Vacation

Daisy's Diva Designs will be closed for vacation until January 1st. From my family to yours, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

CHRISTMAS SALE!!

All ready-made Christmas/Holiday collars are on sale in my etsy shop! Enter the coupon code XMAS20 for 20% off your purchase when you are checking out!! HURRY - sale ends the 21st!

The holidays are upon us!

Make sure and order your holiday collars by December 15th to ensure I can complete and mail them in time for Christmas! Here's one of my favorite pictures of all time. It's our angel Hamlisch as Santa. :)

"What's that you say?!", says diva Daisy. I missed Cyber Monday, so why don't we just do Cyber Tuesday - Thursday?! Go to my etsy site, www.daisysdivadesigns.etsy.com, and enter the coupon code CYBER15 to receive 15% off your order! Hurry, this deal will only last through midnight Thursday, December 2nd. I have several new fabrics as well, so check those out and get your holiday collars and gift shopping done now!

Giving Thanks

I'm truly thankful for our 3 special girls, Daisy, Mari, and Molly. Each one brings something unique to our lives, and they have been such a blessing as we continue to cope with losing Hamlisch. They know just when to make us laugh or when we need to snuggle. Each day they remind us to live in the moment and simply love. Here's a rare picture of the three of them together taken last year around Thanksgiving. Happy Turkey Day - gobble, gobble!

Bella in Robots

My friend Rebecca makes awesome robots, two of which happily reside in my home. So, how could I resist when I found a fabric with robots on it?! Her dog Bella is now the proud owner of a robots collar. :) Be sure to check out Rebecca's robots and steampunk jewelry (to which I am addicted) at www.onlyremnants.etsy.com!

Georgia and Daisy looking beautiful!

Georgia looks fabulous in "spring flowers," and Daisy is beautiful in "pink daisies!"

SALE!!!

I'm having a sale on my Halloween collars! Check out my etsy shop!

DOGTOBERFEST!!

Everybody and their dog will be there! I've been working hard with my colleagues at The Dog House store to plan Lawrence's first annual Dogtoberfest. It's this Saturday at South Park in Lawrence from 10 am to 3 pm. There will be lots of dog-related vendors (including myself), a blessing of the animals, activities, games, a kids' booth, and contests. I hope you can make it, because it's sure to be a blast for canines and humans alike!! See our full schedule and get more information at: www.facebook.com/dogtoberfest

An Adorable Houseguest

We are by no means ready to take in another foster dog, but we are glad to help rescue in any way we can. This fine fellow, Marlin, needed a place to stay for a day before heading to his foster home in Wichita, and we were happy to oblige! He was so funny and energetic, and we are sure he'll be adopted in no time. He most definitely needed a new collar, so I whipped one out, using some bits of fabric that I don't have on my site (don't have enough of it to list it). Welcome to rescue, Marlin!

Also, to help me deal with the grief of losing Hamlisch, I created a montage of photos from his life with us. If you would like to view it, here is the link:
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=bf90d833986bdae3d49884&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Otis' first DDD Collar!

Doesn't Otis look handsome in his "Happy Halloween!" collar?! I've added this fabric and several others to the fabrics section, so check them out. Also, I'm working hard to get collars listed on etsy, so keep an eye out there too.

Thanks Otis, you handsome dog, you!

Hamlisch: Gone but not forgotten

Our silly, sweet, and mischievous boy is gone. We will miss him dearly. We love you Hammy.

Hamlisch - the hard luck foster

Where do I even start with Hamlisch? Our poor foster boy has had a rough go of it and every day is still a challenge. I discovered Hamlisch's picture on Petfinder.com in May 2009 when he was a resident of the Ottawa, KS shelter. He was found as a stray and his age was put somewhere around 9. He was heartworm positive and would most certainly be euthanized if rescue did not come to his aid. When we confirmed that we would foster this sweet old guy, Italian Greyhound Rescue agreed to pay his health costs to get his heartworm treatment. So, a few months later he has survived the expensive and vigorous treatment for heartworm. With that out of the way, he is able to get a dental (his teeth were in TERRIBLE condition) and finally get a large lump removed and biopsied. He does great with the procedures and hallelujah, his lump is benign!

Well, Ham still has a heart murmur and a thyroid condition, but he's loving life with his new foster sisters and our family! Now we wait for the perfect family to come adopt him. And we wait. . . . And we wait. . . . It is almost a year and half later and not a single person has looked at adopting Hamlisch. He has become a member of our family and is a perma-foster, as they say. Then, to make matters worse, he develops a new ominous looking growth. Sure enough, it is cancer. Hamlisch is diagnosed with a rare form of dermal melanoma. All we can do is watch and wait, but for the short term, he continues to be outwardly very healthy.

Unfortunately, his health took a horrible turn for the worst recently. He lost the ability to walk and was urinating blood. We were sure we were going to lose him. Hamlisch, however, is a fighter, and we took him in for treatment. He was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and is slowly recovering. And I mean SLOWLY.

Vet care isn't cheap. And rescue dogs like Hamlisch, of all ages, are in constant need of financial support. For as long as I am making collars, a portion of the proceeds will either go to the care of our Hamlisch or to help other rescue Italian Greyhounds. Thank you for helping us continue to provide Hamlisch with the best possible life.

Sarah

New Fabrics!

I've added some fun new fabrics to my selection, so check them out in the "New Arrivals" photo album! Here's one of my new favorites: Green Diamonds. It's fun, yet sophisticated and really stands out with the bright green. Great for girl or boy dogs!

HAPPY NEWS!!

I am beyond relieved to report that Daisy's lump was benign!! Thank you so much for everyone's thoughts and prayers for our baby girl. I've had a few orders that have REALLY helped defray the cost of the surgery and biopsy, so a special thanks to those customers. :)

Etsy Shop is open!

Although I am still adding items and improving the layout, Daisy's Diva Designs' Etsy shop is now OPEN! Hopefully this will make ordering much easier for everyone, whether you choose a pre-made collar or request a custom order (at no extra charge). To compensate for the fees, I've had to raise my prices slightly, but I am still proud to offer high-quality, affordable dog collars! Check out my site and let me know what you think!
www.daisysdivadesigns.etsy.com

Raising Funds for Daisy

We recently discovered a fast-growing lump on Daisy's leg. Today, she went under anesthesia to have it removed, and the lump has been sent off for biopsy. We will find out the results sometime next week. All money from all collar sales until further notice will go directly to pay for Daisy's vet care. Thank you so much for your support of our little diva!! Love, Sarah and Daisy

Sled Dog Fun!

My favorite part of our recent trip to Alaska was an excursion to a sled dog and mushers' camp. You can tell right away how much those dogs LOVE to run and it was exhilarating to be in a buggy pulled by a team of them! Here's a picture of a 10 week old Alaskan Husky and me. She was such a sweetie! Even when I was away from my dogs, I still got some dog lovin' in. :)

Closed for Vacation!

Daisy's Diva Designs will be closed from Thursday June 10th through Sunday June 20th. We apologize for any inconvenience and will promptly return any emails and fill any orders as soon as we return. Thanks for your understanding!

The Dog House Opens!

Today was the grand opening of The Dog House, the cooperative of dog-related business here in Lawrence, KS. It was pretty good day, and I sold a few of the MANY collars I sewed in preparation for the opening! I also got some custom orders that I will need to work on. We're hoping word of mouth will help spread the word about this endeavor, and I can hopefully make up what I have put into getting this started. Here's a picture of my setup in the Dog House.

Georgia and Daisy in their new collars

Georgia and Daisy are two beautiful IGs that are repeat customers here at Daisy's Diva Designs. Georgia is the first to model Tye Dye Peace and Daisy is the first to model Tiny Butterflies. We are proud to have these beautiful girls wearing our collars!

The Winners!!

For the past 4 years, my husband Chris and I have participated in the Mutt n Strut, an annual fundraising walk that raises money for the Lawrence Humane Society. Although none of our dogs are from the LHS, I think it is a wonderful facility and they have been great to work with when transferring Italian Greyhounds into our rescue. They always have fun contests at the Mutt n Strut, one of which is a costume contest and this year we won for the third time! It all started with a clearance witch hat from a pet store that planted the idea of a Wizard of Oz theme in my head. Here is what happened when I got my creative juices flowing! Molly is Dorothy, Mari is the Wicked Witch, and Daisy is Glinda the good witch. :)

Update!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated! Not that I've had a whole to report, however. Things have been slow but are about to pick up in a big way. I am in the process of joining a new co-op here in Lawrence where I will get to sell my collars once a week with other vendors who make products or provide services for dogs. I was lucky enough to be told about this opportunity through the wonderful Jen and Nick of Dignified Doggies, who helped us immensely through private dog-training sessions. I usually only make collars at the time they are ordered, so I will have to get busy to have some samples ready to sell by May 22nd, the grand opening of the co-op. I will show some of my samples and let you all know how it goes!!

Fun with flannel

I recently acquired some awesome flannel fabrics to add to my collection. I also added several new designs to my fabric selection. Hope you all like them!

Spring Break!

I'm taking some time off for Spring Break and the sewing machine is going in for a yearly cleaning. You can email me, but I won't be working on any orders until March 22nd. Thanks and happy Spring!

Check out the new fabrics!

I had several custom orders recently, and have added several team fabrics to the website. Check them out or ask about getting a collar made to support your favorite teams!

Abbey in Polka Dots

Here's a new customer, Abbey the min-pin, looking absolutely adorable in Polka Dots. This is one of two collars that Abbey's mom ordered to help out Hamlisch. Abbey is the first dog to get a polka dots collar, and I just LOVE it!

Hamlisch says "thank you!!"

Thanks so much to all of you who recently ordered collars or gave donations to help cover our foster dog's financial expenses. We have had Hamlisch in our home since May of 2009, so he's very special to us. I will get those collars out as soon as I can. Thanks again!

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is ready for a great 2010. I'm back up and running and excited to deck out your dogs with some cool collars. I've added several fabrics to the site, so please check them out and let me know what you think! Here's a custom order I finished recently for the most fervent Steelers fan I've ever met!