Great New Designs, and more!

Hi everyone, and happy new year!

Instead of taking the time to relax, drink too much, eat too much and party this holiday season, I was hard at work with some new designs. Well, not really that hard at work. Okay, and I did actually eat and drink and party. But it sounded good for a second, didn't it? :)

I've developed 5 new red heart designs, like this one:



Cute, eh? Each heart is similar but different -- of course, that describes every furbaby on the face of the planet! Similar, but different. Anyway, I like the funky new design, and will be keeping it on full time.

I've also spent some time redesigning the main store page. It's now a combo of chocolate (I guess I did have too much food over the holidays!) and blue (what I feel when I step on that scale after all that food!!). Okay, that's silly too, but I do like the chocolate and blue storefront, and I'm showcasing each and every design -- 47 to date. I don't mean each product (t-shirt, thong...) I mean, 47 actual designs (blue sunburst border collie, red heart bulldog...)

And I have finally sent out my first newsletter! There is only 1 subscriber right now, but it was fun to create. Whew!

SLIGHTLY SAD NEWS
It is with some sadness, and a little relief, that I announce that I am shutting down the radio station in June 2007. I've had that station for years, but my heart is not in it anymore. It takes me about 10-14 hours of real time to create 1 hour of meditation, for example. And I think I can better spend my time doing other things... like new t-shirt designs, writing on the blog, eating chocolate ;P

The radio station was simply taking up too much time for too little feedback, no profit (it costs me to run it, but it was never designed to make money) and the fun of it is gone. I've toyed with ideas on how to revive my interest in it -- change formats, etc etc, but the spark is gone, time to move on. C'est la vie! I do hope, though, that my next project, whatever it may be, gives me the same fun times I've had over the years with my radio station.

I bid you all adieu (it is sounding so French in here today, isn't it?) and wish you all the best in 2007.

--Sue

Mr Darcy

This is Mr Darcy, originally owned by my older sister. When she moved out of my father's house, she left him behind and my dad took ownership. He loved Darcy. Then my sister moved back, and took Darcy back again. She is moving out again, and was going to take Darcy with her. She doesn't even like him! But fortunately, common sense has prevailed and Darcy will be staying with my dad. With all the cat lovers in the room, Darcy only gets onto my father's lap... they belong together!

Reese and the invisible string

Finally!

Well, finally! I've had Reese for a year and a half, having gotten her at about that age, from a rescue group. And finally, without coaxing, without my even realizing it at first, she actually lay on my chest while I was lying down!

Now, don't get too excited, she was only there for about 10 minutes. But it's a first, nonetheless. I was just starting to fall asleep when I realized she was lying there. I gave her a few pets, heard a bit of a purr, and she actually didn't run away. For a whole 10 minutes! Wow, lucky lucky!

It's an early birthday present, I guess ;P

Pet Portraits Now Complete

Whew! It took 2 weeks, and I had to repaint 2 of the cats, but I'm finally done. Here are Oolong, Ashley and Jasmine... but don't tell anyone, they're supposed to be a Christmas gift!

The Radio Station Stats are In for October

Well, I got my statistics for the month, and they are quite revealing. It has been about a month since I changed the station's format slightly. Mainly, I dropped the hour-long meditation because nobody every tuned in for a whole hour. But I also put in very short, 10-minute meditations that were designed to be imaginative journeys taken with your animal companion, or amongst animals.

My listening hours dropped by 1/4, which is big. My station launches are down almost 50%. Now, I suck at numbers, so bear with me. 385 hours is a total of 23,100 minutes in October, spread over 950 people. That's almost 25 minutes each per person over the month.

Okay, November was 586 people listening for 284 hours (17040 minutes). Alrighty, that's 29 minuts per person. So fewer people are sticking around longer.

Now, more 40 people indicated in November that they "preset" the station, basically saying they will come back, than in October. And 1 person said it was a favourite. So it seems like new people, who want to come back. Repeat listeners?

Ouch, my head hurts! So I wonder, is it better to have fewer listeners with more time, or better to have more listeners with just a few minutes less. Hmmm. I guess more is better, right? And why alientate your listener base? Some of them have been very good loyal over the years, it would be pretty nasty to ignore them, wouldn't it? And I'm not a terribly nasty person (just a little nasty, now and then ;)

Well, I think I'll work on a compromise. Meditations that are shorter than 1 hour, change up the music, and maybe do some promo spots for animal rescue organizations, or talk about pets or something like that. Could be fun! So look for some interesting changes over the next month. And if you have questions or comments, know of a worthy animal rescue group, or whatever, drop me a line!

Sue

Banjo and His Mum photo

I wantedc to post a big of info from Jeff Ellis, the photographer who took "Banjo and His Mum". It was the first photo in a rotating series that I am using on the storefront to represent our relationship with animals. The photo was found on MorgueFiles, where people post images and let you use them however you want (personal, commercial, etc.). In return all they ask for is the a comment or email, telling them.

It's the least one can do, right? Jeff sent me an email back, saying "Despite asking that people do drop the photographer a little note, it is a rare occurance and therefore very gratifying when someone like yourself takes the time to do it. I like your site and wish you every success with
your business venture."

Thanks Jeff!

And as often happens, when one artist gets involved with another, there can be a creative spark. "Your use of the the image has given me the idea to do a photo project of images that reflect your site's philosophy says; images that reflect the bond between a human and their animal companion(s)," Jeff said.

Both he and his wife were down with the flu, and "Banjo himself is having to make do with the garden and is missing his long country walks, poor fella." But I am sure that once everyone is back on their feet, we will see some great things from Jeff. Please visit www.littlejackphotgraphy.com for more info.

-- Sue