Domestic Geek

For many people, their pets hold a special place in their hearts. Finding unique gifts for those people and their pets is easy when you visit Big Paw Designs. Founded in 2002, they specialize in quality, hand-crafted, made in the USA charms, accessories and gifts for pampered pets and their owners. They have a little bit of everything for dogs, cats & humans: pearl collars, pewter charms, keychains, earrings, magnets, frames, treats, toys and so much more. I'm thinking of purchasing a book to make homemade dog treats.

What is truly special about this place is the line of items geared towards "resuce" animals and their parents. I'm a strong proponent of rescue groups and admire those whose utmost concern is the wellbeing of animals and finding them a loving home.

They also get involved in various charity and relief efforts. They currently are offering a special pewter charm or keychain called the "Woof Fleur de Lis," a part of the whose proceeds benefit a very worthy cause — animal rescue efforts in New Orleans.

The site is more than just a store, it's a community. There are contests, links to rescue organizations, a blog and even a pet birthday club. Add them to your list of places to go for information, gifts and supplies for your pets or those who love them.

I picked up a couple of small things on my way home from work a couple of weeks ago at Meininger Art Supply over at 6th and Broadway. I didn't notice the bag at first because I had other things on my mind. After I got home and was taking my purchase out of it, I noticed the awesome art printed on it. I just had to scan it to share:


Isn't it cool? The design was made by Denver artist Bill Amundson. He's going to be doing a demonstration of his color pencil technique on April 14th. I need to check that out. I haven't drawn with colored pencils since school I'm actually quite good at it. Anyway, I wouldn't mind a print of that on my wall. I wonder if they sell prints of it? I'll have to check next time I stop in.

Many readers here know that I've been hosting my blog on a server in our house. That worked for a long time when I didn't have any visitors except a few friends and family members. I've been debating publicizing some of my other web projects since I know our little server wouldn't take kindly to the load. I also have a couple of things brewing in my mind, but didn't want to pay the money for a DNS service to point the URLs to this server. Well, yesterday I took the plunge and finally got an external web host. I'm still keeping this blog and anything on ladonnasworld at home, but other things are in the works on the host. The good news is I can finally had out my business cards again because that email address will be live again. I'm not going to talk about what's up my sleeve yet, but soon...very soon!

Happy Spring, everyone!

Nothing makes me feel better about things than the coming of spring. Since my depression is worse during the winter, I rejoice when the days get warmer and longer. I love being outside when it's warm, but not yet hot. I always get that gardening bug about this time, as well. I really need to figure out how to make our goal of getting land a reality because I haven't had a proper garden in almost 7 years. There's something truly satisfying about eating the foods grown by your own hard work.

Ten Things I Hate Doing:

1. Shaving my legs
2. Cleaning the shower
3. Clothes shopping
4. Paying taxes
5. Sitting stuck in traffic
6. Shoveling snow
7. Driving on ice
8. Working on a nice spring day
9. Cleaning up dog poo
10. Talking on the phone