2019 CWA Certificates of Excellence Winners

We are very happy to announce that we received nine (9) Certificates of Excellence from the Cat Writers' Association (CWA). 

The Cat Writers' Association (CWA) held its first Communications Contest in November 1994. Karen Kuykendall, founding member of CWA, designed the Muse Medallion™ which recognizes excellence among writers, photographers, artists, and broadcasters. Each year, members of CWA submit samples of their work for consideration of the coveted Muse Medallions. Qualified entries are evaluated by professional CWA members who volunteer their time and expertise to serve as contest judges. Entries are evaluated against an objective standard of excellence. Certificates of Excellence are awarded to entries that earn an average score of 90 or higher. These certificate of excellence winners are then evaluated to determine who should receive the Muse Medallion in each category at the annual CWA Awards Ceremony.

We worked hard the past two years to redesign and rebrand the Sweet Purrfections blog to share educational and informational content about Living and Learning with Persian Cats on the blog. We do share some stories of our daily lives to let our readers enjoy the challenges and joys of living with beautiful Persian Cats. We submitted several entries for consideration and were thrilled to learn that nine (9) entries were selected to receive a Certificate of Excellence. These entries will also qualify for a possible Muse Award.  We thought we'd share the entries that received this honor.  Some of our newer readers may want to visit these posts if you didn't catch them the first time around.

Written Article: Health & General Care (Medium Length)

World Veterinary Day: Value of Vaccination

This article focused on the theme of World Veterinary Day 2019, which was the Value of Vaccinations. There is so much discussion among people about the need to vaccinate both humans and animals. We've eradicated so many diseases because of the development and administration of vaccinations that I wanted to share the importance with our readers. Truffle and Brulee have their bi-annual wellness examination this Friday and one of the things we will discuss is the continued need for vaccinations since both girls are turning 9 years old this summer. I encourage you to read this informative piece.

Written Article: Lifestyle (long length)

Catifying Your Home

I was honored to interview Kate Benjamin from Hauspanther for this article. Kate is well-known for her work in designing rooms, homes, and rescues/shelters to help make the environment more comfortable for cats and the humans who live with them. Kate shared numerous ideas about her recommendations and I shared how I am working on "catifying" my home. 

Written Article: Feline-Human Bond (long length)

National Pralines Day

Praline was the cat who started it all with my blogging career and she was my soul kitty! Praline came to live with me when I was going through a divorce after 21 years of marriage and beginning to work on my Ph.D. Praline lived with me almost 16 years before leaving this Earth due to cancer. This blog post celebrated the bond Praline and I had through a horoscope reading from one of our cat blogging friends. Many of you began following this blog, not knowing about Sweet Praline, so this post may bring a smile to your face as you read about my little diva. It helps to write about her, even though she's been gone for 9 years now, because she always brings a smile to my face and still warms my heart.

Written Article: Feline-Human Bond (medium length)

National Kids and Pets Day

National Kids and Pets Day was created by Colleen Paige, Celebrity Family and Pet Lifestyle Expert, in 2005. This day is dedicated to furthering the magical bond between animals and children, educating the public about safety between children and pets, and bringing awareness to pets in shelters. I grew up with pets and I've watched my nieces, great nieces, and nephews grow up with pets. I wanted to share stories about the special bond between children and pets with a walk down memory lane of photos over the years.

Written Article: Feline-Human Bond (short length)

Happy 8th Birthday Truffle

This article celebrated the bond Truffle and I have and was written on her 8th birthday. I shared the story of how Truffle chose me and the story of how she came to live with me. Truffle has that unique 6th sense and knows when I need emotional support. Last year, she also woke me up by climbing onto my chest and putting her nose into my face when I had stopped breathing while taking a nap. I'm happy to say that Truffle turns 9 years old today and I hope we have many more special years together.

Written Article: Product Review (medium length)

Dealing With Tear Stains in Persian Cats

Persian Cats are beautiful felines, but in order to maintain their beauty, one must groom them each day. Part of that grooming is keeping their eyes clean and their fur as free from tear stains as possible. I've tried almost every tear stain product on the market on Brulee's face and the only one that works (with consistent use) is Eye Envy. This is one product I truly believe in and could share wonderful before and after photos of Brulee's face. 

Written Article: Pedigreed Cats (long length)

Understanding and Caring for the Eyes of a Persian Cat

Persian Cats have such huge and expressive eyes which adds to their sweet faces. This article talked about the eyes of Persian Cats and I was able to include interviews (and photos) from a Persian breeder and a CFA show judge. Just look at that photo above - doesn't Truffle just draw you into her soul with those eyes?

Calendars

2020 Cats of the World Weekly Planner

I am the managing editor of The Cat Blogosphere (CB) and have been active member of the cat blogging community since 2008. The CB has done so much to support me when I was dealing with cancer and the subsequent death of Sweet Praline, so I wanted to do something to give back to the community. I began putting together a calendar with photos of cats from the CB. I've edited 8 different CB Calendars the last 8 years. The calendar has developed into a weekly planner that includes special holidays and cat celebrations, articles from guest authors, and beautiful full-color photos of cats from around the world who have a blog or a presence in social media. 

Blog/Website: Educational/Informative

Sweet Purrfections

This July will be 9 years since the Sweet Purrfections blog began. In the beginning, it was basically a daily journal with stories and photos of Truffle and Brulee. About 5 years ago, I began receiving offers from brand to review their products and this continued to progress to the point where I now have brand sponsors who pay me to write evergreen content. Two years ago, I chose to rebrand and redesign the blog. I had recently retired and had more time to put into the blog. I use my research background (I have a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education) along with my ability to write in a voice where people can connect to what I am saying to write educational and informative articles about Living and Learning with Persian Cats. I still include some fun posts about living with these two beautiful Persian Cats. This is probably the one Certificate of Excellence that I am most proud of because it's taken me almost 9 years to get here. 

I want to give a special thank you to the Cat Writers' Association for sponsoring the annual Communications Contest and a sincere appreciation for the judges who selected my work for recognition. I also submitted some entries for the Special Awards, but those won't be announced until later this summer.