Happy Howloween!

We hope all of you have a very ghoulish Halloween! This little guy can be found in a new book called, "InDognito: A Book of Canines in Costume.". Mary Ann
BestFriendsStudios

Creepy Owl Story...It Really Happened!

This being the week of ghosts, witches and other spooky creatures, I thought it might be fun to share a scary incident that recently occurred in Webster Groves, Missouri (the small suburb where Mary Ann and I grew up). About a month ago, the husband of one my friends was out jogging at 5:30 a.m. when a shadow appeared over him. Before he knew it, a large owl had swooped down and grabbed at his head with its talons. The attack left my friend's husband with a bloody scalp and he had to get a tetnus shot. Still, he wasn't about to give up his early morning run so, several weeks later, he headed out again. This time, he donned a baseball cap, even though he figured the odds of a repeat attack were slim. Wrong! The same owl came at him again, this time flying off with his hat! So I guess our sleepy town has an attack owl in our midst! Watch out on Halloween! Ellen
BestFriendsStudios

Mod-Dog Blog Features Appliquè Work

Yesterday, Kari of Mod-Dog featured an interview with me on her blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you Kari!
BestFriendsStudios

New Stocking Designs

I'm finishing up some of my new stocking designs for this season and wanted to give a preview of my Chihuahua stocking to anyone who may happen to read this blog. (I will be adding a bell to the tip of the toe but didn't have time before I took the photo.) So if you're out there and would like to critique this stocking, please feel free to leave a comment. Good, bad, or ugly, your thoughts are appreciated. Mary Ann
BestFriendsStudios

New Book for Dog Lovers by Jon Katz

If you haven't run across one of Jon Katz's wonderful books about his life with dogs on Bedlam Farm in upstate New York, check out his latest novel, Izzy & Lenore: Two Dogs, an Unexpected Journey, and Me. Katz, who writes a column for Slate and cohosts "Dog Talk" on Northeast Public Radio, was featured on The Diane Rehm Show today. May have to put this book on my Christmas list! Ellen
BestFriendsStudios

3rd Annual Howl & Yowl Festival

If you're in the St. Louis area, don't miss the 3rd Annual Howl & Yowl Festival on October 11 & 12 at Country Acres Rescue in Manchester, Missouri (739 Weidman Road). The festival goes from 11 am to 5 pm both days. Country Acres is a wonderful organization, dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, socialization and placement of homeless, abused, and/or neglected dogs and cats in the metropolitan St. Louis area. The Howl & Yowl Festival is Country Acre's biggest fundraiser and will feature a haunted house, face painting, the HOWL-O-WEEN Dog Costume Contest and much more. Bring the entire family (dogs, too!) and stop by the Best Friends Studios booth. I'll have samples of my personalized dog stationery designs on display plus mini packs of Halloween gift tags and note cards for sale. See you there! Ellen
BestFriendsStudios

Buy American This Holiday Season!

Last week while doing a backlog of laundry, I engaged in an interesting exercise. Before folding each item of clothing, I checked the tag to see where it had been made. My hypothesis: a lot of "Made in China." Boy, was I ever wrong! Instead, I discovered that most of our clothing was made in places like Madagascar, Peru, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Macau, etc. As I continued checking, I became more desperate to find just one item that had bore Made in the USA. Finally, after checking more than 50 pieces of clothing, I found what I was looking for on my daughter's Camp Kangazoo t-shirt from the Saint Louis Zoo. Not only was it "Crafted with Pride in the USA," I discovered it was made from recycled, eco-friendly materials!

Despite this final flicker of hope, I'm still disappointed to see how few products are made in America. So here's my thought for the day (and for this upcoming holiday season). As we try to crawl our way out of this financial mess, we need more than ever to support local artists, small businesses and entrepreneurs. So consider eschewing the Big Box Marts this year and instead seek out gifts that you know are made here in America. I see it as our patriotic duty! Ellen
BestFriendsStudios