Queen of Color

Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this. I hope it was the best and most magical of holidays for everyone. This year for the first time in the history of my salon we were closed on the 24 th. It ws really quite nice. I turned away all would be boarders, rescheduled the clients I had for that day and changed my message on the answering machine wishing all a joy filled holiday and telling them we will return to work on the 27th. It was one of the best Christmas seasons I have ever had! No holiday depression for me this year, no way even though it has rained all day and all I could do was admire the pair of bicycles in my living room that I had surprised my husband with this year!
I did manage to get a great pic of Wilma my favorite goat wearing a Santa hat and as soon as I figure out how do upload it I would love to share it with you. But for now it is on my Facebook page, probably just below this blog entry. Look for some new exciting things coming up in the new year from 14 very talented people. Now where is that leftover turkey

Christmas is almost upon us, and one of the most special things I have found for my clients is a small gift that they will really appreciate, a photograph of their own dog, That is why I had to get that new printer for at the Black Friday sale. Now I am putting it to good use and printing some of the photos, I have a place set up in the grooming room on one of my extra tables, I use either my good digital camera or sometimes my cell phone camera since it takes pretty good pics too and I can upload them directly to my Facebook page. When I finish grooming each dog we make a pit stop to the photo table. Most times it only takes a minute to get a good shot, I usually take several at a time and then pick the best one to use. I have told most of my clients to look for the pic on our salon page on Facebook. This not only gets them involved with my page but you know they are going to share it with friends and family, getting more people to your page and more exposure for you. But not everyone is on Facebook and those people really appreciate having a physical photo, so for them I will use that printer, after all I did stand in line at midnight on Thanksgiving to get it!

Pre Spring Cleaning

Pre Spring Cleaning?
Things were just a little slow in the salon today. Everyone is recouping from Black Friday and I wanted to make room for the new printer I bought for the shop as my Black Friday practical purchase, so today instead of bow making in preparation for the very busy Christmas holiday coming up it was a great day for pulling out years of saved treasures I had been storing for who knows how many years or even just why. Christmas decorations that were in good shape were hung as we tossed old magazines , out of date collars and yes even some little ole lady dog hats, all of whom have seen much better days! I had to find somewhere to put all those other treasures, so 3 hours and several boxes and bags later I found the perfect place for the bulk of it. Right behind the shopping center in the good old dumpster. Yay me! I did it and am looking forward to doing it again tomorrow, unless of course all my dogs come in on time. It is amazing how good it feels to finally unburden myself with things I should have ditched a long time ago. Sometimes you just have to let go, if you haven't used in in a while you really do not need it. Spring cleaning is for the dogs , winter cleaning is for groomers!

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The Holidays are nearly upon us and we are never quite ready, this year I have stocked up on one of my holiday favorites to delight my clients with, poinsettias of all sizes. I like to use flowers instead of bows in my salon and have been doing so for many years We go with the flower or flowers of whatever season we are in, I pluck the flower of the season from the stem and pull out the center, then replace them with beads held in place with a small latex band pulled through the center of the flower petals . I use the same band to attach the flower to either the collar or leash but mostly I put them straight into the dogs hair as you would any other bow, clients love them and they are fairly inexpensive to make. I also make them for sale and have them offered on my website for those who are just to busy or do not care to make their own.
Another thing I love to use is pretty garland formed into sparkling holiday bows. they can be cut to size and made in seconds as needed or made ahead of time and stored on craft sticks. If you make any bows ahead , do yourself a favor and keep all matching bows together on the same stick, that way when you are busy , there is no loss of time looking for a matching bow. It is a good idea to pair up purchased bows for the very same reason.
Small jingle bells can be tied to the center of your bows for some extra holiday jingle too, have fun with it and lets not forget the holiday feather extensions, after all we all know how exciting it is during the holidays to receive a finely wrapped package!

I have a confession, I am a hair hoarder, there I said it. If you look around my shop you can find shih tzu tails, switches and pelts I have taken off matted dogs. They are clean of course, but when I have a matted dog come in for a shave down and they have a coat that I think I could find useful in testing color products I save it. I also love it when I have clients with those pretty little drop coats who decide it is time for a shorter do, I spend extra time bathing and drying these coats so I can keep them. The drop coats will be sectioned off and banded so that I can cut them off one at a time saving that beautiful hair to be used at a later time. Many times people will ask me where to start when playing with color, this is a perfect place to start! label hair with the breeds, body part and the even age of dog as all of those can be factors in the outcome of how the hair will take certain dyes, this will give you plenty of hair to play with without making mistakes on clients dogs. If you are wanting to prepare a dog for an event or even a competition, save that hair and test your colors first to insure success on your project. Become a hair hoarder, you never know when it will come in handy!

Sharing

Sharing is something we were all taught to do as children, and as adults it makes us feel good about ourselves to be able to share with others. It could be something as simple as a smile or a good deed. Nothing is better for the heart and soul than to be able to share something of ourselves to make another person's day. And as groomers we get the chance to bring smiles daily to people we ordinarily wouldn't even talk to, like grumpy old men or uppity young folks. Sharing the love of what we do for a living is one of the greatest gifts I think I have ever been allowed, if it weren't for this grooming life I live and share, I would be the shy and insecure person that lives within my head. Live, love , laugh and smell the clean dog hair!

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Your best friend calls you and tells you he/she's really sick? How do you show you care?

MIssy Arnold is a groomer and a friend of mine, we have shared accommodations at shows for several years along with another great groomer friend Lisa Carroll, Missy's close friend. a short time ago Missy was diagnosed with breast cancer already at stage 4. She is a young woman of only 37 with a young daughter. Missy is in good spirits and ready to fight this disease that affects so many women but with all her doctor visits and time lost from work she and her family are feeling the financial burden of it all, Her biggest worry is that her mortgage payments that are fast falling behind with the time lost from work for doctors visits and chemo. If we can help take that worry off the table it would help Missy concentrate on the task of getting better. I have included a paypal Donate Button on this blog so anyone who feels they can or would like to help may do so, the amount is strictly up to you. For the past 6 years I have hosted the Internet Social at Hershey A friendly get together catered on Thursday evening before the open of the show, this year at the Hershey Internet Social all proceeds from the drawing and this PayPal Donate Button will go directly to Missy Arnold to help her get through this difficult time.We love what we do and we love our groomer friends who are so much a part of our lives and in our heart too, after all who but another groomer could understand US!

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Goat of Many Colors

 Would you expect nothing less?

This is Nibbler his mom is a Nigerian Dwarf and his dad is a pygmy goat, his Mom Calamity only comes up to my knee, she is predominantly brown with just a little white on her, Hercules, Nibbler's dad is about 8 inches taller and mostly white with a black head, Nibbler and his sister Millie (named for Garoleen Wilson's Olde Mill Goat Soap) are the first small goats born on our property, I wanted to bottle raise a tiny goat so it would be super tame, Millie refused the bottle so we left her with her mom, but Nibbler (who reminds me of a character on Futurama) took to the bottle right away and he calls me Maaaaaaa, Funny little goat! I take him to work with me since he is nursing and he loves it at the shop, one of his favorite things is to run up the ramp to the tub. I have been putting him up on a grooming table to feed him, it is easier on my back that way. And well while he was up there I thought he needed a little extra dressing up so I got out the magic blow pens and colored up his white spots making him look a bit like an animal that lives with the Queen of Color! The color fades out of his coat in just 2 days his hair type won't hold temporary color well at all since it is rather non porous, I think that one day next week I may use a more semi-permanent color on him. I just have to keep the busy little buggar distracted long enough to get it on him. I think feeding time on the grooming table will be my best bet, Saturday as i was packing up my vehicle to go home for the day I came back into the grooming room to find him standing on the table looking at Birdie Jade like she should be challenging him for the spot. Anyway I think he is cute...and wanted to share him with you

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Feather Extensions

I want to talk a little about extensions. Extensions are colorful and fun, some can be added in mere minutes and they may work in states where color on dogs is not permitted. There are several ways to add them into the coat and a variety of choices from synthetic hair to saved switches of dog hair and a hot new favorite, feathers. In the past some of the methods of adding extensions were to either sew them in, which can be very time consuming and let’s face it, if a button pops off a shirt most of us are just going to get a new shirt, so I don’t really see sewing in extensions as an option.   If they have keratin on the end they can be attached with a fusion tool  if not all you need is  keratin pellets and a melting pot that can be purchased at most beauty supply houses, with these items you could make your own extensions by melting the pellets in the pot and dipping the end in to make extensions that must be applied to the hair with the fusion tool, this melts the keratin which is then rolled between your finger and thumb sealing it onto the small lock of hair.

This year at Intergroom I was introduced to Puppy Locks Feather Fur Extensions with yet another method of application that is sweeping the country! By using “Crimp Beads” a loop tool of hair needle and pliers you can attach the feathers in seconds and they will hold for several weeks. It’s so easy to apply them I wore them in my hair, washed it every day and they still looked great, after two weeks I slid the feathers and later reused them on my dog! I think these are a great new way to extend your profit, have some fun and add some color , I am having so much feathery fun that I now have the crimp beads available for groomers on my website. One of my weekly clients has had his in for 5 weeks now, his mom absolutely loves his bright feathers and he is a big hit at the gym, where he is the mascot.

To attach the feathers place the crimp bead onto the tool, pull a small lock of hair through the tool then slide the bead up onto the lock of hair. Next push the feathers you have chosen to use into the bead then smash it flat with the crimping pliers. So Easy! One thing to think about though is make sure you do not put them on the dog of a person who may have a feather phobia.To remove them use the crimping pliers again and press the bead the opposite way to open it back up then slide it from the hair.