Eggs-Travaganza Easter Benefit Raffle… for The Whiskers' Syndicate

Eggs-Travaganza 

Easter Benefit Raffle… 

for The Whiskers' Syndicate

Brizel would like to announce a very special fundraising event: An Eggs-travanza Easter Raffle benefiting The Whiskers' Syndicate, a fantastic feline rescue sanctuary in Bandung Indonesia. It's run by an EFA colleague and friend, Josie, an extraordinary animal advocate doing incredible things in adverse conditions. Brizel Supplies sponsors The Whiskers Syndicate on a monthly basis.

We thought we would do something fun this month and fundraise by doing a raffle. In fact, I admit its 'all my fault' since it was my idea. So we have these wonderful Brizel items up for grabs as prizes for ticket buyers. Check them out !

Above is a very special silk tapestry art box, made by Brizel Handcrafts (aka me) and it will be given to the person whom buys the most tickets. Its a soft container made with two different yarns- one is a brown rayon yarn with rainbow silk sari bits in it- the other is a light blue silk sari yarn. Silk sari yarn is made from reclaimed material- discarded left over loom warps from weaving factories. The material is rescued and spun into yarn. This little box was embellished with a vintage playful kitten button- totally ready to pounce on you !

Here's another Brizel Handcrafts silk tapestry art box. This little soft container is made from banana silk yarn, its a vegan silk like yarn made from banana fibres. The top of the box has been embellished with a vintage, cute easter chick button. This is a ticket drawn prize. One of the kitties at TWS will choose the winner.

Courtesy of Brizel4TheAnimals… this is not just a fabric that you see, and seriously, you don't need to be a seamstress to use this vintage yet brilliantly fresh-coloured sash. Handmade in Guatemala, this vintage, yet new, cotton sash is 3 1/2" wide by approximately 89" long, this fabric is great for belt and obi making... festival or special event costumes, outfits and embellishment projects... for making guitar or drum straps... for making hat scarves or head bands... use as decorative trim or as small banners... or anything else that your imagination would like to make with it ! This is a ticket drawn prize. One of the kitties at TWS will choose the winner.

A delightful tagua nut daisy pendant necklace… hangs on a faux swede ribbon cord… totally vegan and animal friendly… Tagua nut is the seed of a certain palm tree an you know what? It is used to replace ivory, so now you don't have to kill an elephant to be fancy. ha ha ha. One of the kitties at TWS will be very happy to locate a winning ticket for you.

More tagua nut beads, teamed up with silver plated findings… there earrings will give cheer to your ear lobes during any season. also donated by Brizel with feline magic to draw the winning ticket. You cant win without one of those (wink).

Lastly in the pile of Brizel donations to win from this splendiferous event… a tagua nut medallion disc stretch bracelet in a dark navy blue. If you've never worn tagua nut- its silky and smooth :) 

Raffle Details Here

Tickets are:
1 for $1
6 for $5
15 for $10

All you have to do is click on the donate button at the top of TWS FB page to purchase your tickets. (Or you can go to their website and click on the Chip-In donate button in the left column.) If you require any assistance- you can contact me through my Brizel4TheAnimals shop.

On April 26th Josie will toss all the tickets on the floor and let the kitties choose the winners. She's promised to video all the ruckus and fun with the cats so that will be a prize in itself.

During the week you will have opportunities to "win" tickets as well. Josie is going to come up with three questions about The Whiskers' Syndicate so you can all learn a bit more about the sanctuary. You may have to go over to the website to find the answer but that is part of the fun. That's our Easter Egg hunt. The first three people to answer the questions correctly will win an extra ticket for the drawing.

Additionally, the person who does the most sharing of the Easter Egg-Travaganza posts next week will receive 2 tickets for the drawing.

Then there will also be a prize for the person who buys the most tickets and does the most sharing of the Easter Egg-Travaganza posts during the week.

So get ready for some fun next week and brush up on your Whiskers' Syndicate history for chances to win extra tickets for our fabulous prizes.

Brizel's Organic Apple Wood Chew Sticks and Dried Gourmet Apple Slice Combo Packs are Now Available !

Brizel's Organic Apple 

Wood Chew Sticks and 

Dried Gourmet Apple Slice 

Combo Packs are 

Now Available !

All eighteen apple trees were pruned between January 15th and the 27th... we have had an absolutely gorgeous January & have dried out from an extremely wet December. What a beautiful way to start the New Year !

I spent this entire blessed afternoon sorting through all the downsized apple wood cuttings which were hand cut from all the pruned wood... and spent the time figuring out how I wanted to pair up the wood with my dried apple fruit slices. 

I devised four different combo packs... and still kept several lots of just plain and simple apple wood chew sticks. Here's how I worked them out:

LOVE your Critter 

Treats Gourmet Combo Pack

Organic Apple Wood Chews 'n Fruit Slices

(2 oz Dried Fruit / 12 oz Wood)

fits in a flat rate padded envelop

MiNi Treats Gourmet Combo Packet

Organic Apple Wood Chews 'n Fruit Slices

(2 oz Dried Fruit / 12 oz Wood)

fits in a flat rate padded envelop

Critter Treats

Gourmet Combo Pack

Organic Apple Wood Chews 'n Fruit Slices

(4 oz Dried Fruit / 24 oz Wood)

fits in a flat rate medium box

BULK 

Gourmet Critter Treats Combo Pack

Organic Apple Wood Chews 'n Fruit Slices

(1 lb Dried Fruit / 32 oz Wood)

fits in a flat rate medium box

Treats for Rabbits n Rodents 

Organic Apple Wood Chew Sticks

(24 oz Wood)

fits in a flat rate padded envelop

Now Available at

Brizel4TheAnimals

- Limited inventory -

Hare today - gone tomorrow !

If there is Magic on this Planet, it is Contained in Water...

I'm on a roll this week... today I want to share an extra special Etsy Treasury that brizel4TheAnimals was included on...

If there is Magic on this Planet...

it is Contained in Water

curated by ArtsDesireable

Click HERE to visit Treasury !

The title of the Treasury is a quotation by Loran Eiseley from his book: The Immense Journey: An Imaginative Naturalist Explores the Mysteries of Man and Nature, 1957.

I must admit that I do not recollect having any knowledge of Loran Eiseley... evidently he was "an American anthropologist, educator, philosopher, and natural science writer, who taught and published books from the 1950s through the 1970s."

"He was noted as a “scholar and writer of imagination and grace,” which gained him a reputation and record of accomplishment far beyond the campus where he taught for 30 years. Publishers Weekly referred to him as "the modern Thoreau." (wikipedia)

Other wonderful quotes by this writer:

“The journey is difficult, immense. We will travel as far as we can, but we cannot in one lifetime see all that we would like to see or to learn all that we hunger to know.”

“One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human.”

Speaking of eyes and reflections... this is the Brizel item

that was included in this wondrous Treasury...

Big Blue Ocean Finger Fish Novelty Fabric

..." An exquisite school of finger fish swim in the ocean blue... so realistic and wondrous... in silvery blues with blueberry tones."

THANKS for the feature Artsdesireable !

Cornish Stream Pebbles

Limited Edition print / Oil Pastel Painting

by Douglas Maxwell of ArtsDesireable

- ABOUT Douglas Maxwell -

"I have always been passionate about Art. I have worked as an Art Director in advertising, a Creative Director of a Children’s Book Publishing Company. I have worked as a Creative Consultant for The Beatles, then Paul McCartney and published and managed Roger Mc Gough - the UK’s best selling poet."

"I have written about Art too, interviewing several major contemporary artists, among them Robert Rauschenberg, Sir Peter Blake and the Photographer David Bailey. I could go on, but I’ll restrain myself."

"Throughout all these years I’ve made pictures, taken photographs. I have always loved landscape and seascape- painting, drawing also in photography. Recently I have rediscovered Collage, and have produced several series in Limited Edition form."

ViSiT Artsdesireable !

More animals have moved into brizel4TheAnimals !

The animal pack that was living at Brizel Supplies on ArtFire, where my large collection of sewing buttons reside, decided they wanted more animal companionship... SO being the good animal mama that I am... they are now residing in the brizel4TheAnimals Etsy shop where all my animal theme Silk Tapestry Boxes are hibernating !

Here are a few of those new residents that eagerly await adoption... more are on their way to our mountain shelter !

Little Blue Kitten feline purrfection

Pink Mama Bunny

Spring Butterfly

Iridescent Purple Moth

Rootbeer Cat

Galloping Fairy Horse

Hand Painted Butterfly

Magical Faerie Dragonfly

Feline Pirate

Tropical Frog

Do come visit

brizel4TheAnimals' Czech glass animals

by clicking HERE !

Please also come visit

Brizel Supplies to see other

gorgeous Czech glass buttons :)

xo

Are you ready for the Big Bunny Party ?

Chinese New Year is around the corner... just about a week away !

It will debut on the first New Moon in February... I've been cleaning up a storm at my house because it is 'traditional' to get all of the old year cleared 'out' before welcoming in a new year. I'm making good progress !

This year, the world will be celebrating in the streets with giant articulated hares... that's right, its gonna be one giant bunny party because 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit... So... are you ready for the big bunny party, yet ?

All is quiet with Twilight's local hare population. January is a time for pruning the apple trees here... I'm also getting ready for Imbolc, the cross quarter sabbat between Winter Solstice & Spring Equinox. I love this time of year... and look forward to doing my devotional work with Brigit, including making Brizel's apple wood Brigid Crosses.

Most of the smaller apple wood branches that have buds at their tips get cut to size and put aside to dry for next year's crosses whilst the remaining wood gets pruned for Brizel's Gourmet Gnawer Chew Sticks. Most pet rabbits, chinchillas, & rodents love them and it is truly awesome for these city animals to have fresh organic chews to munch on.

This year, I've created a new listing just for them...

The Blessed Bunny Bundle !

"This Blessed Bunny Bundle is the ticket to please those hares of yours...

21 oz of organic gourmet apple wood chew sticks

03 oz freshly picked rosemary sprigs

x1 plastic bunny (which the human gets to keep)

The apple wood gnawers measure between 7-8" long and their thickness will vary between 1/8" to 7/8" (I hand cut & create an assortment of different sizes for each order !) You can expect some tasty little buds at the tips of some of these chew sticks... an extra way to say 'I love you' to those fur ball friends of yours <3

The fresh rosemary sprigs will also measure approx 7-8" and you may even see some yummy tasting flowers attached to these green twigs since the rosemary bushes bloom at this time of year !

The plastic bunny will arrive in one of these variable colors: orange, pink, purple, yellow, green or blue !"

FURTHER INFORMATiON about the Blessed Bunny Bundle

"The apple wood chew sticks have just been pruned from my very own apple orchard... this is a special grouping of trees, eighteen in total, each one bearing a different variety of apple. This orchard is planted in a huge spiral, with lavender bushes between each, and with a large path that winds between them.

Rosemary loves it here at Twilight, located up in the No. California mountains where the air is oh-so-fresh ! Feel free to feed fresh or dried :)

I raise these trees & plants myself and do not use ANY spray on them, either chemical or organic... so what you get is 100% all natural, unsprayed, untreated raw apple wood and rosemary.

Please store in cool place as you would any fresh vegetable !"

HARE TODAY GONE TOMORROW

"Please note... I AM NOT AN EXPERT ON GNAWER TREATS- you may want to check with your vet or pet store to make sure your pet breed may like to chew on apple wood sticks... I cannot make any guarantees on whether they will or not... but MANY & MOST species of rabbits, rodents, & chinchillas find them absolutely delicious and irresistible... providing them with hours of entertainment & chewing exercise.

Rosemary is listed and documented to be a safe herb for rabbits & buns alike."

***

So... the Year of the Rabbit is almost upon us...

have you got your Big Bunny Party organized yet ?

Have you lined up some special treats for the buns' buffet ?

If not,

The Blessed Bunny Bundle can be found HERE &

all Apple Wood Gourmet Chew Sticks are HERE

These are ready to ship out NOW via Priority Mail

to all US destinations except Alaska & Hawaii !

- inventory is limited & seasonal -

Celebrating Birds

Seems to me like an interesting time of year to celebrate our feathered friends... especially for those who experience colder winters as many of their regional birds hibernate or fly south during this time period.

So... Who would have known that National Bird Day is January 5th ? It was a surprise to me... until it flew right in my face on -the actual day- "Oh my goodness" I explained and promptly ran down to the Etsy house of Treasury and created this flighty collection

CELEBRATiNG BiRDS

curated by brizel4TheAnimals

Click HERE to visit Treasury !

I'm very pleased with how this Treasury composed itself... Soft hues of white, grey, blue, pink... many of which highlighted by blacks or a smidge of yellow...

Deliriously delighted with all the beautiful artwork displayed in this collection... all of them created by colleagues from my Etsy for Animals team including one of Brizel's Silk Tapestry Boxes...

"... Bold Eagle, a unique handmade decorative Silk Tapestry product, made of banana silk yarns, is perfect for storing a memory keeper !

Bold Eagle is a soft fiber arts basket container featuring vegan banana silk yarn in tones of golden yellows paired up with a variegated sky blue yarn. It has a lid of its own which is embellished with a carved pewter eagle."

Bold Eagle, as well as many other animal theme Silk Tapestry Boxes, can be purchased in my animal fundraising shop. Click HERE to visit my shop on Etsy !

Also amidst the many aviary wonders...

one of my favorites

WiNTER SONG

original painting

by Rebecca Dresser

"In the silvery woods lit with falling snow, you might spot this beautiful little titmouse, keeping an eye out for his next meal. The background is painted with pearlescent white acrylic which gives a beautiful shimmery appearance. The very pale trees are also acrylic, but the titmouse is painted with creamy oils. On the top are small strokes and drips of the pearlescent white to give the look of falling snow."

Rebecca Dresser has long time been a lover of birds... she is, in fact, a queen of tweets... much evidenced in her Etsy shop, KneeDeepOriginals, which is filled with original artwork portraying our feathered friends in oil, watercolor, and scrimshaw engravings....

"Welcome to Knee Deep Studio where nature-inspired, soul-created watercolors and oil paintings come to life. There is and will be only one of each item that you see in my store. Each is handmade to be one-of-a-kind because I believe that each item is special in itself and that we all deserve to own one-of-a-kind items. Please note that all my work is created in a smoke-free environment in the middle of the North Carolina woods."

MORE FAVORITES...

SOLSTiCE SONG OF PEACE

original watercolor

CAROLiNA WREN

original oil painting

BLACK BEAUTY

original oil painting

BiRD ON A BRANCH

original scrimshaw engraving

MORE ABOUT REBECCA...

"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.

I have been working as a full-time artist since November of 2007. Prior to that, I worked as a Communication Director in graphic layout and marketing and as a writing instructor at a state university. I am a member of my local Arts Council as well as Associated Artists, a non-profit arts group designed to promote and showcase local talent. I have had solo shows as well as group shows within these organizations and outside of them. My most recent solo show was in October 2010 at the Apple Gallery of the Stokes County Arts Council.

All of my work is influenced by the natural world around my home (mountains, woods, birds and wildlife, gardens of all kinds), whether in color, texture, or materials. Each of my paintings is original and one of a kind. At this time, I do not do prints of my paintings or drawings, though I know some people prefer this because it is less expensive. I have recently added watercolor paintings to my Etsy shop. These are less expensive than oils, particulary the miniature unframed pieces, so there is affordable and original art for all!

I also play guitar, write songs, and sing with a band called The Ramshackles. We play blues, folk, a little country and a little rock and roll. We are a trio of two guitars and one cello. You can check us out on myspace at -- http://www.myspace.com/theramshacklesnc -- and my first CD of original tunes is available here in my Etsy shop.

When I am not creating art or music, 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 (www.jbhegecustomknives.com). 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!

While I am mostly an introvert, I find that being with others can be fulfilling at times. So something else that keeps me busy is volunteer work that I do in my community. I am an adult literacy tutor and have sessions with my student twice a week, and I also go a couple times a month to a local nursing home where I sing with and for the residents as well as just visit and offer an ear and a hand. Volunteering in my small community makes me feel a part of something beyond myself and it brings a sense of wholeness."

I highly recommend visiting

Rebecca's online sites !

BLOG

MUSIC

WEBSiTE

SHOP