Saturday, August 31, 2013

Black and White Sunday #59

We are teaming up with 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.





Zuke's Mini Bakes Giveaway Winner

Drum roll please!  Out of 515 entries, the winner of the Zuke's Mini Bakes Giveaway is...




Chelsea Sutcliffe!  Congrats to you, and thanks to everyone who entered!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Bark and Bites - Puppy Safety Links

Baby Luna
Thinking of adding a new furry friend into your home?  It happens all of the time whether planed or not – say spur of the moment adoption - and a new puppy owner must make certain that safety tips are followed to ensure the pooch will remain healthy and happy in their new environment. It certainly took me some time to figure everything out when I brought Luna into our home five years ago, and things were handled very differently when Penny was added to our family.  So here are some links I found helpful in surviving the new puppy days.
  1. VPI Pet Insurance has Simple Advice for New Dog Owners.
  2. The Pet Blog Lady has some great Cleaning Tips for a SafePuppy.
  3. Pet MD has a basic New Puppy Checklist of all the items you will need for the new puppy, however Petsmart’s checklist is twice as long.
  4. The ASPCA has a very great article on Introducing Your Dogto a New Dog.
  5. The Dog Channel thinks outside of the box with their PuppySafety from A to Z article.

Do you have any tips or advice for bringing a new puppy into the home?  Make sure to hop on over to Newfandhound to see what links they have for you!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Wordless Wednesday #150


Monday, August 26, 2013

Zuke's Mini Bakes Review and Giveaway

Today we are reviewing Mini Bakes, a healthy and delicious miniature dog biscuit from Zuke’s.  I will admit that we have never actually tried Zuke’s treats before, but after testing them out, I now eagerly look forward to incorporating them into our treat jar and exploring all of the other treats they have to offer.


The Mini Bakes come in three different flavors: Chicken n Cherryz, Turkey n’ Taterz, and Peanut Butter n’ Blueberryz; all which are corn and wheat free, and do not contain any by-products or artificial flavors. Each mini baked biscuit is made with ground oats—never wheat or corn—and is enhanced with a protein source plus a nutritious addition like blueberries, potatoes or cherries.



The Mini Bakes are meant to be biscuits or cookies which can either be used as a training treat or just as good old fashion cookie.  They are roughly the size of a vitamin C tablet, and only contain 5 calories each.  These treats do not need to be broken up as they are the perfect size to give to my large and small dog. As a dry treat, I also love that I am able to load a handful of these cookies (whenever we are headed out) into my jeans and I don’t have to worry about them crumbling or making a sticky, greasy mess in my pocket. I also really appreciate the fact they do not smell - I am very picky when it comes to dog treats that smell.




Zuke’s has been around for a long time, and they are very highly talked about among other dog bloggers. It’s nice to be able to experience a great product from a solid company that really cares about making a difference.  I don’t know if it’s the quality and care that goes into their products (that has made me a believer) or that fact that they donate 5% of their sales to Dog & Cat Cancer Fund - which makes a difference as cancer is the #1 cause of demise in our pets.  Anyways, it's nice to see a pet business be so dedicated to our beloved four-legged friends. All in all, Mini Bakes is definitely a treat (and company) worth checking out!  

Zuke's has offered to giveaway Mini Bakes to one luck reader! You can enter to Rafflecopter below using any of the methods you like. The giveaway begins on 8/26/2013 at 12:00 pacific time and ends on 8/31/2013 pacific time. This giveaway is only open to US residents over the age of 18.  The winner will be announced on this blog and notified by email.  Good luck!

Disclaimer: I was provided with Zuke's Mini Bakes from Zuke's for a review, but the thoughts and opinions in this review are 100% my own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Black and White Sunday #58

Make sure to stop by tomorrow as we will reviewing (and giving away) Zuke's Mini Baked treats!

We are teaming up with 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.




Friday, August 23, 2013

Signazon Vinyl Banner Review

I was recently asked to take part in a review for a product from Signazon, and as someone who is trying to establish a small online/home business I happily obliged.  I knew exactly what product I wanted to review and selected one of their custom vinyl banners.

Signazon specializes in various types of custom signs (magnetic, yard signs, wall decals, etc), as well as things like canvas banners (like mine), business cards and even postcards.  So for all of you folks who have a small business of your own i.e. Etsy shops, photography businesses,  website design, dog walking services… then Signazon might just have something for you!

Designing my banner was easy as pie, and I went with a pre made design (I tweaked the font and colors) that had the same aesthetics as my jewelry logo. The customer service at Signazon was fantastic, and all of my questions were answered promptly. My order was shipped, packaged well to avoid damage, and was received less than a week after that!

The 24" x 48" size banner that I chose fit nicely with my 6’ table size. All of the vinyl banners automatically come with metal grommets and are ready-to-hang, and the vinyl material itself was strong and did not wrinkle easily. To say that I am happy with my new sign is an understatement.  I am thrilled with the new addition to my home business and feel it adds the perfect professional touch that I needed.

If you are looking for something to add a little sparkle to your business, then hop on over to see what Signazon can offer you – you won’t be disappointed!

Disclaimer: I was provided with a vinyl banner from Signazon for review, but the thoughts and opinions in this review are 100% my own.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Wordless Wednesday #139


Monday, August 19, 2013

One Image, Two Edits - Nooner

Today is the second installment of a blog series called One Image, Two Edits, where we take an original picture and make adjustments to give it a unique look.  Robin from Newfandhound sent over this gorgeous photo of Nooner posing so perfectly for the camera.

Here was my edit workflow for this image:
First off, I used “InstaClean” (from the Everyday Essentials action set). I adjusted the ‘levels bump’ layer up to 90%, and the ‘warming’ layer to 25%. Then I saved my clean edit.  Sometimes the InstaClean action is all I need to use as it does an amazing job all by itself.

I wanted to get a little more artistic with the photo, so I used the “Albany” action from the Coast To Coast action set – also from Everyday Essentials. This action set includes adding a creamy light layer mask, a red color layer mask, a touch of sepia adjustment layer, and a warming filter.  Normally when I apply a creative action like this to a photo, I have to spend time adjusting the opacity on several of the layers - however no adjustments were made to the filters applied. I really liked the way the entire set of layers gave the photo an entirely different feel to it.

You can see how making minor adjustments (to an already great photo) can enhance your image even more! Do you play much with action sets, or do you leave your photos as is? Make sure to hop on over to see how Robin has edited her photo!

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Black and White Sunday #57


 We are teaming up with 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.


Thursday, August 15, 2013

Dog Friendly (Carmel) Vacation Destinations



I’ve said it before that Carmel, CA is a super dog friendly city. In fact there's an entire social order of dogs and their owners that show up at certain areas at designated times to converse or cavort with each other. Why would you want to vacation anywhere else with your dog when you can do it all here? With just a little over a month left of summer, I thought I would share with you a few links if you need help deciding where to stay, play, or eat if you decide to visit us in Carmel, CA. Visit Carmel-by-the-Sea’s beach before you do anything else in town, your pup will thank you. Here dogs are allowed to roam and socialize freely while they play in the water and chase Frisbees. Fill your hungry belly at any of the many wonderful Carmel-by-the-Sea’s pet-welcoming restaurants. Here are a few popular choices!
  1. Forge in the Forest - Bring your 4-legged friend to the "dog pound", which is the affectionate name for the beautiful patio at Forge in the Forest. Dogs have their own menu, water and a biscuit, while you can enjoy the lush greenery and the warming out fireplace, not to mention great food. 
  2. Portabella  - On the south side of Ocean Avenue between Lincoln and Monte Verde, the name Portabella means "beautiful door".  Portabella serves Italian, Southern French, and Spanish cuisine on their charming flagstone patio and indoors in a romantic atmosphere. Well behaved dogs are treated to a silver water bucket and are welcome on the patio.
  3. Village Corner - Snuggle up with your dog near the large, outdoor fire pit on the patio at landmark this Mediterranean restaurant.
Cap off your lunch with some coffee or tea at one of these lovely places –
  1. The Carmel Coffee House - Enjoy a great cup of organic coffee on the patio with your dog at the only micro-roaster in Carmel by-the-Sea.
  2. If you prefer tea over coffee than you will want to check out the famous afternoon tea service at The Cypress Inn. The complete tea service features a selection of Homemade Scones and Tea Cookies, Tea Sandwiches, Petit Fours, Jam & Thickened Cream for Scones, and your choice of many Mighty Leaf teas.
  3. When Fido is ready for a tail wagging, tongue hanging stroll through coastal California, take him for a drive along the Seventeen Mile Drive – a picturesque stretch of highway through the communities of Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach, CA. 
  4. Walk around town and make sure to visit the Carmel Plaza Shopping Center. This luxurious shopping mall loves dogs so much it installed the “Fountain of Woof,” a large drinking fountain for hounds. In addition, there are several stores catering to the dog crowd, including the Diggity Dog Boutique and Bakery. 
  5. With over 13 wine tasting rooms located in town, you and your pooch could end your day by kicking back and enjoying a local red or notoriously popular sparkling white. 
  6. Two of my favorite tasting rooms are Galante Vineyards, and Caraccioli Cellars. Make sure to shop by Newfandhound to see what Vacation Destination links she has for you today! 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Bow-Wow Barkery Review

Today we are reviewing treats from Bow-Wow Barkery, an online store dedicated to making yummy treats on the belief that your furry family members deserve good quality food.

About The Company
“After 22 years as a senior manager in the restaurant industry, I decided to follow my passion. In my search for only the very best food and treats for my pet I was disappointed in the lack of food safety regulations and quality control. I have a passion for making tasty treats, in a food safe environment. We use only the highest quality, human grade ingredients and never any additives or preservatives. Every treat we sell meets stringent food safety guidelines and must be given the “Golden” Seal of Approval from our Culinary Advisor…Bentley.”

We received a nice sample box containing a variety of dog treats, which were all packaged and labeled with descriptions and ingredients. We tried samplings of their Petite Paddywacks - in Say Cheese and Chicken Pot Pie flavors – and Beef and Turkey Jerky from their Chew On This line.
Bow-Wow Barkery only uses human ingredients, so it make sense that their Chicken Pot Pie Paddywacks are made with all white meat chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, baby carrots, freshly grated parmesan cheese with a hint of garlic powder.  The Say Cheese Paddywacks are made with a blend of freshly shredded mild cheddar, monterey jack and parmesan cheeses mixed with a hint of beef broth. The Beef Jerky is made with all choice USDA flank steak sourced solely in the USA, and the Turkey Jerky is made with all white meat turkey, also sourced solely in the USA and USDA approved.



All of the treats were a big hit with the dogs!  None of them had any smell to them what so ever, and the petite size of the Paddywacks worked nicely for both Luna and Penny.  One bag (depending on size and product) will run from $2.99 - $6.99, and their complete line of dog treats can be found at http://bow-wowbarkery.com/ .  If you are looking for great quality homemade treats then you just might want to check them out!

I received this product free from Bow-Wow Barkery. I was not required to write a positive review, the opinions I have expressed are my own. I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Black and White Sunday #56


I have been extremely blessed (in my first trimester of pregnancy) to not have any extreme nausea or morning sickness.  What I seem to be suffering from is a complete lack of motivation to do absolutely anything – including everything that has to do with this blog. I can’t tell you how many times I have told my husband that I am going to give up blogging, only to change my mind just a few minutes later.  This is a daily battle
that I am having with myself right now. Having to stop and consider the thought of quitting (after five years of blogging) just doesn't seem that appealing – then sometimes it does. Let’s just blame it on hormones and put those thoughts on the shelf for a while. I have spent ALOT of time lying around the house, and my antsy dogs and rounder thighs are clear signs that I need to get myself moving again.  I am eagerly looking forward to entering into my second trimester (just a mere week away) as I know I will get my energy back and I should start to feel somewhat normal again.  Let’s hope!
We are teaming up with 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.


Monday, August 5, 2013

One Image, Two Edits

Practicing your editing style and post-processing workflow is key to making your photos stand out in a crowd.  I only started thinking this way about a year ago when I really got serious about learning how my camera works and what all I could do with the photos afterwards by using editing programs.
Today I thought it would be fun to share with you a step-by-step look at how two of us approach the editing process using the same image. Robin (from Newfandhound) and I will be sharing with you what program we use to edit the photo, and what steps we took to create the finished look.
The Original Photo

The Edited Photo

  • I opened up the original photo in Photoshop Elements and applied an InstaClean action. InstaClean is a cleaning action, meaning it’s a set of layer masks that can help you get your image looking great but still like it came from the camera that way.
  • After the action was applied, I went through the different layers in the action and adjusted them to my liking. 
  • I increased the levels layer to correct any white balance issues.
  • I applied a warming filter to bring out more warmth in Penny’s fur.
  • To bring out more contrast in the background, I applied a black layer mask and used a soft brush (with a white color) to reveal the white in the background. I also lightened areas around her eyes and the tip of her nose.
  • I increased the contrast to 75% for more depth and color pop.
  • I then re-sized my photo and applied my watermark. 

  • I am really happy with the finished look.  I did not want to do anything too drastic to change the overall feel of the photo, but rather I wanted to photo to speak for itself, and I feel like I accomplished that by applying those simple edits.
    Now make sure to head on over to Newfandhoundto see how her photo turned out! 

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Black and White Sunday #55



We are teaming up with Dachshund Nola to host a Black and White Sunday blog hop. Want to join the hop? Just follow the rules below.
  • 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.


Friday, August 2, 2013

We Welcome A New Baby



D and I are excited to announce that we will be bringing a new baby into the house – and I don’t mean the canine variety.  Our small one is due in February and I have been bursting at the seams waiting to tell everyone. I’m currently 11 weeks along and I am eagerly waiting to enter into the second trimester – I read that fatigue slowly dissipates and my appetite should start behaving properly.  D has been so sweet and caring to me during these past few weeks (just like he always is) but I can tell that he is excited to be entering into
this new phase of life with me. We are currently discussing different baby name options and having fun playing the the ‘veto’ card on each other (that's a reference to a scene in an episode of 'Friends' for those of you who didn't pick up on it). Lots of change is in the works, but I am excited and I look forward to these next few months!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Bark and Bites - Digital Photo Album Links

When it comes to scrapbooking and photo journaling, do you prefer old school scrapbooks or digital ones? Scrapbooking was always a fun project to do when I was younger, and I will admit to hosting scrapbooking parties with friends after school.  I still treasure those thick ruffled books containing very old photos of my life, and often pull them out for a good laugh. If you were to ask me if I still do any type of scrapbooking I would say sure, but it’s all digital.  There are so many wonderful things about making a digital photo book and weather you use software or go through an online vendor; there are numerous resources online to help you out in this endeavor.

Here are a few of my favorite links to help you get started.

The Shabby Shoppe is my favorite digital scrapbooking site featuring high quality, downloadable products for both digi and paper scrappers! They have a wonderful blog with lots of helpful tutorials using different
versions of Photoshop.
Shabby Miss Jenn is another great digital scrapbooking site.  Her papers and elements are adorable and she also has wonderful selection of tutorials and projects to teach.
The Sweet Shoppe is a great site with a talented staff of digital scrapbook designers who bring you the best digital scrapbook kits, elements, templates, fonts, alphabets, and freebies.
If you like the idea of going through an online vendor then Adorama,  Shutterfly, Tinyprints, and Snapfish are all great sites to go through.
Need some DIY inspiration? Head on over to A Beautiful Mess and look at their Book Making Index. They have blog posts ranging from scrapbooking, photo art journaling, instant photo journals and mini albums.
If you are still convinced that old school is the way to go, then Project Life might be for you. It’s a modern way of memory-keeping made simple.
Head on over the Newfandhound to see what links she as in store for you today!
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