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!