Yart Free Shipping Sale

For those of you who live in the Portland, OR area I will be at Crafty Wonderland tomorrow from 1-4. If you would like more information about Crafty Wonderland see the links and information in the previous post. For those of you who can't make it or who live in another state or country you should know that I am also offering free shipping on dog collars and leashes in my etsy shop through the weekend. (This is part of an Etsy Yart sale sponsored by the fabulous Team ESST.) Be sure to check it out and get something cute for your favorite pooch!

June Crafty Wonderland

I everyone! I will be at Crafty Wonderland for the June 14th show at the Doug Fir. More information on the show can be found at http://www.craftywonderland.com/.

Here is a preview of some things you might find there! Feel free to contact me ahead of time if you have any special requests.

Hip Happening In Sellwood!

Tomorrow I will be in Sellwood as a vendor at Hip Happening. Yay!

I will have dog collars, leashes, bandana's, key fobs for sale so if you are in the Sellwood area stop by and see us! I have had a bit of a cold that I am recovering from, but it isn't the you-know-what flu so I am completely safe. I am really looking forward to getting out of the house!! :)


On other news I am can't wait to see this movie, Julie and Julia, coming out this August. Funny and about food!

Display for Arts & Craft Shows

I will be at First Friday in Vernonia, OR this weekend showing off my dog collars and hopefully selling a few. You can find me in the Scout Cabin in downtown Vernonia.

Here is the new DogGoneKnitting display booth. I didn't have my astroturf table cover yet (Patrick is working on that), but isn't it cute? When I am at the show I will sort through the collars so only 1 of each kind is hung up... this is all of them though. Aren't their little tags cute? Molly Lee makes them for me. (I only have to buy her lunch... so wonderful to have such great friends!)

Spring in the Pacific Northwest

I love spring in Oregon. When I was growing up in Michigan spring meant a few weeks where everything was brown and muddy and then it was summer. Here spring starts in March and lasts until late June. The air literally smells like flowers. I would never roll my windows down in Michigan. Mostly this was because it would mess my hair up. But out here it is so worth having messy hair because it just smells so darn good. The smell makes me think of vacations and long weekends. The only problem with spring here is that it smells so great that I am always hungry. No really, I have been starving all day.

New Custom Dog Collars

I have been busily working on some new custom dog collars that are now available in the DogGoneKnitting shop on etsy. This sort of "punk" collar Annabelle is sporting is really cute. There is also a mellow brown and green collar style.

I am also offering to design other collars using the fabrics you already see in my shop. If you see something you like and want it customized just send me a convo. If you are the first person with that design and are willing to have me take a photo of it for use in my product listings I will knock $4.00 off. Just mention my blog to get the deal.

I have also been working on using metal buckles and other hardware. This option will be great for dogs who chew. Expect a listing or 2 with metal options to appear over the weekend! I also have hardware to make martingale collars so if you are interested in a martingale in a particular style send me a convo on etsy!

Handmade Dog Love

I just put together this spotlight on http://www.byhand.me/. I joined the other day and am really liking this community. The items are from various sites where handmade goods can be found. All for the pampered pooch or their owner.

My Better Half

Well, we've recently had a bit of excitement in our house. Patrick was featured in a big article in the West Linn Tidings! It took up the whole first page of the Neighbors section!

As some of you may know, Patrick works for Tanner Spring Assisted Living here in West Linn. He is the Activities Director there. He is so good at what he does, both because he really cares for the people and just because he know how to show everyone a good time.

Anyhow, you can check out the article for yourself. It is pretty neat! Patrick organizes all this stuff. He really makes the last years of these peoples lives so much more happy and interesting.

A little Etsy Love

Here are just a few of my favorite things...

Package Ready for Maggie Dog!

This cute package will be going out to a sweetie pie named Maggie tomorrow. I can't hardly wait for them to get it. Doesn't it look so, so cute?

Well, the dogs are howling madly at some unknown thing and I gotta go!

:)

Pug Head Tilts

There is just something comical about dogs tilting their head at us when we talk. This one has 3 pugs so it is triple cute.

Pug In Toilet

I am really tired today and not up for much so Annabelle and I have been cruising the dog videos on youtube. Annabelle loves watching them and whines when I navigate away. This is pretty funny in and of itself. Anyhow, we found this cute little jem to share with you all.



Annabelle fell in the toilet once. Now she always checks to make sure the seat is down! I still don't understand why this pug seems completely willing to just stay put. Poor baby!

Hey Jude

This is just too cute and funny.

Heart Attack Sandwich

I know that as this is listed as "Heart Attack Sandwich" that means it is really bad for you... but man, I really want one.



Heart Attack Sandwich from http://goodfoodonkcrw.vox.com/

The original came from This is why you are fat. After looking through the photos I am clearly not getting the message. I am just really hungry. I so want a deep fried smore.

My Ikea Light Tent

My friend Molly Lee (who makes terrific pop-up and mechanical cards) went out and got us both these Ikea lights and hampers to make a light tent for photography. It is really going to help me take better pictures when natural light isn't available. Here in the Pacific Northwest that is pretty much all the time.

I have modified my version from the instructions Molly collected by putting tissue paper around the outside. I also just set the light on top. It seems to work great (provided I turn it off so as not to burn the house down). My camera, a Nikon D60 can be set to a macro setting. I also set my ISO to 800. Using the tent and those settings I will be able to take really great clear photos of my leashes and collars!

To make your own light see the links on Molly's blog.

Crafty Wonderland, Screen Door, and Wiggly Dog

I had a fabulous Sunday this weekend. EXHAUSTING, but totally great. My friend Kathy and I met up at 10:30 to grab some coffee and wait in the huge crowd that always seems to be standing outside the Screen Door restaurant on Burnside in Portland. I took some pictures... but I only remembered that I wanted to after we started. We were very hungry!

Kathy had this catface sandwich thing (above). I didn't like that they called it catface so I ordered something else. Mine was some sort of spinach, portabella mushroom scramble. It was really fluffy and yummy. And of course they came with cheesey grits. The grits were great as well, but not as good as the last time we did this.

Then of course nothing could really compare to the scruptious thing we had already consumed. A breakfast corndog! It was this giant (italian I think) sausage that was coated in cornbread and fried. It had maple syrup with a splash of mollasses to go with. YUM.

So then it was off to Crafty Wonderland where we met up with Molly and a friend of hers (I am so bad with names, but I really, really liked her... she got into the craftyness). At crafty wonderland we saw the folks from Cake Spy! (I know! I just subscribed to the blog!) I got a cool magnet from them which is now stuck on my cubicle at work to cheer me up.

I also got 2 bars of the best soap ever from Scrumptious Suds. I buy her soap every time I see her now. She let me know she is opening a little store front.

I also bought some chocolates (from Coco + Co I think!). I have bought them from these guys every time I go and while, yes, they are a little pricey they are SO worth it.

After Crafty Wonderland Kathy and I headed out to go to a few fabric stores (we went and went until 4:00!) All in all it was a really great day and when I got home all I could do was crash in front of the TV. It is a good thing I had Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice to watch on the DVR!

So today when I got home I had lots to do. I had to blog, facebook, twitter, etsy, and take photos for all of the above. My goodness! So here are some pics of Annabelle. She is sporting my new Think Spring dog collar. The little id tag with the charms is from Ao Designs. Annabelle was being really wriggly so I also got this funny one when I was trying to adjust the light on my Nikon. I kind of like it.

Go Dog Collars Go!

Well the collars are posted. 8 dog collars and 3 leashes. Of course, all collars can also have a matching leash. My favorite is the cupcake collar. Love, love, love the cupcakes. Shouldn't all dogs have cupcakes? I think so.

I Love Etsy and Facebook!

I just went out and put my Etsy shop information on Facebook yesterday. Now all my friends can go out and become a fan of Dog Gone Knitting's Etsy shop on Facebook! This is so great!

I also received all my buckles and webbing so last night I whipped up some collars and leashes (really tired today). I am really excited about the different combos I have come up with. There are several more I have yet to make! Yippee! This is fun!

Out with the Bath Water

I wanted to let everyone know officially that I've decided to give up on the baby stuff. With all the new rules that may or may not get passed I just felt it was better for me to do something else. So as soon as what I have for baby listings are sold they are going, going, gone!

Yesterday I ordered a largish quantity of buckles, d rings, webbing, etc. I really, really hope to make a go with my new line of dog goods. It should be less stressful anyway. I will be able to depend on my supply channel (fabric patterns are always switching out) and it will still be fun and creative. So, if you are checking my Etsy site for the collars and leashes. NOT TO WORRY. They are really only a few days away!!

I am also being strongly encouraged (enough Molly Lee!) to put a doggie customer of the month photo up here on my blog. I think it is a great idea. Let me know in the comments what you think? (I love comments... they feed my attention loving soul!)

I am hoping that the dog things will do well online, but also at craft fairs (like Crafty Wonderland... incidentally coming up this weekend... can't wait... need yummy smelling soap). I am not participating in anything this month, but maybe soon!

The Latest Experiment

I suddenly find myself very interested in webbing and single adjust contoured side release buckles. I had so much fun making this little leash that I ran out and got a few more supplies today. Unfortunately I will have to order the buckles online (I have a fear of ordering bulk things online). Why is it that no one in Portland seems to sell contoured buckles? Weird, I know. Doesn't everyone need these?

So anyway, as soon as I get a few more ready and get the courage up to place an order for buckles these will go up on etsy. Yay! Fun!

Getting into Heaven

You know the old saying "She who dies with the most fabric wins?" I think I just spent the morning with some real contenders. My most favorite fabric store in all the world, Holly Hill Quilts here in West Linn, just moved into a new building last year. They still have the old building across the street and today and tomorrow they are having a huge clearance sale. $3.00 a yard for fabric (some of these are still in other stores for $8-10/yd!) So this morning I trotted down there thinking I needed to go early to get the good stuff.

Boy did I ever. I ended up buying 14 yards of fabric and stood in line for nearly 3 hours with some lovely women. The shop was standing room only for the entire duration of my visit. Literally. I am not exaggerating. But it was fun. Hard on my back, but fun.

Crafty people are such a jovial bunch and there was a lot of passing bolts of fabric around and giving tips out. Everyone said excuse me, please, and thank you. Why can't the rest of the world be as kind and polite as the people you find in your local quilt store? See, they really are going to win!

Mom Stop Bugging Me

Annabelle is getting tired of being the dog model for Mommies latest sewing project.

Photo Shoot at the Dog Park

So this afternoon Patrick and I loaded Duncan, Annabelle, the camera gear, and all my newly minted dog bandanas into the truck and headed for the dog park. What we learned was that taking dog photos with the intent of capturing a product they happen to be wearing is much, much more challenging than taking a cute dog picture.

Our dogs were, oddly enough, way more interested in sniffing butts and chasing balls than they were at showing off bandanas (we had to capture them each time to put one on!) This was so much easier at home! In any event we did have a nice time. We were glad to get home and take a nap though!

Dog Bandana's!

Today I began to slowly open my etsy shop back up again. I have loaded a few of my old items back in, but I have also started to load some new items I have been working on.

So far I have only loaded 2 bandana styles, but I have a variety of them made and ready to go. This weekend I will be working on photos.

My good little Duncan makes an excellent model doesn't he? I will try and incorporate some Annabelle shots in as well, but Duncan is a bit easier to manage and he shows up better in pictures!

A Renewal of Hope

Driving home today I couldn't help but notice several "Got Hope?" bumper stickers on the vehicles along my route. For the first time in a very long time I feel that yes, I live in a country overflowing with hope. We have a new president. A true leader of our people who will govern us with the wisdom of the past and optimism for the future. Today all American's witnessed a profound moment in our history. It has been a long, long time since we have had a good day that will be noted in the history books and remembered by those who witnessed it. We are overdue. Enjoy the remainder of the day my fellow Americans. I promise I won't start talking politics on my blog... I just wanted to note the day.