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Every year we both look forward to and dread this day, we can no longer guarantee that every order placed will be able to be delivered in time for Christmas giving.
Thank you everyone for all of your support this year and we look forward to being able to help even more animals next year. We have great things planned and can’t wait for the new year.
I know that we have been very lax in updating the site with new products and specials, but we have a great excuse.
Diane and I are finally in Tennessee!!! We are thrilled to be here full time now and can’t wait to be able to start building the farm and getting ready to start hosting animals in need. It’s such an exciting journey we are getting started on and I can’t wait to have all of you join us on this trip.
Along with that we are excited about getting back to bringing everyone new jewelry designed with an animal theme. I might even be able to start hand making jewelry again as soon as we get my studio built.
The Temporary Horse Pasture
Sort of. Diane and I will be in Tennessee working on the new farm the first week of September. We will be unable to process orders that week, but will get to them first thing Monday morning when we get back. We will still be answering emails and doing what we can from Tennessee.
Thank you to all of our wonderful customers, your purchases have done great things for animals in need.
Orange Flower Art Glass Bead
Diane and I are proud to announce the launch of our newest jewelry website Doe Creek Beads. Doe Creek Beads specializes in beads and charms for collectors and happy jewelry wearers everywhere. We carry three lines of jewelry currently, Kera, Reflection and Armore LA Vita charms with plans to add more as soon as we are able.
We currently have an assortment of glass beads, silver beads and charms, and all sorts of themed charms and beads. We would love to have you go over there and check out the site and let us know what you think.
We are always looking for new ways to help animals in need, and recently we have been getting asked for more direct ways that animal rescues and animal charities can raise money for their cause. In an effort to help we are creating a new affiliate program.
If you run, manage, or support an animal charity you can sign up for an affiliate code that is just for you. When someone clicks a link on your website, or uses your special URL, your group earns 15% from every sale made.
Some key features of our program:
To start earning money for your charity, rescue, or even yourself, sign up today.
Happy 2011 everyone!
Diane and I want to thank everyone that has helped us be able to help animals all around the US and Canada. We have made a lot of great friends through animal charities and we are looking forward to making many more.
To help get the new year started off right we are looking for more new charities and rescues to help. If you know of a great animal rescue that needs help, please post it here and we will add them to the ever growing list of places that we try to help.
New, and just in time for Christmas, we have launched a new line of animal themed birthstone jewelry. Available in either 14kt yellow gold or sterling silver, these cute little pendants and earrings are set with colored CZ gemstones.
The pendants have large jump rings added to them and the earrings have bishops hooks added to them. By special request we can also add bead clips.
We can also set them with natural gems if you prefer, just contact us and let us know what you would like and we will let you know how much natural gems will cost.
Winter is finally getting close here in Northern Indiana and along with the winter weather comes concern for our furbabies and animals in general. Winter can be a hard time of year for all of us, but our pets can suffer even more due to a lack of education and common sense.
Most animals are perfectly capable of surviving even a harsh winter outside on their own. But there are a lot of things to consider before you toss Fido out in the snow.
The most important thing to consider is if your pet is an indoor or outdoor pet. I know that this seems a simple thing, but dogs and cats can’t just put on a jacket when it gets cold outside. Their fur takes time to come in and if they spend the majority of their time indoors it may never fully come in at all. The leaves them susceptible to all sorts of cold induced illnesses, including death. If your pet is primarily an indoor animal, do not toss him out in to the snow, ever. It would be like waking up in your warm bed in the morning and being immediately thrown barefoot in your PJs in to a snow drift. You wouldn’t appreciate it and neither will your pet.
Another important thing to consider is the breed of your pet. A siberian husky or great pyrenees, like our dog Valyn, loves the snow. Valyn is perfectly content to lay in the pasture and let the snow simply cover him up leaving nothing but a white snow drift while a chihuahua might not appreciate the snow very much at all..
If you are going to send your pet put in to the winter weather take some basic precautions.
Keeping your pets and animals safe and healthy in the cold winter months is simply a matter of common sense, if you are outside freezing and shivering because of the cold, odds are your pet is too. Bring them inside or provide a safe warm shelter for them. Remember, they can’t tell you when they are cold, all they can do is hope that you will take of them.
Share some of your tips in the comments section or on Facebook.
We all love our pets and would do almost anything for them. We’ve put together three great online services that can help us make sure our pets are safe and pampered to make that job just a little easier.
Valyn Happy
Diane and I have been traveling a bit more than usual lately with our daughter getting married and living in another state and I worry a lot about making sure our dogs are cared for since we can’t always take them with us. The horses and goats can pretty much manage on their own as long as they have water and 3 pastures to eat in, but the dogs need to be fed regularly and I just feel better knowing that someone is looking in on them, even if they spend most of their time sleeping. Our pet sitters are awesome, but I know that it can be a bit stressful wondering if your pet has actually been fed. this is where PETZcheckIN comes in to play.
PETZcheckIN is a pet sitting monitoring service. When you plan to be away you set up an account with PETZ and define what times your pets are to be cared for and a schedule is set up with your pet sitter or service. When you sitter arrives they checkin with PETZ and when they are done they checkout. If for some reason your sitter does not checkin a reminder is sent and a backup plan can be activated, all without you having to worry about a thing.
PETZ is not a free service, but is very reasonably priced. They use a credit system where each “event” costs you one credit. You can buy credits for as little 85 cents each. More than reasonable for the peace of mind knowing that someone else is making sure that your pets are cared for.
The hypochondriac in me loves PetMD. For those of you that still haven’t heard, PetMD is a resource for you to look up diseases, symptoms, even ask a vet a question about something that may be wrong with your pet. The best part about PetMD is that the information written there is written by a vet, checked by a vet, and presented knowing that it is professional advice, not something some random poster said on a forum, not that all random forum posters are wrong 
Our last great online resource fr pets is more of a dog resource. E-Training For Dogs is an online dog training class where you can sign up for a specific type of a training, attend an online class, interact with other students taking the same class with you, and work at your own pace all under the guidance of professional trainers. They offer tons of classes, from simple behavioral and obedience training to hunting dog training and even show dog training. I’m planning on signing me and Daisy up for some of the working dog classes.
The classes are very reasonably priced. Class costs range from around $40 per class to as much as $100 per class.
I love finding these types of resources online. If you know of any that I missed please post about them here in the comments.
I don’t get to make a lot of jewelry these days, but when I do I like it to be something extra special. Our daughter’s wedding ring seems to fit that bill pretty well.
Michelle walks her own path and her ring is no exception. It is made in 14k white gold, the side stones are lapis and the center stone is a color change garnet that goes from blue/green to red/purple depending on the light you are in.
 Wax |
 Rough Cast |
 Pre-polish |
 Finished ring |
