A puppy has been adopted and a reader has won a personalized paperweight!

Please meet "Annie" the newest member of my brother's family who recently lost their almost 17 year old beagle Scout. Annie is an Australian cattle dog mix and was rescued from a shelter in Modesto. She is named after one of the dogs in "Where The Red Fern Grows". (Scout, was named after the little girl in "To Kill a Mockingbird") They are thrilled with their new puppy.

Congratulations to reader Sandyludwick, the winner of our blog contest to help them pick a puppy. Sandy wrote "I think this family should go to an animal shelter to adopt their new family member. I believe if they really look for the signs, their beloved Scout will stear them towards the right dog for her family." While they appreciated and enjoyed all the comments, they chose this heartwarming and relevant comment as the winner of a personalized paperweight by Stacy Claire Boyd. Congratulations Sandy and Welcome Annie!

Charming Cards donates $500 to Angelman Syndrome Foundation

Thank you to all of our customers who have placed orders recognizing Angelman Syndrome Foundation or bought Everest Hats. As promised, a portion of these proceeds (100% of the hats) would be donated to the Angelman Syndrome Foundation. Thanks to your purchases, Charming Cards was able to make a recent donation of $500 in honor of my nephew Oliver Dillon. Thank you to my Dad, Bill Burke for supplying the hats. There are 2 large size hats left and many small. Here are Ollie's twin sisters modeling the small size for you!

Win a personalized paperweight by helping a family pick a puppy!

As mentioned in my post last week (Farewell Scout), I ordered a personalized paperweight for my brother's family as a gift to remember their 16 year old beagle. They are a family of animal lovers and are now in the process of deciding what kind of dog to get to fill this empty part of their family. Charming Cards is offering a personalized paperweight by Stacy Claire Boyd to the reader who submits the best suggestion on choosing another dog. Simply reply with your comment here with your idea for a breed of dog good for a family with 2 young children (8 & 11). Winner will be announced April 30th!

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Driinn cell phone charger holder now available in white!

The Driinn cell phone holder has been a best seller since we introduced it. It has been featured in many magazines including Real Simple and was a top gift on HGTV's 2007 Holiday Gift Show. The sleek plastic holder is lodged between your electrical outlet and the plug for your charger, creating a little shelf to hold your phone, ipod, or portable game players. We have had repeated requests for the color white and finally have a shipment of white on it's way! It also comes in red, orange, black, green and pink. At $9 each with free shipping, it makes a practical, inexpensive gift!

The mountain can wait- 3 times a charm

As promised I said I would have a few postings here and there regarding the progress of my Dad during his second attempt to be possibly the oldest American to summit Mt Everest. I won't have many more because a virus got the best of him before he was able to reach basecamp, resulting in HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema). Last night a rescue helicopter had to rush him to a hospital in Kathmandu where he is currently recovering before he will return home with my sisters who were trekking with him to basecamp. I know he must be very disappointed but all I feel is relieved that he is going to be ok and has two of his daughters there to help. As the 1839 Elizabeth Barrett Browning phrase reads "The luck of the third adventure is proverbial", he has already mentioned his intention of going back in 2009 for a third try. I will still be hoping he might take a second look at those golf clubs as a retirement activity. You can read more about his travels at http://www.eightsummits.com/

And the winner is.............

Melissa Rodriquez of Melissa Rodriguez Photography! This is the lucky winner of my giveaway contest at The Hostess with the Mostess. Melissa Rodriguez Photography provides modern maternity, newborn, baby, child and family portraiture based out of Weslaco, TX and serves the Rio Grande Valley area. Her website and photography are so impressive I would book a session with her today if she were closer to me! Melissa got to pick a custom stamp, a personalized paperweight, and a table topics game. These were the ones she chose:

Congratulations Melissa!

Farewell Scout

This week I was very excited to be featured in a blog giveaway with The Hostess with the Mostess (a great site). Several of my products were featured including our personalized paperweights, and readers were encouraged to leave a comment about their favorite product with hopes of winning it. Of almost 400 comments the one commentor I personally knew (and possibly only male comment) came from my ever supportive brother who left his comment anonymously-"It's hard to choose, but I like the Dogwood paperweight. My dog is almost 17 and this would be a great way to remember her after she is gone...." Two days later their beloved beagle Scout died suddenly after a long and happy life with a family that adored her. I was saddened to hear this and contemplated what to send their grieving family and remembered the paperweight. So little does he know, but they will soon receive a personalized paperweight with Scout's photo and name on it. I thought it a unique condolence gift for the loss of a pet. A great idea from and for my brother.

The BIG GIVE from Design-her Gals!

Charming Cards is an authorized dealer of Design-her Gals.
Your will love their look-alike products! Offer ends at

midnight April 6th. BIGGIVE promo code works only

on Design-her Gals website.