Crypton plays starring role on Better TV

Better TV is Better Homes & Gardens’ hugely popular, nationally-syndicated show with upwards of 50 million viewers per month. It’s must-viewing for anyone who appreciates, well, having a better home and garden! 

Friday’s topic was “Owning Pets and Keeping Clean,” so pet-friendly, stain-resistant fabric and dog beds were right at home on the set. It should be pointed out that the hot-pink pillow looked especially hot next to Rhiannon Ally, the lovely host.

I’m always happy to share tips from my book, PrettyPet-Friendly, which is all about the right tools for keeping your “animal house” up-to-sniff. But adorable, adoptable Tony, available from the HumaneSociety of New York, is the real star of this show. To watch, click here.

Posted by Julia Szabo.

Crypton celebrates Take Your Dog to Work Day!

At Crypton, Molly B. Rubin wants everyone to know that every day is Take Your Dog to Work Day – but with the rest of the country celebrating this special day today, we figured we’d get off to an early start. So, this past Wednesday in New York City, our favorite artist, William Wegman, hosted a fun breakfast event at his studio to unleash the new dog-themed designs he’s dreamed up for Crypton.

Guests got a tour of the artist’s studio, and a chance to see his marvelous muses at work. You know those incredbly statuesque poses they’re famed for? Well, Wegman’s three  weimaraners – Bobbin, Candy, and Penny – really do strike these photogenic poses naturally, all on their own. All the artist has to do is gently ask them to, stay, step up on an ottoman  and they happily oblige, without cajoling or even the offer of a treat. Talk about loyal, uncomplaining employees.

These are attention hounds, so they thrive on interaction with people – especially the favorite folks they see every day: the artist, his wife Christine Burgin, and the couple’s two teenage daughters. But the wondrous Weimaraners also adore meeting new friends and catching up with old ones. And the photo above is the proof: Check out Penny, who stopped for a cuddle and a photo opp with Crypton’s own Randy Rubin.

Posted by Julia Szabo.

Crypton’s a hit with Sarasota Dog !

I recently had the honor of being interviewed by Mary Lou Davidson for SarasotaDog, her fabulous web site and podcast. The subject was living stylishly with pets – something they know a thing or two about down in the Sunshine State.

It was so gratifiying to have the chance to plug my pet cause: adopting shelter dogs and cats. Did you know doctors agree that walking is the best exercise there is for promoting wellness and longevity? So, if you want to live long and strong, adopt a walking partner at your local animal shelter and hit the road together! And when you get home from your walk, you’ll find there’s no better roommate than a dog or cat. Even their snoring sounds sweet. 

Of course, I managed to mention a few of my favorite decor essentials for creating a pretty, pet-friendly pad – including fabric and home accessories that are stain- and odor-resistant. To listen to the interview, click here.

Posted by Julia Szabo.

Do you have a clan of messy eaters in your house? Are dinner time spills taking over your table?  We’ve got an opportunity for you! Recently, Crypton developed a fun line of colorful and reversible mess-free suede placemats.  Not only are they stylish, the Crypton technology behind the fabric means they are completely stain- and water-resistant, too. Although you can’t buy these placemats in stores yet, we thought it would be fun to offer our readers an exclusive opportunity to test them out. We’ll even give you the full set of four placemats – all you have to do is share your story with us.  

 That’s all it takes to receive three additional placemats: a full set!  This opportunity won’t be available for long and space is limited, so sign up soon! All signed up? Once you’ve recieved your placemat, fill out a feedback form to recieve the other three.

We look forward to hearing your messy stories!

Doing stretches with a pair of yoga hounds

My dog Cupcake (and no, I did not name her) is a yoga natural. Her favorite thing to do is jump gently onto any stranger she takes a liking to, and have herself a good stretch. I call this vertical posture her “upward dog” maneuver. Happily, the passers-by she’s used as human yoga mats didn’t complain.

Most yoga hounds prefer to use the ground as their launch pad to enlightenment. At Manhattan’s East Yoga, owner-founder Kari Harendorf can often be seen with Charlie, her beloved mixed-breed dog and frequent partner in constructive rest. June 25th is TakeYour Dog to Work Day, but lucky Charlie Harendorf gets to go to work year-round.

The great thing about having a canine yoga partner is being able to seize the stretch moment wherever you happen to be. All you need is something approximating a yoga mat to take some of the firm out of terra firma – like a versatile microsuede throw.

Incidentally, Charlie and Cupcake both keep their physiques trim and yoga-ready by eating holistic kibble, as any good yoga hound should.

Posted by Julia Szabo.

Life on Crypton wins prestigious PRSA Big Apple Award!

On an evening when most people’s thoughts were already on the long Memorial Day weekend ahead, the country’s most respected and hard-working public relations specialists gathered at New York City’s Hudson Theatre to toast the best of their field for the Public Relations Society of America’s annual Big Apple Awards.

I’m delighted to report that the blog you’re reading was entered under the title “Building a Consumer Voice: Development of Life on Crypton Blog: Carmichael Lynch Spong for Crypton Fabrics.” Oscar nominees aren’t kidding when they say “It’s an honor to be nominated” – it really is. So imagine how thrilled we were to win!

We don’t intend to rest on our laurels – we want to make Life on Crypton better with each posting, and eagerly look forward to your comments. Our sincere thanks to PRSA for a terrific, memorable evening, and to the entire CLS team for its marketing genius.

Appearing in the photo are, L to R: Sarah McQuilkin of CLS; Crypton’s own Randy Rubin, holding the Big Apple Award statuette; Julia Szabo; and Sarah McNeil of CLS.

Posted by Julia Szabo.

Checking in with old friends who get better with time

One of our very best friends, Molly B. Rubin, often reminds us how important it is to check in with old friends on a regular basis, and Twitter has proven to be a great way to keep in  touch. We’re very proud of our longstanding friendship with The Bark, still the premier magazine for dogs and the people who love them. Together, the two-person powerhouse team of Claudia Kawczynska and Cameron Woo created the gold standard of dog magazines at their Berkeley home base – not to mention a bevy of best-selling books, including their latest title, “Dog Joy.”

When it got its start, The Bark was the first publication of its kind: a rare new “breed” of maverick magazine celebrating deceptively “ordinary” mutts (like Ms. Molly B.!) and the truly extraordinary people who adore them. And The Bark still maintains its lead, despite lots of healthy competition in a market now filled with dog-themed glossies. Plus, The Bark’s online presence, notably its blog, fills the space between its bi-monthly issues so dog lovers don’t miss a single beat, and it delivers strong content with great style – which is something Crypton certainly appreciates! Follow them on Twitter @The_Bark.

From California, we cross the country to Maine, where FetchDog has been a Crypton supporter since its successful launch in 2007. We’re so proud to be staples in the FetchDog catalog – our Screen Saver dog bed is on their page of Best Sellers! And we’re over the moon that our pet beds have a place in the home of glamorous Glenn Close, whose husband Dave Shaw founded the site together with his son Ben. We never miss “Lively Licks,” Glenn’s fabulous Fetchdog blog – check it out, and follow the company on Twitter @ FetchDog.

Fetchdog recently partnered with UrbanHound, the terrific site for city pets and their people. Become part of the UrbanHound community for great, opinionated advice on services and products for dogs in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. 

Posted by Julia Szabo.

Great Design Links From Randy:

Each week, Randy Rubin, co-owner of Crypton, features articles or blogs that resonate with Crypton’s core goals: providing clean, beautiful design for everyday living.

Everyday living means life with kids, pets, and anything else that finds a way into your home. Below are just a few thoughts and ideas we are inspired by this month.

This week’s featured link: Yolksy

Yolksy: “fresh ideas hatched daily,” interior designer Annie May blogs about creative inspiration for designers and decorators. In addition to featuring photos of
well-designed spaces, she adds a twist with her “Beat Boxed” entries: developing an interior décor feel around the sounds of a specific song, artist or band.

When Mercury retrograde makes things go haywire, Crypton keeps you protected:

Just the other day, I got in a cab and there next to me on the seat was someone else’s iPhone. Upon exiting at my destination, I took the phone with me and waited for something to  happen, so I could help reunite the instrument with its rightful owner. Happily, the phone owner’s brother called within minutes. We met on a street corner, I handed him the phone, and all was well.

Inadvertently leaving things behind is a frequent occurrence whenever the planet Mercury goes retrograde, as it’s doing now until May 11th. We all can expect to experience losing and misplacing key items… irritating delays in travel … communications glitches… and computer malfunctions. Yikes!

Under such difficult planetary circumstances, annoying little accidents tend to happen when we least expect them to, delaying matters even further. Crypton’s favorite astrologer, Susan Miller, creator of Astrologyzone, recommends making life easier by labeling your cellular phone and laptop. It’s easy, she says: Simply tape your business card to the back! This way, in the event you are ever separated from these crucial devices, you have a better chance of seeing them again, without having to go through the hassle of replacing them
(argh). 

Might we add that, when everything else is going haywire, liquids tend to spill unexpectedly too. Forewarned is forearmed, so protect the interior of your favorite handbag and/or luggage with a Crypton makeup bag.  If the contents spill or leak, they’ll be safely contained – and the spillage won’t slow you down.

Posted by Julia Szabo.

Crypton tote really holds water – Italian mineral water, that is

There are so many reasons to carry a Crypton tote everywhere – like, you never know when you’ll stumble upon a  farmer’s market with amazing spring-fresh produce and need something stylish to carry it in. But a new reason arose just the other day as I was having a breakfast meeting at Madison Avenue’s swanky Sant’Ambroeus.

I was conducting an interview with the brilliant Dr.Bob Harman, founder of Vet-Stem, the leader in stem-cell regeneration therapy for animals with arthritis. At one point in the conversation, I gesticulated a little too close to my glass of water (which was, of course, nothing less than the Italian mineral water Acqua Panna, from Tuscany).

Happily, my Crypton tote was sitting on the seat next to me, and neatly swallowed up the spill. I didn’t quite realize how much liquid one little water glass could contain until we stood up to leave. As I was preparing to put away my reporter’s notebook, I noticed the bag was heavier than before; that’s because it was literally holding water! So, not only were my clothes spared, but the restaurant’s upholstery and carpeting were too.

Once out on the street, I removed my drenched keys (thankfully, the cellular phone was on the table next to me the whole time), poured out the water, and turned the bag inside-out to dry – which it did in a matter of minutes. That’s Crypton proving its impressive moisture resistance yet again.

Posted by Julia Szabo.