My Life in Blog Years

•  Link up your blog name and URL using the Linky Tool below.
•  Follow your co-hosts and follow as many other blogs on the Linky as you’d like.
• Please ONLY SUBMIT A FEW PHOTOS with minimal or no text, and make sure it’s in BLACK AND WHITE.
• Grab the “Black and White Sunday Blog Hop” button below and include it in your Sunday Blog post.

Today we have a guest post from the founders of Chippmunk, a newly launched website that is trying to redefine the experience of using coupons online in a simple way. They want to show you how they can help people shop smarter - particularly pet owners.


First select a shopping category and your estimated budget to see which offers will apply. Then click search.  You will be rewarded with a full page of current coupons from all of the major retailers in that category! When shopping for pets, you’ll see our current pet coupons:

Spring is officially here and with the imminent rain showers and flowers bound to bloom, why not welcome the new season with colorful and stylish gifts for you and your pooch!

1. This shop offers designer dog collars, dog bow ties, flower collars, leashes and harnesses. They are based in Florida so it’s no surprise where they get their color inspiration from.
2. Just For Bella has custom dog apparel in a rainbow of colors - like this adorable Spring Miami Style Dog Tutu.
3. This is a fun Dog Bed in chevron print of turquoise, orange, yellow, greens, and white. Cording is a coordinating orange.
4. It's summer and the sun is shining! Give your dog something fresh and groovy. This collar is made of super-soft high-grade leather and backed in delectable natural butterscotch leather.
5. Spring Dog Treat Truffles make a great gift to welcome spring. Ingredients include only the finest human grade ingredients: peanut butter, whole wheat flour, honey, cinnamon, oats, canola oil and fresh eggs.

1. These are an adorable Mother and Child Dachshund Dog Necklaces in sterling silver.
2. Add some Doxie whimsy fun into your home with pillows and gifts from Persnicketypelican.
3. Everyone needs a special tag for that beloved pet gift or from your pet to someone special.
4. Proudly display your four legged family members with this pretty chevron melamine serving tray.
5. This is a cute shabby chic “beware of the dog” accent piece for anywhere in your home.

This past weekend I celebrated my 34th birthday (double gasp!) but I calmly reminded myself that I was going to save my mini melt-down for when I turn 35 next year.  I've said it before that I absolutely have one of the most thoughtful husbands; he cooked me breakfast, lunch, and took me out to dinner, bought me cupcakes, AND he gifted me a new Macro Lens along with a nifty battery pack for my camera. The most thoughtful thing he did for me (like there could be more) was that he took my ‘Doing Business As’ article that appeared in our local paper and framed it for me.  Just from that simple gesture I can tell my husband is very proud of me and all that I am trying to do with my ETSY shop.  I truly had a wonderful birthday this year and I am very thankful that I was able to celebrate it with my wonderful partner.

1.  Link up your blog name and URL using the Linky Tool below.
2.  Follow your co-hosts and follow as many other blogs on the Linky as you’d like.
3. Please ONLY SUBMIT A FEW PHOTOS with minimal or no text, and make sure it’s in BLACK AND WHITE.
4. Grab the “Black and White Sunday Blog Hop” button below and include it in your Sunday Blog post.

"One of the greatest gifts we receive from dogs is the tenderness they evoke in us." -dog quote by -- dean koontz 

Blog design has certainly never been a passion of mine (Really? Then why do I spend 6 hours a day on it?), but I have been very keen on learning more about it and have also spent a lot of time making sure my site is designed and laid out exactly how I would like it.

I've stated before that I am a very visual person, and I need my site to be attractive to inspire me to spend time on it.  It might be nice if I could turn off that part of my personality so I could just stop worrying about all the little visual details  - but then my life as I know it just wouldn't be right.  Even with an artistic inclination, applying the ‘right touch’ to my blog requires knowledge in coding and experience in web design and branding - and I had none of these when I started!  I have, however, been able to find numerous resources that have served as good tools in helping my inexperienced brain figure all of this stuff out.



Technical Sites I Like:

• I stumbled upon this blog five years ago when I was seeking knowledge on customizing CSS, widgets,
  layouts, blog designs, inserting JavaScript’s and HTML codes.  The site is no longer being updated, but I still refer to it often as it has a ton of useful information.
• Smashing magazine is an online magazine for professional web designers and developers and offers great tips and techniques in all areas of coding.  They cover areas such as web design, typography, design patters, Photoshop, and so much more. You can also find a lot of great freebies on this site that you can apply to your own blog.
• If I need help with coding CSS (my platform requires a small knowledge of this) then I go to w3schools.com. With their online editor, you can edit the CSS, and click on a button to view the
  result. It’s pretty neat and I have learned a lot there.

 Blog Design Practices I Like:

• The Blog Maven is a new site I recently found. She offers a lot of advice on the best practices of getting social media sites such as Pinterest to work for you, how to make a media kit that rocks, and tips on backing up your work.
• Do you know what your Prime Online Real Estate is on your blog? Do you want to know how to create a winning first impression? Successful Blogging has a great article about how to use your most valuable blog real estate wisely, and blog design dos and don’ts regarding what your visitors should see first.

My Favorite Sites to Find Color Inspiration: 

• Design Seeds is a blog dedicated to “all who love color” and creates inspirational color palettes from every kind of photo. COLOURlovers is a creative community where people from around the world create and share colors, palettes and patterns, discuss the latest trends and explore colorful articles.
• This is a quick and easy color scheme designer, and this website can generate a color palette from a photo just by entering the URL of the image.

I could go on and on about my favorite sites that have helped guide me along my four+ years of blogging, but I think I am going to stop and go make dinner.  I can hear my husband's stomach growling downstairs.  Make sure to hop on over to Newf&Hound to see what great links she has for you!

The Daily Dog Tag is a blog that focuses on professional dog photography, artful and unique products, and adoptable dogs.  I fell in love with this site when I first came upon it.  The layout is designed in such a way that makes the images the main attraction, and the illustrations on the top navigation are super cute and creative. I enjoy the way the images are displayed on the blog and that everything (text and images) are always the same width. The sidebar isn’t overloaded with silly stuff and I think overall the
site is just lovely.

Do you have favorite blogs that you are always drawn too?  Do you know why you find them so appealing? Have you ever spent time analyzing this information and applying it to your own site?  You can visit my other site www.prettyshinyobject.com/blog/ to see 4 more blogs I think rock and why.

We are teaming up with You Did What With Your Weiner and Dachshund Nola to host a Black and White Sunday blog hop. Want to join the hop? Just follow the rules below.

1.  Link up your blog name and URL using the Linky Tool below.
2.  Follow your co-hosts and follow as many other blogs on the Linky as you’d like.
3. Please ONLY SUBMIT A FEW PHOTOS with minimal or no text, and make sure it’s in BLACK AND WHITE.
4. Grab the “Black and White Sunday Blog Hop” button below and include it in your Sunday Blog post.

Have you heard?  On Wednesday, it was announced that Google Reader will be shutting down for good on July 1st.  It's quite disappointing to hear the news and I'm sure many of you use Google Reader to follow this blog, just like I do for you.

If you do use Google Reader to read your RSS feeds you should start the process of looking for a new reader.
In general, they fall into two categories: Cloud-based news readers, and desktop-based news readers. 

Because I like to read my feeds on various types of devices (Kindle, Phone) I will need to look at a new web-based reader.  I honestly don’t know much about other cloud based readers, but you can check out sites such as LifeHacker and Cnet that have combined list of reader alternatives to consider.

Thankfully, there are a lots of really great alternatives that are currently being talked about on the web that will allow you to continue to read your favorite blogs in one place. If you already use another reader service then please tell me about it and why you like it. I have thought about moving to either Pulse or Feeldy because they are both available (for free) on the web along with iOS and Android devices, but I would love to hear your thoughts too.

There’s something about spring that just makes you want to get things clean.  Some of us know it as shedding season while others start to suffer from allergies.  Whatever your motivation is for keeping your pet infested - always hairy house clean, having careful cleaning habits, tips and tricks can certainly make your living conditions more manageable...and a lot less
smelly. Owning two long-haired dogs always raises the question of how do I keep the house, myself, and the dogs clean? Here are a few helpful links that might help you maintain a clean and fresh home.

1. Ehow gives you good basic tips for cleaning different surfaces such as leather, upholstery, and flooring. 
2. This video talks about how to extract urine with any wet
3. vacuum or shop vac before you use any type of cleaning solution.
4. You can visit the PetsLady as she talks about common
5. household ingredients that can be used for natural pet cleaning solutions.
6. This is my favorite line of natural pet and stain removers
7. that are ecofriendly and made from organic and biodegradable ingredients.

Here are some helpful organizing links:

1. You can read about creating your own pretty pet toy storage solution over at iheart organizing.
2. Check out Pretty Fluffy to see one of the most organized doggy drawers I have ever seen.
3. I seriously love the wall hanging pet organizer from Wag.com
4. You can visit Making it With Danielle to read her creative ways on keeping her two miniature
   pinschers stuff organized.

Hope you enjoyed your links, now make sure to hop on over to NewfandHound to see what they will be sharing with you.

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner so now’s the time to get your perfect pooch something a little green.

1. Green Leather Small Dog Collar with Green Jeweled Rivets.
2. Pistachio Green Plaid Dog Bow Tie Collar.
3. Deluxe Bunbed Dog bed for Dachshunds and other small dogs.
4. Stuffed Animal Wiener Dog Plush Soft Doll Dachshund.
5. Personalized Ceramic Dog or Cat Bowl - Custom Made Pet Food Dish.
6. Gray and green Zig Zag Pet Bed.
7. Green leaf ceramic dog bowl - Forest green pet bowl.
8. Kelly Green Argyle Dog Collar and Bow Tie Set.
9. Hand Knit Green Dog Sweater.
10. Green and Yellow Green Wedding dog collar.

Today I am doing something a little different and converting a colored photo using a new Photoshop action I received from Everyday Elements.  I have a few b&W actions (but rarely use them) and think this one by far does the best job mimicking a real b&w photo.  The action also comes with a layer to create a touch of matte, which was used on the second photo.  I should also note that I received the PSE action because I subscribed to the Everyday Elements newsletter. What do you think? Pretty convincing right?

1. Link up your blog name and URL using the Linky Toolbelow.
2. Follow your co-hosts and follow as many other blogs on the Linky as you’d like.
3. Please ONLY SUBMIT A FEW PHOTOS with minimal or no text, and make sure it’s in BLACK AND WHITE.
4. Grab the “Black and White Sunday Blog Hop” button below and include it in your Sunday Blog post.

Penny has developed a bit of a barking pattern lately, and I am not sure quite how to address it.  Whenever we are in the presence of our walking group, she just 'speaks up.'  You may recall from some of our old posts (from Seattle) that when we joined up with the Adventure Weiner Club, Penny was the one dog that wasn't barking - heck she wouldn't even make a sound... she'd just look at us like "why are all these dogs making so much noise?!?"  Now she is that dog, the one you can hear down the street.  She is that
dog, the one that gets all the other dogs riled up.

Normally her behavior wouldn't really bother me - because I know Dachshunds can be boisterous, and she is always super friendly around other dogs - but recently a certain individual of our walking group has been making comments (we'll call them 'backhanded compliments') about Penny’s personality, so I feel
like I need to address something.

That's my first reaction, anyway. My second reaction is that she is a beautiful, friendly, and happy dog just expressing herself and having a grand old time without causing trouble, and I shouldn't be concerned with what one person thinks. My third reaction is that there has to be a happy medium - a nice balance between excited and expressive.

Welcome to my first installment of Bark & Bites, Links We Like!  I am teaming up with Robin from NewfandHound and each week we will be sharing our favorite Bark and Bites and posting them on our blogs.
Our theme this week is Vintage Dachshund links!  Now in order to do this correctly, I needed to do a little research as I was a little unsure of what the difference was between antique items vs. a vintage item.  According to Merriam Webster, an antique is "a work of art, piece of furniture, or decorative object made at an earlier period and according to various customs laws at least 100 years ago."  Ruby Lane says “an item described as 'vintage' should speak of the era in which it was produced” or “an item should be somewhat representational and recognizable as belonging to the era in which it was made."  So an example would be that a 1950’s dress could be described as vintage, but it would not yet be an antique. Do you feel smarter yet? I certainly do, now onward to the links.

1. Dachshund Love has a great round up of black and white vintage Dachshund photographs.  
2. You can find high-quality vintage Dachshund collectible that have been secured from estate and private sales around the world at Pet My Wiener.
3. Dachshund Parade has a beautifully curated collection of old Dachshund prints and images collected from different sources on the internet.
4. Vintage Dachshund Dogs Scatter Figural Pins Rhinestones can be found at Ruby Lane.
5. If you love dogs or have a dachshund, you'll appreciate this adorable 1950’s vintage print dress! 

For those of you who like to edit your photos, these links are for you:

1. Coffee Shop has a free Golden Vintage action for Photoshop & Elements that looks great on color and B&W images.  
2. Paint the Moon has a free set of downloadable Vintage Frames for Photoshop & Elements. 
3. Amanda from Everyday Elements gives you step by step instructions on how to give your photos a vintage look using Photoshop Elements.
4. You can go to Shabby Princess and download a beautiful paper pack (for free) called VINTAGE FLORALS that includes beautiful textured paper, fun flowers, stamps, a very cute paper pieced flower with ric rac stem and leaves all for digital scrapbooking.

4) Grab the “Black and White Sunday Blog Hop” button below and include it in your Sunday Blog post.