Monday's Potpourri

OK, I know its Tuesday evening. Yes, I'm late. But I'm still calling it Monday's Potpourri. Just cuz I can! Now on to business.

I have some very special artists to feature today to celebrate the return of Monday's Potpourri after a short summer hiatus.

The first artist is a return guest in our Monday Potpourri. Pam Carriker has created the most beautiful and striking mixed media art and it has a wonderful cause. Beauty in Strength was created in honor of Pam's step mother who is battling breast cancer. The original of this art was sold in about an hour after being posted in Pam's on line shop. But Pam is selling prints in her print shop thebagladysart. All profit from the sale of Beauty in Strength will be sent to the Susan G Koman foundation to help fund breast cancer research. I know you will want to take a closer look at this poignant work of art and perhaps purchase a print as a gift for a friend or maybe even yourself. And while you are in Pam's shop, take a look around at her other great art.

The next featured artist is StardustLove, a mother-daughter team from the Rio Grande. Rosanne and Hester of StardustLove contribute 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the beautiful jewelry in their shop to a variety of charities from humanitarian to conservation and also to animal rescue. Each of their pieces of jewelry is claimed for a particular charity. Today I want to share the Snow Leopard necklace. The sale of this lovely blue adornment will benefit the World Wildlife Fund. While you are in StardustLove's shop, be sure and read about the different charities they support with their sales. It will be an education.

Next is one of my very favorite artist friends, Annette Tait of dragonhouseofYuen. Here you see Baby Hare Beauty wearing her floral ensemble. Annette lives in Scotland with her rescued bunnies Arabella and Wesley who brighten and inspire her days. She is a member of EFA/artists helping animals and a portion of her proceeds goes to help animal charities. Annette's creative mind is always fun and entertaining. Check out her shop and blog for an enjoyable read.

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Toby

Toby is a Norwegian Forest Cat. They are unusually large and quite smart. Unfortunately, at some point in his life Toby ended up living in a shelter - Felines Inc., located in Chicago. At the shelter Toby met Ingrid, a photographer who sells photographic portraits of cats to raise needed funds for the shelter. Eventually Toby's beautiful portrait was posted in 9livesPhotography on etsy where 50 - 100% of the profits of sales goes to fund either Felines Inc. or Animal Care League, both in Chicago. When I first saw Toby's photo I was captivated by his whole look. He looked almost wild and yet gentle. What I really wanted to do was to drive up to Chicago and adopt him. But since that was impossible, I was so pleased to discover that Toby had been adopted in April of this year. So with Ingrid's permission, I have drawn a graphite pencil portrait of Toby. I will be creating cards and more with this image and 15% of the profit will go to the shelter that helped Toby, Felines Inc. Also, because I find Toby's image so inspiring, I will be using it in more artistic ways in the future. And will always make a donation to his shelter out of the profits from his image.

If you are interested in having a portrait done of your precious cat or maybe even your special dog, check out my portrait website. You will find much information there and can contact me if you have more questions. You will want to start the process soon if the portrait is to be a Christmas present. Wind and Honey Creations

And don't forget the great Weekend Deal Sale for the Melange Team - only 2 more days left!

The ETSY street team "Melange" is having a WEEKEND DEAL of 15% off all or many things, excluding shipping. Melange is a group of Mixed Media Artists, many of whom have been published. Each shop may also have additional sales of their own. The following is a list of active, participating Melange members who are participating in the WEEKEND DEAL from August 7th, through the 9th.

After the item is purchased and paid for, a refund will be issued for the total discount via Pay Pal or other methods in which the payment was made. It is currently not possible to make the adjustments at payment time. Every shop has their own set of policies in place, so please make yourself familiar with each new shop.

We hope you enjoy "Melange" as much we do!"

MaureenTillman.etsy.com
twocooltexans.etsy.com
vanessevaDesigns.etsy.com
Vintagesnapsandscrap.etsy.com
FauveBohemian.etsy.com
Collageartgirl.etsy.com
Whyte.etsy.com
Artsnark.etsy.com
Studio27.etsy.com
WindandHoney.etsy.com
LDPhotography.etsy.com
MidwestieLady.etsy.com
Loudlife.etsy.com
Paperdreamer.etsy.com
Thebagladysart.etsy.com
Mamapainter.etsy.com
http://prettylittlependant.etsy.com

SALE, SALE, SALE

The ETSY street team "Melange" is having a WEEKEND DEAL of 15% off many things in their shops, excluding shipping. Melange is a group of Mixed Media Artists, many of whom have been published. Each shop may also have additional sales of their own. The following is a list of active, Melange members who are participating in the WEEKEND DEAL from August 7th, through the 9th.

After the item is purchased and paid for, a refund will be issued for the total discount via Pay Pal or other methods in which the payment was made. It is currently not possible to make the adjustments at payment time.

Every shop has their own set of policies in place, so please make yourself familiar with each new shop.

In my shop you will want to look at the 'ON SALE' section that will be to the right of your screen. Everything in the 'ON SALE' section will be 15% off of the price you see listed. This is a great opportunity to start your Christmas shopping early.

We hope you enjoy "Melange" as much we do!

WindandHoney.etsy.com
MaureenTillman.etsy.com
twocooltexans.etsy.com
vanessevaDesigns.etsy.com
Vintagesnapsandscrap.etsy.com
FauveBohemian.etsy.com
Collageartgirl.etsy.com

prettylittlependant.etsy.com
Whyte.etsy.com
Artsnark.etsy.com
Studio27.etsy.com
LDPhotography.etsy.com
MidwestieLady.etsy.com
Loudlife.etsy.com
Paperdreamer.etsy.com
Thebagladysart.etsy.com
Mamapainter.etsy.com

And now for your visual pleasure, here are some photos of my garden

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Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!

If you know much about me at all by now, you know that I am a member of EFA/Artists Helping Animals. And you know that I passionately love animals. Several of the members of EFA are preparing for a treasury by Vicki Diane called Artist Up Front. We have each prepared a photo of ourselves with one of our beloved animal friends and a piece of our art. I'm not really fond of putting my face out there but I'll do just about anything to help raise money that will help the animals. The picture I have chosen is unusual enough that I thought it might bear some explanation. So here is Daniel's story.

A few years back I was working at an animal park that rescued exotic animals. Most of the animals we had were previously purchased as pets by someone else. Quickly people discover that a lion or a tiger is not just a really big house cat and that they can not be trained like a dog. And even others discover that the baby alligator is not like some cute desert lizard. And unlike the mammal cats, the reptile alligator won't ever even decide it likes you. Zoos will not take these animals usually bred for profit. So, what to do? That is where we came in. We took those animals and tried to provide them with a safe and caring environment.

Daniel was brought to us at 2 1/2 months old after he had received a horrible head injury leaving him semi comatose. I spent 12 hour days with him the first week with him draped across my chest so he could hear my heartbeat. Not only did he eventually wake up and begin to fight to live, but also he and I had developed a very strong bond.

I wanted to name Daniel some really cool African name, since that was all of Africa he would ever know. But I was outvoted and he became Daniel. His injury at the back of his head left him with optic nerve damage and coordination and balance problems. He saw many doctors of various kinds. Much of it helped. But the veterinary acupuncture made the most difference.

Daniel was very affectionate and if I got about 6 inches from his face, I could ask him for a kiss and he would reach over and rub the side of his face on each side of my face. And he loved to rock. We had a special rocking chair that we would rock in when his head hurt. It comforted him. And later, well he just loved to rock for the fun of it.

At thirteen months of age Daniel started to have grand mal seizures as a result of his injury. Eventually one particularly bad seizure was so severe he was not able to escape it and he died in my arms.

Daniel was so precious to me. He brought healing to the little girl's heart inside of me in many ways. And I will always treasure those memories. But the truth is Daniel should never have existed. He was the result of breeding on a farm in the US that makes money by breeding and selling exotic animals - a place where he was abused. These animals should not be here. They should not be in cages. They should be in the wild in Africa (or other places for some animals) where they belong.

Whispers of Grace