Souvenirs & Kitty Love

Last week, we were at the 2016 BlogPaws Conference & CWA Annual Conference, held at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort in Phoenix.

Aside from the fact that somemommy callously abandoned us, we have to admit it was an amazing experience.

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On Monday, we shared a little about the event, plus the big award for Best Video at Friday evening's CWA awards. Today, we'll share the rest!

For three days, attendees had access to sessions held by both conferences. Topics ranged from SEO and analytics to photography tips, and a workshop by indie ebook distributor Smashwords.

Yet as many learning opportunities as the conference held, being surrounded by like-minded pet lovers is truly the best experience of all.

An Amazing Community

Pet bloggers and microbloggers are some of the most caring and compassionate people there are. Spending time with those who share the same passions is the best of times, and deep and lasting friendships are formed here.

And then there's the SWAG. Loads and loads of cool stuff that kitties love. And much of it is in the form of gift bags from friends and fellow bloggers!

Product samples from vendors, a stuffed cat from "The Secret Life of Pets" & a cool ChristyPaws card!

We love that it's not all fun and games. Some pet brands are there for your pet's health, like Bluestem oral care and the Heartworm Society of America. (yes, cats can get heartworm too, and it can be deadly.)

And we also kind of really loved that the folks from the upcoming movie The Secret Life of Pets were there supporting pet bloggers - and handing out cool stuffed plush versions of the movie's star characters!

Maxwell: Look, Momma! Christy has bling just like Allie does!

More gifts from our cat friends: Naked & Hungry, Lola the Rescued Cat and Sammy, Orion & Emmy's human

Kate Benjamin, owner of the online cat shop, Hauspanther, (and guest star on Jackson Galaxy's My Cat from Hell) hosted the Cat Style Lounge. In it, you could see the latest in pet furniture, toys and grooming.

And on the last day, Kate held a drawing for all the floor models on display. We won this amazing hand-made fountain by Thirsty Cat Fountains. It's truly a piece of art!

The Thirsty Cat Fountain we won at Hauspanther's Cat Style Lounge

And the gift bags from friends and fellow bloggers just kept coming. Including a ...wait for it ... pink tambourine from Glogirly to use at the Saturday evening BlogPaws Nose to Nose Awards event!

Coco the Couture Cat was handing out toys & treats, as was Glogirly. The CWA swag bag was great, too!

 Speaking of ...
Our mom was knocked speechless when they called her name for an award she had no idea was coming. (Seriouslies, she was dumbfounded!)

To her surprise, BlogPaws awarded us an award for Outstanding Blog About Page!
We want to thank the Academy ....

In all honesty, we are extremely honored and we thank BlogPaws for this recognition!

This award was a huge surprise to us: BlogPaws awarded us for "Outstanding Blog About Page"

 But wait! There's ... more?

Oh yeah, and Faraday especially wants to thank Dawn, the author of Lola the Rescued Cat, for the plastic bag her gifts came in.

He, umm,  thought it was kind of a-a-a-awesome!

Somekitty liked Lola's BAG more than her toys!

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BlogPaws Giveaway - times TWO!

The companies who shared their wares with us at BlogPaws were exceedingly generous, and we want to pass this on to you.

So we're giving away two sets of toys, food and other delectables.

AND we're throwing in a few extras - from bloggers and friends we want you to know, because we looove their stuff.

In addition to the samples and goodies from companies at BlogPaws, each gift set winner will also receive:

• a bar of handmade goat's milk soap from Happy Goats Soap
         (hint: that's the Publicist over at The Maa of Pricilla)
• and two leather knot toys from our friends Bosco & Jett over at Sukiroo Cat Toys!

BlogPaws Gift Set Giveaway #1

This package contains: a daily vitamin for cats from Only Natural Pet; a bag of Kong Crunchy Treats; Natural Balance Chicken flavor Perfect Bites (no corn, soy or wheat); a free sample of Prowl cat food from The Honest Kitchen plus an Honest Kitchen grocery tote; a luggage tag from Petfinder; pet wipes from Halo; a pink toy mousie from Zanies; Pill Paste to hide the icky taste of medication; and a spool toy and tribble rabbit fur toy specially chosen for you by Faraday.  (Of course, you also get the goat's milk soap and leather knot toys, too!)


BlogPaws Gift Set Giveaway #2

This package contains: an official BlogPaws 2014 t-shirt (size: M); a daily vitamin for cats from Only Natural Pet; a bag of Hill's Grain Free Crunchy Treats; a free sample of Grace cat food from The Honest Kitchen; a travel container of bandages from Vetericyn; pet wipes and a sample of Spot's Stew kibble from Halo; a toy ball from Zanies; Allergease herbal supplement; and a rainbow mousie and tribble rabbit fur toy specially chosen for you by Faraday. (Of course, you also get the goat's milk soap and leather knot toys, too!)


Tell us in comments which gift set you'd like to win by midnight, Friday May 30, and we'll let Random.org pick the winner for us. 

Winners will be announced on Sunday, June1!

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FTC Disclaimer: We were given samples of pet products when we attended the BlogPaws conference, but were not compensated in any way personally for this review, nor were we asked to host a giveaway. All opinions are our own.

Swag Giveaway Time!

Want to have some BlogPaws of your very own? Here's your chance!

We were given numerous product samples by pet companies in the BlogPaws Pet Expo and we wanted to share this largesse with you. We have two sets of swag to give away - The Dog Swag Package and the Cat Swag Package.

Dog Swag, courtesy of Jones Natural Chews, The Honest Kitchen, Natural Balance,
OraStrip, Earth's Balance and PetSmart Charities

Cat Swag, courtesy of Natural Balance, The Honest Kitchen, Prudence Nature's Wellness,
Vetericyn, and PetSmart Charities (toys are from us, cuz they gave out NO cat toys)

All you have to do to enter is select the corresponding Rafflecopter link and choose from several options to enter.

We've heard that Rafflecopter can be intimidating to some, so here's a little video explaining how:



How to Enter Rafflecopter Giveaways from Rafflecopter on Vimeo.

 And now for the Rafflecopter giveaway widgets!

Cat Swag Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Dog Swag Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Many thanks to the following companies who had booths at the Pet Expo and who gave us these items to try or to give away: 

• Natural Balance 
• The Honest Kitchen 
• Prudence Nature's Wellness 
• Vetericyn 
• Jones Natural Chews
• OraStrip 
• Earth's Balance and  
• PetSmart Charities