Ode to Dog

In native American tradition the animal of the West, as told in the Medicine Cards by Sams & Carson, is the teacher that "leads you to your personal truth and inner answers. It also shows you the path to your goals".

My animal medicine teacher of the West is Dog...

2006, Merlin & Me with Nimue & Dingo

Dogs, of course, are well known to be a person's best friend... a loyal true guardian who has been serving humanity for eternity. Dogs are usually devoted, faithful, and deeply sympathetic of our 'lot in life'... which is to say that they are dedicated to compassionately forgiving any & all our character defects. Dogs ability to love us unconditionally dictates that they will give their human companions second chances over & over again. Dog teaches us about delving into service work.... and on the other 'paw', they also give us the opportunity to lighten up and be more playful !

Here is the Treasury I put together of dog inspired handcrafts...

ODE TO DOG

curated by brizel4TheAnimals

click HERE to visit Treasury

It was very exciting to rummage through Etsy for dog items... I started by selecting Team EFA products because so many of my favorite Etsy colleagues make dog theme art.

Rebecca from KneeDeepOriginals creates some fabulous pop art paintings which I adore... Patty from DogBarks crafts these incredible dog plushes and custom art tote bags... Carol from carolscanvas has the most adorable dog portraits on the planet... Jane from thedoghouse has human & dog accessories to drool for... KaysK9s puts together these felted dog ornaments that are mind boggling beautiful... and so on & so forth... lol

It was a pleasure to feature other artisans as well... excited to discover the Zodiac Dog print by Thailan and the Faithful Dog Necklace by LuannUdell which is something that i would love to wear myself... it looks like bone or ivory but is actually made from polymer to resemble an ancient artifact. I adore it ! Is it too late to pray to Santa ?! lol

I wanted to be sure to represent my own canine pack in this Treasury... Nimue is 'there' in the shape of a white greyhound, a print that i continue to lust for, and I found a dog print to represent my very own Dingo girl (abstractly speaking because she is not a yellow dog by any means). lol

Merlin got to make his very own personal appearance... A quick snapshot I took when my friends, Lisa & Jane, were putting together a Holiday Guide for Dog Lovers and wanted to feature one of Brizel's Silk Tapestry Boxes...

"Brizel Handcrafts presents, Puppy Dreams, a unique handmade decorative Silk Tapestry Box, made of recycled silk sari yarn, perfect as a memory keepsake !

Merlin is a shy boy but here he is pictured with Puppy Dreams. He has been with me since he was a pup... abandoned at the vets door along with his siblings shortly after their birth... they were bottle fed & reared there until they were 3 mo old. I visited them every couple of days & waited patiently until Merlin & his sister, Nimue, came to live with me :)"

"Puppy Dreams is a soft fiber arts container, with a lid of its own, featuring multicolor rainbow silk & embellished with a puppy dog pewter metal vintage button."

This special silk box would make a super memory box and fur keeper.


"This lovely Silk Tapestry Box measures approx: 3 3/4" in diameter x 2" high with an inside 2 3/4" in diameter x 1 3/4" high"

Puppy Dreams is available for purchase at thebrizel4TheAnimals store - click HERE !

To view the full collection of animal theme boxes, one can click here... to see other silk tapestry boxes and silkworks, please visit the Brizel Handcrafts ArtFire Studio here.