BarbieDog Boutique

11/03/2024

It’s THAT time of year AGAIN!

08/12/2023

Long Post, but please read to the end:

Thanks for viewing my page. I have made many good friends through my Etsy shop over the last 6 years: dear clients who have become people I care deeply about. For this reason, I want to share with you some insights into why I felt I had to shutter my Etsy shop, BARBIEDOGBOUTIQUE.

As those I have gotten close to already know, my shop was never there to make a profit. It was conceived and opened with my beautiful and kind-hearted elder sister, Lydia Tuggle, who loves Maltese and who not only has her gorgeous Georgie but also cares for our late mama’s girl Willow.

Lyd has many friends in the Maltese community and created a signature design, the top knot bone pillow. Her friends asked where they could get one after Lydia and I made 64 of them for prizes for the Maltese Nationals in 2017. She recruited me to help after our daddy passed away suddenly and the task was just too much for one grieving girl to do alone. So I dove in, head first, to help and ultimately “we” opened the micro shop on Etsy.

Now, sewing is NOT my vocation. As many of you know, but most do not, my career is as a practicing environmental health specialist/scientist. I have been in my field since I was 22, so 34 years. I am currently the Vice President and President-elect for the Nevada Environmental Health Association, the local affiliate of the National Environmental Health Association. I am a nationally-recognized subject matter expert on food labeling and novel or emerging food ingredients.

So, why run a tiny shop that I make zero profit at? BECAUSE I LOVE PEOPLE AND THE PUPPIES!

That’s it.

The only reason!

I sew because I love it. I sew to make you beautiful ladies (and a few gentlemen) and your fur babies happy and comfortable.

Once a year in October, or as needed, like for my daughter’s wedding where I sewed her wedding party’s clothes, I would shutter the shop on vacation mode.

This last hiatus, when I reopened and did some custom work for one of my oldest and dearest clients, Kerri, I got an unpleasant surprise. Etsy has a new fee structure and has also started charging vendors a fee for every credit card transaction. Since they were all credit card transactions, these fees were unavoidable. And since I already only charged mainly for materials, which have also gone up 10 percent or more this last couple years, my low prices meant I was actually not only not making anything, but losing money on every sale. As much as I love doing the projects, this isn’t smart! And as a scientist, I have to be practical and realize, as Adam Savage of the “Mythbusters” would say, “in science, FAILURE IS ALWAYS AN OPTION.”

This economy and new fee structure has thwarted me. As I am absolutely unwilling to raise my prices when people are already struggling to provide necessities like food and air conditioning for their families, I have chosen to close the shop.

I am still willing to do some small projects, esp. if you are already a friend or refer a friend, but payment will be taken by Zelle, PayPal, or Venmo in “friends and family” mode, as PayPal and Venmo want to collect fees on transactions too. I’m ok with paying a little fee for service, but they want to take a highway-robbery level cut of the transactions, meaning I have to pass that along to y’all-which I am not willing to do.

Thanks for reading to the end. after this post, if anyone is interested, I’ll post some of my recent personal work like my costuming work and my daughter’s “Jim Henson’s Labyrinth” inspired wedding outfits. It’ll be fun, I think, to share my secret passion for costumes and cosplay and family projects if anybody wishes to see them.

Love you all! Nancy-Ann Vardiman-Hall BarbieDog Boutique

08/12/2023

Please let know if you see anyone pirating their intellectual property! Artists, writers, and musicians deserve respect and to be compensated for their work just like someone who builds roads or provides a service. For what a boring, bland world it would be without them! I know first hand, as my husband is both a visual artist and a musician, how important it is to honor the work of others by not using it without consent or proper payment!

05/18/2022

Having a GREAT TIME at the American Maltese Association’s Regional/Nationals! 42 award pillows delivered and so far people have liked them.

02/05/2022

10/16/2020

It’s Fall, Y’all!

What that means for me is the annual opportunity to step into “Another”!

While I love hand making practical and beautiful items, my soul’s creativity is expressed through stepping into another place and time through the use of costuming.

For that reason, I hit the pause button the last two weeks of October and place my Etsy shops onto “Vacation Mode”!

I’m STILL HERE, but energies are diverted for a short time. I love you guys and gals and Día de los Mu***os, I’m back!

CAN YOU GUESS FROM THE PHOTO who this year is? I guarantee it makes sense!
2017: Celtic goddess Brigitte
2018: Steampunk Field Scientist
2019: Deirdre, sorceress for Clan Hall
2020: ?!?

I’ll post updates as the work progresses.

08/28/2020

Ohhh my Gosh! I’m so grateful and overwhelmed by the sweet Shih-Tzu community! Thank you to my new friends at The McShihtzubros for kindly and generously sharing my shop. 🥰😍♾

04/09/2020

Wanted to share something. Some of you know I work in public health. Some don’t. I am proud to serve my community and peers in every way my talents and skills allow. Those are masks I made. I’m the old redhead! LOL! Thank you everyone for your patronage. Please LOVE your NEIGHBOR, HUG those fur babies, and be your best selves. We will get through this together!

These masks were made by one of our amazing staff members for use by her co-workers! Nancy Hall, Valerie Cohen and others are making masks for our non-clinical staff members to use. And today, they are also joining the community to show support for the health care workers, first responders, our own public health staff, and everyone working on the frontlines to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

01/11/2020

Welcome to 2020! Animal prints rule. Here are some of my most recent custom orders. So fun and cheerful!

11/29/2019

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

It’s been a while. I’ve been busy with mostly custom orders. Here are some of my new experiments.

02/06/2019

A new custom stroller quilt, inspired by Coco Chanel, for a wonderful new client in Italia! 🇮🇹 Toby, my sweet whippet boy, is modeling in the photo❤️🤗

11/30/2018

Please come visit me at my new sister shop, Dog and Dragon Studios for all things less fluffy but still wonderful! An expanded collection of eclectic items that moved outside the realm of the BarbieDog Boutique!

https://etsy.me/2AiPJak

You searched for: DogandDragonStudio! Discover the unique items that DogandDragonStudio creates. At Etsy, we pride ourselves on our global community of sellers. Each Etsy seller helps contribute to a global marketplace of creative goods. By supporting DogandDragonStudio, you’re supporting a small ...

09/15/2018

Something for Neenah! A custom stroller quilt with her own sweet little face and customization!

08/12/2018

My first t-shirt Memory quilt for my niece, Ryann-Lynn.
Working t-shirt material is pretty tricky, but it turned out great and she loves it!

07/29/2018

Forgive me, I’m going to get a little sentimental here. When I started this endeavor with my Big Sister, most clients were her Maltese and Yorkie Tribes and I was sort of in the background, sewing hard! 😄

I want to thank everyone who I met because you wanted something soft and fluffy for your fur baby, but who then became my friends. Many discussions of fabrics and sizes begat many friendships!

And soooo many beautiful “kids”! I have already posted a few, but because it makes me happy, here they are again! If I have a picture, and it’s not here, I wasn’t sure about permission, so I’d rather be safe.

Feel free to add any pictures of all your fur babies, whether with their “stuff” or just their silly, happy mugs!!

07/23/2018

I have to say, I personally find the radiant Blue Batik Custom quilt to be my favorite color combo ever so far! For a sweet boy, with a Perfectly Pink Paris stroller quilt for his sister.

06/14/2018

Here’s a sweet little puppy blanket I custom made for a client in the Carolinas with Catia Lee (née Cho) Custom Design Fabrics on Spoonflower.

06/02/2018

Is this the cutest!!!