Sneak Peak

I sent out a survey to all the participants from the 2009 Art Book Project, and received some good feedback. One suggestion was to have a larger book. Our first book was a 7 inch by 7 inch size...not really an "art book" size, but I was trying to keep the costs down.

So...here are some of the changes that I'm proposing for the 2010 Project. If you have any thoughts, please comment or send me an email. I'd love to hear from you!

2010 Art Book Project:

Book Size - 10 inches wide by 8 inches high

Page Layout - mocked up as above - pages will include artist's name, artist's photo, brief bio including web site, brief statement (why involved with project?), and up to 5 images.

(note: the 2009 book included only the artist's name, website, and one piece of art)

Greeting Card Project - (new!) artists will be able to opt in to a greeting card project. Artist pays approx $30 for 24 greeting cards. Twelve cards for the artist, and twelve cards for Paws For Charity (all money from Paws For Charity card sales will be donated) Artist's artwork on the front, brief artist's bio on the back, Paws For Charity logo on the back, blank inside.

Calendar Project - (new!) artists will be able to opt in to a calendar project - no cost involved. All proceeds from calendar sales will be donated.

Charity - Funds raised from project sales will be donated to a breast cancer charity. I'll be announcing the charity early in the new year (hopefully!). I am working on permissions to use the charity's logo on all our projects.

That's it for the year end teazer! Let me know what you think.

PAWmates Calendar for sale

A great fundraiser for a wonderful large breed rescue group.
Birch Haven Rescue and Rehabilitation

WHAT is Birch Haven Rescue and Rehabilitation Services:

They specialize in assisting Giant Canine Breeds and Equines and focus on the Special Needs - (Deaf, Blind, Sick, Senior & Injured) Giant Breed Definition: Deerhound, Great Dane, Great Pyr, Wolfhound, English Mastiff, Newfoundland, and St. Bernard
Their area of assistance is across North America & their area of placement is mostly in Ontario plus Quebec. They provide a safe ‘haven’ for animals for life should they not be adopted or are deemed un-adoptable. They are a non-profit program and are an all Volunteer organization without any salaried employees

Their Mission statement:Birch Haven Rescue and Rehabilitation Services; located in Eastern Ontario, Canada on 148 acres was founded in 1996 as a personal rescue to assist those Canine and Equine animals that have been abandoned, abused, neglected and otherwise mistreated by rescuing, fostering, rehabilitating and then placing them into their new and forever loving homes. Birch Haven also tries to promote responsible pet ownership through Humane Education, Training, Socialization and Public Awareness. We are also involved in Therapy work. We are very small, private and are committed to personal rescue plus re-homing that is completely financed by monetary gifts, owner surrender plus adoption fees as we do not any receive government, provincial or corporate funding. We are financed mainly out of our own pockets.We also work very hard to assist various breeders, rescue groups, shelters, organizations and friends in placing rescues or re-homing animals that come into their hands. We only organize and facilitate in these situations.

Combining forces, Global pet foods Kanata and Urban Dog Photog Sue Bird held a photo contest for the best 12 shots for a 2010 Calendar now for sale through Global Pet Foods Kanata web site and Birch Haven Rescue's web site. In less than 24 hours, on the first day, over 500 votes were logged for the best shots.

Although Voting is now closed, you can pre-order your calendar for $15 before the unveiling of who made it as the cover models and monthly representatives. If each vote of the 500 votes was to order just one calendar as a stocking stuffer, Birch Haven rescue would receive %100 of the $7500 raised!

Paws Photos Wanted!

Photo contributed by Melissa McDaniel, one of the participants in the 2009 Paws For Charity Art Book.

Announcements will be coming soon regarding submissions for the 2010 Paws For Charity Art Book. Let's kick off next year's event with some creative "paws" images! The 2009 book featured an image of dog paws at the beach, submitted by photographer Michelle Ciarlo-Hayes. I'd like to continue with the "paws" cover theme for next year's book as well.

Get creative! Send an image of cat paws or dog paws...photos or artwork. Email your image to me at: saraharley(at)ns(dot)sympatico(dot)ca

Let's have some fun to kick off the 2010 book!

Requirements: send a small image file - 300 pixels by 300 pixels, 72 dpi Let me know your name, and any blog or website you would like me to link to if your photo is used in a blog post. Photos may be used in blog posts promoting the 2010 Paws For Charity Art Book. If your image is selected for publication, you will be asked for a large file, high resolution image. You will also be asked to sign a release form. Copyright remains with you. Go!

CWAC Yearbook is ready!

2009 CWAC Year...

By created by Paws Fo...

Book Preview

The CWAC Yearbook is ready for ordering!

This book is packed with information about Canines with a Cause, photos of their puppies, puppy raisers, volunteers, and trainers, and photos from people who have generously donated funds to have their pets featured as "Friends of CWAC".

Best of all...ALL PROCEEDS from the sale of these books are sent to Canines with a Cause directly from Blurb.com !

You can preview the book here.

CWAC Yearbook underway

The Canines With A Cause Yearbook is underway. I've received some photos from a few contributors and I'll be putting them together with lots of great information about Canines With A Cause (CWAC) to create their first ever yearbook. I received lots of photos from Pina and her Service Dog Junior (pictured above in Acapulco!). Pina and Junior are CWAC graduates, and Pina tirelessly encourages others to donate for this cause. You can read about Junior at www.junior-sd.com .

Stay tuned for more info about the CWAC Yearbook!

Last call!

Only 8 more days to submit your photos for the CWAC Friends Collection...a fundraiser for Canines With A Cause. CWAC is a registered charity in Ottawa, Canada and trains assistance dogs for people with mobility disabilites.

We are collecting dog photos to be printed in a "Friends of CWAC Yearbook". Also, at least 12 photos will be chosen for a desk top calendar.

Professional photographers and other dog businesses should consider doing what Julie Magers Soulen has done. She sent us 3 photos, all with her website on the bottom....a very inexpensive way to advertise your business!

Regular Photo Insert: $5 (667 Pixels square)
Three Regular Inserts: $12
Half Page Insert: $30
Full Page Insert: $50

Please join in, and help a great cause!

Reunion in Nova Scotia

A little history about Paws For Charity....four women who owned dog businesses got together several years ago and created Paws For Charity as their way of giving back to the community. One woman (me) sold her 10 year old dog biscuit business in 2008, and moved 1000 miles away.

Since that woman (me) is "retired", she took over Paws For Charity and created the first Paws For Charity Art Book to raise funds for breast cancer. The blog this year has been mostly devoted to that project.

But two of the women continue with their businesses in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The third woman (me) misses them and all the creative energy that buzzed when they got together. Julie from Chilly Dogs and Sue, the Urban Dog Photog continue to raise money for various charities and work together on lots of projects. The postcard above was designed by Sue for Julie.

And....great news (for me!)....Julie from Chilly Dogs is visiting us in Nova Scotia with her family tomorrow! They will be staying 2 nights and I'm really looking forward to getting an update on all the news in the dog world from Ottawa.