Vintage little shirt for your little pet...

Check out the new little shirt I made. 

It's for a small dog or cat. It features a draw string around the collar so you can custom fit it for your pet. It's only $12 and it's one of a kind, handmade, piece of art! Let me know what you think!

I wish I was better at coming up with creative titles...

As I write this blog, Fiona is resting next to me... In the most awkward looking position with her bed folded in half.

To start, I have to say that morning is probably my favorite time of day. I don't know why, but I needed to get that off my chest. As I sit here and try to be creative, I am encouraged by looking out my window and feeling the cool breeze. Oh and I'm nerved by my whining 4 year old who is getting frustrated with his Thomas the train play set... what's new? lol...

In other news, I wont be at market night yet again this week. Unfortunately, I didn't make enough last week to cover my spot this week. It's a sick cycle... and since Redlands market night has the reputation as being one of the more expensive markets, it really is killing me!!! I love the experience and the people of the Redlands market night, but it's just tooo dang expensive. I'm being honest here, and what more would you expect, but I have got to find another market that's not too far, but that has also been established for more than one year!!! I am hoping to have made some money this week to be able to attend the Redlands market night next week... I'll keep you posted.

I had mentioned the Tom's farms event on Halloween. Well, looks like I wont be doing that event either... After further investigation, it's $300 minimum for a booth for the weekend... Which is pretty reasonable since most weekend events are more, but I just don't have that kind of money! Not to mention, I asked around and the consensus is that "whose gonna go to a harvest festival for pet products.. it's all about the funnel cake and fried foods!"... Would you agree???

I know I probably sound like a "Debbie Downer" but fear not.. I haven't lost hope and I'm in no way having a pity party... As a self motivated individual, I took matters in another direction and am now looking for cute little community events on the weekends. Most of which are local and consist of one day events...

For starters, I am signed up for Riverside's Hidden Valley Nature Center's BARK AT THE PARK... It will be held aturday, November 13th ~ 10:00 – 2:00 pm ~ $3 per person *Dogs attend free!! Bring your dog on down to Hidden Valley and participate in the many dog-themed activities that will be available here at the park, from a guided dog walk to a variety of dog-friendly guests that will make this a doggone fun day for your entire family.

Fontana also has Bark at the park events and I'm calling on one that's in December. I'll let you know once I confirm about that one too.

Oh and there's a Stada Corsa Bicycle Festival in Yucaipa that I was invited too... I'm seriously considering it! Check out their website here! Would you buy pet products from a bike festival?  

In other news, I'm pretty sure I found a home for my big zebra bed... The transaction is in the works (aka my husband has to drive it to Hemet on his way home from work - he is wonderful). I'm so grateful and I am gonna be making another one today or tomorrow. This time it will be a sea horses theme... cute!

This is one of the books I ordered! I can't wait to actually make one of the projects! My first one will be the Tidy-Toys Bag. Check it out! Oh and the nice thing with these projects is that they are easy to personalize. So if you see something you like I can make it just for your pet!

Oh and referring to my previous Plan of Attach blog post... I ordered a million (not really) books and patterns for making dog clothes and the such. The first one I received from my order is pictured above. I'm excited to be starting a tidy-toys bag project (basically a bag for you to store your pet's toys in), a treat over the shoulder bag, and eventually a robe and matching towel set for bath time. I need to head to Jo-Ann's or Hancock Fabrics... Just gotta determine which one is cheaper! Oh and this book as some cute patterns for nice doggie jackets. I want to start setting up appointments to get individual pet measurements. Would any of you be interested in something like that?

Oh oh oh oh oh... and I almost forgot to show you this!!! Whoooo hooo! It's beautiful! :)

Last but not least, I found a home for my foster baby Bean. I miss him a lot, but I know I found the best forever home there is for him! I was hoping to announce his move with a picture but I just can't contain myself. I am so happy that God made a way, gave me the strength to love an animal and help him find a great home. Foster care is no joke. It's hard, but you really feel rewarded when it all works out. I love you Bean and always will.

Well, that's all for now... I'll post again soon!

My plan of attack!

As you can see I did an overhaul of my blog. I really like the new back ground... It's not really that big of a deal, but it made me happy. Ya know, it's the simple things in life sometimes.

Oh another note, I'm on a mission to make my own doggie clothes. I've had enough of this third party China crap. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stop selling it. The fact is that it's cheap and it sells. It sucks, but that's the way life works. I notice, people like cheap over quality. However, I like to talk about the stuff I made more than I do the stuff I bought from China when someone approaches me. And, eventually my desire is to have only hand made, beautiful gifts for pets... Unfortunately, until I get my name out there and people spread the word that I make good stuff, this will be hard, and expensive, to start up.

So, my first approach in this quest of all hand made goodies, is to start having a stronger defense against people's accusations that I only carry small dog stuff. If they would only give me a chance, they would find out that I started making the doggie beds because I couldn't find a cute one big enough for my 80 pound Auzzie! Now I know it's hard to tell that I make big dog things because I don't have alot of stuff available at market night for them... This will be changing. It's had to spend money when you're a small business, but it's come to that. I will now work to have at least one or two BIG beds, made by me, at my tables every market night. This will be an expensive endeavor, but worth it when people see what I can do! So, in a nutshell, my first approach will be to have more BIG dog, hand made, cute goodies available. 

One of two large beds that will be ready for the next market night. It measures 40 inches by 40 inches without the stuffing. 

It's fleece and has red and pink strawberries on top and a red fleece on the bottom.

Here's a close up of the strawberries.

It's lumpy right now because I ran out of stuffing. For me, the hardest part of making pet products is lugging 2 little kids around to get the supplies! Hollar at me if you understand!

Secondly, I will start dissecting doggie clothes and start experimenting with patterns. I tried to free hand a pattern without taking a dog sweater apart and it came out terrible. This will be time consuming, but I think it will be fun.






I also want to make my own cat toys and my own dog toys. I got some little pieces of fabric and I need to start putting together some cute little cat nip mice.




Lastly, I want to make some super cute pet bags that carry goodies for your pet when you go on outings or to put your pet into. Here is one of the patterns my sister gave me that's for a handbag, but with some minor adjustments, it could be the perfect pet supply bag for on the go!

Just some updates and ideas...

Well hey there everybody. I know it's been some time since my last post, but here I am. As you know, I was MIA from market night due to a car door incident. I am happy to announce that my car is fixed and that I am planning on being back at market night next Thursday, May 6. This, I pray, is going to be a sort of relaunch. I tried to take advantage of my time away to make my business more of what I have been dreaming it to be from the beginning. I took some time to do research and development, ordered samples of various items, and am still on the search to make a professional treat-chef name for myself.

I have come a long way since initially starting my business. I want to specialize in preservative free, all natural treats for dogs. I don't use flavorings, rather I use higher amounts or real meat. God gave me the dream of making my own pet beds and blankets too. (I eventually want to do doggie clothes, but one step at a time). I have developed some fantastic recipes and I have learned to sew. I love having these skill, but I felt like I wanted to provide more to my customers. So, I went to a wholesale distributor in Long Beach. They have pet supplies and I bought some really cute pet beds, harnesses, leashes, collars and some clothes. All the items are really reasonable and are affordable for customers. I can't wait to show everyone next Thursday.

Still, even after taking this leap of faith in my business, I have more I want to do. I guess that's the side effect of having a business you're passionate about. From the beginning I wanted my treats to be organic. After doing research I discovered this would be pretty expensive. I decided to start my biz on all natural, and preservative free knowing that with this I could at least get started. I still have the dream of having an organic line and I am seriously considering heading in that direction, albeit very slowly. So, I decided to introduce one chicken recipe to start. I haven't purchased the meat yet and I'm pretty sure I wont even have it to sell my first night back at market night, but at least my mind is made up on where to start. With that being said, the chicken is really the organic aspect of the treat. This was the obvious place to start for me given that certified organic farming has higher standards for how their slaughter animals are raised and what they are fed. It is a far more humane way for farm animals to live compared to the modern mass-produced farming. I feel as though I am rambling, but I think that's what a blog is all about, right?

Something I am even more excited about is a having a decent website. I have had a store where customers could purchase treats online, but it's not really bringing in any money. I'm not totally sure why, but I'm sure the fact that people assume they can just buy treats locally affects this. I also think that since it didn't say much about me that the site I had wasn't really geared towards new customers. With all that being said, I now have a much nicer website that I really like. I used Bark Pet Photography's website as my inspiration. Their website is beautiful and Kim Rogers takes some amazing pictures. Check out my website at http://www.healthybitedogtreats.showitsite.com/#/home/

If you have any suggestions for my website, blog, FB fan page, or just in general, I would love to hear them! :) I am always looking for feedback. I will try to post soon, even if it's just about what's going on in my ever-spinning mind.

The Job of ALLLLLLL Jobs

Well today I got my supplies to start my first pet bed project. Pray I am naturally good at it! ;) My friend let me borrow her sewing machine! (Thanks Sarah!!) It's a beauty.
I went to Walmart to hit up the fabric section, only to find out there is only ONE around me that still has it. And I wasn't at it. SO I hopped in the car with two fussy kids and headed to the one that still supplies crafts. (Of course I did make a quick detour to my moms to get some food).

Finally, we got to the right Walmart and I stocked up on supplies. I got:
Whattaya think about the color matches? I just hope they turn out right!

That's enough for now. I gotta figure out how to get this party started!