Friday, December 26, 2008

Welcome!

Thank you for stopping by the blog for Hound and Thistle. H&T is my new company and right now I am making stationery for design-lovers and for dog-lovers. I love paper, I love design, and I love dogs. So, wrap all of that together and you get Hound and Thistle. I've been making stationery for about 7 years now, but only seriously for a couple. Over the past couple of years, I've gotten really involved with my dogs and dog events, that is when I realized the need for cool stuff for dog-lovers. So many of the things out there feel dated and old-timey and I wanted to do something more fresh and fun, thus began my work on creating stationery for dog lovers. The cool thing about my stationery is that if you like dogs, you can put a dog breed silhouette on the stationery, if you don't like dogs or want something else, you can put an initial on it or wording like "thank you". It's really pretty, fun stuff and I hope you like it as much as I do!

January is my month to work on the website and I hope to have it up really soon because I already have lots of designs ready to go! As far as the dogs go, I have all AKC recognized breeds available. If you have a mixed breed or something more exotic, I will do a custom silhouette for you. For all you cat lovers, have no fear, cats are my next endeavor!

As soon as the site is up and running, I will let you know. Stay warm and toasty this winter! See you soon...

A Word On Poop...

I don't quite understand why dog owners find it so difficult to pick up after their dogs. It's bad enough when you find poop in your front lawn, worse when you step in it, and just plain lazy & rude. My neighborhood has an HOA and in the past couple of months, I've notice a pooper-scooper company out in the common areas picking up dog waste. Wait a minute...this means we are paying for this!??! I know the pooper scooper company isn't cleaning up my neighbors' dog poop for the fun of it or simply to be nice. Clearly this has become such an issue that the community decided we needed to pay someone to clean up after ourselves. This is absolutely ridiculous! I have two dogs and each time we go for walks, I take old grocery store bags to clean up after them on our walks. It's really not that hard AND it's your responsibility as a dog owner!

It seems that since this company has been brought in, we see more poop in the common areas than before! People are now being lazy and they figure, "oh well, that guy will come out and clean it up..." Yeah and hopefully before I step in it!

One of my big concerns with pet owners is the lack of responsibility I see, not just in poop clean up, but in general. It seems so many people get dogs for themselves and don't think about the life of the dog or if the dog is satisfied and happy. Dogs are not lawn art, they are not disposable (when your new baby comes along and you don't prepare the dog with proper training so you just get rid of it), and they don't exist for your pleasure. They are a responsibility and living beings that need to be fulfilled just like humans. If you don't want to have an extra life to take care of, don't get a pet! And please, take some bags with you and clean up that poop...your neighbors will thank you.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Hound and Thistle - Yippee!

I know, I know...who starts a blog, writes one posting and doesn't show up for 5 months?!? Me, I guess. Honestly, I have been busy and need to stay on track and keep this up. You see, I'm just launching my own stationery line and have been busy as a bee trying to get everything together!

The first incarnation of said stationery line was started in 2000 and was called MEW Creations (MEW are my initials with my maiden name and I always loved them, thanks mom and dad!). Well, I had to change the name because I have a line of stationery including all the AKC recognized dog breeds and MEW simply screams cat, not dog. Then I decided it should be called RUFF Creations, cute enough, but that only speaks to the dog stuff I do and not all of it is dog-related. So, instead of having two names which was confusing the heck out of me, I decided upon "Hound and Thistle". When you see the MEW Creations logo, you'll get it.

So, off we go...Hound and Thistle is the final name and now I've got to work on the website so you can all see my lovely cards. I hope to include more items as well, including t-shirts. I do have one shirt ready to go, it's an Earthdog shirt for all you terrier enthusiasts!

OK, I've got to run because I need to design the logo for the new company name...so much to do! I promise to write more soon!