last day to enter the dog contest!

It's been a year since I made my first stop action movie For the Love of Dog. This year my goal is to make a 26-part stop action alphabet movie with corresponding book! We'll see if I can make it happen, but it's an exciting prospect and I've been making lists of my favorite words and using this book for inspiration.

Speaking of dogs, it's the last day to enter the dog-a-licious contest over at Jill Heupel Photography! Entering is soooooo easy, it will leave you plenty of time to read this and show some love to your real dog (or cat.)

for the love of DOG from Hilary Pfeifer on Vimeo.

Big Doggie Giveaway!

I'm excited to be included in a fantastic prize package from Jill Heupel Photography, who has gathered together a posse of dog-loving Etsy artists to make two lucky people very very happy! I'll let Jill tell you all the details, but here are the basics:

There are two prize packages, each with about ten dog-themed prizes including cute collars, collapsible water bowl, t-shirts for humans who love dogs, outfits, and a photography session if you live in Jill's neck of the woods. (Edwardsville, Illinois) Package one includes a free custom dog sculpture made by yours truly.

To be eligible, it can be as simple as leaving one little comment on her blog entry about which item you want to win most and why, but she has more ways you can enter to increase your chances of winning. Click here for full contest information.



If you're not feeling particularly lucky, but like the idea of having your own custom pooch or other pet, click here for the custom pets link on my Etsy site! I am also in the process of creating a great photo database of all the custom animals I've made in the past--click here to enter Bunny with a Toolbelt's wild kingdom.

Contest ends January 19th, folks! Good luck!!!!

I woof you.

Here's another customization of my dachshund bride and groom set, based on the couple's own adorable miniature doxies and incorporating the plum and pale pink wedding colors!

don't forget the dogs....

This French Bulldog bride and groom set is so cute...it might show up as a regular cake topper set in my Etsy shop someday.

cats and roses

The third in this mini-series of custom kitty cake toppers is this set. The couple requested I also render the roses on the bride's bouquet and veil. Come back tomorrow when we continue June's theme where I reveal some of the custom cake topper sets I've been working on this year! The month is almost half over--yikes!

custom kitties

I love making toppers based on people's pets! This bride and groom kitty set was based on the set I already have in my Etsy shop but altered to have the fur markings of this couple's actual pets. One of their kitties has a kinked tail, which I also faithfully rendered! You may remember this couple's sweet engagement story in last spring's contest--click here to read it again!

kitties on parade!

The next few days will be devoted to the cat lovers in the Bunny with a Toolbelt fan base. This couple not only wanted me to render their beloved kitties as the bride and groom, but they requested I made a tiny bearded dragon (with kinked tail) so that all their pets could be there on their special day. It was a challenge to get all those tiny teeth in there, but I was pretty happy with the results.

hedgehog!

I was recently summoned to make a hedgehog, which has got to be one of the cutest animals in the known universe. Please don't tell my dog I said that.

tribute to a good dog

I recently made this sweet little commission for a customer who saw my "Best Dog in the World" piece on Etsy. She asked me to do a version that had a custom dog on top that looks just like their dearly departed pooch, who in their eyes, was the Best Dog in the World. I think it's a great way to remember the furry friends who make life just a little bit more awesome.

One new aspect to this piece is the patterning I did in the land masses on the globe. For some reason, the plain green in the original wasn't working for me, and I've recently had a lot of fun painting grass on the bases of some of my new wedding cake toppers:

simple touches to customize your favorite piece

here's a cute commission I did last week, adding a heart balloon to a customer's custom pet commission:


and then one of the doggies who starred in my For the Love of Dog video was bought and the customer asked to have a yellow birdie added to its back. Super cute!

doggie cuteness

I absolutely adore my own little mutt, don't get me wrong...but I still have a special place in my heart for the Jack Russell Terrier that will one day be mine. In the meantime, I will live vicariously through commissions like this one.

furball of love

Here's a special order that made me hit the old anatomy books...guinea pig anatomy, that is! I have never been so familiar with this unique animal, but the customer was so helpful and enthusiastic that it made the whole experience a pleasure. (Fun Fact: did you know that Guinea Pigs do not have tails?) Here's the final piece, painted with the markings of her very favorite piggie.

party animals

another special request from one of my special customers!

custom birthday kitties

When I get a request to make a custom pet, it usually is accompanied by a few images of the pet to be immortalized. On a recent project, I got a bunch of hilarious before and after shots--too good not to share with you.


The customer wanted a pair of birthday kitties for her husband. These pictures were sent to work with, apparently taken at the bigger kitty's birthday party. Wow...looks like one hell of a party! Did someone bake catnip in that cake?

I did my drawings....

And made the figures(with a few adjustments from the drawing)

And then was thrilled to get these photos in my mailbox a few days after shipping them off. I have been self-employed as an artist for the past 20 years, but there's always been a middle person between me and my customers. Etsy gives me the opportunity to "meet" so many people each week, and I love being a part of people's lives this way.