Category Archives: Blog

Blog, The Pups, Work

Introducing Professor Chicken!

Posted on by Amanda Jackson

So we got a new worker here at Mimi Green and he's really smart, a professor in fact. russian blue cat Dan and I looked and looked for a kitty, we must have met 20 cats.  This little (well, he's kind of big for a cat, 12 lbs or so) Russian Blue we met on the first day of looking just stole our hearts and no other cat compared.

His name at the shelter was Emmitt, but Auggie was insistent that the cat's name was Professor Chicken.

The Professor loves being at the office, mostly he supervises and helps Hilary on her machine.

russian blue cat And Chicken helps me take product photos, which Lord knows I need! russian blue chicken cat
I never thought that I liked cats, I am a BIG dog person, but this cat has totally changed my mind. His purring is so soothing, it is hard to have a bad day with his sweetness around.  I read that cat's purring helps relieve stress and aids in general healing. I don't know if I would have believed all that before Chicken, but just look at him, how can it be denied!

russian blue kitty, chicken

 

(Yes, I did put pink claw clovers on his nails. FYI, real men wear pink;)

Blog, Genius Dog Products, Photography, Web/Tech, Work

Wanna Borrow My Rubit Images?

Posted on by Amanda Jackson

So my good friend over at the wonderful website http://www.BarkSlope.com just had some of his original images ripped off by a kind of lousy website that was too lazy to photograph the products themselves. Needless to say, my friend is pretty upset since they didn’t even bother to ask him to use the images.

I, on the other hand, have the opposite problem.  In Chicago, at the Backer trade show, our neighbors were the very cool guys from Rubit! — the clip on dog tag holder company. Now these guys have it made. They have brought to market the best idea since the dog tag itself. This little gadget allows owners to easly switch their dog tags from collar to collar – which is great for our customers that have more than one of our collar designs. We knew that we HAD to carry these on our site.

Since they are such a new company, I had problems finding stock images to use, so I took my own. This wasn’t a problem at all since now our customers can see how cool Rubits look on our collars and I love any excuse to pull out my trusty Canon SLR camera!

large rubit clip on dog tag holder
But I also had a secret hope. I was hoping that some sites WOULD rip off my image. Mimi Green is also a fairly new company and I take great joy in spreading the word about our collars. Plus I figured since Rubit hasn’t released a ton of images yet that ours would stand out.

small red rubit dog tag clip
Today I was almost as sad as my friend at Bark Slope was when a simple google image search told me that NO ONE had borrowed my super cool Rubit images! What the heck, right!?!

So here is my public offering — should you be reading this and you would like to use my Rubit images, feel free, very free.

However, we should all remember that the internet is a tricky beast. I want folks to use these particular images, but its all for shamless promotion.  We must respect each other enough to ask other sites should we want to use their images. Stealing to avoid extra work is not cool.

But don’t think of using my Rubit images as “stealing”, lets just call it “borrowing”. And when your customers ask what crazy awesome collars those Rubits are attached to, don’t forget to tell them they are MIMI GREEN!! rubit dog tag clips

PS: Second public decloration of the day — I WILL take better care of this blog. I love it, I do, but Mimi Green has been busy beyond words lately. Will post more about that soon too. Growing is great, but boy has it be exhausting!

Double PS: Rubits rock. I have them on all my doggies since I can NEVER get their tags on and off easily. These make switching collars a sinch. Rubits are on my must buy list for all dog and cat owners!

xo– amanda

Blog, Genius Dog Products, The Pups

Say Goodbye to Doggie Skin Problems!

Posted on by Amanda Jackson

I should have mentioned in my Easter post what products helped Chupa's skin so much. Her skin had turned elephant-like in many areas so hair wouldn't grow there. Paula started using Canine Earth Aweseome Apple Paw Balm on her and it softened her skin right up! Nothing else seemed to work — not the prescribed shampoo, not antibiotics.  But after a few weeks of using the Paw Balm, Chup's skin not only softened but the hair started to grow back!

natural dog paw balm

The natural balm also works really good on Piggie's dry nose and its natural antiseptic properties totally healed an infection Chup got in between her toes and between her puggie wrinkles. 

A little shout out to Canine Earth, "Canine Earth products are formulated with 95-100% USDA Certified Organic ingredients and have a pH to complement canine skin and coats. The same way human skin can be negatively affected by soaps with high pH and chemical ingredients, the same problems can affect your pet."

organic dog paw balm and dog shampoo

So far all of the Canine Earth products have totally impressed me. They also make natural, organic dog shampoo and conditioners.

The Mango is my fav, it smells like heaven but isn't too perfumy.

Chup is my fav too. How can you not love that puggie face!

natural dog shampoo and paw balm

(**Disclaimer: I promise to never push products on you I haven't tried and don't adore. We love what we sell and we sell what we love — Mimi Green is truly a labor of love. xoxo **)

Blog, Natural Dog Treats

Natural Dog Treat Recipe: Banana PB Bones

Posted on by Amanda Jackson

Our good friend Tico wasn’t feeling too good today.

Tico pit bull, dog treat recipe

He tore off his nail and had to wear his cone of shame (which was probably worse than the torn nail) so we decided to bake him up some doggie bones.

Today, we made Banana Peanut Butter Bones: 

1 organic banana mashed

1/4 c. natural peanut butter

3/4 c. water

2 c. organic whole wheat flour

1 egg This recipe is so easy. Just mix up all the ingredients, and then kneed the dough until it is stiff. Then roll out with a rolling pin to 1/2 inch thickness and use cookie cutters to cut whatever shape suits your fancy 😉 Auggie and I are on a bone kick, so we made all bones.

natural dog bone recipe

Bake for 45 minutes on 350 and let dry for about an hour and tada! Beautiful Banana Peanut Butter Bones.

banana dog treat recipe

Then we made a little care package for Tico.

Kinda looks like the packaging from our Lazy Dog Treats — but really it is a recycled black berry container and stickers from Auggie’s scrap booking kit ; )

peanut butter dog treat recipe

Of course my Piggie was waiting and watching the whole time to make sure I wasn’t giving them ALL to Tico.

black girl pug

and that’s why we call her Piggie 😉

Happy Dog Treat Baking!

 

 

At home, Blog, The Pups

Here Comes Puggie Cotton Tail! An Easter Story.

Posted on by Amanda Jackson

Easter was super fun for the humans around here, but I think that Paula's pug Chupa had the most fun of all! black pug chupa

She loved the ears and all the attention she was getting because of them 😉 Chup ran around with the kids and hunted eggs. See my uncle's dog Maya in the back? She was sure Chupa was an alien.

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The coolest part about watching her have so much fun is that it was all a first for her. Chupa grew up in a puppy mill in AK and lived in a cage for 6 years. She was a baby maker and nothing else. They fed her such bad food that she lost every single one of her teeth, she was never allowed to walk around so she literally could't walk, her fur was falling off her body due to a skin infection, and the bad food also caused her to go blind and develop a thyroid problem.

New Mexico Pug Rescue  drove to AK in October and brought home Chupa and 20 some of other pugs from the puppy mill.  The man who was going to foster Chup was overwhelmed at her needs and returned her to the rescue less than 24 hours after he picked her up. Somehow I convinced my sister, who didn't even like pugs, to let Chup stay with her.

Not to say Paula wasn't overwhelmed too. The first night she called us crying because she didn't know what to do. The dog smelled so badly, it was like a clump of skin and bones — no muscle tone, couldn't walk on her own, and clearly couldn't see. She looked like the Chupacabra, hence her name, Chupa ;)  I have to say that this was the worst case of animal abuse I have ever seen. I already didn't like puppy mills, but this made me hate them.

Within a month Chup was walking, it was so cool, like watching a baby learn to walk. Her fur started to grow back soon after that. Fast forward  6 months and you can hardly what bad shape she was in.  I mean, she will never have teeth again and she is on 3 different meds for the rest of her life, but she has a spark to her now, her life finally has a meaning. My mom says Chupa is in love with Paula, I think she sees Paula as her savior. And Paula finally admits to liking pugs now.

black pug bunny
See how happy she is with her momma now! Paula adopted her last month which made me so happy because I have become super attached to Chup. She comes with Paula to work everyday at Mimi Green, its like she is out little pug mascot 😉

So that's my story of resurrection, pug style, for this fine Easter day. I hope your day was as special as ours was.

xoxo, Amanda

Blog, Natural Dog Treats

Paw-Print Dog Treats from MarthaStewart.com

Posted on by Amanda Jackson

via www.marthastewart.com

Pups will beg for more of these wholesome dog treats!

Ingredients
Makes about 2 dozen

* 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
* 1/2 cup wheat germ
* 1/2 cup brewer’s yeast
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 3 tablespoons canola oil
* 1 1/2 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Combine flour, wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Place canola oil in a large bowl. Add flour mixture to oil in 3 additions, alternating with 1 cup stock; mix until combined.

2. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 2 minutes (dough will be sticky). Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out rounds using a 2-inch fluted cutter (bakedeco.com). Transfer to baking sheets. Make an indentation toward the bottom of 1 circle using your thumb, then press dough to make an arch of 4 small circles on top of the thumbprint using the tip of your pinky. Repeat with remaining rounds. Freeze for 15 minutes. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating sheets and lightly brushing with remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock halfway through. Turn oven off, and let stand in oven for 40 minutes.

Helpful Hint
Dog treats can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 month.

We are going to try these out this weekend! Let us know if you try them too!

Blog, Natural Dog Treats, The Pups

Dog Treat Recipe : Organic Molasses Chip

Posted on by Amanda Jackson

I love to bake but sadly I am the only one in the house who ever eats sweets. In an effort to trim up for summer, I am going turn this boat around and put my energies to baking my dogs yummy treats (because they totally don't care about their waste lines ;) 

I'm going to try and bake the most healthy treats I can find for them though and will share my recipes on my blog weekly. 

I don't know about you, but I  am one of those dog moms that will not give my dog treats unless the package says "natural" or  "organic" and if I can't pronounce the indigents then they aren't getting them. I love making the dogs treats because then I KNOW for sure each and every ingredient that goes into them is totally natural and organic (if I can get it).

So even though these Molasses Chip Dog Treats have a lot of sugar in them, I think these treats are way more healthy than any you can buy the grocery store as they are preservative free and don't contain chemicals!

So here's to week one: Molasses Chip Doggie Treat Recipe

organic natural dog treat recipie ingredients 

3 c flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 c molasses

1 c canola oil

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon pure organic vanilla extract

1 12-ounce package carob chips (you can get these at Whole Foods) 

Preheat oven to 350 F

Then grab a small bowl and mix the baking powder and flour together and set aside.

In a larger bowl, whisk together the molasses and oil. Then whisk in the eggs and vanilla.

organic dog treat recipie 

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir in the carob chips. 

Next drop the dough in round shapes onto the cookie sheet. I used a small ice cream scoop and that worked well because the batter is VERY wet and sticky.

IMG_1674 

Then bake 12-14 minutes. The smell is awesome, it got me in the mood to eat cookies too! 

Cool the cookies on a rack…

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Then dig in right on your mom's white carpet!
 
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Good thing my friend Tracy likes me and her pugs so much or she might have cried. Her carpets had just been cleaned and her pug Zack just couldn't wait to chomp his cookie ;)  Now if that isn't a testament to how good these treats turned out, then I don't know what is.

Happy Dog Treat Baking!


Blog

About Us

Posted on by Amanda Jackson

Framedpiggie

Amanda Jackson and Daniel
Miller met in 2005 to collaborate on an art show that never actually materialized. Luckily, over time their collaboration skills improved and the two have had many successes including:

A lovely, happy life in New Mexico,

Augustine and Noah Miller (their awesome sons), 

Etta, Piggie and Cora (their awesome dogs),

and of course Mimi Green (their awesome
dog collar business.)

Amanda founded the company in 2008 when she fostered her first pug,
Cessie. Dan said she couldn’t buy Cess a collar because that would mean
she was going to stay for good, so Amanda made her one.

That small small act of crafting turned into something bigger than
they could have ever imagined.

Mimi Green launched its first web store on etsy soon after and their website a year later.

The rest has happened so fast and has been so wonderful it is hard to put down in writing!

mimi green

Thank you for letting us dress your dogs in our collars and accessories. We
feel so honored to be part of your dog’s life.

Amanda Jackson, Daniel Miller & Co.

Blog, Sew Sew Sew, Work

MImi Green is all moved in. Whoo hoo!

Posted on by Amanda Jackson

mimi green sewing studio

We are finally all moved in! I'll try to take you on a virtual tour of the place :

IMG_1514

My desk area. I can see out the little window at everyone working in the studio.

IMG_1542

View of the kitchen area

mimi green dog collar studio

Front door

mimi green dog collars

Paula working away. Didn't take us long to make messes! That little guy is Cooper, Jessi is babysitting him for a friend, but I really don't want him to have to go home! He has been so much fun to have around. See how much light we get!  It is absoulutly wonderful.

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The sitting area in my office. Of course I'd have a gallon of milk on my desk 😉

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Prepping area 

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Paula, Jessi and Cooper working

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Paula's pug Chupa hard at work 😉

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Overall it was a great move. We did it in 2 days, but Dan and I still haven't gotten to cleaning up the old studio. It is so nice to have the office close by, it is only a mile away from our house!

I really love this new space 😉