Sunday Award!

Today I logged on to discover that my blog was awarded the I ♥ Your Blog award by Chica & Pumuckl! How exciting is that? I'm always thrilled that people read my blog, let alone nominate it for an award so I'm very appreciative and happy to receive it! Chica & Pumuckl are two Egyptian cats that just recently moved to Germany. Their blog is filled with photos of these two sweet kitties and tales of their adjustment to Germany. I love reading blogs about pets and I certainly read theirs every day!

Anyway, here's the rules for the recipients of this wonderful award:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog;
2. Link the person you received your award from;
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs;
4. Put links of those blogs on yours; and
5. Leave a message on the blogs that you’ve nominated.

I recently nominated blogs to receive the Brilliante award so I'll choose different ones for this award since it's already known that I ♥ those previous recipients. Here are my nominations to receive this award from me:

Casbah Kitten
Health Nut Wannabee Mom
Friends FurEver
Rainbows and Sunshine
Twenty Pound Tabby
LOL Cats - Tiger-n-Smokey
Daisy the Curly Cat

Be sure to check out these blogs and you'll quickly see why I ♥ their blogs!

EtsyBloggers Featured Seller of the Month - Tulips Treasure Box

I recently joined the EtsyBloggers team and am enjoying getting to know some of the wonderful members of this team and I'm also figuring all the different ways in which to participate in this team. One of the things this team does for each other is to feature a different seller every month. The featured seller for the month of August is TulipsTreasure Box. I've already introduced Tulip's blog to my readers when I recently nominated her blog for the Brilliante Weblog Premio award but now I'd like to show you some of the beautiful items she creates and sells on Etsy.



Be sure to check out Tulips Treasure Box and shop handmade!

Everyone Needs Some Lovin'

This is an archive of a previous post I did earlier this year. I was just beginning to build up my blog at that time so I'm sure this is new to a lot of readers today. I like the topic so thought it would be nice to revisit it.

I once heard that everyone needs someone in their life to love whether it's family, friends or pets. Having some other living creature to care for makes all the difference. Many people have big families, lots of friends and several pets while others have small families, few friends and one or two pets. Even if someone has just one important person, or pet, in their life, happiness abounds. The quantity does not matter, it's the quality of those relationships that is meaningful.

As our cats, Angel and Isabella, are demonstrating, we may not get along all the time but we can still show compassion for each other (hopefully it's not while being squished in a cat bed by your little sister!) Don't forget to seek out and nurture relationships with the people, or pets, that you love and make you happy. Keep in contact with family and friends, volunteer in your community or adopt a pet from an animal shelter. Spread the love and reap the rewards!!

Remembrance

Today I would like to dedicate my post to two of our furbabies who are no longer with us. For the past two years, August 29th has been filled with sorrow due to the passing of Panther in 2006 and KC in 2007. I know the date is a coincidence in that both crossed the Rainbow Bridge on August 29th and also that it falls the day after my birthday but it makes today rather difficult as we miss Panther and KC greatly.

Panther

August 8, 1988 - August 29, 2006

KC
June 3, 1993 - August 29, 2007

Birthday Party!

Today, August 28th, is my birthday and to celebrate, we're offering 20% off on all items (excluding shipping) in our BeadedTail shop! Just note "birthday present" in message to seller, proceed with payment through PayPal and your discount will be refunded to your PayPal account. Offer is good from 12:00am to 11:59PM EST, August 28th only!

Wordless Wednesday

For the Right Price?

Isn't everything for sale for the right price? Of course this doesn't include our furbabies since I wouldn't sell them for a gazillion dollars. Anyway, I thought I'd share a sign we came across Sunday while out and about that says "Property For Sale by Owner - Maybe". It made me chuckle so I hope you enjoy it too!

Cattitude!

I have cattitude, do you?

It's Me - Angel!

To prove that I'm more than just a cute face, I thought I would help Mom out with a post today while she's still visiting with her boss. Here's some baby pictures of me showing how good I am at helping to wrap packages (or at least wrapping kittens!):

I was such a cute kitten! I'm still cute today!

A Day at the Beach with Me!

Hi there! Sadie here. Mom is doing the touristy stuff with her boss from where we used to live, Colorado, so I thought I'd show you what I love most about Oregon - the beach! I love going to the beach, and not only because the two brats, I mean cats, have to stay home! I love to run in the cool waves!

I love the wide open spaces to run and explore!

Occasionally I take in the sights. Notice that I'm cute even from behind!

Thanks for spending a day at the beach with me! I hope you had as much fun as I did!

Finally Friday!

It's finally Friday - the beginning of the weekend! My boss is coming out for a visit from Colorado - I telecommute so only see her a couple of times a year - so I won't be updating my blog as regularly as I have been. The furbabies tell me they might post in my place so stay tuned!

Happy Friday everyone!

Blog Awards!

I am so excited, happy, humbled, honored, thankful, you name it, to have been nominated for the Brilliant Weblog Premio 2008 award by Casbah Kitten and Rainbows and Sunshine! I was also nominated by HealthNut Wannabee Mom - click here for my earlier post. I've been feeling the pressure to narrow my choices of nominees to pass the award to but I think I've got my choices in order now.

First off, I must admit that Casbah Kitten is one of the blogs that I have to (yes, have to!) check out every day to see what Jelly Bean and Pickles have been up to. In addition to making wonderful kitty toys, and now doggie items, those two are guaranteed to bring a smile to your face with their antics!

I also enjoy reading Rainbows and Sunshine's blog and I always tend to learn something new from her. Both Casbah Kitten and RainbowMom are fellow Etsy for Animals members too!

That being said, here are the rules for the nominees:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog

2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4) Add links to those blogs on your blog

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

Here are my nominees:

Luxor Lux and Silky are gorgeous kitties and it's fun to see what they have been doing.

DZFantasy - She's a very generous blogger and Etsyian who introduces us to other artists on her blog. Plus, she's very talented and makes beautiful fairies and mermaids!

Random Musings About Art & Life You just can't read DancingMooney's blog without liking this wonderful newlywed!

...aka Darzy... Aimee is a very compassionate animal lover and I admire her greatly. Her blog is always interesting and informative.

Tulip's Treasure Box I just met her through the EtsyBloggers team and she is rapidly becoming a favorite blog of mine. I enjoy her posts and her enthusiasm for our team!

PurrPrints: Art, Cats, and Randomness What can I say? I love her art and I love cats and you can find both at her blog!

Yeah, I know, that's only six but after sitting here for nearly an hour trying to figure out who should get that last position, I just say to all those with cat, dog or animal blogs of one kind of another that I drop my Entrecard on, I do stick around and check out your blog and appreciate the smiles you bring to my face!

Thanks again to Casbah Kitten, Rainbows and Sunshine and HealthNut WannaBee Mom for nominating my blog for this award! I appreciate it more than I can say!

Wordless Wednesday

Angel under cover!

Listing and Updating in our shop!

Between my day job and reading everyone's wonderful blogs in my spare time, I hadn't got much done in our BeadedTail Etsy shop. Well, last weekend I made new items and updated photos of some of our bracelets. Below is an example of what I've been doing:

I found these Vintage Lucite cat face beads in one of my favorite bead stores a few months ago but hadn't figured out just the purrfect way to showcase them. I decided to make earrings with them and just love how they turned out. I made some using red coral beads too and will be adding them to our shop soon.

I call these new earrings, Dos Gatos.





This For the Love of Animals - Red Tigers Eye Awareness Bracelet has always been one of my favorites. I updated the photos to hopefully show off the beauty of this bracelet more accurately. Photos are something that is always a work in progress for me.

Red Tigers eye and silver is such a beautiful combination. As always, a portion of ALL sales from our shop goes to animal awareness causes!

We're making tails wag one bead at a time!

Cat Olympics

Congratulations to Natsia Liukin and Shawn Johnson for their Gold and Silver medals in the Olympics but in our home, Angel gets the Gold on her balance beam abilities.

She scores extra points to adding in the all important face rub!

I'm still cute even with my Poodle cut!

Isabella had dental surgery yesterday to remove three teeth. She has a condition that causes her jaw bone to weaken resulting in loose teeth. She came through surgery just fine and recovered quickly but now she has a poodle cut on her front legs. The vet was unable to find her vein in one leg so had to shave the hair off the other leg too.

Sadie doesn't know what to think...

She's still cute though!

By the way, do you notice the two black toys in the top two pictures? Those are Luv Hearts and Jelly Beans by Casbah Kitten. I woke up at 4am this morning to check on her and she was playing with those toys and continued to do so all morning. She absolutely loves them and carries them all over the house! Be sure to check out Casbah Kitten's Etsy shop for lots of great cat (and dog) toys!

Summer Activities

Summer may be speeding by but take a few tips from the animals:

Lounge in the sunlight

Relax in your favorite position

Play on the beach

Discover that everything is a toy

Read a good book (or just take a nap)

Whatever you choose to do, be sure to enjoy the remaining days of summer just as your pets would!

EtsyBloggers 1st Anniversary Sale!

★ SALE!! EtsyBloggers 1st Anniversary SALE!! *5 DAYS ONLY* 8/13 thru 8/17 ★

We are the official street team for those who love to blog abut their craft, the creative process, and other Etsians! In the EtsyBloggers team you will find a global group of talented artists who offer a wide range of items which are handmade, vintage, and supplies.

Please click here to check out the Etsy Bloggers Street Team blog for a list of the 40+ shops participating (including our shop, BeadedTail!). Visit these EtsyBloggers shops from Wednesday 8/13 thru Sunday 8/17 and celebrate our team’s 1st Anniversary with us

Our BeadedTail sale is 10% off all items (excluding shipping) with code "Bloggers sale!". As always, a portion of ALL sales will go to animal awareness causes!

Equal opportunity!

Sadie asked why the cats have been included in the latest blog posts since she has the cutest smile. She makes me smile so I hope she makes you smile too!

Blog award!

I'm beside myself with joy today since I found out this morning that Heidi from Health Nut Wannabee Mom has chosen my blog for one of her Brilliante awards! Click here for her post. Before this morning, I had never realized there was such an award and I certainly would never have imagined that my blog would be honored with it!

What makes this award even more special is that when I first discovered Heidi's blog, I was blown away by how great her blog is. She writes so well and is informative and so down to earth that I have to go back every day to see what new posts she may have added. Of course the fact that she is a Kansan and a huge animal lover just adds to her appeal!

Thank you so much Heidi for this honor! I will be passing along the award in the next few weeks as I mull over who to bestow them on from the blogs I read.

Be sure to check out Heidi's Health Nut Wannabee Mom blog and I'm sure you'll be a regular reader too!

Doing what I love...

I have been searching for ways to bring attention to our Etsy shop so have been working on keeping this blog up to date while also trying to keep uploading new pictures into flickr and recently have signed up for Linkreferral and entrecard. I also need to work at my day job and find time to keep creating new jewelry. My mom is my shop partner but has recently undergone hip replacement surgery so I just want her to get well and not worry about anything shop related so I was feeling like I was spreading myself too thin when I finally realized something that I should have a long time ago: Do what you love and things will fall into place.

I have found that I don't look at my blog as a promotion tool but as a fun way to connect with other people who share the same interests as I do. With Linkreferral I have found many blogs, websites and even other Etsy shops that I would never have come across before. With entrecard I have found the most interesting blogs I've ever read, mostly written by or about pets (yes, pets can write blogs!). I love reading all the blogs, especially the ones about cats since they all have such unique purrsonalities.

I guess what I'm saying is that although I love creating jewelry and want to sell it in order to raise money for animal charities, the main thing about this whole new internet world I've entered is that I'm enjoying it and having fun and getting to "meet" people, and pets, from all over the world.

Once I realized that I'm doing everything because I enjoy it and not because I "have" too, things are starting to fall into place. We sold two items in our shop last Saturday and I also got this wonderful review on Linkreferral which makes everything I do worthwhile:

"We heard so much claims about exclusive designs particularly in the field of jewelry; but it is hard to find them in real life, particularly jewelry for animal lovers are either too loud, or miss the essential element of sophisticate design. This etsy store never claims to offer unique or exclusive design, but in reality it does so in style. Animal figurines are so finely blended that while animal lovers will take pride in wearing those, the fashion cautions trendy generation will also find them brilliant fashion statement. Above all, when we get to see that a part of revenues will go to charity, it inspires us more to hit the 'Add to cart' button. Keep it up. I'm really moved by your extraordinary collection. I liked your "Sitting Pretty Kitty" design. Excellent artwork. "

I look forward to working on my blog and I love reading the comments I get. I also really enjoy reading other blogs and finding new and interesting sites. I will keep creating new jewelry and listing it in our shop and eventually the sales will come but in the meantime, I thoroughly love exploring the internet world!

August 8, 2008

Today, 8-8-08, is our 20th wedding anniversary so hubby and I are going to the Oregon coast for the day and taking Sadie with us so she can romp on the beach. Isabella and Angel will be taking care of business while we are out enjoying the weather - if they can stay awake!

Thanks J for bringing me so much happiness the past 20 years and I'm looking forward to all the years and happiness to come!

Countertop Catnip?

Angel thinks that our new countertops are made with catnip, well, at least she acts like they are. Every day she has to jump up into the corner and roll around while rubbing her face on the pencil rail of the stone backsplash just like she does her catnip toys.

She stretches out as long as she possibly can so her whole body is spread along the counter and backsplash.

It's the oddest thing and she's not supposed to be on the counters but she's just so darn cute!

She loves to have her belly rubbed during this process. Looks like next time she does it, she needs her belly combed too!

AWBAR - Abandoned Wild Babies Animal Rescue

In addition to being a member of Etsy for Animals, I am also a member of Team AWBAR. AWBAR is located in Lockport, Illinois and is owned and operated by Amanda Smith. She rehabilitates ducks, raccoons, squirrels, opossums, rabbits, small birds and other small animals.

Relying solely on private donations, AWBAR is NOT a non for profit organization nor is AWBAR attached to any other organization. This is out of the pure love for animals.AWBAR is currently raising money to help offset the expenses of raising and releasing wildlife in 2008. Expenses include: food, shelter, and vet bills. In addition, AWBAR is raising money to help establish not-for-profit status.

You can read more about AWBAR by visiting the AWBAR website and the AWBAR blog.

Amanda has recently cared for baby raccoons that went through a parvo outbreak while in her care. She lost 13 due to the virus and saved many others. She works tirelessly to help the baby animals and her work is very appreciated.

The Etsy Angels team has chosen AWBAR as their August charity. Each member is either donating an item to the AWBAR Etsy shop or donating a percentage of their August sales. Be sure to check out the AWBAR blog for links to the shops of these wonderful, caring Etisans!

Thank you Lissa Lush!

LissaLush, aka Melissa, has put a feature on her MySpace about our BeadedTail shop! Be sure to check it out by clicking here. She is a fellow member of EFA - Etsy for Animals and has two shops on Etsy.

Her shop, Lissa Lush, has many wonderful items including these ACEOs in which 100% of the profits goes to EFA. Click on the picture to be taken to the item in her shop.

Her second shop, Lissa Lush Helping Cats, sends 100% of the profits to The Tenth Life, a no-kill cats only shelter. Again, she has many great items in this shop too including these unique record bowls. Click on the picture to be taken to the item in her shop.

Again, thank you very much Lissa! We appreciate the feature!