* a brief history of how I, Rondi Lightmark, got into the greeting card business

* a brief history of how I, Rondi Lightmark, got into the greeting card business

My life as a greeting card artist goes back a ways.

There was also DOGGITY,
who looked sort of
like this sweetie pie:

Except he was (they told me) NOT REAL but only stuffed!!!!

*I did not believe them*

One day DOGGITY got lost after a car ride. Left behind? Who knows. I was inconsolable.

I sort of never got over the loss. Here I am, 30 years later, compensating at a
family gathering

More time went by. . . .

Marriage, kids, the busyness of life. . .

And then, a missing piece started to claim my attention. First, the chance to co-author a book about. . guess what? DOGGITY TRAINING!

Here it is, still popular and
in print since 1998, and
available on amazon.com:

Then another great thing happened: I moved to Vashon Island, a small bump of land in
the vast waters of Puget Sound, Washington. A place where friendly people drive all sorts of old cars and trucks. With dogs in them that just have to go along for the ride.

You’ve seen them, all across the country: a bunch of feel-good missionaries out spreading the love.

What a great photo project! I thought, having recently gotten hooked on photography. Then, there was maybe a tug at the heartstrings that went way back to DOGGITIY.

So that was 2005. And this was the first shot:

The photographer, writer and the long-ago card artist in me developed a happy obsession. I began accosting people in supermarket parking lots, in the ferry lines, at the post office, online, asking if I could photograph their dogs in their cars. I got lots of takers, even branched out, off island. I downloaded my images and began to play with them on my magic computer. I tried out a few captions. Before I knew it, I had made my very first greeting card as a grownup:

Within two months, Great Dog Greetings was launched, a venture that just keeps growing and winning fans all over the place.

End of story? Not nearly!
I got kidnapped by cats.

Recently, by one very special, very alive bear:

Stay tuned. . . .

Rondi Lightmark

Beyond Obedience: Training with Awareness for You and Your Dog
by April Frost with Rondi Lightmark
(Harmony Books, 1998)

* artsy funny eco-friendly greeting cards of dogs in cars and trucks and such * plus * a bunch of cats

© RONDI LIGHTMARK 2010 * LIGHTMARK PRESS * PO BOX 13215 * BURTON, WA * 98013 *

206-463-0831 phone * 206-463-1803 fax