frankie the walk n roll dog

Divine Gifts. Carrying on Frankie’s Mission.

Posted by Barbara Techel


Frankie enjoying more down time. She likes it!  She likes it!

Today I heard from someone who follows my blog. She shared with me how she admires the work I do with Frankie, as well as how some of my posts have helped her relax more and see the spiritual side of things. Thank you dear follower- oh, how I appreciate your kind thoughtful words.

She also has a doxie in a wheelchair and would like to do the same work as I do with Frankie. She feared I may take this as possibly her being a copycat, so at first she was afraid to reach out to me. With Frankie’s semi-retirement she felt a bit more comfortable in approaching me. I assured her I think it is wonderful that she has admired our mission and is inspired to do so with her pup. It also made me sad that we have to think in terms of someone worrying that others may be upset if we “copy” their idea. While Frankie the Walk ‘N Roll Dog will always be just that and no one can take that from her, what a wonderful opportunity to help share the message she has begun. This wheelie dog and her owner will do things in their own way and thus touch the lives they are meant to touch- just like Frankie and me have done. And how beautiful to know more doxie lives can be saved through more awareness. These are all divine gifts, I think. I consider it a great honor.

While Frankie is officially semi-retired and I continue to share her message on a more limited basis, I still see myself as always doing this line of work. Likely not to the degree I did for the last five years, but to some degree now. And the day Frankie does move on I hope to continue working with children in some fashion educating them about special needs pets and using these pets shining example to help they, themselves to be positive. That may mean another special needs doxie or special needs pet in my future. I don’t know the clear answer to that yet- but I see a vision of it being a part of what I continue to do… along with new things emerging in terms of my helping animals.

But to my dear blog follower who found the courage to reach out and share her thoughts with me about her vision, I thank you. It’s another rippled pepple that will go out into the world to touch the lives of those we have not yet reached or may never reach– which in turn will make a positive difference– and that is what life is all about. Divine gifts indeed.

“The life I desire is a work in progress, and even though I can’t see the entire picture from where I stand at this moment, it is coming together in a perfect way. It’s comforting to me to remember that divine ideas have their own timing. When I can wait, in calm expectation; ready to act, but not forcing it, an idea, a suggestion from a friend, an opportunity, a new way of thinking about a perplexing problem, will come bounding into my life and bring with it the answers that I have been seeking.” ~Mary Muncil, White Feather Farm Blog

 

My Manuscript is Complete. Happy Dance. Forward March to Editor.

Posted by Barbara Techel

 

I began Through Frankie’s Eyes manuscript one year ago- almost to the day. Today I’ve completed it and it is now ready to head to my editor, Yvonne. I’m doing the happy dance, but also feeling a bit surreal. I shed a few tears writing and then reading the last few pages of the last chapter.

Today I also officially announced to Frankie the Walk ‘N Roll Dog fans that she is now semi-retired, so that chapter of my life and hers is making a slow transition to allow for the work that lay ahead for me in the editing process of my book, endorsements, cover design, marketing, etc.

It seemed like I was trudging through thick mud when I began this journey to write my story, and now here it is-complete and ready for the next step. But I am reminded again at how things all seem to sync and play out in their own time. Reminded again to trust the process.

It is somewhat bittersweet to know I am done. But now I will look forward to the exciting chapter of editing. I always grow and evolve through the editing process so I welcome it.

So…. forward march to the editor!

Silly Dog Magnets a Booming Business for Artist, Brianna Lennox Brunsell

Posted by Barbara Techel
Congratulations to our friend, Brianna Lennox Brunsell for her feature story about her Silly Dog Magnets business and it’s success. Brianna has done Frankie the Walk ‘N Roll Dog magnets for us and we love them. We have them for sale on our Joyful Paws website if you’d like to check them out.
Photo and story reprinted from Salina online journal

SALINAN FINDS NICHE IN MAKING DOG MAGNETS

12/29/2011
By ERIN MATHEWS Salina Journal

For Salinan Brianna Lennox, the attraction to dogs is magnetic.Lennox, 26, has successfully combined her whimsical artistic style and love of dogs into a home-based business that ensures her creature creations are on refrigerator doors and other metal surfaces all over the world.
In Salina, the magnets are for sale at two locations downtown — the Toy Parade, 119 S. Santa Fe, and Ad Astra Books and Coffee House, 141 N. Santa Fe.
“It turns out people really love dogs,” Lennox said Wednesday. “Everybody has a big soft spot in their heart right where that pet is.”
The creator of Silly Dog Magnets, Lennox made her first set of magnets out of pictures she drew of Chinese Crested dogs in 2008.
At the time, she was managing CD TradePost and, in her spare time, had begun experimentally offering an array of handmade items for sale online at a website called etsy.com, which bills itself as the world’s handmade marketplace.
Swedish not selling
Lennox said her Dala horses, Viking finger puppets and other items weren’t finding enough buyers to replace the income from her day job.
It wasn’t until she posted the Chinese Crested dog magnets that she found she had something that would sell.
“I started making random things until I found my niche,” she said. “My niche turned out to be dog magnets.”
A Lindsborg native, Lennox attended Salina Area Technical College for training in commercial art. She also worked previously as a gallery attendant for the Salina Art Center. She said she learned her love of dogs from her mother, who worked as a dog groomer.
Lennox started to draw more dog breeds, and the colorful magnets quickly took off online. She developed her own Web site at sillydogmagnets.com, and the business continues to grow. In the past couple of years, her magnets have been featured in the magazines Modern Dog, City Dog and Tails.
This spring, she left CD TradePost to devote herself full-time to her magnetic canine creations — and to her real canine, Billie Bumbler, her 2-year-old dapple dachshund.
“I love it,” Lennox said. “It’s so fantastic. It frees me up a lot of time for me to spoil my dog rotten, which is what I do in my spare time.”
Billie, who can weave through Lennox’s legs and leap into the air on cue, has learned an impressive array of tricks now that Lennox is home more. Lennox calls Billie her “inspiration and quality control.”
“I refer to myself as the CEO and her as the DOL, which stands for ‘Dog on Lap’,” Lennox said. “You can’t have a dog magnet business without a mascot.”
Lennox may not be a Salinan much longer. She has her house on the market and plans to relocate to Omaha, Neb. Her business is portable, she said.
Lennox creates her drawings with artist-quality markers, then has them professionally copied. She cuts the copies into a circle with a press in her office, then presses the picture into a button maker.
Instead of a pin, she glues a magnet on the back, mounts her creations on a display card, and they are ready to ship.
On Wednesday, 100 freshly glued magnets were drying on the counter. They had been ordered by a couple of dog lovers who were getting married and planned to give any cash wedding gifts to a dog charity, Lennox said. The couple ordered the magnets to give to wedding guests.
Lennox said she has had the opportunity to work on projects for several breed rescue organizations, and she has created custom work for various fundraising projects — including magnets of Sparkles the fire safety dog and Frankie, the walk ‘n’ roll dog, a dog who makes presentations about living with disabilities. She has even created ribbons for wiener dog races.
“That’s the beauty of a handmade product,” she said. “A lot of times it’s customizable, too.”
Lennox’s boyfriend, Candy Pacheco, helps with the magnet production process and fulfillment of online orders, which are usually shipped within 48 hours.
“You know business is good when the guys at the post office know you by name,” she said.
Lennox said that in 2011 she sold more than 5,000 sets of six dog magnets, which easily doubled the amount she sold the previous year.
She has about 50 different dog breeds represented in her collections, and she said she intends to keep adding a new breed every couple of weeks, “just to keep things fresh.”
She also has one cat set.
“It’s not that we don’t like cats; it’s just that my business is silly dogs,” she said.
She said she doesn’t think she’ll do a “mutt” collection, but she does custom work. She charges $34.99 for one customized portrait of a dog and a set of six magnets, which can be ordered through her Web site.
Of course, her favorite — and her best seller — is the dachshund, which takes two magnets to depict — one for the front half and one for the hind quarters. She has dachshunds dressed in Halloween costumes, wearing sweaters and party attire, and riding in wheelchairs.
Lennox said that with most of her business being online, she doesn’t get a lot of feedback, which makes the contacts she does receive special. She said the biggest fan she is aware of is a 10-year-old girl in Colorado who asks for her magnets for birthdays and Christmases and has sent her letters and her own dog drawings.
“I love getting letters from people who say I captured one of their dogs in my drawings,” she said. “It makes my day.”

— Reporter Erin Mathews can be reached at 822-1415 or by email at emathews@salina.com.