Wednesday, July 28, 2010

It's Hot!

Maybe the K99 Ice Cream Van will stop by!



There is a new K99 Ice cream Van in London. It serves frozen treats exclusively for dogs. Your four-legged friends can choose between two tasty flavors: "Dog Eat Hog World," which is gammon and chicken sorbet topped with a biscuit and served in a cone; or "Canine Cookie Crunch," which is a combination of mixed dog biscuits and ice cream.
Check out the full article here : Mail Online

Now most of us don't have a K99 Ice Cream van that come by our house. That's why I'm adding these easy to make doggie ice cream recipes. 

Frosty Paw Ice Cream
32 oz. plain yogurt
1 mashed banana
2 T peanut butter
2 T honey

It’s true dairy products aren’t good for dogs, but yogurt contains much less lactase than regular milk and the live cultures are great for your dog’s digestive system. This dog ice cream recipe is delicious and good for your pet!

1. Mix all these ingredients in your blender, then dump into ice cube trays, paper cups, or even a kong toy to freeze and serve.

2. If you want to go all out for your mutt you can freeze these homemade frosty paws just like you would homemade ice cream. A salt-less automatic ice cream maker makes this as easy as using any other appliance in your home and the frosty paws will be ready to serve in 10 minutes.

For paw shapes:
Take the mostly frozen dog ice cream product of number two and spread it 1” to 1½” thick on wax paper. Freeze for five minutes and then remove dog ice cream from freezer. Next, use a paw shaped cookie cutter to cut a paw shaped “frosty paws”, remove ice cream around edges, and return paw shapes to the freezer to freeze solid. NOTE: This can also be made with baby meat instead of the fruit and peanut butter.


Pumpkin Pops for Pups
1 (1.5 oz) Sugar Free Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup milk, low or fat free
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

Whisk the vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin pie spice, and milk together until dissolved. Approximately 2 minutes.Fold, or gently stir in the pumpkin puree.Scoop pumpkin pudding into small paper cups, small plastic cups, or a plastic Popsicle mold.Place in freezer, and let freeze completely, about 3 hours.Take out desired serving size and let sit on counter for 5 minutes. Then release from the mold and serve.

If frozen this dog ice cream recipe will last for 3 months. If kept in the refrigerator, as a pudding, it will keep fresh for one week.

Pupsicles
2 cups low salt beef or chicken broth
2/3 cup water
2 or 3 ice cube trays
Small rawhide sticks

Mix water with beef or chicken broth and pour into ice cube trays. Place in freezer and serve cold. Add a rawhide stick halfway through the freezing. This recipe is quick, easy, and fun. It's probably best to serve this dish outside.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Arkansas Democrat Gazette's Article about Etsy

July 24, 2010 the Arkansas Democrat Gazette printed this article in the newspaper about artist in Arkansas that used Etsy to sell their work. It includes a few interviews with local artist.

Etsy.com is easing artists’ sales tasks

LITTLE ROCK — Craftsmen, artists and collectors from around Arkansas have flocked to the website Etsy.com to sell their wares. Buyers, in turn, can go there to find artwork and handicrafts like photos, paintings, ironwork, woodwork, candles, soap, fabrics, hand-spun wool and yarn, scrapbooking supplies - even vintage dinnerware and decor- all from Arkansas vendors.

Etsy.com was conceived in early 2005 by painter, carpenter and photographer Rob Kalin as a venue for creative folks to sell their oneof-a-kind designs. The site went live June 18, 2005, and has been featured on shows like CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America and The Rachael Ray Show as well as in numerous print publications.Today, the site has more than 5million members and generates about $200 million in annual sales.

Scottie Schnauzer Dog Sculpture
by VonChandler
“About three years ago, I decided to start selling my art online,” says Dillon Chandler, owner of the Farmington-based studio VonChandler. “I figured I was missing out on a huge market.”
Chandler says he first turned to eBay.com to sell his metal lawn sculptures and decor, but soon found that the online marketplacewas inundated with cheap, often mass-produced goods that overshadowed his unique designs.After a few months, Chandler closed his eBay shop and resigned himself to selling locally. That changed, however, when a coworker recommended Etsy.Chandler now averages from 10 to 30 sales each month on thewebsite. “The first and foremost benefit [of Etsy] is the ability to display and offer my artwork to anyone in the world with a click of their mouse,” he says.


Worldwide exposure is a benefit many Arkansans are enjoying. Some vendors, like Rogers painter Jan Ironside and Hot Springs glassworker Jordan Kudabeck, get inquiries about their work from as far away as Australia and Europe.


PDF Crochet Pattern for Fall Mums
by MaddCrocheter (Susan Hilton)
 Etsy also offers artists the ability to work from home. Just ask Susan Hinton of Fayetteville, who sells her electronic crochet and sewing patterns along with sewing supplies on Etsy.
“I don’t have to load my stuff up in my car and drive somewhere, set it up, sit all day - usually outdoors - or worry about the weather,” she says.

The keys to Etsy’s success, according to many Arkansas sellers, are its user-friendly web design, inexpensive listing fees and the site’s more than 724 million monthly page views.
“Etsy simplifies online selling,” says Bentonville artist Dave Clark. “They provide shopping cart and PayPal integration, not to mention intuitive drag-and-drop storefront creation software. No HTML knowledge is required.” “It’s nice to be able to point potential customers to a professional-looking online storefront,” he adds.

Cheap listing prices and lengthy auctions keep Kate Matthews of Little Rock coming back to Etsy.“It costs only 20 cents to list an item, and the listing is for four months,” she says.
Compared to eBay’s 10- to 35-cent insertion fees for seven day listings, that’s a bargain. Etsy’s commission fees are also negligible, meaning most of the profit from sales go directly to the artist.

“If it weren’t for Etsy, I wouldn’t have been able to indulge myself in the creative process at the level I currently enjoy,” says Susan McSherry, a mosaic artist from Marble Falls. “It has basically bankrolled my adventure in the arts.”

AREtsy - Arkansas Etsy Street Team
Etsy also offers online communities based on geography and types of artsand crafts.“The people I’ve met through that site have been extremely valuable in their knowledge of Etsy, the handmade industry and craft shows to participate in,” says Erin Jepson, a Fayetteville artist who sells hand-spun yarn. Jepson also leads the Arkansas Etsy Street Team, or AREtsy, to further promote Arkansas members.

“One of the best things I’ve gotten into on Etsy is the Dirt-Road Artists Team,” says potter Liz Gamelin of Mountain Home. “We chat in the forums daily, sharing our day-to-day lives, our Etsy successes and troubles.”That sense of community extends to buyers, who can choose the “shop local” option on Etsy’s homepage to find sellers near them. A simple click typically produces hundreds of search results.

“Etsy is like the farmers market of the Internet,” says craftsman Eddie Robinett of Jonesboro, who sells handcrafted birdhouses and signs. “Etsy is for people who want something other than an item mass-produced overseas.”

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Eco Friendly Dog Toys

Recently my sister made a blanket out of her old softball t-shirts. She wanted an unique way to display her shirts so they wouldn't just be hanging in her closet. It turned out pretty cute!


Anyways she had LOTS of left over t-shirt scraps lying around. I decided to take a few of her scraps and turn them into a eco-friendly dog toy. I tried 3 different ways of braiding and knotting the material until I finally I decided on a that worked. Next tested it on my Pomeranian Koda. He LOVED it! I made a few more in different colors and listed them on my Etsy Shop today.

To purchase your Eco-friendly, upcycled dog toy please visit LuckyPups Shop and click on Toys. 


Last week LuckyPups Personalized Treat Jar featured on a blog called Life's Lovely Mess written by Gwen. She loves her two dogs, Coco & Rex. Check out her blog and post about spoiled dogs.

I also signed up for my first "Baby Blogger Thrusday" today. Its to promote blogs that have been posting less than a year. Check it out and add your blog!







Tuesday, July 13, 2010

New Website!

LuckyPups new website is now up and running! More updates will come soon but you can check it out now!

LuckyPups Website

Just click on Shop to see my items for sale!

I designed it, let me know what you think. Thanks!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Self Service Pet Wash

While I was out of town for the 4th of July this weekend I discovered this Self Service Pet Wash located right beside a car wash. I have never seen one of these before. After a little research, I decided that they are pretty popular in larger cites. I would love to know what dog lovers think about these pet washes. Do you have a Self Service Pet Wash near you? Do you use it?