Spring at Twilight, 2010

We had a cold hard winter

with an abundance of rain late in its season...

... as a result we've had incredible blooms

here at Twilight this Spring...

Twilight is the name of the land

where i have been creating from scratch

in the wilderness these special gardens & orchards

over the last 9 years...

This habitat attracts and makes happy

birds, bees, butterflies, bats, hummingbirds,

hummingbird moths, dragonflies, cicadas, lizards,

snakes, frogs and a plethora of other living creatures

including myself and my animal pack !

ENJOY the bounties of this land...

with love,

from its Greenwoman and all who flock to Her

Brizel Supplies & Handcrafts expands to ArtFire

The world has been spinning faster and faster it seems...

my list of 'to dos' is soooo long

I dont even need to write one at the moment. lol.

Whilst Etsy has been busily creating a vast amount of changes to their site- both visible and behind the scenes... Etsy has been continuing to promote their serious lack of communication skills and/or addressing -real- seller issues in the Forums. And whilst the exterior shell may be looking 'good'... the mysterious lack of sales for many of us successful sellers in the Supply and Vintage categories becomes less of a mystery as the dirt keeps surfacing.

Suffice it to say that it has been a serious wake up call for me and with my vast experience in personal growth... I knew that the only thing I could change was what action I could take to make things better for me. One of those actions was to create an extension of Brizel Supplies and Brizel Handcrafts on ArtFire.com. That's right... there are now two more Brizel shops to enjoy... that's twice the fun !

Brizel Supplies on ArtFire will now be the home base for all the Guatemalan Sashes... Etsy decided that this fabric supply (which had been correctly marketed and tagged) could no longer be presented as a product on Etsy because... wait for it... they were a 'Ready to Wear' item.

Without digressing... ArtFire is welcoming me onboard with open arms and are happy to see these beautiful hand loomed textiles on their site. Brizel Supplies on ArtFire will also be selling beautiful & colorful vintage and modern glass sewing buttons. This is a complimentary store to the one I have on Etsy... with -no duplicates- in merchandise... so if you love buttons... you'll now need to visit BOTH locations.

In the meantime, please note that I am currently -in process- of moving inventory from one shop to the other so I am not perfectly there yet... but everyday I make some progress !

Brizel Handcrafts on ArtFire will also be a complimentary store to my Etsy store. Right now, Brizel Handcrafts on ArtFire is a Basic store... which means I can have unlimited listings completely FREE of charge, no listing or final fees. My plan is to upgrade the store to a Pro membership so that I can have all the bells & whistles and services. These items listed there will be unique to my ArtFire store- so do come and visit... once again, it will take time for me to get this store upgraded & stocked up.

I am very excited to be able to spread the wealth of

my supplies & handcrafts in two separate marketplaces !

Click HERE to see Brizel Supplies on ArtFire

Click HERE to see Brizel Handcrafts on ArtFire

Treasury Thanks... Dragon House of Yuen

Another blustery day up in the mountains... sunny but cold... Brrrr.

Today is general election day in the UK and it is an important day in terms of animal rights... The Conservative party (aka Tories) have promised to lift the hunting ban if they get elected into office and to say the least, this will be sorry news not only for the human race but especially for the beautiful foxes that will fall prey to cruel torture and deaths.

Annette from Dragon House of Yuen has written an excellent blog about it and as a talented curator of Etsy Treasuries, she has put together this fine presentation this morning, which included one of my newest creations:

JUST HORSiNG AROUND

This divine ooak vegan Brizel Handcraft's Silk Tapestry Box, made of handcrafted multicolor banana silk yarn in aqua blue, lavender & purple, is perfect for storing something precious !

LUCKY WOLF is a sweet gentle container, with a lid of its own, embellished with a vintage button: a carved style metal wolf head surrounded by a horseshoe motif... contoured by a luminescent blue grey rim.

A big THANK YOU to Annette for including the box in her beautifully put together treasury... and in return I am delighted to be able to display some of her beautiful blue toned items that I especially enjoy and are available for purchase in her shop... If you have never visited her Dragon House of Yuen store... DO when you have a moment !

Baby Hare "Squirrel"

Young Reindeer

Arabella Rabbit Bag

Annette, Arabella & Baby Hare soft sculpture

Annette about Annette Tait of Dragon House of Yuen... "I grew up Zambia, the Highlands of Scotland and Outback Australia. I am inspired by nature and my love of animals. All my art is animal oriented and my creations come from the heart. All my work is original, everything is my own design and handmade by me with great love and attention. I am a trained graphic and website designer. I support the BUAV, WSPA, Rabbit & Guinea Pig Welfare and the Buckeye House Rabbit Society. Arabella and Wesley, my rescue rabbits, inspired the bags."

Amongst other Etsy Street Teams, Ms.Tait is an active member of the EFA (Etsy For Animals) Team... she is a compassionate animal advocate with a clear intelligent voice... she is well informed about topics she chooses to discuss & present... a talented artist and crafts woman... and a professional thru & thru.

You can visit her fine art web site by clicking HERE... I also highly recommend her blog page: HERE... and of course the Dragon House of Yuen shop HERE. You can also click on listing titles to visit products in our stores.

All images & designs Copyrights

remain the rights of the artists.

Treasury Thanks... Knee Deep Originals

This fine morning, I put out to the Universe that I wanted to see more of my work promoted on blogs and treasuries... and within a few hours I got a note from Rebecca, one of my Efa Team mates from Knee Deep Originals, that one of my tagua nut necklaces was in her beautiful Etsy treasury:

KNEE DEEP in a SOFT SPRING BREEZE

Outrageous Olive in spring blues & greens is part of a series of adjustable necklaces made by me from a very special nut that grows on the edge of the rain forest. After the pods are harvested and the nuts allowed to dry for approximately 3 months, this amazing wood becomes so hard that it is considered to be petrified. It can then be carved and made into buttons, beads, fine wood carvings and even has been used for small knife handles.

My line of Tagua nut jewelry can now be found in my animal fundraising store: brizel4TheAnimals.etsy.com. Click HERE to arrive there !

A big THANK YOU to the Universe and to Rebecca for featuring my necklace and in appreciation... here is a little glimpse of a few items that especially caught my eye in her fine Etsy store: KneeDeepOriginals.etsy.com

Lake at Sunrise

Ocean Mist Necklace

Pet portrait sample

"There are two things I love about art - discovering the soul of my subject as I bring it to a new and different life on canvas, and the element of surprise - you never know what will emerge and what you'll discover."

"When I am not painting, beading, making jewelry, or working on my etsy site and primary website (www.kneedeepstudio.com), I enjoy walking in the woods and around the mountain behind my small house with my two dogs and my husband, a fabulous custom knifemaker. I often carry my camera with me to capture shots that I may later paint. The smell and sounds of the woods and the mountain... well, there's just nothing like it for me. I'm a nature girl at heart."

"I also enjoy gardening, and I love the spring and summer for their wonderful colors of flowers, vegetables, grass, trees, and of course the sunshine and warm rains. There's something special about going out to the garden to pick and gather what you need for your evening meal !"

"I play guitar, write songs, and sing with a band called The Ramshackles and we bill ourselves as "just a little rough around the edges", although really we sound pretty good. We play blues, folk, a little country and a little rock and roll. We are a trio of two guitars and one cello."

THANKS AGAiN REBECCA

I'll be writing more about her work later on this month !

Click on titles to visit product listing & Etsy stores.

Copyrights for text & images

remain the rights of the artists featured

EFA Team April Challenge BUDS & BLOSSOMS

Its already the end of April !

Team Efa (Etsy for Animals) completed its Challenge tour of our membership's April entries... This month's theme was "Buds and Blossoms". LolaLynn, our Challenge Leader, put together two marvelous Etsy Treasuries featuring many of our products. THANK YOU, Lynn :)

I very much enjoyed sipping my honey tea each morning whilst viewing the Challenge entries... it was an absolutely lovely month... so many yummies... THANKS to each one of you for brightening up my day :)

I've selected three of my favorites from each treasury for an up close viewing- ENJOY !

BUDS and BLOSSOMS part 1

Yellow Visitor by HumaneCreations

"These little yellow guys are so cute! They visit us every summer. My original is acrylic paint on canvas board. This print is ink on high quality gloss paper."

Delightful Daisy by Brizel4TheAnimals

"This wondrous multicolored daisy flower pendant will surely brighten your day ! Made from Tagua nut... an eco-friendly renewable petrified wood from the Amazon rain forest... six natural white tear shaped tagua beads have been sewn together and embellished at the center with a purple spiral."

Pop Art Pets by KneeDeepOriginals

"Looking for something a little different in a pet portrait ? If you have a special companion and want to commission a vibrant, unique portrait of him or her, I will be happy to customize a photo that you provide for me into a one of a kind and very special pop art or abstract painting while still showing your pet's own personality !"

BUDS and BLOSSOMS part 2

Kafir Fig by KraftiKats

"I love these beautiful, sunny, daisy like flowers of the Kafir Fig or Hottentot Fig as it is also known. This is an original drawing in watercolour pencils on a sheet of Fabriano paper, 9 1/2" x 12 1/2" (24cms x 32cms) and the image within the outline measures about 8" x 6" (20cms x 15 cms)"

Flower Pot Dog by TheDogHouse

"This moss green fairtrade organic cotton women's hooded sweatshirt features a hand printed image in white of a collie at a windowsill filled with flowers. The sweatshirt is pullover in style with a hood & front pocket. It is made of 80% organic fair trade combed cotton & 20% polyester. The garment has been distressed & washed to to give a vintage look."

Meow Magnet by GoGoBadger

"One-only designs from snippings and clippings from magazines and fabric, preserved into colorful, whimsical and utilitarian items, in this case a magnet."

To visit Team Efa's Challenge Blog... click HERE... there you will be able to see all the entries, read a little about each of these sellers and what advocacy work they participate in on behalf of the animals !

Design & Image Copyright

remains with each artist.

In memory of Nimue

Lately, I have found myself feeling unusually introspective about life and its philosophical ins & outs (the more you know- the less you know ?) I think witnessing death and feeling loss created & intensified that opportunity for me.

Nimue's passing was so unexpected... sudden... final. With the help of ranch friends her body was laid to rest at Twilight by sunset. The overwhelming sadness lingered... and many questions were raised within myself. One of my dear friends is an animal communicator with the incredible ability to reach out & speak to animals on all planes of existence. She was able to talk with Nimue and help us both thru this transition. What a healing gift ! I feel so blessed to have had that service available to us.

I wanted Nimue's memorial ceremony to be a celebration... She was born right before spring and died a month after her 7th birthday. Named after the Welsh Spring Maiden, Nimue ('Nim-way'), her energy was bouncy and lively. Clearly I needed some time to get to that energetic place within myself. When I felt ready to set the date... it was to take place a month after that. It gave me time to process... to create ceremonial items... to order things... to be able to look at photos and... put all the pieces together.

Sunday April 18th arrived and some of my dearest Californian girlfriends & I gathered together here on the ranch and enjoyed an unusual gorgeous sunny day. We spent the morning up at Jo's taking a walk with some of her Icelandic ponies, and then returned to Twilight for Nimue's memorial ceremony, followed by a potluck feast... and in celebration of spring we indulged in a clothing swap !

In memory of Nimue... Altar

Altar dressed in yellow with honeybee hexagon motif... Favorite photos of Nimue throughout her life adorn the wall... A statue of a dog that reminds me of her... a cream dahlia flower that Melinda brought... a vase full of white calla lilies & yellow flowers that Julia contributed... four buddleia butterfly bushes in yellows and pinks... a sunflower platter filled with yellow & white wild flower heads... Nimue's food bowl filled with 70 yellow ribbons... a scrapbook filled with photographs, poems, animal communication scripts and other Nimue related memories... two long burning white candles... a mini skeleton dog dressed in a skirt, scarf & hat... Nimue's dog collar with tags... a white & yellow Brizel silk tapestry memory box with Nimue's fur in it*... A white, yellow, red multicolor Brizel silk tapestry heart plush with a custom Nimue's photo on it*... a wood pendant netsuke carving of Kwan Yin gifted to me by Jo... a platter of ceremonial canine treats and bundt cake*... a white chocolate 3d dog*... an art tile with a dog that reminds me of Nimue*... a platter of individually wrapped dog shaped white sugar cookies made by my friend Laura in VA.

In memory of Nimue... Ceremony

Light candles at altar

Invoke Nimue with Mama Calling

Procession to grave site... celebrants carry Nimue statue, platter of wildflower heads, yellow ribbons in dog bowl, and Buddleia bushes

Set statue in rock nook, plant & water flower bushes, listen to Nimue's Ballad, scatter flowers

Procession to Upper Orchard... celebrants tie 70 yellow ribbons to the fruit trees whilst reciting Nimue's Poem

Return to altar... cut Nimue's bundt cake in three, Merlin & Dingo officiate the start of the feast !

In memory of Nimue... Feast Foods

Many of the edibles were white or yellow or canine theme... dinner the previous night had been a creamed cauliflower potato soup with corn & crusty white bread with white chocolate bark for desert... breakfast was an assortment of eggs, dog shaped toast, baked beans, paw shaped french toast, a fruit salad with bananas... lunch had a variety of yummy salads: marinated sliced yellowed cucumbers, red beets with nuts, an eclectic green salad, vegan wheat gluten faux meats and lemon chicken... we had lemonade & apple juice and even some white wine available... I made a banana vanilla coconut tofu pie in a graham cracker crust... and then there was Laura's dog shaped white sugar cookies which we had all the way at the end !

In memory of Nimue... Gratitude

Thanks to my friend Karen Lisa for all her incredible love, energy & help

Thanks to all my EFA Team mates who have been so very kind & understanding

Thanks to my Etsy friends for all your loving convos of concern

Thanks to my friends Julie & Melinda for sending me sympathy cards

Thanks to Jo for making time to have fun with the ponies (Flyboy, Andi, Kappi, Svoelnir, Mimir)

Thanks to Julia, Melinda, BJ, and Jo for officiating in Nimue's ceremony and for all your gifts of love and generosity

Thanks to my friend Laura G. for the home made ceremonial dog cookies

Thanks to my father & Anne and to my siblings for being in touch and for all their support

In memory of Nimue... *Resource information

Lovely animal buttons & embellishments...

theanimalsmagicshop

Yummy dog & animal treats...

CiaoHound

Canine shaped chocolate dogs...

BeasCreativeCorner

Gorgeous animal artwork & tiles...

carolscanvas

Brizel Silk Tapestry box...

brizelhandcrafts

Brizel Silk Tapestry heart plush...

brizelhandcrafts

Beautiful vintage glass earrings...

lkfarnsworth

Entertaining chocolate mints...

purrfectgifts

All photos are copyrighted 2010 by photographers

Design copyright remain with the artists

Celebrating Nimue

Celebrating Nimue

A photographic journey 2003 - 2010

Memorial service will be held at Twilight

Sunday April 18th

Treasury Thanks... Brizel TAGUA NUT jewelry !

I've been busily listing some of Brizel's Tagua Nut Jewelry into the brizel4TheAnimals store... and feeling quite happy & content about showing it off again. Earth Day will soon be upon us !

Tagua Nut is an eco-friendly renewable petrified wood from the Amazon rain forest... A nut of many names, it grows on the edge of the rainforest on a palm type tree that reaches between twenty & thirty feet tall. Its botanical name is “Phytelephas Macrocarpa Palmae”. “Phyton” is the Greek word for plant and “elephas” means elephant because of the nut's relative large size... It grows in a cluster formation called ‘cabeza’ (head) and when the nut ripens it simply falls to the ground.

Vegetable "ivory", a generic name for this gorgeous wood, is harvested & dried over a period of three months at which point it is considered petrified. Under its brown skin lies a beautiful natural white "ivory" like material. In the olden days, many buttons were made from this natural material because it could easily be cut, turned, engraved & dyed. Also known as Corrozzo, tagua has also been traditionally used for miniature carvings, providing an animal friendly alternative to real ivory. Today, the main industry for the tagua nut seems to be focused on bead making supplies... creating an entirely new opportunity for jewelry.

Some of my EFA team colleagues discovered Brizel's new tagua nut jewelry listings and within days, three ETSY TREASURiES featured some of my offerings.

BLUEtiful by SunlightGlassJewelry

Pictured above is one of Brizel's Delightful Daisy tagua nut pendants.

Thank You SunlightGlassJewelry for the lovely feature !

feast your eyes on one of her beautiful fused dichroid glass pendants

STRiNGS ATTACHED by thoseparasoldays

Love is the Key, a mixed media necklace with tagua nut pebble & ceramic alphabet beads, and embellished with a silver plated key charm. This necklace is a limited edition of 15, each one in a different color !

Thank you to thoseparasoldays for including my necklace... Here's a delightful fairytale print from one of her original watercolours, which she named: Best of Friends.

BE KiND TO ANiMALS by Heathrock

Here's a multicolored Spiral Wrap Bracelet,

made of cubed tagua nut alternating with silver plated beads.

Thank you, Heathrock for the feature !

Here's a fun looking butterfly, a hand painted piece

by her which she calls: Be.Free

I will be listing a variety of tagua nut jewelry items into my brizel4TheAnimals' store... feel free to stop in for a visit and browse thru the selection. (You can click on any of the links provided to either visit my listings/stores... or the treasury makers shop/listing.) ENJOY !

HAPPY SPRiNG &/OR AUTUMN to all who tip toe thru my blog and Etsy stores !