For the Ones Who Love You Without Conditions

Tender Tails, Volume 2 is a limited, application-based portrait project celebrating the dogs who worship you, the cats who tolerate you, and the bond that changed your life. All while raising funds for Great Plains SPCA.

If you have ever rearranged your schedule around a vet appointment, stepped over a sleeping body because moving them felt wrong, or whispered “I don’t know what I would do without you” into fur that pretended not to care, you understand why this project exists.

Tender Tails was created for pet parents who know this relationship is not small. It is not casual. It is not “just a pet.”

It is loyalty. It is comfort. It is the quiet presence that steadied you through seasons no one else saw.

Volume 2 will feature beautiful portrait spreads, each paired with a heartfelt thank-you letter written by the person who knows that bond best. Together, they will become a coffee table book honoring the humor, devotion, stubbornness, softness, and unwavering companionship our animals bring into our lives.

Our goal is to donate $10,000 to Great Plains SPCA through this project, helping more animals find the kind of love you already know.

Tender Tails is intentional. Guided. Application-based.

Created for the devoted. The unapologetic. The ones who know this love deserves to be acknowledged.

Celebrate the one who owns your heart and help another find their forever home

Tell us About Your Pet
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Participation Details for Tender Tails, Volume 2

Tender Tails, Volume 2 will feature individual portrait spreads, each celebrating the bond between a pet and the people who love them most.

Participation is application-based. If selected, an $85 application fee confirms your place in the project. This fee is fully donated to Great Plains SPCA. Our goal is to raise $10,000 to support animals who are still waiting to find their forever homes.

What the application fee includes

Each accepted participant receives:

  • A guided weekday studio portrait experience at our Overland Park portrait studio (for up to four people in a family group and up to two pets)

  • A double-page spread in Tender Tails, Volume 2, featuring your chosen portrait along with your thank-you letter to your pet

  • The opportunity to select the portrait that will be featured in the book

  • The opportunity to create custom portrait artwork for your home

  • An invitation to the Tender Tails release party

A note about artwork and books

The $85 application fee does not include custom portrait artwork or copies of the book. Both are available separately, and there is never any pressure to purchase beyond what feels right for you.

Tender Tails is designed to be intentional, meaningful, and guided, allowing you to honor a relationship that matters deeply while supporting animals who are still waiting for their turn to be chosen.

How to Apply for Tender Tails, Volume 2

Apply & Brag a Little

Fill out the application and, in 25 words or fewer, tell us how your pet changed your life. This is not a trick question. Did they carry you through something hard? Do they run the household with velvet paws and iron authority? Have they never met a stranger and assume everyone is here for them? Tell us. If your words make us smile, tear up, or nod in full agreement, you may be exactly who we’re looking for.

The Real Conversation

And then, we go deeper. This is where you overshare. Proudly. We talk about the routines. The habits. The way your dog watches the door when you leave. The way your cat pretends indifference but sleeps pressed against you anyway and what it all means to you. Before portrait day, you’ll also send us your thank-you letter. The real one. The honest one. Because this is not about a cute photo. It’s about the relationship.

Studio Day: Where Personalities Take Center Stage

All portraits are created in our Overland Park studio. People expect chaos. They expect bribery, side-eye, and someone plotting a dramatic exit. But more often, something wonderful happens. Dogs settle into steady devotion. Cats grant us a brief royal audience. Because we are not chasing obedience. We are honoring personality.

Celebrate Where You Live

Afterward, you decide how this relationship will live in your space. For some, it anchors a room. For others, it weaves quietly into the home. This is where it becomes personal. You are not choosing decor. You are making space for the companion who shaped you. The one you’ll see first in the morning and feel at the end of a long day. One day, the house will feel different. You will be grateful you honored what mattered while it was still beside you.

Tender Tails is a limited, application-based studio portrait project in Overland Park created for devoted Kansas City pet parents. Each selected participant receives a guided portrait experience, inclusion in Volume 2 of the Tender Tails book, and the opportunity to create custom artwork honoring their bond. All $85 participation fees are donated to Great Plains SPCA.

Tender Tails is for people who do not minimize what this relationship means. If your dog or cat shapes your routines (you plan your vacation around their needs), steadies you through change (with furry head bumps and wet licks), or becomes your everything (you'd rather netflix on the couch with them than anyone else), this project was created with you in mind. We love crazy dog and cat people because we are too!

That is why this exists.

Most of us never slow down long enough to say thank you or show gratitude. Writing your letter gives you space to focus on what you love most and what this animal truly deserves acknowledgment for. It does not need to be perfect. It just needs to be honest. And don't worry, we have some guidelines to help get you started since letter-writing is becoming a bit of a lost art. 😊

Let's be honest.  You still love and adore your dog even if they don't have perfect obedience. And cats...well they are going to be themselves and let us know exactly what they think of us. 

The studio is designed to allow personality to unfold naturally. Some pets are calm. Some are dramatic. Some grant us a brief audience and leave.

All of it works and we expect zoomies, opinions about whether or not they want to participate and the sudden inability to focus on the word "sit" and "stay". No worries, we are patient and calm, plus we only do 1 or 2 portrait sessions a day.  We have time to accommodate your pet.

Yes. The full $85 participation fee is donated directly to Great Plains SPCA to support animals still waiting for their forever homes. Custom portrait artwork and copies of the book are separate.

Most participants choose to create custom portrait artwork for their home which starts at $1800 and includes all retouching, any of our gorgeous finishes, frames, delivery and installation of your artwork.

We have a large number of different options to choose from for your custom wall art, depending on which portraits you love and how you want to enjoy them.

Also possibilities for your favorite portraits are Treasure Boxes and custom designed albums, both available starting at $1800.  Small portraits to enjoy in your hand are available at only $250.

We are here to help you find your favorites and decide how you'd like to enjoy them without pressure or expectations.

Artwork orders are not required. Some clients are perfectly happy with a couple of 8x10's, others love their portraits and decorate multiple rooms. 

Most participants find that once they see their portraits, they want this relationship represented in their home in a meaningful way, the how is up to them.

Tender Tails is designed to make that decision feel personal, not transactional.

Tender Tails is built around acknowledgment and gratitude.

It combines a guided portrait experience with your written words, creating both a book feature and the opportunity for custom artwork that keeps this relationship present in your daily life. At the same time, it supports a local animal rescue organization.

It is intentional. Limited. And created for those who know this love deserves to be visible.

Yes, we include social media sharing files with many of our portrait collections. However, we don't offer print-ready digital files or printing rights for our custom portrait artwork.

Isn't it great when your phone buzzes with a notification and boom! There's your sweet dog looking at you with those eyes that say so much to you?

We completely understand wanting those everyday moments close at hand. That's exactly why many of our portrait collections include social media sharing files. They're perfect for your phone, sharing with family and friends, or smiling every time you unlock your screen.

But we also believe a relationship this important deserves more than living on a phone.

Every portrait we create is individually finished for the artwork it's meant to become, whether that's a statement piece displayed in your home, an album you'll pass around for years or another custom piece. Because of that, we don't release printing rights. It allows us to make sure every portrait you receive reflects the care, craftsmanship and archival quality that went into creating it in the first place.

Our hope is that every time you walk past your portrait, you're reminded not just of what your pet looked like, but of the love, laughter and companionship you share together.