Holy shmoly! Now here is a super sweet contest for both cat and dog lovers!
The What:
Enter to win a gorgeous new collar of your choice for your dog from Sweet & Sassy Sewing
or a stylish new collar of your choice for your cat from Sweet Pickles Designs
Take a look at the two photos that Fugly Friends has posted on our facebook page in the Jazz Up Their Neck photo album and come up with the best caption. To be entered for the Sweet & Sassy Sewing dog collar please post a caption under the dog photo. To be entered for the Sweet Pickles Designs cat collar please post a caption under the cat photo. You are welcome to post a caption under both the dog and cat photo. Our judges will be voting on their favorite caption based on both originality and humor. Be creative and have fun! You have from now until Monday, May 30th at 8:00 pm EST to enter! Fugly Friends will post the winners the following day.
The Who:
We briefly hung out with both shops and here are some of the cool things they had to say...
Fugly Friends (Fugly): What is your shop?
Sweet & Sassy Sewing (Sweet&Sassy): At Sweet & Sassy Sewing our goal is to provide high quality, unique and affordable gifts for any occasion. We have recently expanded our product line to include Sweet & Sassy dog collars that any furry friend and owner alike will surely love.
Sweet Pickles Designs (Pickles): Sweet Pickles Designs, whimsical handmade designer cat collars.
Fugly: How did you get started?
Pickles: Well, we have 3 dogs: Lola the lab, Roky the Katrina rescue and Blue a rescue from Belize. We were driving down I5, a major freeway on the west coast and saw a litter of kittens on the side of the road in the middle of "no-where Oregon", one of the kittens was Pickles. We brought her home to get her healthy and figured, since we had 3 dogs over 65 lbs, a cat would never be happy at our house, so we'd find her a good home. Within a couple days, we came home and Pickles was laying on the couch with the 3 dogs....she was a perfect fit. Once we figured out she was staying for good, we went to get her a beautiful cat collar, collars have always been my thing...I’ve spent a small fortune over the years clothing our lab in all the newest cutting edge collars. I was in complete shock after going to multiple pet stores, with Pickles being my first cat; I didn't realize how limited the cat collar market was. I went home, watched some you tube and learned how to sew. I was on a one woman mission to revolutionize the world cat couture. One thing lead to another and Sweet Pickles was formed.
Sweet&Sassy: My family was relocated from Louisiana to Texas after my husband finished graduate school. I took a break off from my job as a Registered Nurse to get the family settled in our new locale. After everything was unpacked and stashed away, I bought a sewing machine and took a couple of classes so that I could make curtains for my new home. Once that project was complete, I needed something to occupy my time and so I took to creating..... hence Sweet & Sassy Sewing was born! :o)
Fugly: What are your inspirations?
Sweet&Sassy: I love all things tropical, hence a lot of my work is inspired along these lines. I also find inspiration at local shows that I do. When customers ask for something specific - horse keyfob, purple keyfobs, etc, I take note of this and get busy to create it. I LOVE custom orders! Lastly, I am inspired by anything that promotes the positive in life. I purchased a "Wish Bracelet" from a local store here in town and decided I would like to share this wonderful find! So, I started making these bracelets for my shop. I have not been without a Wish Bracelet ever since. To me they are more about being a constant reminder of positive thoughts.
Pickles: Pickles, everyday life and fashion magazines
Fugly: What are your favorite materials to use and work with?
Sweet&Sassy: I love to pretty much create with anything and everything.
Pickles: Ribbon
Fugly: Do you sell anywhere besides Etsy?
Pickles: We are in several boutiques worldwide. 3 in Portland, 1 in Brooklyn, NY, 1 in Canada, 2 in Australia, 1 boutique in Sweden
Sweet&Sassy: We do local shows here in our area.
Fugly: What's your best selling item and why?
Sweet&Sassy: Currently it is the Wish Bracelets. I have doing a lot of custom orders for weddings.
Pickles: We have several, but I think our all time best seller is the Manager Cat Collar. Why? I'm not sure, but it is a pretty awesome one and looks like a tie.
Fugly: What does homemade mean to you?
Pickles: Made from the heart
Sweet&Sassy: Homemade means to me...... a product created with quality & care born of ideas that should be shared with others.
Fugly: Why is your shop different from other shops with similar items?
Sweet&Sassy: I would say that it would be my packaging. I package every item sold ready to be given as a gift because even if you are buying it for yourself, it is still a gift for you! :o)
Pickles: Well, I first of all, have Pickles as my CEO. We are also focused on only cat collars and revolutionizing cat couture.
Fugly: How do you get out of your creative ruts?
Pickles: Take a break and play fetch with pickles
Sweet&Sassy: I sleep on it and usually that resolves the issue! :o)
Fugly: Thank you kindly to both shops for their participation in the contest and their beautiful handmade work. You may find Sweet Pickles online Etsy shop by clicking here or their facebook page here. You may find Sweet & Sassy Sewing online Etsy shop by clicking here or their facebook page here.
You may also find Fugly Friends online Etsy shop by clicking here or our facebook page by clicking here
We hope you all have a fabulous day!
