In September 2018 we ran our second photo contest, and the theme was "pets". We had so many wonderful submissions, but Magenta ultimately was able to narrow down to the top 8 entries.

We had quite a mix of pets that included cats, dogs, chickens, hedgehogs, and our winner a bunny! Our contest allowed people to submit as many times as they wanted, and one animal rescue had 3 of the top 8 photos! Read more about each pet below.

Winner

Magenta Pet Photo Contest Winner
Chip Gaines, the bunny.
Name: Jessica Ellis- @themagnoliateacher
Pet Name: Chip Gaines the bun. Since I’m the Magnolia Teacher on instagram, I named him after one of my role models, Chip Gaines from Fixer Upper. 
How you met your animal: I wanted a bunny as my classpet for a VERY long time and this summer I finally found my dream bunny! My mom saw him on Facebook marketplace for $10 so she sent me the picture and I knew he was meant for me. I met the lady that was selling him in the Marshall’s parking lot. (A man had paid for the full price for him and never picked him up that’s why he was only $10!) It was love at first sight. Now he’s the happiest bun you’ll ever meet. He has a luxurious farmhouse hutch in my 6th grade science classroom where he is extremely loved by 140 students, runs laps around the classroom, and enjoys eating snacks from his Rae Dunn bowls!

Story behind the photo:  The story behind this picture is a little funny. I came across the mini party hats at a store and immediately knew I had to purchase them for Chip Gaines. I rushed home and had to set up a photoshoot! The celebrate bowl was the perfect size and he is just SO PHOTOGENIC, am I right?! 
Thoughts on the contest: Chip Gaines is very flattered that he made it as a finalist. We are huge fans of Magenta Inc. We have allllll the Rae Dunn at home and in the classroom!

 

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Magenta Pet Photo Contest

Titus the dog. 

Name: Jessica Shaffer- @je33sicuh
Pet Name: Titus (After Titus Andromedon in the show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)


How you met your animal: 
Titus came to us under unique circumstances. We were not necessarily looking for another dog, but he needed us. His previous owners could no longer keep him, and we feared that if he were surrendered to a shelter, no one would want him due to the unfortunate surgical mishap that took place in what should have been a routine neutering. His botched surgery, left him with urinary incontinence, but that has never slowed down his resilient and happy soul. As soon as we laid eyes on him and felt his friendly and loving energy, we knew he found a forever home in us.

 Favorite memory/ story with him: Titus and Sara (my four year old daughter) are the best of friends. They have an unspeakable loving bond, and it warms me to see them play and hang out with each other. Sara loves to play Vet Doctor with him, and he so gingerly lets her give him "check-ups" all the time. He truly is one of a kind. 
 
Story behind the photo: Titus is quite the spoiled pup. We love to give him peanut butter and treats in his Rae Dunn bowls. On this particular day Sara encouraged me to use a mug instead of a bowl. So peanut butter went in the mug, and she began to let him enjoy it while sitting outside on the back lawn. After a few shots, we captured the perfect moment between those two. 
Thoughts on the contest:  I am so grateful that Magenta encourages their community to share how they live their lives and use this special pottery. I love capturing daily life in my home, and Rae Dunn pottery is such a huge part of it. We gather, we share, we live laugh and love. It's who we are. Glad that I could be part of something so special, and I'm so humbled that my sweet Titus could be part of something so big! 
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Magenta Pet Photo Contest

Mini the Chihuahua 

Magenta Pet Photo Contest

Lily and Daisy, the foster kittens at Paws of Oz Rescue.

 

Magenta Pet Photo Contest

 

Hazel the huffy hedgehog

Your name and Animal Rescue name:  Holly and Pawsofoz @pawsofoz
Pets Name (hedgehog, kittens and dog):  Mini the pampered chihuahua, foster kittens Lily and Daisy and Hazel the huffy hedgehog.
Tell us about Paws of Oz Rescue: 
When we started on IG, we had 3 dogs- all adopted from a rescue in Wichita, KS. We left Kansas for Canada so the "oz" is a play on the Wizard of Oz since we weren't in Kansas anymore. :) We moved back to Kansas where I began fostering kittens, puppies, cats and dogs for area rescues. I LOVED it! Especially the kittens! While there, we rescued Hazel the hedgehog from being abandoned in an empty home. She had been severely neglected and a year later, is still painfully shy. In August, we moved our 2 dogs, 2 cats, Hazel and family to Arkansas where we plan to plant deeper roots and settle for a while. I'm eager to get back into fostering and adopting pets in need! 
Favorite memory/ story from the rescue: fostering 13 kittens at once! It was crazy, stinky, time consuming, but incredibly rewarding seeing all 13 go to great homes! Look up #13fosterkittens 
Story behind taking the photos:  Getting Hazel to open for pictures is nearly impossible since she's so shy. I grabbed my Rae Dunn "HOLD" to see if that would help her feel more secure and it worked! 
Mini is not a morning person :) She enjoys a cozy bed but apparently needs some coffee to get her started! 
My foster kittens, Lily and Daisy, were underweight so they enjoyed a warm bowl of KMR kitten milk. 
Thoughts about the photo contest: I've been a magenta/Rae Dunn fan since we lived in Canada 2012-2015,  before it was such a craze! ;) To be chosen in a contest of a company I've been "fanning" for years is so fun!! Thank you all so much for this opportunity! 

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magenta photo contest

Name: Missy Bergdoll - @craftyhomebymissy

Pet Name: Olive Grace

How you met your animal: "I met her through an animal shelter over the summer and fell in love with sweet, loving personality and was the purrfect companion for her older sister Ellie."

Favorite memory/ story with her: My favorite moment with Olive is having my daily  afternoon coffee with her sleeping in my lap—just spending time together.  

Story behind the photo: "During our afternoon coffee cuddle sesh last week, I snapped a picture with her squirming since she couldn’t sit still. I realized the “Rae Dunn mug of the day” I was holding was BFF and really took it to heart since Olive is my best friend. I never thought about having a second cat but she fell into our life at the most perfect moment. I try to take advantage of every second with her while she’s still small. 

Olive wanted to mention that the picture featured her good side and was pleased with the results. If you’re trying to take the perfect photo of your pet, wait for a moment you’d least expect and. cherish that moment forever."
Thoughts on the contest: "
The photo contest was so much fun because it was easy to incorporate my Rae Dunn with my (spoiled) cats! I like capturing moments in photography rather than staged moments. I found that the best pictures I take happen in small everyday moments that reflect real life. I was so excited to be a finalist; we were jumping for joy! I loved getting and opportunity to mix my love of decor and my love for photography. 
Thank you meowy Magenta! I had so much fun asking friends and family to vote for her! We’ll definitely keep taking pictures with our Rae Dunn and kitties." 
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 Magenta Pet photo contest pongo

Name: Kaitlin @kaitlin_hansen
Pet Name: Pongo
 
How you met your animal: As my husband and I laid in bed one night we discussed the possibility of getting a dog. Something you need to know about my husband is that he always has to be unique or have unique things. That being said, he randomly threw out the idea of getting a Dalmatian. At first, I didn’t know what to think of the idea. However, after looking at a few pictures, I was hooked. My husband came across an ad online of a breeder here locally. He picked up the phone and called the breeder and she was shocked to hear from us. She let us know the ad was from a year earlier but her dogs just gave birth to a new litter so we were in luck. The puppies were only a few weeks old and so we had to wait about 3 weeks before we could go and pick out our pup. A few weeks after that initial phone call I headed to Wisconsin for a family trip. Upon my return I was in disbelief as I walked in to see our beautiful new puppy. We immediately knew his name would be Pongo and the rest was history. 
Favorite memory/ story with him: I wouldn’t call it our favorite memory but it is by far the funniest. It was Pongo’s first birthday and I wanted to make it a special day for him. I saw some dog treat recipes on Pinterest and I couldn’t resist the idea of making him some birthday pupcakes. Once they got done baking I gave him one and he was in heaven. My husband walked in the door a few hours later, and without knowing that I had already given Pongo a treat, gave him another one. Later that night we went to bed and Pongo slept at the foot of our bed. My husband woke up around midnight because Pongo was pacing back and forth. As my husband flipped on his cell phone light he immediately yelled “oh crap.” Literally there was crap everywhere. The treats had upset Pongo’s stomach and we had a pool of dog poop on our carpet. My husband popped out of bed and immediately ushered Pongo downstairs. Unfortunately his belly was still upset and he let out droplets the entire way down the stairs. My husband came back upstairs as I was cleaning, and he began lighting the worst combination of candles you could possibly imagine. On top of that, he was spraying air freshener all throughout our room. We hopped back into bed but couldn’t take it. The mixture of dog poop, candles and air freshener was too much to bare. We ended up having to sleep in another room that night. That was the last time Pongo ever had a pupcake.
Story behind the photo: Once I saw that you guys were hosting a photo contest, I knew Pongo had to be entered! I knew I needed more people to see his sweet face. At first I tried something on the floor and he ended up eating like 10 cookies before I got the first picture. Since I knew he was good at getting his little toes up on my counter, I knew that I could get a picture of him stealing it off the counter. I actually propped my phone up on a few Rae Dunn mugs (of course) and used my apple watch to snap the picture after I had asked him to get the cookie off the counter. It ended up being my first picture! He is a pro!
Thoughts on the contest: The contest was so fun to participate in! It was fun seeing him be selected in the top photos. I told him he was famous.🤣
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Magenta Photo Contest Pet
Name:  Kristen Pestorich @kristenpestorich
Pets names: The Sanderson Sisters (from Hocus Pocus!) Their hair matches the three sisters; Winifred, Sarah and Mary.
How you met your chicks: We ordered them online from Ideal Poultry in Texas. They were shipped to us when they were one day old. Each year we raise about 20 baby chicks. We have a two acre hobby farm in Fresno CA. Which consists of goats, chickens, roosters, geese and two cats! 
Favorite story or memory with them: Definitely watching my husband help me stage all our animals with my Rae Dunn pottery to get those “perfect” shots! And watching them all grow since they were babies is always so much fun!  
Story behind taking the photo: I have been collecting Magenta/Rae Dunn for going on four years. About a year ago I got connected with some awesome local ladies who also collect. We had a Facebook group where we would help each other with our collections. Our group would play fun games and one of them was a photo contest. I used my sweet farm babies to enter in the contest. My pictures have won and they have used the pictures for the cover page of the group and various other things. Shout out to my Fresno Rae Dunn ladies! 
I used my husband to help prop the animals and I would shoot the pictures with my iPhone, nothing fancy but very entertaining if you were a fly on the wall! 
Thoughts about the photo contest: The entire process was so much fun to be apart of! I had so many supportive family and friends voting and posting to help get me votes. Shout out (and a big Congratulations) to The Magnolia Teacher who’s picture won the contest!!! I am a Kindergarten teacher and have been following her Instagram for awhile now, she is my favorite teacher on Instagram! To see my baby chicks picture on her stories while she was getting her followers to vote was a fan girl moment for me!