BACK TO WORK AND MY LITTLE HELPER

So Christmas has officially come and gone this year. Abilene had its first White Christmas in a long time, but we totally missed it. We were in San Antonio with all of our kiddos watching movies and eating, eating, eating!

It started snowing this morning and we are supposed to have even more snow overnight, so it sort of feels like a White Christmas after all.

I finally finished up several new collar designs and starting taking photos of them today. Upon finishing one batch of pictures and removing my camera from its tripod, I turned around to head to my computer, and glancing over at the dog bed in my studio, this is what I saw:


Do you see that little white face watching my every move? That's Bugs! He will never leave the cushion in that dog bed alone. He is always moving it around and sometimes completely kicking the darn thing out and several feet away from the bed. Anyway, I was so lucky to have my camera ready to grab this shot of him. He does love his toys! I usually find them all around the floor of my studio. About 30 minutes before that picture was taken, all the toys had been piled in the dog bed--he managed to root all but one of them out onto the floor.

So here is a look at just a few of the new collar designs that will be appearing in my Etsy shop over the next few days:





Hope all of you are having a great week and looking forward to a great 2010!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! I hope each and everyone of you is having a wonderful holiday with family and friends! I really appreciate all of you that have taken the time to stop in and read my blog, decided to follow it, and left such wonderful comments. I'm hoping that 2010 will bring lots of new posts and maybe a few new tutorials along the way.

Here's a few of my favorite tutorials from 2009:

Canning Jar Pincushion



Ceiling Fan Fandangle



Matchbook Notepad



Happy Holidays!

AND THE WINNER IS...

Courtenay from RI! Yes, she is the lucky winner of 1 collar of her choice from my Crazy For Collars Etsy shop!!! Congratulations to you!

Any further comments will not be eligible for the 20% coupon.
I want to thank all of you that took the time to enter the contest and leave such great suggestions. If you didn't receive your coupon code please contact me and I will forward that information to you. You can find my email address in my profile or you can send me an Etsy convo.

So I have been experimenting and perfecting a possible "bow tie" for the boys!

Here's a picture of the prototype. I should have some available soon in my shop. I think I will add them to Fabric F choice and title them "King Of Hearts". What do you think?



One of my readers even suggested making a bow tie for the "Smooches for Pooches" collar and naming it "Lipstick on my Collar"--isn't that GREAT???

I am also thinking of having readers make title suggestions for various designs, since as you can probably tell, I seem to be "title challenged".

I'm working on several new designs and will have them ready to photograph sometime next week, hopefully--so be watching! Here's a peek at one for you to see:



Thanks again to all who participated in the contest and Courtenay, I'll be contacting you soon!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

A GIVEAWAY WHERE EVERYONE IS A WINNER!

If you have been reading my blog entries lately you know that I have been working on Valentine's Day collars to add to my Etsy shop this week--even before the middle of December. I love creating the designs with bows--I have to confess that they are my favorite. I fall short when it comes to choosing the right designs that will be suitable for the male pooches. So I am asking for your help! Everyone who responds before the contest deadline on December 13th will be given a 20% OFF COUPON CODE that can be redeemed towards one Valentine's Day collar during the month of January 2010.
One lucky participant will win the collar of their choice!

Here are the steps to follow for this GIVEAWAY:

Step 1:
Look over all these fabric choices:









Step 2:
Add a comment to this post with at least 2 choices of the fabrics pictured which YOU think would be appropriate for a Valentine's Day collar for a male dog. Make sure I have access to your email address for the coupon code.

That's it! Just leave a comment and I will forward you the Coupon Code*. You will automatically be entered in the drawing** for "YOUR CHOICE OF ANY COLLAR IN MY ETSY SHOP".
*Only one coupon code per person will be given.
**Only one entry per person in the collar giveaway.

DEADLINE: This Giveaway will end on Sunday, December 13 at midnight CT--so hurry!

FIRST MONDAY OF DECEMBER--SUPER ETSY SALE!!!

It’s that time again! Etsy Texas Crafters street team presents: FIRST MONDAY SALES EVENT!
I am offering the following as a participant:
Regular priced items are 15% off (excludes clearance items, custom orders,gift certificates and shipping)!
This offer is only good this Monday, December 7, from 12:01am until 11:59pm.
I will issue a refund of the discount amount to your PayPal account once you have paid for your item(s).

So click on over and do a little Holiday Shopping at Crazy For Collars!

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE...

VALENTINE'S DAY!

Here's a look at what I have been working on the last few days:









They will be available in my Etsy Shop, Crazy For Collars, sometime next week!

December 2, 2009 OUR FIRST SNOWFALL THIS YEAR!

We awoke today to snow on the ground! It didn't last long, but luckily I did get the camera out for a few pictures.





Also, on Monday I had surgery! Well, to most of you it wouldn't fit the definition of surgery--but it did to me! I came home with the most amazing bandage!





Luckily, the bandage fell off at bedtime and I was able to switch to just a large Bandaid.

EASY SOUP RECIPE FOR A WINTERY DAY!

It is getting COLD outside! Our high is only supposed to reach 39 degrees today--that's mighty cold for this part of Texas! A cold day in Texas calls for a warm soup!
I make this soup over and over during the Winter, probably because it is so easy, quick, and good.
Super Simple Tortilla Soup (we also call it Taco Soup):
Start with:


And end up with:


Ingredients needed:
1 store bought rotisserie chicken
1 package of corn tortilla chips (Tostitos, etc.)
1 whole sweet onion
1 bunch cilantro
3‐4 yellow squash
3‐4 zucchini
1 28oz can of Rotel tomatoes
1 15oz can of white hominy
1 15oz can of sweet kernel corn
1 15oz can of black beans
1 10.25oz of cream of chicken soup
1 48oz container of chicken broth

I made a full pictorial tutorial of how I make this simple, yummy soup and you may download it for free (no registration is required) here:

Super Simple Tortilla Soup Recipe

Enjoy and let me know if you have any variations to share!

BLACK FRIDAY-CYBER MONDAY ON ETSY

Have you seen the commercials on TV lately about the BIG, HUGE, and ***EARLY*** sales this Friday, now know as BLACK FRIDAY??? My goodness, OLD NAVY is opening at 3AM!!! I can't imagine the staff's reaction to that idea! Many, many, other retailers are opening their doors super early as well.
So I don't really plan to be in line to shop at a brick and mortar store, but I do plan to be ONLINE shopping the sales that are being offered all weekend long!
Etsy is promoting FREE SHIPPING for the weekend and a large portion of Etsy sellers are participating. To find those specials, just log in to Etsy.com and search for "Etsyfreeshipping". Plus, if you search "Etsyholidaysale" you will find all sorts of wonderful offerings by fellow Etsians.

I am offering FREE SHIPPING during the Thanksgiving Weekend on ALL HOLIDAY/CHRISTMAS collars. If you haven't gotten your canine their Holiday collar, now would be the perfect time!






I also have just marked down over 40 various collars to $5, $6, and $7!!! So come on over to my Etsy shop and see how much you can SAVE!

FINALLY: Electricity Comes to Our Part of Town

Strange things are happening out front of our house!
Well, it involves our neighbors, as well.


When I drove home one day last week, our garage door wouldn't open for me. It seems that electricity is needed to operate the garage door. Luckily, I was able to get in without a key to any door: we have a keyless entry lock on one of the patio doors.
I had noticed "utility workers" down the street and went down to where they were working to ask if my power outage had anything to do with their presence. Of course, the answer was "yes" and that my power would be restored in just a few minutes. No problem--I really didn't WANT to do any laundry right then anyway.
So when I was pulling out of the driveway on Wednesday and had to delicately maneuver around utility workers, I stopped and asked what was going on. Apparently, all the power outages that we have (and there have been MANY) on our block are due to the fact that the "lines" are over 35 years old and need to be replaced.
Our front yard has some interesting little flags flying--some on wooden stakes and others on tiny metal poles. They are to alert the workers of other existing lines, such as gas, sewer, phone, etc. They are quite colorful!


More color is added out front in the form of a unique type of graffiti:




So I was told that these guys were nearly finished with their portion of the job and that the rest will be finished next week by our electric company. We shall see...


Maybe we didn't need to spend that $800 last July on the TWO "Whole House" in-line power surge protectors we had installed!!!

Where has this month gone???

I have neglected my poor blog this month! I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK and then Christmas will be here in a matter of moments!
Christmas collars have been a BIG hit in my Etsy shop and I am working hard to get a variety of new (non-holiday) designs added very soon. Here's a hint of a few things that are to come...





If you haven't visited my shop lately, you might want to take a look at the SALE section. I have marked down various designs to $5, $6, & $7 Whoa! What was I thinking??? I just need to make room for some new looks. And just think--Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day collars are on there way, too!