Traveling With Your Pet?! The Statistics are frightening. Reporting live...

Traveling With Your Pet? Stats that will make your blood run cold.

Traveling With Your Pet? Its not just about the pet… and that should make your blood run cold. By Khola Malik Life turned on a dime one afternoon on highway 154, the pass between Santa Barbara, California and Santa Ynez. Diane Stevenett was traveling with her dog Jake. The car was fully packed with a lot of art painting stuff including a giant white paper roll, painting accessories, brushes, watercolors, equipment for music class, and Jake “the Great” took up the entire 2nd row of seats behind the driver, his usual spot.

As they came up on a traffic jam, her car was last in the row when suddenly a raised black monster pick-up appeared trying to “shoot the gap.” The car in front of her dogged aside, and her car was exposed to the giant truck. The collision was unavoidable. In a few seconds, the car was smashed, blood and glass all over Diane and Jake as he was thrown into the windshield. Both of them ended up thrown out of their car, onto the road. Jake and Diane survived this severe accident but Jake’s internal injuries set into motion his early death later. The heartache of the whole matter was, for Diane, a major struggle. Jake and his health conditions forced Diane to think, she could have protected Jake from the accident if she has followed some safety measures… if not completely, then to a much greater measure. According to the American Automobile Association, over 80% of dog owners drive with their pets in the car. Over 84% who drive with their pet, do not restrain them in the car. In 2013, 172,000 children were in car crashes with injuries and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that of those crashes with children who were injured, over 80% had pets on board. Its not just about the pet… Diane Stevenett, co-author of the new international award winning book, How To Save Your Pet From A Disaster was Jake’ the Great’s mother years ago and thinks back, “Had I known what I know today, I would have been more prepared and could have possibly lessened Jake’s chance of being injured. My research to be better educated and prepared lead me to write this guidebook.”

When she hits the brakes, that kitty will become a projectile. 2 X Chicken Soup For The Soul Best Selling NY Times Author Raymond Aaron said after he saw the book How To Save Your Pet From A Disaster, THE essential emergency preparedness guide for feathered friends and fur babies, “ If you are a pet owner, this book is a “Must Read” because you know how the care of pets pulls so forcefully on your heartstring. There is no other book, as complete and authoritative, on the essential subject in the pet industry. I highly recommend it! Gift one today!”

You love your pet and there are things you can do easily and have peace of mind knowing your treasured pet is more safe and ready for your next trip. Be "pet prepared.” Remember, your pet may turn into your “therapy animal” in an emergency so think ahead and protect them like you would your child. 3 Tips For Travelling With Your Pet From How To Save Your Pet From A Disaster 1. Consider microchipping (Page 16): unrestrained pets may bolt from cars, making a bad situation much worse. 2. A harness around the chest of your pet for securing it to the seating will more evenly distribute the tension or stress on the body during an accident thereby reducing the potential for injury. If you only have the animal tied to its collar around the neck, the animal may be strangled or have its neck broken. (Page 20, 30) 3. Secure the pet to the seat’s restraints. They are made to stay connected and fastened in an accident. (Page 33)

Old pets need special care and protection. They’re reaction times are slower, they are more fragile and they are emotionally more unstable. There are literally hundreds of other tips and suggestions you have not thought of for a wide variety of situations besides car accidents. Being prepared suggests that you brainstorm as many as you can and begin implementing the tips that seem most important to you. How To Save Your Pet From A Disaster can be bought at a discount on Amazon. Click here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MS5KJLT The price of the book includes continuing education email tips with relative information for which you will need to go to the website at https://www.ProtectYourPetGuideBook.com after the purchase to sign up. Kindle also available. For media, contact co-author Scott M. Haskins, 805 570 4140 faclartdoc@gmail.com Protect Your Pet Guidebook can be found on social media: Instagram and Facebook.

Best Pet Care Guide Book Award

If your house was on fire and you had to grab and go, would you grab your house pet or your family heirloom? This new book recently received an International Book Award for the Best, Most Important Guide Book for Pet Care, How To Save Your Pet From A Disaster - the essential emergency preparedness guide for feathered friends and fur babies: Order from Amazon at http://www.ProtectYourPetGuideBook.com  Our main business is the preservation and restoration of artwork and at any given time, we can have several items in the lab that have been damaged by house pets. Many times the damage to treasured valuable collectibles occurs when the owner tries to transport heirlooms and pets at the same time. The results can be expensive to remedy, the last rip in a painting that we repaired was caused by an Australian Cattle dog which cost $3,500.00 to restore back to great condition. If you think a minute about it, your family heirlooms and treasured family history items tell the story of your family and are of heartfelt importance for generations of people. They trigger memories and document your family’s legacy. Your house pets are also a heartfelt emotional part of your life. It could be tragic for either to be badly damaged, lost or destroyed. Yet, these two parts of your life are usually not insurable against fires, water damage etc! How can you replace the family bible… and you can’t replace, exactly, your sweet therapy cat that curls up in your lap. It’s worth the effort to think ahead, prepare such important parts of your family for an emergency and feel the emotional peace of having taken action. Specialized, hard to find instructions and tips make this book an essential guide book, a must-have according to 2 x Best Selling NY Times Author Raymond Aaron, Author of 2 Chicken Soup for the Soul editions. #petcare #PetCareBook #disasterpreparedness #disastermanagement #hrresources #hrplanning #petlover #pets #petsarefamily #petindustry #heirloom #CollectionCare #collectibles #EarthquakePreparedness #hurricaneseason #tornadoes #flooding #disasterrecovery #disasterriskreduction #riskmanagement #animalrescue #animalwelfare #animallovers #animalcare #doglovers #dogs #dogcare #catcare #catlover #dogrescue #CatRescue #Housepets

What Dirty Stuff Is On My Artwork?! - 3 Tips of what NOT to do!

Save Money - Cool Idea - Recycle Old Frames - 3 Great Tips

This fake is so good that its scarry! And I did it!!!!

Do It Your-Selfers: Don't Do This!!!!!

Some people get into reframing their old artwork. The enemy of this money saving effort is impatience. Doing the job right with patience is particularly important when you are reframing artwork on paper. There will be old tape and if you rip off the tape... the following WILL happen:
1. You will peel a surface layer of the paper off (see photo on right)
2. This will reduce the value of your artwork, if it is vintage and has value (this one does).
3. You will risk ripping the paper... which did not happen in the case of this photo.

This impatient do-it-your-selfer was "trying to be careful", felt she was "an experienced art handler" but couldn't stop herself! The result? A reduction of 20% in $3,500.00 value of the artwork when compared to a copy in pristine condition.

How to you avoid such a blunder? Dissolve the glue of the tape and lift off the tape CAREFULLY. Ask for guidance by a conservator or experienced framer. Be patient!

Book Download Available - Affiliate Program Underway

In last 3 days,  3 Affiliates have signed up with saveyourstuff.com that will help redistribute the "save your stuff message" of emergency preparation info (which I provide to them for free) to about 20 mill in their industries. This kind of info, on a corporate or office level is part of having a Disaster Plan, a mandate of the Homeland Security Dept.

On the saveyourstuff.com website, an expanded 1st edition version of my book, "How To Save Your Stuff From A Disaster" is now available for download. In addition (and I'm excited about this) each of the chapters can be purchased and downloaded individually if a customer doesn't want the whole book.

This information of saving and protecting your treasured documents and photos is something people feel at the "heart level" at home or in the office. Would you please send the message of this blog entry (copy and paste the URL... or the entire entry) along to those you know? While most of us are not in the throws of a disaster right now, this info could be greatly appreciated in the upcoming months.

The three new affiliates are:
Homeland Security Outlook (www.hsoutlook.com)
Rayanne Thorn of the Human Resource Industry
SBDC's Informatiuon Clearing House http://sbdcnet.ning.com/

All my best and thanks for sending this message along to others.
Scott M. Haskins

Antique Frame Dropped and Busted: Just Like Life... Pick Up The Pieces!

Did you know, that if you drop an old frame and pieces are busted off... you can put them in a baggie... staple the baggie to the back of the frame... and when you get around to it... the frame restorer can probably use the pieces again to put the frame back together?! And you might save yourself some money.

This frame hit the floor when the nail in the wall gave away. A nail actually, doesn't hold very well if its just put into plaster board (no wood behind the plaster). They make hangers especially for mounting framed items into plaster board. Do it right and you'll avoid expensive repair bills. Anyone live in earthquake or hurricane country? Yea, that's what I thought....

$25,000 fell off the wall!

Even if you think you have a strong enough wire on the back, the eye hook that attaches the wire to the frame could pull out if the screw hole has been used over and over. Even if you have the artwork's hanging hardware looking good, you might have it barely hanging onto a nail on the wall! Even if you think its a good sturdy nail, it could pull out of the plaster wall board fairly easily. In other words, the weakest link will be the one that causes the whole thing to come crashing to the floor... JUST LIKE THIS $25,000 PAINTING!

If you live in hurricane or earthquake country, I'M TALKING TO YOU. But I've seen hanging items come off the wall with as little as a sonic boom and playing rambunctious kids. For additional suggestions about shake proofing your hanging artwork, look for an article on www.preservationcoach.com

A "Priceless Russian Renaissance Icon" A Priceless Mistake and a Great Story.

I had a "priceless Russian Renaissance Icon" delivered to me for evaluation. If you are "up" for a good story, watch this 7 minute video: http://bit.ly/5W1ZUo  Appraisal questions? Contact www.faclappraisals.com. Need divorce counseling and therapy? Call the appraiser first.

A Good Way to Ruin a Frame

Taking a bottle of gold paint may seem like a good way to fix a chipped or damaged old frame... but the gold paint doesn't age the same way as the original finish. It doesn't take much time for the paint to turn brown or dark green and be totally out of character. In the photo, the outside scoop and edge is darker than the inside gold edge. Once the gold paint has been on the frame awhile, then it becomes impossible to clean it off without having to refinish it completely.

Another tip... don't throw away old frames (even if they are badly damaged) before you know if they are worth something. A potential buyer might be an art gallery that sells old art. They have their ways of repairing, refinishing, cutting down etc. I love to collect old frames too. For tips on how to care for old frames go to www.saveyourstuff.com and download the chapter on "Frames." There are free downloads also.

Hurricane Preparedness (Works for earthquakes too!), New Orleans 2009

The Hurricane Preparedness Expo in New Orleans asked me to attend and present my book and expertise. As you can imagine, a hurricane can shake things up pretty good, just like an earthquake. I also talked to people about water damage and mold. There were a number of organizations that are looking to include my www.saveyourstuff.com info to their emergency preparedness plans in their offices and for their employees.

These folks bought a book last year and thanked me for the interesting follow up emails.

Testing security windows. Cheerleaders from the NBA team from New Orleans, The Hornets, were there. This girl took a swing at the window.. and she had a GOOD swing!

Demonstration of what downed power lines can do!... a 4 ft. arc of lightning...yikes!

What's MOST important to you?!

The most important thing to remember, when you have piles of stuff to "organize" is, "What are your PRIORITIES?"  A rare ancestor's photo is more important than one of a hundred shots of the dog at the beach. So, selectively go through your piles and set aside the most irreplaceable, important items: certificates, ancestor's photos, prescriptions and medical records, passports and other legal papers...  If you wait till the last minute before an emergency, you may have very little time, if any, to GRAB n' GO! For instance, I'd hate to loose the photo of me in the buff (see photo on left) that my Mom hand colored in oil. Do you have treasured family history items that are "one of a kind"?  Start thinking about saving your most important things FIRST. 

So, here are two great tips, after you've decided what's a priority:
1. Make a copy of these super important items (scan onto computer or photocopy) and send a copy to a relative or friend to keep for you. And keep a copy in another location besides your house.
2.  Putting those few "super important" items into an album (a high quality archival album costs $10 at Walmart!) and store them in an easy-to-get-to place (grab n' go).

If a disaster hasn't happened to you yet, you have time to prepare before a disaster occurs.  For more tips and instructions, go to www.saveyourstuff.com

Do you have a tarnished BRASS Sculpture?

Do you have a tarnished BRASS Sculpture or object that needs to be cleaned and polished? The two brass sculptures pictured here, were badly burned in the last Santa Barbara wild fire whose finishes were badly damage, but they still turned out beautifully! With a little elbow grease at home, you too can have a beautiful art object that, once again can look like NEW!  If you have "Brasso" give it a light coat, and proceed as per instructions on the can. Then with gentle "turtle wax" do the same; a light coat, let dry 3-5 minutes and give it a light buff. Voila!

Molten Tar splashed on Alabaster Sculpture!

After the last wild fire, we had an alabaster sculpture in the lab that had been splashed with molten tar.  What a mess!  The hard surfaced stone allowed us to soften the tar with paint thinner and carefully pick off the spots. The risk of doing this with a solvent, is in dissolving the tar and staining the stone. You must do a little test first to make sure you don't create a more difficult situation. After some work and gently picking at the tar, it cleaned up beautifully!

Need to CLEAN a TEXTURE on your Bronze Sculpture?

Need to Clean tight spaces and grooves on a sculpture?  This bronze Lion sculpture has dirt that has built up over time and become embedded within the textural ridges and grooves of the mane.  Find a gentle & mild "non-ionic" liquid soap such as Meyers dish-washing liquid. Using a 100% cotton Q-tip with warm, mild soapy water (Meyers detergent) gently rub into each groove. Be patient with yourself.  Go inside yourself and unwind using this slow and methodical cleaning technique. It becomes a meditation.  Relaxing AND restorative for both you and your fine art bronze!

Do you SHIP Art Work?

Do you SHIP Art Work?  Make sure you know the PACKING RULES for shipping ART! You do not want it to look like this when it arrives from the east coast!  Do you have a carrier you trust?  Do you have bubble-wrap and 2 sheets of cardboard for the front and back? Do you have a crate for over-sized work? Do you have 2 boxes that allow at least 4 inches around or on each side when packed? That is...AFTER it is wrapped with bubble-wrap.
The rules:  Wrap with bubble-wrap using clear tape (a tape gun makes it easier), 1 pc.of card board on each side, front & back, then double-boxed and sent off with INSURANCE and with an experienced mail carrier!  You can also call an art transport truck if there are multiples or over-sized pieces. There are art carriers who do it for a living!  Ask us!  We are here to help you with all your preservation, conservation & restoration questions about art and of course YOUR STUFF!

Heart Breaking Damage. KNOW how to pack ART for SHIPPING?

OH no! KNOW how to pack ART for SHIPPING?  Yep, you guessed it!  A really BAD packing job and then shipped cross-country! An incredible piece of art now having LOST its value, must somehow be restored, re-framed and made to at least LOOK normal.  The glass broke, the frame broke, both scratched its way across the fine art print and then it fell out of the shipping box and was trampled!  First of all...ALWAYS double box!  Keep at least a 4" wall of peanuts or bubble pack around your artwork...in both boxes.  If you have an art object and it can be taken apart...disassemble before packing...pack accordingly.  I like to wrap with bubble pack and THEN add a piece of corrugated cardboard to FRONT and BACK.  This should NEVER happen to YOU!  Also....choose a reputable shipping agent....choose wisely!  The best way to honor an artist!

Salve Sus Cosas! We're off to Merida, Yucatan, Mexico!

I've been invited to speak at an international conference for Responding to Natural Disasters in Yucatan Mexico next week. Just this evening, I submitted the free giveaways to go onto the new website, www.salvesuscosas.com that should be up and running this coming weekend. I'll be speaking in Merida to about 600 government officers, university admin, and business owners who are getting organized to be better prepared for hurricanes and floods (the major problems in that area). Guess who is the ONLY expert speaking on protecting and saving personal items in the office place? www.saveyourstuff.com

A little "do-it-yourself" tip for Gold Leaf flaking!

Today in the lab we "consolidated" a frame whose GOLD LEAF was flaking off!  It was a crude heavy frame from a road side stand in Mexico.  The gold leaf was loose and unstable. This is a do-it-yourself-at-home-tip to stop it from completely flaking off until you can get it to a conservator.  With a small pointed brush and a small amount of acrylic varnish or even watered down wood glue (water soluable) "dropped" into a crack can stop the problem ...for now!  This is just a quick fix to stabilize the frame. But to do it right...get it to the Fine Art Conservation Lab!  email us @ best_artdoc@yahoo.com

Organize your Storage ITEMS!

After receiving a large mold cleaning job here at the lab, we put our Abatement Specialist to work cleaning and organizing this collection for storage while the owner was re-building his house.
There were boxes and boxes of family photos, family books, collector items, art objects and paintings....all exposed to mold!

After cleaning all items, we now set to organizing them for storage. We find that an easy way to know what you have and where to locate things is to photograph each item, assign it a number, and log it into a file, either on computer or in a binder.  We do both.  You can make notes there....about the condition of an object, painting, or book, dates you worked on something or even reminders to yourself. We then do a print-out of that file and put it into a binder as a copy for the client.  After carefully packing each item, putting precious items into a "zip-lock" baggy for extra protection or organizing "by-year" photos (you can find giant zip-lock bags for large items @ Home Depot and Osh)...TAPE an Inventory List Sheet to the outside of the crate.  Clear crates are handy to quickly & easily identify your items.  The number of each item can appear on the Inventory List sheet.  Add a second sheet to the inside of your box, just in case the outside sheet gets damaged in moving....Happy Preserving & Storage!

MUD stain on Cast Resin Sculpture!

This Resin Cast Sculpture was rescued after the most recent Santa Barbara Wild Fire from a burned home.  It had been standing in water & dirt for a period of time and was a little scorched, but very encrusted and stained with mud!  We cleaned it with water and a gentle detergent and it looked much better. The corrosion from the mud had penetrated the resin and was very difficult to remove.  The stubborn corrosion finally came off with a very gentle, non-abrasive rubbing.  With a soft wooden skewer you can actually scrape without scratching the surface.  With a gentle hand, you can actually tell the amount of pressure you can apply without damaging, scraping or scratching the surface! There is still a slight discoloration from the heat as you can see, but there is no longer corroded mud on this piece.  It cleaned up nicely. Something you can do at home on your own!

FIRE burned out the Turquoise Stone in the Bronze Crow!

We recieved a Bronze Crow who had been burned in one of the Santa Barbara, CA. Wildfires.  A small decorative chunk of turquiose had been completely burned in the fire, and the bronze Crow's finish or "patina" also scortched. We found a nice piece of replacement turquoise from a local jeweler, that fits nicely into the site of the Crow's beak. With a pair of pliers, we pulled the wire down through the bottom of the beak that holds the stone in place, like a large bead.  The bead hole was enlarged and the wire reinserted up through the new stone into the roof of his beak. The Crow will now go to the foundry, where he will be "re-patina'd" yes....they will remove the stone before working on it and then replace it when the patina is complete. Our Crow will be as good as new!  If the Crow is to be out in the environment again, he needs to have a coating to preserve and protect the patina/finish.  Either our lab, or the foundry can do that.  Should you need to contact a reputable bronze casting foundry in your area, please call us!  If we can help, we certainly will.

Removing SMOKE deposits and smell from an ornate frame.

 A gold leaf ornate frame came in from a home fire having a surface film of smoke residue. Using a Q-tip with simple "saliva" will nicely remove the residue. There are two types of gold; one has an even color and is often brassy looking (will not dissolve with water) and two, is a gold finish that is very polished with over-lap lines and often shows red or brown colors through it. (will dissolve with water....and even saliva!). So, do a test to see if the gold comes off before you start wiping down a frame. Be careful too of the antiquing (finish) on many frames... it will come off with water/saliva. We brushed a dilute varnish on the exposed wood of the back of the frame (not visible or shiny afterward) to seal in the smell.

Yuk! Tar splashed on Alabaster Sculpture!

After the last wild fire, we took in an alabaster sculpture that had been splashed with molten tar.  What a mess!  The hard surfaced stone allowed us to soften the tar with paint thinner and carefully pick off the spots. A risk to doing this with solvents is to dissolve the tar and stain the stone... so you have to do a little test to make sure you don't create more difficult problems. After some work it cleaned up beautifully!

Thinking ahead

These folks were thinking ahead... or maybe they read my book! These containers that you can buy at any Walmart type store are actually archival! Protect your precious scrapbooks, diaries, photos, documents from water, rodents... and skateboards! When your items are in a handy container like this, they can also be put into the car for a quick get away if you have to evacuate. If you had 15 minutes before you had to run, what would you take with you?