Crypton Blog: Ideas for your Home and Pet by Julia Szabo. Latest Pet Product news for you. » aprons

Who’s that chow hound in the kitchen?

tina — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:37:39 +0000

Who’s that chow hound in the kitchen?

Biscuits by Lambchop is the genius invention of New Yorker Annette Frey, who was inspired to create a gluten-free, vegan treat for dogs with delicate digestions, like her own beloved mutt. She calls the biscuits “sensible treats for the sensitive dog.” Dogs just call them delicious.

Available in two flavors – lambchop-shaped, banana-coconut-vanilla “Choppers” and star-shaped, apple-honey-cinnamon “Starlets” – Biscuits by Lambchop are best-sellers. And that’s no surprise, what with increased awareness of how nutrition can help our pets and us to stay healthy.

My cancer-survivor K9 Tiki adores these cookies, and I can rest easy knowing I’m reducing his risk of recurrence by feeding gluten-free, preservative-free morsels at snack time. Other fans of Biscuits by Lambchop include Francesca and Sharkey, Martha Stewart’s adorable French bulldogs.

That’s Annette hanging with Star, her dependable taste-tester. We dig her apron, don’t you?

Posted by Julia Szabo.

Crypton dog beds get a shout-out on Martha Stewart Radio

tina — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:48:49 +0000

Crypton dog beds get a shout-out on Martha Stewart Radio’s “Morning Living”

I love my job – it lets me meet amazing animals and their equally awesome people. Two of my absolute favorite animal lovers are Kim Fernandez and Betsy Karetnick, the dynamic duo that co-hosts “Morning Living” on Sirius XM’s MarthaStewart Radio. Both are proud owners of multiple dogs that they adopted from animal shelters, which means they’re my kind of gals. Love them!

I’ve been very lucky to be invited on this show many times. It’s serious fun donning head phones to chat with Kim and Betsy, and answer their listeners’ questions live. In fact, the feedback I’ve gotten from the show’s loyal followers is so inspiring that it was a driving force behind my new book, “Pretty Pet-Friendly.” After all, what could be prettier or more pet-friendly than lifestyle legend Martha Stewart and her talented team?

This morning at around 7 a.m. EST, we discussed dog grooming, which is even more important in winter than in summer, believe it or not. When a pet’s coat gets tangled and matted or dry and flaky, it can’t insulate animals from the cold as efficiently, so regular brushing and bathing with gentle, all-natural, conditioning shampoos are absolute musts.

Of course, when asked about my favorite pet products, Crypton dog beds topped the list! Don’t miss this fabulous, eye-opening show every weekday morning between the hours of 7 and 10 a.m. EST.

Meanwhile, for your weekend pet-expert fix, be sure to tune in to Greg Kleva’s always-enlightening show, It’s a Dog’s Life, Saturdays at 8 p.m. A ringer for Keanu Reeves, this gifted
dog trainer is as easy to listen to as he is easy on the eyes. Follow him on Twitter : GregTheDogGuy.

Posted by Julia Szabo.

Do You Etsy?

tina — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:51:05 +0000

Here at Crypton, we know that style never goes out of style. With the recession squeezing household budgets, true style mavens have gotten creative with ways to keep stylish with home décor. One of our favorite places for affordable chic is Etsy.com, an online marketplace for designers and artisans to sell handmade goods. With over 200,000 sellers offering nearly 5 million items, you’ll be sure to find something that fits your style. A search for home décor is particularly inspiring: hobbyists and independent designers alike are offering everything from lamps to pillows, accent pieces to wallpaper.

We are so excited about the creative ideas generating from Etsy, that we will be profiling two of the Etsy designers we love – starting tomorrow with Cherie, from StudioCherie, a designer who often uses Crypton Fabrics in her work.

In the meantime, we’ve pulled a few fun design and pet-related Etsy items to feast your eyes upon until tomorrow. Enjoy!

Fun hoodedsweatshirts for dogs from anniessweatshop

Walldécor with “Naughty kitten” design from LanaKole

Handmade Chow dog bowl

Crypton Loves William Wegman, our Funny Valentine

tina — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:28:47 +0000

Crypton Loves William Wegman, our Funny Valentine

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s high time we “paws” to appreciate Crypton’s very own rock star: William Wegman.

This talented, prolific polymath – photographer, author, filmmaker, and designer of Super Fabrics – delights the world with witty depictions of dogs. His artworks reside in the collections of such prestigious institutions as the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Here at Crypton, we’re so lucky to have Wegman creating fabric designs that are every bit as uniquely captivating as his art.

Wegman’s Crypton creations are art you can really live with, taking the form of pillows, aprons, or dog beds.

They’re functional accents that turn any home into an art gallery; they’re also Funny Valentines. And when they get dirty, you can just toss them in the washing machine, and they’ll come out good as new. That’s not something you can say about a framed artwork!

With their glossy blue-gray coats, Wegman’s sleek, elegant Weimaraners make gorgeous models and muses; they are truly fashion hounds. Little wonder so many fashionable companies have commissioned Crypton’s favorite artist to create iconic imagery. One of my all-time favorites is his portrait of a dog wearing a fabulous “Pleats Please” garment by the legendary Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake.

But chic as they are, Wegman’s dogs, and the numerous artworks they inspire, are about so much more than style. They’re serious fun. By dressing dogs up in human clothing and posing them to look like people - sometimes with, say, a hand in the mix, holding a pair of binoculars for the dog to peer through - Wegman blurs the line between person and canine. More than willing to suspend our disbelief, we can’t tell where the person ends and the dog begins, and we don’t want to. We’d rather see it Wegman’s way: there’s really no barrier between the two species, as anyone who’s ever loved a dog knows for sure.

That’s a powerful, immediately accessible way to convey the magical bond between people and pets. I’ve dedicated my career to describing and celebrating that bond in my writing, but too often language has a way of coming up short. Wegman’s insightful imagery does the job much more eloquently than mere words ever could.

Posted by Julia Szabo.