Wednesday, February 24, 2010

New Funky Ring Bases!


No longer do you have to settle for the bronze base; now you have a choice! Each ring base is hypoallergenic, made from acrylic with an electroplated finish. Unfortunately I don't have any new pieces listed with the new ring bases yet since they just arrived today, but you can see them out in the "Build Your Own Funky Ring" listing in my shop. Check them out!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sustainable Forestry

Here at Allover Art (as well as in my personal life) I strive to be as environmentally conscious and eco-friendly as possible. Some of my efforts include incorporating dried paint from my palette into new pieces of wearable art, using environmentally-friendly paints, using supplies that can be recycled or reused, using recycled packaging or as little packaging as possible when shipping, and using wood from sustainable forestry in each unique piece of wearable art.

What exactly is "sustainable forestry" you might wonder. Sustainable forestry means managing our forest resources to meet the needs we have today without interfering with our future generations' needs. According to the Cornell Forestry Extension Program, this might be the value of hardwood timber or softwood fiber growing, it might be the diversity of native species present, it might be recreational opportunities provided in the region, or it might be the socio-economic culture that has developed around a local wood using industry. Sustainable forestry addresses all the resources provided by the forest. Someone probably advised you at some point to "not burn your bridges", and this advice is at the heart of sustainable forestry where you strive to retain all your options. This includes the option for timber or fiber production, the option for certain species, the option for jobs, the option for clean water, the option for recreational resources, and the option for aesthetic qualities. Because forests change, by the nature of forests, sustainability emphasizes the need to keep viable all the options and opportunities.

Hopefully you can now enjoy wearing your Allover Art jewelry even more knowing that steps were taken to create as little an impact on the environment as possible. :)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

SALE!





In order to make room for a plethora of new inventory over here at Allover Art, I've marked down several of the existing items in my shop. Be sure to head on over and check out the "Specials" section of the shop to snag yourself a deal before someone else does!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Friday, February 5, 2010

Etsy Diaper Bags

I have a new and growing obsession with diaper bags, specifically the ones on Etsy. I always enjoy peruseing the amazing and unique selection of purses available on Etsy, but with a bun in the oven I have another excuse to spend countless hours browsing through pages and pages of handmade goodies. I already own a purse and a clutch from different Etsy sellers and I loooooove them, so it would make sense that I would go to the Etsy community for my diaper bag needs.

Here are my current favorites! (Beware: If you buy one of these bags before I have made up my mind and you buy the one I want, I may hunt you down. ;) )

Monday, February 1, 2010

Better Late Than Never

FINALLY! Here are a handful of custom pieces created over the holidays, including a pet portrait pendant, initial pendants, a ring based on an original drawing, and more! Enjoy!








Saturday, January 30, 2010

Indiana Jones

Hello friends! Allover Art has been MIA for some time now, and I'm sorry if you've been wondering where I've been. Here's what's been going on.

On the morning of Thursday, the 21st we woke up with a very lethargic and sad-looking puppy. Indie, our 11-month old Beagle/Terrier mix, was not acting like himself when the night before he seemed just fine. He had to be coaxed downstairs to go out when usually he's the first one up in the morning. He was very lethargic and just stood in one place looking at me with his ears back; and then promptly vomited up his undigested dinner from the night before. I took him outside to go to the bathroom and it appeared that there was blood in his urine (SCARY!). I brought him back inside and called the vet and Matt, my husband, took him in to see the doc about an hour later.

The vet said that Indie had a fever and was dehydrated. They gave him antibiotics and an IV and the fever went down. They also said that he was auto-agglutinating, which meant that his body was attacking his own red blood cells. They decided to run a panel of blood work to rule out infections and tick-borne illnesses while he spent two nights with the vet. We visited him on his second day at the vet and he seemed happy to see us and ate some food, but was tired. At this time his PCV (pack cell volume) count was around 16/17. The PCV count measures the proportion of blood volume that is occupied by red blood cells. The normal PCV count in dogs is 37-55. Indie was anemic at this point but not in serious danger.

Early Saturday morning we got a phone call from the vet shortly after they opened saying that Indie was in really bad shape and needed an emergency blood transfusion. His PCV count was at 8. How his PCV count was allowed to get down so low that it was an emergency situation and that he was beginning to suffocate makes me very angry, but that is another story. We were told to come to the vet and pick him up so that we could drive him to the emergency clinic at the NC State Veterinary School for a transfusion. Matt and I picked up Indie and drove him to NC State, wondering the entire time if he was even going to make it because he looked that bad.

At NC State he received an emergency transfusion and oxygen and we were able to see him afterward. I've never been so happy to see his tail wag; he looked sooooooo much better. Later that day he received another transfusion.

Indie was in the ICU at the NC State Veterinary Hospital from Saturday, the 23rd, through Thursday, the 28th. During his stay he received a third transfusion, lots of drugs and steroids, had an ultrasound, and had a spleen aspirate to rule out cancer while they ran various tests trying figure out what sent his immune system into overdrive. We drove over twice every day to visit with him. It was a very emotional and stressful week.

On Thursday, the 28th, Indie's PCV count had been holding steady around 19/20 for over 48 hours so he was allowed to come home to recover. He was diagnosed with idiopathic Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA). This means that nobody has any idea what caused his body to begin attacking his red blood cells. He was sent home on activity restriction with lots of meds, including Heparin injections. Friday, the 29th, Indie returned to the hospital for a blood panel screening and his PCV count was 21/22; he will return to the hospital again on Monday, the 1st, for another blood panel screening.

In the meantime, Indie is still attacking his red blood cells but at a MUCH slower rate, which means that the steroids and immuno-suppressant drugs are beginning to take effect. He will remain on the drugs and activity restriction for quite some time until a marked improvement in his PCV count has been shown and maintained. He will still be on the drugs for some time, if not permanently. Since Indie has been home he has done A LOT of sleeping, which is great. We are all happy to have him home. Unfortunately, we are by no means "out of the woods" yet. Thirty percent of IMHA patients fully recover and never relapse, another 30% recover and then have relapses later in life, and then another 40% never leave the hospital. Thankfully it seems that we are not in the later 40% (knock on wood). The good news is that once an animal recovers from IMHA he has great quality of life with no lingering effects from the incident. Once Indie gets his PCV count out of the anemic range he will feel just like his usual rascally self.

So, that's where I've been. It's been a long and stressful week with me thinking lots of positive thoughts to help out Indie and not cause undo stress on the little one growing inside of me. I should be able to remove my Etsy shop from vacation mode starting this week and be able to get back into work while keeping an eye on Indie. I will also continue to keep you updated on his progress with hopefully lots of good news.

PS - If you have a pet, I strongly encourage you to look into pet insurance. We have a policy for both Indie and Kasey with Petplan and we honestly never thought we would have to use it for Indie. Pet insurance has been a life-saver, literally.

**UPDATE** As of Tuesday, February 2nd, Indie's PCV count is up to 35! Hooray!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Under The Weather


Welcome 2010!! I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday season.

Allover Art has returned to business as promised, however, don't expect too much over the next few days. It seems that someone gave me the gift of a cold virus this Christmas; and it has set up camp in my body, refusing to leave. I'll be online here and there, but will most likely be either on the couch napping or in bed. See you in a few days!