Wordless Wednesday

Linking up with BlogPaws

National Craft for your Local Shelter Day

 

 Our furryends Sebastian and Erika from Sew Doggy Style came up with a great idea: National Craft for your Local Shelter Day.

"What is National Craft for your Local Shelters Day?

It is a day set aside to recognize that we can give back to our local shelters in a crafty way.  This includes making beds, toys, vests and bandanas that say "adopt me," leashes, and sew much more.  What better way to give back to a shelter than the best way you know how - and for us, it's crafting." Erika Lindquist, from Sew Doggy Style

This year, National Craft for your Local Shelters Day took place on July 21st. We had the pleasure of joining Sebastian, his Mommy Erika and their beautiful friends in Fresno, CA. 

And this is Sebastian, the day after the party. Isn't he one of the most adorable doggies?

Photo by Sew Doggy Style

We made lots of pet-friendly items that will be donated to homeless pets living in 8 different shelters in the Fresno area. The hand painted ceramic bowls, bandanas and braided toys were very colorful and said Adopt Me, so we hope that they attract more people who are willing to adopt a dog or kitty.  

Photo by Laura, from The Peculiar Palette

 

We even made the news! ABC 30 News stopped by.

As Erika put it, "not everyone can write a check in this tough economy, but everyone can help." 

National Craft for your Local Shelters Day may be over, but the folks at Sew Doggy Style are still celebrating. They are hosting the most amazing giveaways on their blog this week. Be sure to check it out here.

Apart from the awesome ladies who came to the party on Saturday, lots of bloggers around the country signed up as well, such as these guys, this guy and this adorable little guy.

Thanks Erika and Sebastian for organizing such an amazing {and successful} event! 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Linking up with BlogPaws.

All natural dog ice cream recipe

I am not a big fan of the heat. There, I said it. I do love the sun, but as long as the temps are not greater than 70-75 degrees.  Leela gets very lethargic in the summer. She sleeps even more, if that is even possible. So to cheer the poor pup up, I made this super simple, yet delicious, mango ice cream recipe, that is a perfect treat for dogs and humans alike.

Step 1: peel mangoes, remove pit and dice it. 

Step 2: freeze it overnight. 

Step 3: using food processor (or a blender on steroids), blend mango cubes until smooth (30 seconds or so). Because we used frozen mango cubes, the consistency is very similar to that of a sorbet.

Simple, right? Well, not if you have a little princess at home, who likes her food served in the finest of china...

And on a very cute {{custom made}} dog bowl mat. If your furry companion is anything like mine, you know she is the pack leader and that you were put on this Earth to spoil her rotten. 

Once everything looks perfect and extra cute, call her.

Then sit back and watch her enjoy her sweet treat.

Leela's note: the possibilities are endless: store leftovers in an ice tray to create flavored ice cubes. Because mangoes are naturally sweet, there is no need to add any sugar, making this a low-calorie, all natural treat. If frozen, it will last up to a week. Mangoes are harmless to dogs, as long as the pit is removed. And as with everything else in life,enjoy it in moderation.

Do you have any fun summer recipes you would like to share?

Business Tips: how to create a blog button using PicMonkey

First and foremost, you will need to figure out how large/small you want your blog button/badge to be. If you are going to display it on your blog, make sure that it is not wider than your sidebar width. I won't get into how to determine the size of your sidebar, because that varies from platform to platform. For the purposes of this tutorial, let's go with what I use on my blog, which is 200x100.

Open PicMonkey. Click on Create a Collage:

Go to layout:

Click on ducks in a row

Choose the 2 cell layout, and delete one of the cells.

Unlock proportions (padlock sign) and enter 200x100.

Click on the color palette to edit the background color. Save file.

Go back to PicMonkey. Click on edit a photo.

Upload the "collage" you have just created. Using PicMonkey's photo editing tools, you can add text, texture, shapes, borders:

And even insert your own picture (click on shapes - see above, then on "YOUR OWN"):

And VOILA: your very own blog button. Both the text and dog paws were created using PicMonkey's tools. I inserted Ooh Leela!'s logo using the "add your own picture" feature.

Can't wait to see what you come up with :)

Wanna add Leela's face to your blog? Use the HTML code below.

Adapted from one of Kelly Designs' original tutorials. Original file may be found here.

To see all the business topics we have covered in the past click here.

Wordless Wednesday

Linking up with BlogPaws. 

Celebrating the 4th of July

Did you have as much fun as we did celebrating 4th of July this year? We sure hope so!

At first we were not too sure about this whole "let's have a holiday on a Wednesday" thing, because that feels pretty darn weird. Work, Work, Take it easy, Work and Work. Please tell us we are not alone?!?

Well, our day started out pretty slow... It took some of us ages to get out of bed....

Some of us got all dressed up to go to our city's 4th of July art fair.

Outfit by Ooh Leela!

A certain dad and puppy team had to wait for a certain mommy, who takes furrrrever to get ready. Or so it seems.

Then a certain daddy kept falling behind, so he had to be pulled. Really hard.

Our on way downtown, we saw a beautiful classic car. Daddy pointed out it is a 69 GTO.

Once we got there, mommy admired all of the street vendors and their beautiful handmade products....

We met one of the most adorable and playful English bulldog puppies ever. We exchanged numbers {{giggles}}

We also met some really quiet dogs. Boy, they can sit still! We watched them for a good 10 mins and they did not even blink.... They looked like they belonged in "Dogs in Black"

After walking around and making new furryends....

We decided to head home. A certain puppy had so much fun, that daddy was the one pulling the leash this time around.... But truth be told, I think she was just waiting for mommy...

How did you spend your Fourth of July?

On our blogging hiatus

Sometimes taking a break is a good thing. While it may not work for everyone, we can truly say that it is exactly what we needed. Sometimes, when life happens, it is just hard to keep up with everything, and although we have missed our blog friends so very much, we did not want to post stuff just because....

Leela and I used this time away to get in touch with our inner selves, re-energize ourselves and most importantly, to re-focus. So while this post is a long one, we could not possibly move forward without sharing how we got to this point.

We started Ooh Leela!™ in November of 2010. Back then, we were selling dish towels, coffee sleeves and coffee mixes. Naturally, we thought the next step was to start a blog, to create a place to document our creative journey that would also help us generate traffic to our shop. That is how this space came to be. Over the years, I have used it to document a little bit of everything, tutorials, cross stitch templates, recipes, business tips, etc etc etc. 

There were months where I blogged a lot. Other months not so much. I never wanted it to feel like a job, so there was never any discipline or structure in place.  Essentially, I blogged when I felt like it.

When we made the switch to dog apparel last year, I truly understood what passion is all about. Although I love embroidery, dish towels, sleeves, etc, creating unique items for dogs and animals fulfills me in a way I never thought possible. I think about Ooh Leela!™ 24x7. I dream about new products and designs... About color & fabric combinations. About my customers' faces when they open one of our packages.

I feel happy, content, and finally that I am where I was always meant to be.

While we were having a blast creating screen printed shirts, collar blings and beds, I felt very lost as far as the blog was concerned. I had developed a following and was worried that the content I was compelled to write about would no longer interest them.

So I tried to stick to the same topics I had been writing about in the past, but it was no longer a true reflection of where my heart was at, or the direction I was going.

If felt as though the blog had become its own entity and was no longer connected to my shop, which is such a big part of my life.

It was hard to keep up with 2 very distinct things. Because of this disconnect, we no longer enjoyed blogging, and when I am not happy, it shows. If you are not going to give something your very best, why do it at all? Thus our little blogging hiatus.

Here is what we have been up to over the past 2 months (more on each of these things soon):

We have launched a 4th of July line.

Reversible tank top for dogs, in red

Reversible dog tank, in white and blue

{{Did you know that Leela and I design all of our patterns, and make each one of our items? It may take us extra time, but at least you will know that your furry friend is wearing something that is truly unique.}}

 We went to Oregon.

We attended Blog Paws, in Salt Lake City, UT.

We worked on custom orders {have we mentioned how much we LOVE custom orders???}

We have made lists (in Excel, obviously - nerd alert ;), and a plan we are comfortable sticking to.

Most importantly, we got our groove back.

We've decided to write about things that truly reflect who we have become, even if it means that the overall direction of the blog will change a bit.

So what does this mean my dear friends? It means that we are ready to give this whole blogging thing a try again! Hey, we have truly missed it!

For those of you who have been with us for some time, I invite you to stay. We will still have lots of fun, I promise!

For those of you who have just joined us, welcome! We will have lots of animal related projects, articles, fashion tips, travel tips and recipes. 

Have you ever had to take a break from doing something you love? How did you deal with it?