Raffle Time!

As many of you know, part of my business plan for Heart of a Cowgirl includes donating a percentage of my monthly sales to various animal rescue organization. I do this every month, good or bad, and it really does make me happy to know I am helping, even if it's in a small way.

And although it is rewarding for me to make my contributions every month, I have been thinking of something that will make it much more fun for me and for YOU! Each month, beginning in August (well, beginning today actually) I will be hosting a raffle for an original piece of Heart of a Cowgirl jewelry (designed by yours truly). All proceeds will go to the designated rescue organization for that month. August's organization is Equine Voices Rescue and Sanctuary.

This month the lucky raffle winner will receive this awesome Cowgirl Cuff! I've created this cuff from a recycled leather belt and embellished it with silver studs and a pink floral horseshoe concho.
Raffle tickets are $2 each (or 3 tickets for $5 or 7 tickets for $10 - use the drop down menu for more than one ticket). You can purchase the tickets through the PayPal link on the left sidebar, right below my e-mail link. For those of you without a PayPal account, you can also pay securely with Visa/Mastercard through that link. Or you can also pay by check if you like, just send me an e-mail and I'll give you my address.

This cuff retails for $30 and you could win it for a mere $2!

Equine Voices is really a great cause. Check out their website for more information about their mission saving PMU mares and foals.

Piper and I thank you! We'll be drawing the winner on August 31st. (**Since posting this, I've extended the drawing date to September 15th in order for the raffle to be included in Equine Voices' newsletter to be published at the end of August**) Good luck everyone!

Bunny Monday?

Oops! Sunday got away from me and I didn't get a chance to post.

These pictures are from early this morning. While we were out feeding the horses, Patches and Nutmeg made a break out into the courtyard. Patches uses her 10.5 lbs to push on the side screen on the front door and push it out of it's frame! She learned this trick awhile back. Nutmeg waits right behind her. "C'mon Patchy, PUSH!" Then they both hop out into the courtyard and run around. And nibble on a few plants... BUSTED! She looks pretty guilty, but who could get mad at this face?After they run around and explore for a bit, they are ready to go back in the house.

Never a dull moment with these bunnies!

Good Hearted Cowgirls

Are at it again.... First aprons, now purses! And let me tell you, these purses are SOOO cute and very functional. They have pockets inside and out for your cell phone, keys and other essentials and EVEN BETTER they are tricked out with conchos, charms, crystals, bits of vintage jewelry, buckles, belts and whatever else catches my eye.

This one here is one of my favorites and has already found it's new home (love it? want one like it? Don't be afraid, just ask. We're taking special orders!)

A few more of our latest designs.... You can find them for sale here.
Marjorie and I are planning and scheming to take Good Hearted Cowgirls to the next level and have plenty of surprises in store. Keep checking back to find out what we have up our sleeves!

Struggling....

My poor garden is barely hanging in there, struggling along in this 100+ degree weather. My tomatoes are finally starting to ripen, so the plants just need to hang in there a little bit longer. Once these tomatoes are done, I'll rip the plants over and start over in about a month for a fall crop.The herbs are faring a little better, they are in a part of the garden that gets more afternoon shade. Every morning, I cut some mint, catnip, oregano, sage and rosemary for the bunnies. And I'm still getting a few jalapenos from my one lonely plant. It might bounce back for the fall, I'm hoping. (I love this wooden bowl, a recent thrift store find for $2.99. Deal!)The mammoth sunflowers are not doing too bad. I guess that is why they call them SUN flowers? I like to plant them around the garden - a few here, a few there. Their leaves are huge, so they provide shade for the plants below them. And they draw bees to the garden, which is good. The birds usually end up eating the seeds, but if I catch them in time, I'll give them to the goats who scarf them down, flower head, leaves and all. They do leave the stalk, though. I guess even goats draw the line somewhere...
My plan for next year is to erect a shade canopy over the main part of the garden that I can put up and take down as needed. Add that one to the "to-do" list...

Piper the Rock Star

Equine Voices put together an informational DVD about their mission rescuing PMU mares and foals. Four adopted horses were featured and Piper was one of them. She showed her stuff in the round pen, loading in the trailer and just generally being a little ham.

Here is a trailer for the DVD. If you are interested, the DVDs are for sale through the Equine Voices website and all proceeds go to feed and care of the horses.

There is a little clip of Piper and me (we are the last one of the 4 horses shown)

Piper is a perfect example of why these horses should not just be discarded and sent to slaughter. She was on her way and I'm thankful everyday that Equine Voices rescued her and that we found each other.

Welcome to Monday!

The origins of Starbucks...
Now, go have another cup!

Bunny Sunday

Today's featured bunny is Ginger (aka Ginger Joe, Gingy, Gingy Pie). As I mentioned in last week's post, we named him before we knew he was a boy. Oops! He was the only one that had his mama's reddish-orange coloring.As little bitty bunnies, he seemed to always be the first one to learn and try new things. A little adventurer! We had them in a portable play pen for awhile. One day I caught him at the very top, ready to jump out... until he found himself nose to nose with Angel, our rottweiler (who, by the way, is a very good girl around the bunnies).

Gingy enjoying a carrot....

Sharing breakfast with Digger...Our bunnies are all held everyday, so they are very people oriented and friendly. My nephew LOVES the bunnies and has learned that a good scratch behind the ears is one of their favorite things. (This is such a great pic... a boy and his bunny)

And to go along with the theme of Bunny Sunday, here is a new bracelet that I just listed in my Etsy shop this morning:
The handcrafted copper link is etched with a sweet little bunny! The beads are blue crazy lace agate with lots of brown and copper matrix.

The curve of the bunny link fits perfectly on the wrist and is really comfortable to wear, not to mention adorable!

Happy Sunday everyone :)

Yay Rain!

I woke up to a welcome surprise this morning....

A nice soft, steady rain was falling. Ahhhhh... relief! For those of you in parts of the country where it has been raining a little too much, you must think I'm crazy, I'm sure. Considering our forecast has been calling for temperatures over 100 EVERY SINGLE DAY, I couldn't be happier with the rain. If it rained for a week straight, I wouldn't complain.
What a lovely sight. I went and stood out on the patio and was surprised at how cold the raindrops were. Cold! Amazing....

I hope that you get the weather you are hoping for today!

Bunny Sunday

Meet Turbo (aka Turby). She is the littlest of our 5 bunny siblings at only 3.5 pounds. Their mama was a mini-rex and although I don't know what the daddy looked like, he must have been a mini-rex, too.

Lovin' some parsley...
Turbo is a famous bunny supermodel. I submitted this photo in a contest awhile back and she won first place! (I know, a little silly, but well, I've been known to be a lot silly when it comes to these bunnies). She was also interviewed following her win. You can read that post here. Doesn't she look like a plush stuffed bunny here?

She is the most adorable little bunny and completely irresistable. I dare you to try to resist her cuteness!

Here she is at about 2-3 months old, with her brother, Ginger (yeah, we didn't know Ginger was a boy at the time we gave him his name, but he's okay with it)

Bunny butt in action...

Till next Sunday!

We've Been Featured!

Some exciting news to share this morning ~ one of our wearable art aprons from the Good Hearted Cowgirls collection has been featured, along with some other really cute aprons, on Cactus Creek Daily's blog! Check it out here. (Scroll down, it is the second picture). The other half of Good Hearted Cowgirls, the fabulous Marjorie, is modeling the apron. :)

If you've never checked out Cactus Creek Daily, you should. Fancy, the editor, offers up daily doses of decorating, fashion and gift giving ideas for the rustic, western and vintage home. I have it delivered to my inbox everyday so I can check out all the cool things she finds. Thanks to Fancy for including us in today's feature!

Saddled Up

I've been working Piper in the round pen lately with the saddle on, getting her used to the feel of it on her back and the stirrups hitting her sides. I'm also putting a little weight in the stirrups (but not getting up in the saddle yet). She's handling it like the little champ she is. This picture was taken early this morning. She's looking pretty grown up. (sniff, sniff)

She still has lots of growing to do, though. She just turned 2 in May and is weighing in around 750 lbs. According to my measurements, she will be right around 15 hands high. Perfect!

It's amazing to me how much she has grown and progressed in a year. It has gone by so quickly and has been a real learning experience for both of us. Thankfully she is very forgiving, since she is the first horse I have ever trained.

Here she is in June of last year. A whopping 525 lbs. when I brought her home from Equine Voices.
Just a little baby! She didn't even know how to lead. We started with the very basics and have worked up to where we are today. I'm so proud of her! We've come a long way but still have a long way to go. And that's ok because I'm enjoying every minute of it.

More Words to Live By...

This one is perfect for today! I've got a lot of brainstorming going on for Heart of a Cowgirl and fun things planned for the coming months.Including some new designs from Good Hearted Cowgirls (aka Bridget and Marjorie) that we'll be unveiling very soon. You won't want to miss this!

Bunny Sunday

Today is definitely a good day to lounge around...
It's HOT out. And humid. One of those days you just don't feel like doing much at all.Except hunker down and conserve energy.Sundays were made for being lazy. These bunnies have it down to a science! Much to be learned from bunnies....

(Oh, and I do need to add ~ these pics were not taken today. These spoiled bunnies are inside when the weather is too hot or too cold. They get to enjoy the outdoor bunny casa when the weather cooperates.)

Knock Knock

He's Baaaaaaaack.....
He's no dummy, I think he likes to hang out on the screen and get the benefit of the AC.

Larry. Izzy. Buddy. You guys gave me lots of good names for this guy -- and gave me a few good laughs, too! I use them all interchangeably. Oh, and then there's Lizard Minnelli, Thin Lizzy, Lizard Skynyrd...

Thing is, he doesn't even come when I call his name! Some lizards are just hard to train.