - real ones. If you turn the pendant around, they have the dots and everything. But uhh the dog side is way nicer. There are many breeds available - some of them are pirates ;)

Now here's an entirely different type of pin - its a sculpture and a pin in one! Dreameyce makes these pins out of polymer clay, then they are painted and given a finish. This one is a cardigan welsh corgi, blue merle. They available in many breeds - and colour variations of those breeds! Emily is also very open to custom works. and from what i hear, as cute as they look in the picture, they are even awesomer in person! I'm anticipating a pin of my Perry and Marco - can't wait to see it! (hehe, yes Emily will get a pin of her cardi kids Galazy and Traum too - I've got them pencilled out, they just need paint).

Another teeny sculptured pendant, this one featuring a pittie, by Nanjodogz. Very cute and very detailed - they look very skillfully made! There are also many beads sculpted into dog heads and faces - so you can make your own special jewlery or decorations featuring your breed. They are just too damn cute, lol...

Lets finish this list with FrumsGlassMenagerie - dichroic glass pendants featuring dog silhouettes. As a fellow italian greyhound owner, Sue specializes in IGs and greyhounds - but there are many breeds available. Some are on dichroic glass - simple yet complicated due to the colours of the glass - and some of them are just glass pendants that she paints herself. They are really charming!

thus concludes my tour of awesome wearable dog stuff that i found in my "favorite shops" section. a pretty fun variety methinks. If only I was made of money - I'd own a couple more of these!

btw many of these artists are willing to make custom designs - so if you've got a particular favorite pet/breed/symbol that you want to portray to the world on your clavicles, i encourage you to ask them!

shellvergel featured!

I feel special!

Orange for Animals - continued

Well, the Dog Mafia Team is attacking this ASPCA Day promotion full throttle! Many members made orange items especially for this day, and members are donating $1 from each sale to the ASPCA. We're telling everyone we know about ASPCA Day!

We even managed to snag a treasury! Thanks to PamperedPoochBoutiqu for making it and including my Mutt shell!


Just for fun, I thought I'd do a couple of mini-features so you can see those orange items up close :)


First up is "Recycle Love" - a handpainted and decorated wooden sign to share inspiration to give unwanted pets a second chance! It is made by
art4milkbones, herself an owner of a rescue three-legged Golden Retriever named Mulligan :)

Next up is this eye-catching orange collar by 8PawsCollars! Great for the sunny seasons, it is sure to add that sparkle to your dog's eye and to bring out the shine in his coat :)


Leafpeople has created this Golden Retriever doll and just for ASPCA day, it is sporting a fashionable orange bandana! The back of the doll is orange as well. This doll is safe for your baby to play with, with no detachable parts. Teach your kids to love dogs and treat them properly from an early age!

that's all I'm gonna feature for now. All the items that the Dogmafia members have prepared for ASPCA Day are really great... but i don't have the space to put them all here and unfortunately I've got a bit of a headache so I'm ending my features here. Do check out the treasury and click around the other stuff though.

and wear orange tomorrow! I'm going down to Union Square tomorrow to check out the festivities. I'll bring pictures!

Adoption successful + feature

First of all, I reached the milestone i mentioned. I passed 100 hearts and now have 102 at the moment. How cool. It makes me feel good when people think my stuff is awesome :P

Second, my Scottie Shell got featured!



It was mentioned in Scottish Terrier and Dog News - a blog so spiffy I added a link to it on "other awesome blogs". Thank you, DogLady (ab.com)

Not only did the Scottie shell get featured, but it got adopted! It'll be going to its new home soon, with Dayna! I'm hoping to see a picture of the Scottie shell in his news digs soon too (hint hint ;).

Since we're talking about features and stuff, I thought I'd add another cool one that i stumbled upon...



Dog Art Today - a blog dedicated to beautiful dog art. It's updated daily and features a whole gamut of dog-inspired creations. Great stuff!

As a bonus, here's picture of Anton and Marco sunning themselves.