Thursday, August 30, 2012

Adorable Big-Eared Kittens!

Look at these babies!

They are sand cats, born at a zoo in Tel Aviv.

They've been extinct in Israel for years; the kittens are the result of a European breeding program.




The sand cats' big ears help them dispense heat, and they can live on very little water.

Aren't they adorable?

You can see more photos and watch a video about the Sand Cats at Mother Nature Network.




Thursday, August 16, 2012

EasyCanvasPrints Winner!

***UPDATE*** I never heard from Stephanie, so we have a new winner, comment #12 TAMAR, who plans to put a family photo in the family room. Tamar left her email address, so I have contacted her to confirm the win. Thanks again to everyone who entered!

Congratulations to STEPHANIE who posted, "I would put a picture of my son on it and I would put in on the fireplace." She won a free 8"x10" print from EasyCanvasPrints.com. Stephanie, your email address wasn't in your post or on your blogger profile. Please contact me by 10:00 p.m. central time on August 19, or I will have to choose another winner.

CrazyKittyChick chose to print a photo of her cat Kali.
EasyCanvasPrints puts photos on canvas, so that they look like fine works of art. The company provided me with a complimentary print to review, and it looks really good. It turns an ordinary snapshot into an heirloom piece, something you can be really proud to display.

Stephanie, I'm sure your son's picture is going to look fantastic over your fireplace!

If you are looking for a nice gift or something to hang on the wall at your home or office, look through your photos and find one you can turn into a beautiful piece of art at EasyCanvasPrints. The company also prints business signs and banners through its sister site BuildASign.com. So, pretty or practical, if you have large-format printing needs, please check out what one of those sites can do for you.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

GIVEAWAY: Easy Canvas Prints





***UPDATE*** Congratulations to STEPHANIE who posted, "I would put a picture of my son on it and I would put in on the fireplace." She won a free 8"x10" print from EasyCanvasPrints.com. Stephanie, your email address wasn't in your post or on your blogger profile. Please contact me by 10:00 p.m. central time on August 19, or I will have to choose another winner.


Parents aren’t supposed to love one child more than another, but I’ll admit, I have a very special fondness for one of our youngest. In 2008, I found a little black kitten on the edge of a busy intersection in Kentucky. I named her Kali after the Hindu Goddess whose name means “the dark one” (although I pronounce it Callie.) Because she was a particularly terrible toddler, I gave her a middle name, so I could do that parental thing of saying sternly (when she was being bad), “Kali Malicious!” Like any doting parent, I’ve taken tons of pictures of her, but my favorite is a very artsy extreme close up.

When Easy Canvas Prints offered me the opportunity to review their service of printing photos on canvas, and they sent me a code for a free 8” x 10” print, that picture is the first one that came to mind. Trying to be fair to the others, I went through all the other cat photos on my hard drive, the more recent ones that I knew were really high resolution, and I picked out a few good ones and asked my husband for his opinion. You can read about the choices in my previous post. In the end, we both agreed to send in my favorite Kali picture for the Easy Canvas Prints treatment.

A few days later, I received the print back, and it is beautiful. It’s a very nice reproduction of what could have been a difficult photo to print clearly. I do find it a little bit glossy; the shininess of the print is not something you can choose. I probably noticed it more because of the flash bouncing off when I was photographing the picture. 

I don’t have photos printed very often, so I don’t know how Easy Canvas Prints’ prices are in comparison to anyplace else that offers a similar service. Their price is nearly $45 for an 8” x 10” picture. That said, they have a sale on as I type this, and you can find coupon codes online fairly easily.

I love my photo and I wish I could afford to have portraits of all my cats done up like this. It turns a nice digital snapshot into a beautiful keepsake portrait. You could use a photo retouching program to make it really look like it was painted on canvas. I can see family portraits or scenic photography being turned into fabulous art pieces for your own home, family gifts, or your office (speaking of which, Easy Canvas Prints is a division of Build a Sign, which prints signs, banners, and other promotional items.

Now comes the fun part. One of you is going to win the same thing I received, a free 8” x 10” photo on canvas. Shipping is included as long as you have a mailing address in what we call the lower 48 (sorry Alaska and Hawaii).  You have four chances to enter (limit four entries per household).

First entry (mandatory): Comment here with what kind of photo you’d have printed on canvas AND where you’d display it.  Is it a family portrait to display in your living room? A special picture of you for your mom’s “wall of glory”? A gorgeous landscape for your dining room? Post here and be sure that you either leave your email address within your post or it’s readily available on the website or blog you link to in this form. 

Nose to nose - Kali checks out her portrait.
Bonus Entries (leave one comment for each):
  • Follow CrazyKittyChick on Twitter.
  • Join CrazyKittyChick on Google Friend Connect.
  • Subscribe to the Rhyme Schemes and Daydreams RSS feed.

Deadline for entries: August 14, 11:59 p.m. CT.


I'd like to offer special thanks to Easy Canvas Prints for the opportunity to try their service at no cost to myself, and for providing this giveaway opportunity at no cost to me or the winner (except possibly shipping as explained).