A letter of gratitude...

I wanted to share

a letter of gratitude

that I received from Rodger Schlickeisen

- President & CEO of Defenders of Wildlife -

I had nominated DOW for Team EFA's (Etsy For Animals) Charity of the Month program & they were chosen as our COTM for the month of September.

"Dear Nicole, and the rest of the great people at Team EFA.

I wanted to write and thank you personally for selecting Defenders of Wildlife as the recipient of your September fund raising efforts. We're delighted to have the support of such creative, energetic people!

It's been particularly nice to read all of the detailed blog posts you've written about Defenders' work, and to see the comments from your community members about your love for animals and your support of our efforts. We've gotten good response to our own posts to our blog and social media channels as well - there are a lot of Etsy fans among our supporters!

Our communities certainly share an appreciation for our nation's wildlife. Hopefully this month's collaboration has been as beneficial for EFA, as it has been for Defenders of Wildlife.

Thanks again,

signed...

Rodger Schlickeisen

handwritten note:

We are extremely grateful for your help"

I was thrilled to receive a letter with such personal touch... and included with it was an adorable sea turtle plush ! How does it get better than that ? lol

Turtle will be once again making a journey... as she will be sent on to Heather of thebluewindmill as gratitude for all her tremendous efforts in writing a variety of articles for our DOW campaign last month.

The work to assist Defenders of Wildlife is, of course, never ending... My Etsy shop brizel4TheAnimals will continue to donate 20% of animal themed Silk Tapestry Box sales to animal charities- 10% to Defenders of Wildlife as well as 10% to EFA's continuing cotm program.

ViSiT DOW's WEBSITE

www.defenders.org

To read about Defenders of Wildlife

see September 1 EFA blog post HERE

Treasuries for a cause: Defenders of Wildlife Campaign

September saw a very busy month for me as the charity that I nominated for Team EFA's Charity of the Month was chosen.

As my previous posts have sung many praises, Defenders of Wildlife is an organization that I have fallen in love with not only because I have found so many of my values for safeguarding our wildlife and wilderness reflected in their work... but because DOW take on a successful scientific & creative approach to finding solutions for this modern day which include the legal presentation of petitions, signed by thousands of people, in order to affect a congressional change in our governmental system. Times are changing but only through a tremendous amount of effort on our parts !

Below you will find the Treasuries that were created to support the DOW campaign, along with the petition links for each particular cause... in case you haven't had the chance to sign them yet - please take a peek !

DEFENDERS

curated by thedoghouse

Thanks for featuring my Southwest Wolf Silk Tapestry box !

AT THE WATERS EDGE

curated by KneeDeepOriginals

Thanks for featuring my Sacred Fish Silk Tapestry Box !

PETITION

https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1799

RED FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

curated by KneeDeepOriginals

Thanks for featuring my Dragonfly Silk Tapestry Box !

PETITION

https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1859

SUPPORT A NEW BEGINNING

FOR WOLVES

curated by CobaltCat & brizel4TheAnimals

My Howling Wolf Silk Tapestry Box is featured here !

PETITION

https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1851

FACING THE FIGHT WITH BLACK & WHITE

curated by KneeDeepOriginals

Thanks for featuring my beautiful owl fabric !

PETITION

https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1779

ADDRESSiNG CLiMATE CHANGE

polar bears need our help !

curated by brizel4TheAnimals

& created by CobaltCat

PETITION

https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1779

SEA TURTLES

curated by thebluewindmill

Thanks for featuring my Sea Turtle Silk Tapestry Box !

PETITION

https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1779

FUN iN THE SEA

Sea Otter Awareness Week

curated by thebluewindmill

Thanks for featuring my Sea Otter Silk Tapestry Box !

I want to thank the EFA COTM Team for pooling together our resources to put forth a strong campaign on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife during the month of September. Special thanks to: Heather & Lisa for writing some grand articles; Rebecca, Jane & Heather for creating awesome Treasuries; Michele & Patty for their enthusiastic posting on Facebook & Twitter; to Courtney for helping me curate & manifest my first two Treasuries; to the EFA members who participate in our cotm program and to the clients that bought the merchandise which benefited DOW. Last but not least THANK YOU to Defenders of Wildlife for promoting our efforts which helped manifest better results.

ViSiT Defenders of Wildlife WEBSITE

to learn more about their good work

www.defenders.org

Celebrating World Animal Day !

Today all over the world organizations, small & large, and individual people are celebrating & honoring animals. Its World Animal Day !

World Animal Day is an organization headquartered in the UK, whose mission is to spread the word about animals and to help motivate people internationally to create & do something special for animals on this day. You can visit their website HERE. I especially liked the slideshow that displays what people's activities/events are today and I also love their Mission Statement, which reads:

* To celebrate animal life in all its forms.

* To celebrate humankind’s relationship with the animal kingdom.

* To acknowledge the diverse roles that animals play

in our lives –

from being our companions,

supporting and helping us,

to bringing a sense of wonder into our lives.

* To acknowledge and be thankful for the way

in which animals enrich our lives.

***

"Hi, my name is Nicole and I have now become a Treasury maker." LOL

It was only a matter of time really, since I actually have professional experience in curating gallery shows... but I had to wait until Etsy changed & upgraded their Treasury making system because how it used to be was pretty fanatical... kind of like camping outside your movie theater 48 hrs in advance in order to see a premier show or folks lining up 24 hrs ahead of time to get good seats at the Wimbledon tennis matches. As a teenager I remember making & selling sandwiches to people like that :)

Here is a Treasury curated by me with exquisite animal portraits created by EFA team members...

CELEBRATE WORLD ANiMAL DAY

curated by brizel4TheAnimals

featuring 100% EFA members:

FeaturingAnimals, KneeDeepOriginals, oceloeyes,

carolscanvas, wildcatphotography, aktie9,

artbyakiko, JMcGuiness, urbanimal,

brownrose, TracyTeeter, PhotogenicGallery,

mvegan5, blindwolfspirit, SavageArtWorks

Team EFA (Etsy for Animals) is a group of more than 600 independent: artists, craftspeople, vintage & art/craft suppliers that combine their efforts to provide charitable relief to animals through their sales and donation contributions. Some of us work with animal rescues and adopt or foster them into our homes... then there are those brave souls who work and volunteer their time at animal shelters... or those who work tirelessly to raise funds for animal organizations... or those who sign petitions to protect the rights of our furry/feathered/scaly friends through animal advocacy work.

Never doubt for a moment that all of this makes a difference...

"EFA is a diverse group with a common bond - working to help animals. Here are some examples of that work: animal volunteer work, animal foster work, providing permanent home for animals, creating habitat for animals, fund raising for animals, animal advocacy work, donating to animal charities, participating in EFA's Charity of the Month, crafting for the benefit of animals."

If YOU love animals & have found a way to help them out in a tangible way- I tip my hat to you who walk that path: THANK YOU for all that you do to help the animals !

The artists featured in this Etsy Treasury have created some stunning images and animal portraits, please come visit this Treasury and if you like their style: check out their individual shops to see more of their work !

30/30 Silk Tapestry Box Challenge

Accepting the 30/30 Challenge !

At the beginning of last month, one of my Etsy for Animals (EFA) Team colleagues made a challenge... to make and list 30 handmade products in 30 days. I was already juiced up and in production mode on my animal themed Silk Tapestry Boxes but accepting the 30/30 challenge was an opportunity to commit to producing a set amount. I was stoked and ready for it !

The silk yarns that I use to create Brizel's Silk Tapestry products are made from reclaimed silk threads and loom warps, left overs from a silk sari garment factories... they are reclaimed and hand spun into gorgeous thick sport weight yarns. The vegan Silk Tapestry Boxes are made with banana silk yarn, a silk like yarn made from banana fibers; rayon yarn and/or cotton/hemp yarn.

Here are all 30 of the animal Silk Tapestry Boxes I listed during the month of September... they are are embellished with novelty buttons, hand painted ceramic beads, carved gemstone beads or metal findings:

Autumn Squirrel

Beckoning Cat

Bee Dance

Blue Butterfly

Bold Eagle

Cheetah Face

Cobalt Cougar

Earth Pony

Feral Feline

Floating Sea Otter

Forest Toad

Forest Wolf

Fruit Bat

Howling Wolf

LadyBug

Leaf Frog

Lunar Moth

Mama Bear

Oliver Owl

Papa Polar Bear

Prairie Bison

Russian Blue Cat

Smiling Fox

Southwest Wolf

Sunset Raven

Terrier Dog

Tropical Frog

Tundra Elk

White Rabbit

Woodland Stag

20% of all brizel4TheAnimals' Silk Tapestry Boxes go to benefit animal charities: 10% to Defenders of Wildlife and 10% to Team EFA's Charity of the Month program, which benefits The Feral Cat Rescue Program: http://feral-kitten-rescue.blogspot.com/ this month.

To peruse through my animal

Silk Tapestry Boxes - click HERE!

To visit my shop

brizel4TheAnimals

Click HERE !