ALL ENTRIES ARE LOCATED ON THE SLIDESHOW IN THE CENTER COLUMN AT THE BAMBOO TEAHOUSE

The PEOPLES CHOICE POLL BROUGHT IN 105 VOTES FOR THE CONTESTANTS!!!

BEST IN SHOW

I had initially planned on awarding more prizes and Awards of Merit….. but, with only 8 participants (totalling 25 entries) I decided to go with the limited edition greeting cards instead for all the participants. All the images were so wonderful and as much as I studied and stressed over which one was going to get Best in Show….. I still look back at them thinking…OHHHHHHH this one, or that one… would have made a beautiful piece of art!!! You may be hearing from me at a later date!!!!

The love and passion you all have for this breed and your dogs was very apparent in each and every image you entered in the contest , and the photos brought a big smile to my face every time I looked through them. The bond we have with our chows cannot be described easily with words , but a photo cannot lie!

PEOPLES CHOICE

I have another photo contest in the works which will have broader theme so hopefully we will get even more entries. I would love to eventually get sponsored prizes but we will need more participation for that to be possible. I’ll let you know what I have up my sleeve as soon as I return from Egypt,Turkey,France in mid October

Be sure to stop by my blog GRAFFITI GOSSIP to get minute by minute updates from our trip. If you sign up for the blog you will get email updates every time I post to the blog. Comment on our GRAFFITI GOSSIP travel posts and qualify for the incredible drawing going on there!!

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS AND THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR ENTRIES!!!

Thank you SO MUCH Sherrie Determan for sending me the results of the Best of Breed competiton today!!!!
BOB: CH Paramount Maria Maria  (Vet Bitch)
Jeff & Susie Sedillos
BOW:  Pendleton Ginger (WB)
Dave and Pat Foose
BOS:  Rosewine’s Rockbilly Red
Joanna Olson & Bill Boyes
AWARDS OF MERIT:
Ch Rebelrun Chowlamar Dapper Dan
Bob & Love Banghart
Ch Sitze-Gou’s Glazz Paragon
Bill Buell
Ch Sunburst’s Patent Pending
Harvey & Penny Kent
Ch Fortune’s Rocky Mountain High
Jeff & Susie Sedillos

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS AND BEST OF LUCK AT THE REGIONAL SPECIALTY SHOWS THIS WEEK!!

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BELOW IS A VIDEO I DID SHOWCASING THE TROPHIES I CREATED. CLICK ON THE ARROW TO START

THERE IS AUDIO WITH THIS VIDEO AS WELL SO ADJUST YOUR VOLUME ACCORDINGLY!!

2009 NATIONAL SPECIALTY TROPHY SHOWCASE from Sandra Miller on Vimeo.

I put together this video to showcase the fused glass awards as well as some other paintings I did in 2008-2009 for the Chow Chow Club Inc 2009 National Specialty in Orlando Florida.

Congratulations to all the winners!!

The new World Chow MAGAZINE  is HERE!!

Hello my friends!!!

Happy Easter/Passover to those of you who celebrate around the world!!!  Steve and I had quite the Easter weekend updating Worldchow and I can hardly wait to show off new THE WORLDCHOW MAGAZINE to you all

The same URL that has always gotten you to the Worldchow Forums will now bring you straight to the magazine first.  http://worldchow.com

The link to the forums is in the upper right corner of the webpage.

The Worldchow Forum email list which you are currently be a member of,  is no longer working properly which is reason I decided to make some changes to the site which you will soon see are some awesome ones  You will love the interactive format !

Clicking on any of the articles or top banner slideshow will take you to the corresponding post.  Each post has a comment section so this is a super place to communicate and I would love if you left comments to help me test the site. I need to see if it’s working correctly.

You will be receiving  email updates when I add new content to the magazine/Worldchow homepage so you won’t miss a thing.  There will be articles, videos, interviews etc , as well as my podcast which I’ll update weekly.

With our CCCI  Chow National only a couple of weeks away, the magazine will be AWESOME for showcasing YOUR home videos and images for all the world to see.  I won’t be able to attend this year so I need LOTS of photos of you all winning the trophies I created for the National this year.

Also I would love for each and every one of you to sign up for THE BAMBOO TEAHOUSE (link to from Worldchow) Listen to the Worldchow podcast (also at the site) for more info on a Chow jewelry drawing for Teahouse members!!!

Well I think I have rambled on enough…I’m just so excited about this new format but now need to get some food in me.  I’ve been running on coffee and marshmallow Easter Eggs  (an American sweet..do other countries   have them)  Very wired and hungry..smile!

Enjoy the forum….more additions coming soon!!!

Hugs
Sandra, Steven , Meg and Lillian
WORLDCHOW ADMINSTRATORS

http://worldchow.com

Recently I started a photo showcase on Worldchow asking for extreme closeups of your chows in photographs and already we are getting some awesome shots!!!! To the left is a great image by Worldchow member Tam Tam who says about her image

“This is Jushui. My smartiepantsboy. This is the view I look at when we walk and we walk a lot.”

The next photo is from Worldchow member Patujko who says about her mom and baby image

“Zizi was the only puppy in that litter (her brother was too big to survive the actual birth). So, sometimes she looked so lonely and fragile comparing to her big Mom. I used to panic whenever I looked upon them and I couldn’t see her (Zizi) under her Mom’s big fur! Somehow Zizi only felt safe when lying as close as possible to her mother, or even beneath her. But, fortunately, Nasta was a gentle and careful Mom. ”

Come and see many more images by Sabina, Layla and others and add your own at

THE WORLD CHOW PHOTO GALLERY FORUM

Please submit your extreme closeups in the forum thread link above.

At the top of each forum page is THIS TUTORIAL on how to post images in the forum. You must be a forum member and signed in to post.

Hi Sandra,
I was trying to figure out how to post an email to thank everyone who is helping me with donations and I can’t seem to figure out how to do it so could you please post this email for me?
Karen

Dear friends,
Tomorrow it will be four weeks since we had a propane explosion at my place that took the lives of 10 of my chows and 5 boarder dogs. The next day, another of my chows died from smoke inhalation as I was on my way to the hospital to see them. The day after that, I had to make the decision to put another one down as her kidneys were starting to fail and she was severely burned. Several days later, a girl that I bred and co-owned had to be put down. I still have two dogs in the hospital. One is Iris, a permanent boarder. She has some burns but she is mostly there till I can take her back. And then there is Cyrus. His mother and a brother of his were lost in the fire. His sister Kampbell survived the fire. She was bred shortly before the fire so I don’t know how that will work out. She was singed across the top of her body from her head to her tail but she was released from the hospital. Cyrus on the other hand is still in the hospital. All four of his feet were burned, his face, parts of his legs and big burns on his sides and back. He gets lazer pain therapy treatments and debribed every other day. Three times during this ordeal I talked to the vet about putting him down. She told me he wants to live, all his organs have remained vital through this whole ordeal. Cyrus is my “hope” for right now. I am concentrating on him right now. I have not been able to think about or deal with the dogs that died that day in the fire. Not yet.
There are some people who have dogs and then there are some who absolutely love and adore their dogs and would walk to the ends of the earth for them. I am one of the people who would do the walking and that is why I am taking this so hard. My world has been turned upside down. Those dogs were my life. I had my very first chow die in that fire. She was going on 15. I had 6 generations of chows that died that day and a breeding program that I had been working on for close to 15 years also died that day.
This is such an emotional journey for me and sometimes I don’t know how much more pain I can take. I cry every day many times throughout the day. I have had nightmares about fire every night for the last two and a half weeks. I thought I was a strong woman but this is devastating and overwhelming for me. I wish I could tell all of you that things are getting better, but that would be a lie. It is going to be a long hard road for me emotionally and a long road to travel for my dogs that were burned.
But out of any tragedy, some good comes along with it. And you people are the good in this story. Because I did boarding, I was considered a commercial kennel and the boarder dogs bills were covered, but not my dogs and the bills are astronomical. I had six dogs that were getting round the clock care. Extra vet techs were brought in on all shifts just to work with the “burn dogs”. All of the dogs were on oxygen and morphine drips, and all kinds of antibiotics, etc. The money that you people donated will help toward the vet bills and I appreciate it deeply. There is a saying that is, “I thank you from the bottom of my heart”. Well, I THANK YOU from my whole heart. I was always the kind of person that donated to things, put money in the collection jars at the grocery stores for people who had cancer, lost their homes due to fire, etc. But, I looked at it as just one person helping, and thought it was not much of a help. But, when you are the person being helped, you realize that the one person helping is just a part of the whole picture and it is amazing how much can get done when we as individuals come together to give someone aid. Not only are you helping me with money but you are such a strong support for me. I have had so many emails and phone calls that I have not returned yet because I cannot deal with talking about it over and over. I get on the computer and answer two or three emails and by then my tears are covering the keys on the keyboard and I just can’t take anymore so I turn the computer off. Same for the phone calls. But I want you to know that even though I have not contacted most people personally, it is still so comforting to know that you care and I hope you understand that I am trying to deal with this as best as I can. So please don’t be offended if you have not heard from me. I appreciate each and every one of you more than you will ever know. Besides helping me financially, you are my support, you are my strength that gets me through each day, as rough as they may be and when I have a day where I can’t handle it anymore, I talk to Sandra and she guides me through it. She has been my pillar and without her, I don’t think I would get through this.
I will end now but I would appreciate if you would do yet another thing for me. Please hug your dogs tightly and tell them how much you love them. We just never know what happens in life and enjoy them every day that you have them.
Again, thank you so much for your emotional and financial support.
Karen Tracy
Pazzazz Chows

THE HEALING JOURNEY IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT IMAGEKIND FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY THROUGH APRIL 30, 2009. AFTER THAT TIME I WILL ONLY OFFER THIS PRINT OCCASIONALLY THROUGH PRIVATE SALES.

Dedicated to my friend Karen Tracy and all the chows she lost in the recent fire as well as to the heros..human and canine alike who were all affected by this terrible disaster

ALSO THERE WILL BE TSHIRTS AVAILABLE THROUGH AMY YOUNG AT THE NATIONAL.  I HAVE GIVEN HER PERMISSION TO USE THIS DESIGN TO CREATED 50 SHIRTS TO SELL WITH PROCEEDS GOING TO KAREN’S FUND..THEY WILL LOOK SIMILAR TO THIS

Through the tragedy at Karen Tracy’s kennel, I recently met a wonderful man and his wife via a comment they left here at Graffiti Gossip in the first days after the fire. Pictured is “Duncan”…the sweet Cairn terrier who “owned” the McGeehans…heart and soul and was one of the boarded dogs that did not survive.

Below is Daves very heart touching story about their dear Duncan, and in another blog post this week I will update you on the continuation of their search for a rescue Cairn terrier.

A lot of national publicity has been generated regarding the Pazzazz Kennel fire due to the fact that one of the Chow pups was owned by Martha Stewart. All of the articles speak of the terrible loss of her dog, the other Chows, and the five borders of various breeds. I just wanted to put a face on one of the “five borders.”

He was our eight year old Cairn Terrier, Duncan. We normally take him with us on all our vacations but since we were to only be away for one night in downtown Philadelphia, we boarded him for that night. Shortly after dropping him off, the explosion occurred.

Duncan was the most typical of the Cairn personality: tirelessly curious, boundless of energy, and a lover of people. He was as at home on a 15 mile hike on the roughest part of the Appalachian Trail as he was lying next to me at a summer concert in the park. He was famously known as “Duncan, The Spinning Dog” for his habit of spinning around in circles in tribute to each car that passed us on our daily morning walk along the country roads near my home. He was a tireless chaser of squirrels who never came close to ever catching one. But he never gave up for he knew what many of us eventually learn, “It’s the journey, not the destination that counts.” But his specialty was converting people who were indifferent towards dogs into dog lovers.

The are no words I know of to express the grief I feel for the loss of Duncan, the other dogs, and the injuries to the propane deliveryman. The last act of the injured deliveryman before collapsing was to grab the kennel owners own dog and throw her over the fence to safety. Her named was Chillie and she was Duncan’s mom.

The deliveryman, Tim Kleinhagen, has been upgraded to stable condition. Please keep him in your prayers for a full and as quick a recovery as possible.

The kennel owners treated all their dogs, both theirs and any borders, like their own children. Karen and her mom Jean have lost most everything and have the added burden of the mounting vet bills for their badly injured dogs. I ask anyone who is touched by this tragedy to please send a donation in Karen Tracy’s name.

NOTE FROM SANDRA…THE ADDRESS BELOW IS THE CURRENT PLACE TO SEND CHECKS

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Mark Powell
Powell Law
527 Linden Street
Scranton PA 18503

Make checks payable to: Powell Law, Escrow
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So many good people in this world!!!! Our hearts are with you both Dave in this healing process. Nothing will ever take Duncans’ place but there are a big pair of pawprints waiting for another special Cairn to fill. There is so much love just waiting to be shared and I’m certain Duncan would not want you to go on without a friend to share your walks with.

Love and heartfelt saddness for your terrible loss

Sandra

Hello my friends.. For those who do not frequent my blogs I thought I would update with a newsletter as well. Pardon any duplicate posts as I am trying to reach as many people as I can on my various lists.

Since FACEBOOK is about the faces , acquaintances and friends in our lives, I thought this update an appropriate time to post this photo of 3 beautiful faces that we have all come to care so much about..it’s good to put a “face” with the cause.

To the left is the ONLY photo I have of Karen Tracy…our dear friend who lost so many of her chows last Friday. Of course you all recognize Martha Stewart and Kahn who is the puppy Karen gave to Martha and was lost in the fire as well.

These are only a FEW of the many faces who were tragically affected by the fire including the fuel truck driver (who is currently upgraded to stable condition), Karen and her family, the police, fire fighters, the hard working and stoic veterinary teams, the boarding clients and their dogs…omg the list goes on and on. So many “faces” are affected including every single person who has viewed the news reels of the fire or read the story of the fire

Well to get to the main point of this post before I drift too far please read below

As of this writing we are approaching $7000.00 in the fund for Karen and have the opportunity of adding another 1000.00 without hardly doing a thing!!

ACCESS OUR PROJECT HERE ANY TIME

THE RALLY SPONSORED BY AMAZEE/FACEBOOK REQUIRES THAT ALL YOU DO IS FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE AND ADD KARENS PROJECT TO YOUR PROFILE PAGES.

THE RALLY DETAILS HERE AS WELL

AMAZEE is passing on a thousand bucks for the Amazee project that is added to the highest number of Facebook profiles using the cool new Amazee app!

So that is our mission for the day…spread the work..far and wide to all your Facebook friends!!! We can win this money my friends if we all pass the info on.

Thank you so much for your help and please share this blog post and cross post to as many of your lists and contacts as you can!!!!

I’m so excited about this painting I just completed!! This is a piece I have been working off and on again for months and today I just got a fire under me to complete it!!! I’m not sure why the fire because I woke up at 12:30 AM and haven’t been to sleep since. I have always worked best under pressure and lacking sleep so I guess this is just par for the course!! LOL!

Created on a GALLERY WRAP canvas , this piece will take on the look of an original canvas oil painting…….Printed on one of the many high quality papers (Somerset Velvet is my favorite watercolor paper they stock) , the look will be slightly different and take on a watercolored “painterly” effect. Custom framing is available and in my opinion a very good value. The frames are high quality and the framing very professional. Imagekind does a super job of packaging and shipping quickly as well

This print run will be limited to 15 prints no matter what surface they are printed on or what size is created. These new releases disappear quickly in such small runs so reserve yours for your Valentine or yourself now!! THANK YOU FOR LOOKING!!!

I WILL DONATE A PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS TO THE AKC CANINE HEALTH FOUNDATION

…….HUGS, Sandra