Wow! Who knew that a contest would bring so much drama! I've had such amazing entries so far for Week 3, a lot of repeat contestants which is great because I can see who really is wanting to win that 75% off gift certificate and who is just wanting a chance to win the free pet portrait...of course everyone wants the free one! 

Facebook is like the movie "Mean Girls" where there is always that one group of popular people on there who have 2,000+ friends and just look for ways to win and immortalize their pets. And there's nothing wrong with that at all. The only disadvantage is that the people who are not part of that circle lose out on the popularity votes even though their pet's stories are incredibly heroic or just plain adorable. That was exactly the reason why I chose to pick the "photo of choice" winners, it's like I'm being able to find the runts of the litter and saving them and making everyone else envious of them. 

I get a little frustrated because I only just starting telling my friends on Facebook what happened on the last contest, but it really was not right what some of my contestants did. There were a handful of people who entered their pets photo's and stories into my "Amazing Pet Story" contest who did not follow through with the rules of the contest. No one knew that I was going to surprise the whole group who entered the contest with a free pet portrait, but there was something about the timing and what was happening in my pet portrait career that I felt I owed it to my fans to give them a HUGE surprise. And I did surprise them! Almost all of them were in shock and were just so excited. Reading their emails really made me feel fantastic about my choice to surprise them all. I mean who could really choose one amazing rescue story over another- no one! But the part that upset me was that the rules of the contest, should you of won, was to pay for the S&H. I made sure to get all quotes, with tracking, with insurance, without anything and I gave them their choices of what S&H fee they felt most comfortable with. I proceeded to start drawing the portraits, which take a lot of time and energy and when I completed them, I emailed the contestants their final drawings and they were all enthusiastic about their specialty portraits. However, I had a handful of people who did not pay for the S&H....instead they copied the ink drawings I made of their pets and posted it on their Facebook wall as their profile pic. Now I am not a bitter person, but I felt a little robbed. Seeing as how my portraits are usually paid commissions, and I was only asking a small fee for shipping ($3.00-$8.00 within the US, the international fee was a bit more) I thought it was really unfair what they had done. (Oh and you won't know who those bad contestants were because I deleted them from the album and black listed them from my fan page- it was only fair)

This is why I tried to make sure to post all my rules for this contest everywhere and above the entry form because when you enter, you are agreeing to the rules above. Don't you read a contract before signing for an apartment, a car, insurance, etc...well, this is the same thing. And although it is fun for me to draw and paint my fans pets, if someone is not willing to play by the rules, I think it is really unfair to their fellow contestants to lose an opportunity for something they are willing to pay a small fee for. I just ask that everyone be fair and read everything before committing. Thank You!

*The images to the right are just some of my favorites ;) I loved them all!!! You can see them all on the "Amazing Pets!" page. 

Is it possible to fall in love with a puppy through Facebook? I mean really to the point where you are willing to pay for any type of transportation that you will need to in order to get that dog into your home? Well, I fell in love with this puppy that was on one of my Facebook friends from Jamaica's page. I've never met the guy, but when I first saw his adult male Pit Bull, King SLVR, I was smitten. Then a few months ago, two of his other dogs had a litter and I was in love with this little pup! I even tried to convince my husband that it would be a good idea to get him....he didn't fall for it. And I know in the long run, we should always support our local rescues who really need their dogs adopted, but I mean come on...tell me this puppy is not the cutest thing ever? 

It's funny though because growing up I always had small dogs, mainly Shih Tzu's, but when I met my husband I had to get over the whole fear of a Pit Bull. All I knew was what I was watching on TV, and living in South Florida, there are always dog fighting or dog attack stories and it 99% of the time a Pit Bull is involved. Being Ruccus' mom, and having to build a relationship with a breed you are fearful of, is a huge milestone. I still love small dogs, but there is something about a Pit Bull that just captures my heart now. Maybe because I have been so spoiled with how great Ruccus is that I just can't bear to think that I would never have another Pit Bull. This Sunday I will be going to a Luv-A-Bull event to see their dogs that are up for adoption, and I'm really hoping I can convince the hubby to adopt a new family member. And if not, then it just isn't our time to get a new dog. I am a bit conflicted though, Ruccus is our baby and he really rules the house and I don't know how happy he would be with a another dog in the house distracting our attention from him. Maybe I am over thinking it, but he's 11 now, and although he is still very much playful, he also likes his space and doesn't like to be bothered (even though I like to bother & annoy him because I know he doesn't like it, lol) So what to do? We will bring him with us and hopefully he will get excited to see all the pups and maybe just maybe we will go home with a little baby that needs a home. I'll keep you updated!

So Elvis has finally been completed and his mother is very pleased :) I will be packing him this weekend and shipping him off. I look forward to seeing her shoot some photo's of Elvis with his custom painting. I always LOVE to see when people receive their paintings and their pets with their custom artwork. It makes me feel like I am with them in their home :) I would like to share with you just a little bit about the process of creating Elvis' painting. When I first saw Elvis' photo, I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit overwhelmed. Not because he has spots, but because he has so many spots and so many layers of colors that I really wanted to make Elvis look as much like Elvis as I could. I might not of gotten all his markings perfect, but I think the main areas that distinguish his coat are there and anyone who knows Elvis would be able to look at his portrait and know that was him. I was also overwhelmed because he is so gorgeous and I really wanted to do an outstanding job in portraying him. Whenever I create a custom portrait, even if someone has won the painting, I always like to have their input on their favorite and least favorite colors because they are ones living with the painting and I want them to display it proudly instead of being stuck in some hutch in the far back corner. I asked Barbara (Elvis' mom) what her favorite and least favorite colors were. Originally I had thought either a yellow or blue background would look great with his color, but those were 2 of her not so favorite colors. And red or black , which were her favorites, would just make Elvis look muddy. She never mentioned anything about green, so when I asked, she said yes of course and that her family is big time archery hunters and her house is a rustic lodge theme. So I thought, what might be a great translation would be to take the greens and make a camouflage style background. This isn't my typical approach, but I think it came out very nicely and she was very excited with the outcome. Now that I have completed Elvis' portrait, I have quite a few more that I have to get started on right away. My next couple of pieces are all different sizes from an 8" x 10" to another 18" x 24". I look forward to sharing more work in progress photo's as well as my thought process for the pieces. I hope you have enjoyed watching the journey of Elvis being created on canvas! The top image of Elvis is a split screen of the photo that was submitted by Barbara for me to paint 

We are in week 2 of MARCH MADNESS and I have so many adorable contestants and amazing stories! I am going to have a very hard time at the end of the month choosing the 5 'photo of choice' winners for the free pet portrait. I'm seriously considering picking a bunch of photo's and asking some of my close friends to help me do a tie breaker. I wish I could paint them all like I did for the "Amazing Pet Story" contest, but there are just way too many contestants in the contest- which is a good thing :) The first winner for the 75% off gift certificate was Joey, a super cute long haired Chihuahua who won by over 80 "like" votes.

I was thinking today about how last year in May I held my very first contest, the Yay! May! Pet Portrait Give Away! and I had so much fun with my dog Ruccus picking the winner, that I have to do it again! If there is any contest that I would like to keep repeating, it would have to be that one! Plus, Ruccus is my little star and mascot of My Paw Portrait, how could I not? I will have to think of a new clever way for him to pick the winner since last year he did it by choosing a water bottle out of a bunch of bottles. But I know I will think of something really special that my fans can interact with by watching his video. I really wish that one of my videos would just make it to the Ellen DeGeneres show seeing as how I model all my contests around hers. I would love to spread the word about my special fans on her show and how these contests bring so much joy to the winners. It really isn't about money to me, it is about giving back and especially giving to those who are unable to afford. I really try to have a healthy balance of promoting my work and giving it away. 

I finally had a chance to start the winner of the Modern Dog's "Cutest Couples" contest portrait. The winner was Elvis, a miniature Dachshund, super cute, he is all spotted and has these piercing light green eyes. On top of hosting and updating the MARCH MADNESS! contest I am currently running, I recently found out that my grandfather passed away. He was the last of my blood related grandparents and he was also a survivor of the Holocaust. He was an outstanding man. I can't say he was easy, but he loved his 2 grand daughters very much and even though sometimes he would say things without thinking about it, we knew that we were surrounded by love and a piece of history. My grandfather always said, "Mamala, all I wish for you is that you are happy, healthy, and that you have money." It brings tears to me whenever I think of that because I can hear him saying it clear as day. This is why it is so important to me to be able to having painting as a tool to release any emotion that I have built up inside. Painting Elvis' portrait couldn't of come at a better time when I needed help directing my focus in a positive way rather than feeling sorrow and isolating myself- although in a way I am currently isolated since I am in my studio alone, but I am not because I have my paintings to help pull me through. I know this piece is going to come out beautiful not only because Elvis is a great study, but all my energy is pouring out onto the canvas and I am so very grateful to be able to share that with someone very deserving. I will keep posting my work in progress as I work on Elvis' portrait and I hope you enjoy watching how I work. Thank you.