Here is the BEFORE shot of where we will display our dogs for the weekend of the Golden Gate Kennel Club (affectionately known as "The Cow Palace Show"):
What?!!?! Dark, dull AND dreary, you say??? hohohohoho - do not fear - Dog Show Bench Decorator is here!
All it takes is a little imagination and effort.
And a well-worn "Cow Palace" file, with detailed dimensions, calculations and secret website addresses. And about $400 (if my husband is reading this - $100). At least 5 shopping trips. At home. At least 1 more while I'm in San Francisco. Perhaps a shipment of fabric from Montana. Or two. And can you Rush that order? Frequent email exchanges between the Ebbtide Design Team. And design meetings. A sewing day . Photo shoots. Arriving one, maybe two days before the show starts. Did I say $400??? snort. Omigod. This woman is possessed.
Yes. Yes. Maybe I am...
And did I mention the generous folks of Golden Gate Kennel Club have now made the Bench Decorations a (shriek) Competition. One Hundred Dollars awarded to BEST DECORATED BENCH IN SHOW!!!!! ok - so maybe you're noticing the irony here, too...
Be that as it may, I have A Plan. And I will not be stopped. Even when Head Seamstress and Fabric Design Consultant Pam Michalek is sidelined due to a family emergency. nononono..... I will not be stopped. Even when #1 Assistant, Judi Scherrer, bails out of decorating day, citing some crazy-talk-thing : job-winery-website-deadline-its-our-paycheck-blahblahblah (sheesh - She needs to get her priorities straight!). I will not be deterred from creating the Benching Of My Dreams.
My Theme, you ask? Ah, thank you: Vintage Cowgirl. That's right CowGIRL. That's an important detail. But, wait, there's more. Old West Vintage Cowgirl. And it has to be comfy. "Comfy Old West Vintage Cowgirl"... yeah...yeah....
I arrive late Thursday with RV and a few materials (harhar). Slight glitch: where the bleep is my iron? ok - maybe we should just keep that our little secret.....but, to the rescue: Cathy Baird, owner of Ebbtide Wish On A Rainbeau "Beau" (and "Teka"). Armed with a cute dog, an iron, a bag of various cutting devices and her good humor, Cathy (hopefully not to her dismay) volunteers to "help" me on Friday set up the bench. And so we begin:
Cathy's skills at ironing press-on seam tape reach amazing heights. Ann performs magic with twine - yes, twine! Judi The Responsible Adult (zzzzzz) designs legendary posters. Even when the Evil Vendor tries to Thwart Our Plan by running over our ironing board, we persevere: We. Will. Not. Be. Stopped. We will give the Cow Palace the Mother Of All Dog Show Benches.
Yes we can.
A table for a photo album perhaps?
Just add 5 perfectly Western dogs to complete the room, err, I mean bench:
Left to right above: JJ, Emmy, Cali, Spencer and Beau.
Divine. Simply Divine.
Here's a closeup (below) of one of the Vintage Cowgirl Pillows. Oh yeah - and isn't that Emmy cute, too?
Big Beau gets the Big Pillow:
And this, faithful reader, is the last vignette of the Bench Of My Dreams, come true:
Cali, Emmy and JJ (age 11 months) are the perfect accessory to the Comfy Old West Vintage Cowgirl Bench.
Results? Results of the dog SHOW?? That's a whole 'nuther story.....stay tuned...
With apologies to Candace Olson, Karen McAloon and Barack Obama.
2 comments:
wow - talk about night and day compared to the 'before' and 'after' shots! good job, ann! and, i did notice the bench was very comfy! much appreciated! you didn't mention that you had FOUR 11 month old pups who weren't leashed down yet they still stayed put. but, of course they did - they are ebbtide pup!
Needed a few more pillows to be really comfy....JUST KIDDING!
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