Vegan Holiday Shopping Made Easy

Hi folks! For those of you who are vegan, or just like to support vegans, did you know I have a list of other vegan Etsy sellers (besides myself of course) in the sidebar of my blog? I though it would be a good time to highlight my fellow vegan artists so you can all send them lots of business with your holiday shopping. I'll post the list here just so you don't have to go searching for it -

• AnabellaDesigns
• asacco9642
• brokedownbarn
• DaisyWares
• darktemptations
• goddessnaturals
• hellokiddo
• JadeParade
• julep115
• lilypig
• Literatavian
• midnightrabbits
• mvegan5
  
• silentlotus
• SomethingSparkly
• teenytinytantrums
• threadedglass
• vegandish
• VeganHoney
• vesselsandwares
  
• zakiyaa

Also check out the EtsyVeg blog, which contains a list that also includes vegetarian sellers. Now go do some shopping!

SALE!

I just went through both of my Etsy shops and marked down a bunch of stuff! Be sure to check out my sale beads and sale jewelry; there's still plenty of time to order in time for the holidays.

Fruits of my labor...

Here are some custom order rings I finished in the last couple of days. Forgive the less than perfect picture quality on a few of these; it's very dark and stormy here and I was having trouble getting good results without my usual sunlight.

Cloudy aquamarine & sterling silver ring

Labradorite & sterling silver mens' ring

another view

Distressed finish lapis & sterling silver ring

Included quartz and sterling silver ring

Rose quartz and sterling silver ring

Faceted labradorite & sterling silver ring

Monthly Contest, with a twist

Okay, it's that time again... are you ready to compete for my monthly $25 gift certificate giveaway? This time I'm going to make you work for it. Here's what you have to do... visit my bead shop and my jewelry shop and scour my listings until you find the one item that contains the message "happy holidays" within the item description.

The first person who identifies the correct listing by posting the name of the item in a comment on this post wins $25 to spend in either of my shops! Happy hunting...

November Jewelry for Charity Recap & December Kick-off

Wow - November was my busiest month yet! Not only were my sales totals the highest they have ever been in any previous month, but my sales for the month were more than ten times what they were last November. Thank you Etsy!!!

The best part of making lots of sales is being able to write bigger checks to my featured charities! November's recipient was Behrhorst Partners for Development, a group working to improve the lives of rural people in Guatemala. I am putting a check in the mail to them today for $404, bringing my total contributions under my Jewelry for Charity program to a whopping $2,238!

Thanks so much to all of you who patronized my jewelry shop and my bead shop during the last month. Remember, 5% of your purchase always goes directly to charity!

Hopefully December will be a great month as well... this month's recipient is Farm Sanctuary.

Farm Sanctuary was founded in 1986 to combat the abuses of industrialized farming and to encourage a new awareness and understanding about "farm animals." At the sanctuary, these animals are friends, not food.

Farm Sanctuary volunteers started out by visiting farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses to document conditions, and found animals literally left for dead. Hilda, a sheep found on a pile of dead animals behind a stockyard, was the first animal to be rescued by Farm Sanctuary. She lived there for more than a decade, and died of old age.

Hilda

Over the years, Farm Sanctuary has rescued thousands of animals, and educated millions of people about their plight. People are shocked to learn about the intolerable conditions that are commonplace on today's industrialized farms.

Farm Sanctuary's rescue and education work continues, as they advocate for laws and policies to prevent suffering and promote compassion. They are reaching out to legislators and businesses, and working to bring about institutional reforms.

When Farm Sanctuary started in 1986, it was a fledgling, all volunteer organization that was funded by sales of veggie hot dogs from a VW van. Today, Farm Sanctuary has grown to become one of the nation's leading farm animal protection organizations, with hundreds of thousands of supporters.

Farm Sanctuary remains solidly committed to our founding vision, while expanding our vital rescue, education and advocacy efforts.

For a unique and meaningful holiday gift, this year please consider sponsoring an animal at Farm Sanctuary in honor of a loved one!

'Year of the Dog' Review & Quote of the Day

Matt and I watched Year of the Dog last night and I must say, if I had to choose any movie character throughout history who I think most resembles me (personality-wise, not appearance-wise), it would be Peggy, the protagonist of this story (Peggy is played by Molly Shannon). Consider the following similarities:

• Stuck working in boring administrative jobs (fortunately for me, I escaped a couple of years ago);
• Unusually attached to her dog(s);
• Journey towards animal rights activism and veganism launched by premature loss of beloved dog;
• Veganism inspired by fellow dog rescuing volunteer;
• Suffers alienation from friends and family due to increasing commitment to animal rights causes and veganism;
• Struggles to find balance between hope/action and despair.
  

Fortunately for me, the similarities are not universal... I have friends and family who love and accept me (most of them, at least!), plus a great husband and son. Peggy is a bit of a social outcast who relates better to dogs than to people.

The movie was a comedy/drama, so there were wonderful little bits of Molly-Shannon-ness sprinkled throughout the sometimes dark and sad parts of the movie.

{If you don't want to have the plot spoiled for you, stop reading here.}

A quick overview - after her beloved beagle, Pencil, dies before his time, Peggy becomes involved in dog rescue, which soon leads her to veganism and farm animal activism. Her friends and family are alternately bewildered, amused, and irritated by her newfound passions. (Laura Dern is especially wonderful as Peggy's saccharin sweet, neurotic, controlling, hilarious sister-in-law.)

Peggy suffers numerous losses, and eventually goes a little nutso and makes some, shall we say, bad decisions. She loses her job and puts her relationships in jeopardy. Ultimately though, she pulls through, gets her job back, and seems to achieve some semblance of balance in her life.

So, why am I telling you all this? Basically just to set up my quote of the day. At the close of the movie, Peggy sends the following in an email to her friends and family as she embarks on a bus full of fellow animal activists to go to an animal rights demonstration.

If you all didn’t think I was crazy, I’m sure you will now. How do I explain the things I’ve said and done? How do I explain the person I’ve become? I know I’ve disappointed everyone and I’m sorry for that. I wish I was a more articulate person.

I believe life is magical. It is so precious. And there are so many kinds of life in this life; so many things to love. The love for a husband or a wife, a boyfriend or girlfriend, the love for children, the love for yourself, and even material things. This is my love. It is mine. And it fills me, and it defines me, and it compels me on.

Something about this passage really touched me. Because really, what is animal activism, if not love? It feels powerful to claim it as my love. And it feels wonderful to admit that, like Peggy, it fills me, and defines me, and compels me on.

Updated Tattoo Pic

A few people said they wanted to see a picture of my tattoo once it healed, so I thought I'd post one here... it's still just a bit pink, but much better than before. It also needs some touch-up, but I've been procrastinating going back in because I know it will look and feel icky again when I do, at least for a while.