EFA: Etsy For Animals Etsy For Animals: July 2011


Etsy for Animals (EFA) aka Artists Helping Animals,

is a team of independent artists, craftspeople,

vintage sellers and craft suppliers on Etsy.com

who are dedicated to providing charitable relief to animals

by donating a portion of the profits from their shops

to an animal charity of their choosing,

and/or to EFA's featured Charity of the Month.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

August Monthly Challenge Theme: Reptiles Rock


August 2011

Monthly Challenge Theme:

Reptiles Rock



Show your love for your favorite reptile... be it turtle, snake, or lizard... by entering August’s Monthly Challenge: Reptiles Rock !!


Here is a famous poem by Emily Dickinson for some inspiration…



A NARROW FELLOW IN THE GRASS


A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides--
You may have met Him--
did you not
His notice sudden is--

The Grass divides as with a Comb--
A spotted shaft is seen--
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on--

He likes a Boggy Acre
A Floor too cool for Corn--
Yet when a Boy, and Barefoot--
I more than once at Noon

Have passed, I thought, a Whip lash
Unbraiding in the Sun
When stooping to secure it
It wrinkled, and was gone--

Several of Nature's People
I know, and they know me--
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality--

But never met this Fellow
Attended, or alone
Without a tighter breathing
And Zero at the Bone--



What an awe-inspiring affect snakes have on us!

So what are you waiting for?

Let’s see your take on “Reptiles Rock”!


Simply tag your entries “teamefareptiles” without the quotation marks and convo them to Jessicalynneart. We are now taking entries until August 7th!


Remember, when we've received sixteen qualifying entries they will be entered in our Challenge Competition where the winner will get a free one month advertising slot on either the EFA website or the Challenge blog, winner’s choice, for the following month!



For further information on August’s Monthly Challenge... check out this link:http://www.etsy.com/teams/6354/efa-etsy-for-animals/discuss/8740252/



Thanks !
Heather of TheBlueWindmill

Saturday, July 30, 2011

weekly Animal Petitions Corner

Presented by Alicia of WoodsEdge



1. Stop the University of Washington’s Cruel Ferret Lab


Pediatrics residents at UW learn about endotracheal intubation by repeatedly forcing tubes down the throats of live ferrets, which is painful and can cause tracheal bruising and bleeding


The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under the premise that the university is violating the AWA by using live animals when alternatives are available.


Sign the petition asking the dean of UW’s School of Medicine to replace live animals with simulators.


http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-university-of-washingtons-cruel-ferret-lab-3



2. Save Badgers from Slaughter


Even though the badger is a protected species in the UK and Europe, England is considering large-scale badger culls as a way to stop the spread of bovine tuberculosis to cattle. In addition to the cruelty involved, scientists have proven that these culls do nothing to prevent the spread of the disease and in some cases can actually increase it.


Sign the petition asking Minister David Cameron to put science before greed and stop the cull.


http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/875/000/653/



3. Save Prairie Dogs in South Dakota from Poisoning


Prairie dogs are considered a keystone species that are vital to the prairie ecosystem.

South Dakota plans on poisoning prairie dogs, despite the risks of losing this species and of secondary poisoning of predators who scavenge as well.


Sign the petition asking South Dakota Department of Agriculture to relocate them instead.


http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/relocation-for-prarie-dog--not-poison/




Help The Animals

Take 1-2-3 Actions Today !

THANKS


Friday, July 29, 2011

Pet Loss and Creative Therapy


Pet Loss and Creative Therapy
written by Terri of BlindSquirrel



About ten years ago I made a pet loss movie and put it on the web, and to this day I still get emails about it. I’ve written a lot of consoling replies to people who are experiencing one of the most painful things a person has to endure. Usually it is a dog or cat but sometimes bunnies, horses, or ferrets. It doesn’t matter what kind of animal it was, they have suffered a genuine loss of a companion.


After all, those wonderful creatures shared a life with them. They took part in their daily routines, recreation, work, meals, holidays, crises, celebrations, and family traditions. They had nicknames, habits, traits, likes, and dislikes. They had individuality all their own and when they are gone it is devastating.





Our critters are taken from us so unfairly quickly on this Earth. Why is their life span so much shorter than ours? Why do we receive them into our lives knowing that it will end in heartbreak a few years later?


We all know the cliché answers like “Life’s not fair” or “It all happens for a reason,” but trite statements like these are hardly consoling. I don’t have the magic answers to those questions, but there is something you can do to deal with some of your grief.





Create a project to memorialize your pet.


The act of making something to remember them by will aide in your grieving process. A lasting memorial that will illustrate how much they meant, and that they were important. Something that says, “You will be missed.”


When my German Shepherd Baloo died, I went through my pictures of her and got copies made of a really gorgeous shot of her in our back yard. I mounted them on the front of blank greeting cards and included a printout I wrote up. Writing about Baloo was difficult but I wanted to let the world see her though my eyes. To give them an idea of what kind of dog she was when she was relaxed with the family. When I mailed them out, to all our friends and family, I felt I had done something constructive.



Baloo


Mind you, it did very little to ease my pain at that time, but looking back it was therapeutic having a dedicated project that was all for her. The time and effort it took to make them all was my labor of love. It hurt, and it was not easy, but I did it for her. I did it to show that she mattered. To show that she was important to me, and that she would be loved and remembered forever.


The important lesson is that doing something proactive was a good thing. It works out some of your feelings and puts them into a creative endeavor.






Utilize your artistic ability to make a commemorative project about your lost pet. It should be a significant effort. Don’t just put a picture in a frame, do something that took some time and thought.


Feel free to use my idea of sending out cards to friends and family with their picture and your words of tribute.





Here are some other suggestions:


Gather a collection for a shadowbox frame and include toys, collar, bowl, a poem, and other mementos. Line the back wall with a collage of pictures of them.


Make something handmade to contain their ashes. There’s no rule saying it has to be in a ceramic urn. Get a metal or wooden box “blank” and decorate it with a mosaic of their name, or decoupage with pictures and words.





Make a slideshow with music and photos. Use PowerPoint for PCs and Keynote for Macs.


Make a charm bracelet with mini photos of them and themed charms.


A hand drawn or painted portrait of them.


Write a story about them.





Take whatever talents you have and create something tangible.


Other gestures, of course, are fine... planting a tree, donating to an animal cause in their name, but is it really coming from someplace inside you?


Make something from your heart.


It’s not about “closure” either because it is far from being closed, but it is cathartic. It starts the healing process that is long and difficult.


The pain and sadness never go away entirely but over time it does ease.



Remember what’s important -- that you gave an animal a lifetime of love and protection.


Remind yourself that they had a good and happy existence, and that was no small thing. In fact, it was everything.


***


Terri Pike is BlindSquirrel on Etsy, and EFA member and webmaster since 2009. The Rainbow Bridge movie can be found at www.indigo.org/rainbow


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