~ Clean up Oil Spills with Fur and Hair ~

I was reading blogs and came across an article about the oil spill from blueberryshoes. She said, "400 wildlife species are threatened by the spill. Whales, tuna, and shrimp; dozens of species of birds; land animals such as the gray fox and white-tailed deer; and amphibians such as the alligator and the snapping turtle. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune)". That's a lot! You may think there's nothing you can do since you are no where close to the spill and you don't have extra money lying around. But, there's an easy and cheap way to help! All you need is hair or fur! As you can see, I have plenty of both.


Well, with an impending wedding, I am not going to cut my hair any time soon. But it is summer so Momo needs a haircut anyway. Look at all that fur that came off Momo. I think that's enough to make one mat.


This is a little shorter than I like him to be, and yes, I know it's not very even. I am not a professional groomer after all.


So, what to do with the fur? Send it to Matter of Trust! All you have to do is sign up (link here) and mail in all the extra fur and hair you have. They prefer it to be clean though. Don't just sweep your floor and send them the strands of hair along with dust and dirt. They also prefer donations from groups instead of individuals to minimize processing overheads. See how happy Momo is? That's 'cause he will be saving other animals from the oil spills!


I am planning on mailing out the fur next week. If any of you want to trim your furbaby for this cause, I can do it for you. Keep in mind that it won't be a professional groom. But, it will grow out in a week or so, good or bad. If you are a groomer or a stylist, please join this great cause!!!

~ Please Support My Friend at OneSight ~

My awesome friend Raechelle is going to China for an OneSight event. OneSight is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving vision for those in need in North America and in developing countries around the world. Since 1988, OneSight has helped more than seven million people on five continents and in hundreds of communities across North America see clearly.


Raechelle is an optometrist. Lens Crafters is sponsoring her to go to China to provide vision checks and glasses. She already went to Thailand once for an event and she helped hundreds of people see clearly! I think it's so awesome that she's using her professional skills to help people in such a fundamental way. She was so excited when she came back from Thailand and told me about all the people she found glasses for. I remember she talked about these twins who had similar prescriptions. It's hard to find 2 pair of donated glasses that are that close in prescription, but she found them so both of the kids can see clearly now!


I am nearly blind without my glasses and I can't even imagine living without them. But, millions of people live without eye care in the world. Raechelle and OneSight are doing what they can so people can see and feel better about themselves and live a better life. She's trying to raise $500 in addition to volunteering her time. I hope you would support her by donating any amount of money you can to OneSight by clicking here.

Got old glasses lying around? You can donate them! Donate yours today at any: LensCrafters, ILORI, Optical Shop of Aspen, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Target Optical or participating local practitioner. You can find a location near you on the OneSight website.

~ HeartsforHaiti: Etsy Community Contribute to Haiti ~

I don't usually blog twice in a day, but I feel that this is worth a new post. A few days ago, I saw someone on Facebook post about HeartsforHaiti, which is an Etsy shop that was specially set up for Haiti. According to the shop announcement, "This is an Etsy collective of donated items from hundreds of Etsy shops to raise money to rebuild Haiti. 100% of the proceeds from this shop (minus Etsy fees and Paypal fees) go directly to DoctorsWithoutBorders (http://doctorswithoutborders.org ). This shop has permission to use the DoctorsWithoutBorders name and a separate bank account and Paypal account have been opened to maintain the integrity of this shop."

There are a few ways you can get involved. The easiest is to spread the word about this shop. You can, of course, check out the 700+ items in the shop and buy something you like. There's a great variety like supplies, jewelry, geek stuff, cards and even banners for your Etsy shop.


You can also donate to the shop. Please read the donation guide to find out more. I donated a set of froggy beads which sold already. But, I have another set, so I told them to relist it.


I also donated this beautiful necklace. Check these out!


I also bought some hair clips from HeartsforHaiti. They have new stuff every day so I have been checking daily. I hope you find something great!

~ Packing Party for Operation Christmas Child ~

A little while ago, I posted about Operation Christmas Child and what a wonderful cause it is. Their collection week is over, but one of my friends found a way to donate a massive amount of boxes easily. So, a bunch of us got together this past Sunday and packed boxes.


We wrapped them out with colorful wrapping paper and started packing! There was a big variety of items like plushes, pencils, pens, barbie dolls, purses, lots of jewelry, little toys and even some clothes. Check out this awesome box! This is good enough for 2 girls!


Of course, we are not all neat like that. We have some boxes that were more eclectic. I think it's still good! There's a lot of stuf in there!


Look at these stacks! It only took about 2.5 hours.



Don't I look proud? I really enjoyed packing these boxes. It feels good to do something so meaningful and productive with friends. Next year, I am going to try to do it again!


I hope you and your friends can get together, have a good time and pack up some boxes too! You don't have to wrap them if you don't want to. Just pack them up with fun stuff and it'll be greatly appreciated!


Remember, you can send completed boxes year-round to their headquarters:

Operation Christmas Child
Samaritan's Purse
P.O. Box 3000
801 Bamboo Road
Boone, NC 28607

Happy Holidays!

~ Operation Christmas Child ~

One of my friends posted a note on Facebook today about Operation Christmas Child. Basically, you take a nice shoe box and fill it with items that you think a child may like. Then, you drop it off with a small donation of $7 and it'll go to a child in need. November 16th - 23rd is the national collection week and there are a lot of locations. Look for one near you here! I was excited to see that one of the locations is right behind my house!


Operation Christmas Child is organized by Samaritan's Purse. It looks like a great organization. They are Christian-based and do a lot of other activities like helping general surgeons who wanted to volunteer for short-term mission trips. There are a few touching stories on the site so be sure to check it out!


What are you going to put in your boxes? Here's a list of suggested item for a girl. There are many items that you fellow Etsians make! I am sure these girls would love some handmade items. You can leave a little note in the box about what handmade means.

• Doll - I know you have a lot of these!
  
• Clip-on earrings
• Bangles
  
• Necklace - I definitely have a bunch of these lying around ;)
  
• Hair bands
• Scrunchies - I have so many cute little ones that I collected on my travels. I am glad I can give these away to someone in need!
  
• Hair brush
• Comb
• Bar of wrapped soap - If you have a soap shop, you probably have a few bars that didn't come out of the moulds right. So, it'll be perfect for this donation. Or, you can just make a batch for these boxes. I am sure these children would appreciate it! Maybe, they will even be inspired by your soaps!
  
• Sponge
• Soft toy
• Finger puppet - come on Etsians! I see a lot of cute little finger puppets in your stores. Want to give some away?
  
• Jigsaw
• Yo-yo
• Small musical instrument
• Felt pens
• Pens
• Pencils
• Pencil sharpener
• Rubber - I think this is eraser in American English :)
  
• Colouring book - I know a few of you make these too.
  
• Notepad - You make these! I know you do!
  
• Puzzle book
• Pencil case
• Stickers - I have plenty of these!!!
  
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Gloves
• Scarf - I have a lot of these too! All you knitters probably can give a lot of these!
  
• Sunglasses
• Hat

The gifts don't have to fill up the box. A lot of these items are just things lying around in our house that we may not even use! Wouldn't it nice to just pack them up and give it to someone who needs them? Here's a list of items for boys:

• Cars
• Trucks
• Small ball
• Teddy bear
• Finger puppet
• Jigsaw
• Yo-yo
• Balloons
• Small musical instrument
• Felt pens
• Pens
• Pencils
• Puzzle book
• Pencil case
• Stickers
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Gloves
• Scarf
• Sunglasses,
• Cap Rubber
• Colouring book
• Notepad
• Pencil sharpener

Don't worry if you can't make it to a donation center this week. I know everyone is busy with preparation for Thanksgiving. You can send completed boxes year-round to their headquarters:

Operation Christmas Child
Samaritan's Purse
P.O. Box 3000
801 Bamboo Road
Boone, NC 28607


My friends and I are planning on getting together to pack and decorate boxes soon. I hope you and your friends will do the same. If you don't have time, it's fine. Just spread the word! See the little retweet button on top of this post? Just click on it! Then, all your 1000 followers will find out about this great cause. Or just tell your coworkers and family and friends. Anything little thing you do now will help bring a smile and hope to children across the world!

~ Wish upon a Thousand Cranes ~

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. I recently saw a thread on the Etsy forum titled "*Please Help* with "1,000 Wishes for Jen" Origami Cranes for Brain Cancer" that motivated me to start folding these little cranes.


Jen is fighting a brain tumor. Even though I doubt a few paper cranes will cure her, I am folding for her because I think this will give her encouragement to continue fighting. Here's an excerpt from her CaringBridge website:

Just before the end of the school year in May, Fairfield Middle School Spanish and French teacher discovered she has an anaplastic astrocytoma, or grade-three tumor, after experiencing two occasions of speech and memory loss: one was when she couldn’t recall student names. The other time was when she was running and could not speak.

The tumor, which has attached itself to the front left side of her brain, is inoperable, she said, but it is responding to treatment.

Since discovering it was cancerous this June, Fox said she has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She also takes anti-seizure medication to ensure she can continue teaching.

You can go here to read more about this 1000 crane project here. The page has instructions for folding the cranes and address to send the cranes to. Folding these is not trivial and it does take time. But, your hands aren't doing anything while you are watching TV right? So, fold a few while you watch your favorite shows this week. I did a dozen while watching a little TV with my fiance today. You can use magazine paper. Just cut them up into nice 4 - 5 inch squares. See, that way you are recycling too!


Let's show Jen that life is worth fighting for :)

~ PAWS 4K Walk ~

This past weekend, while I was gorging myself with food in New York City, my brother and sister-in-law took their boys on the PAWS 8K Run/4K Walk. Thanks to all my wonderful customers, I was able to donate $50 to them. Here are some pictures from my brother.

Aren't these cute??

Sister-in-law and her best friend walking the boys...my brother was just going around snapping pictures. Lazy butt....

This is the oldest one...Miko. He refused to walk after a while.

After the walk, there was an agility course for them to play with. How fun! I wish I can let Momo try something like that. This is Milo. He was adopted from HALO.

Special thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for giving me the opportunity to help PAWS. By the way, I used to think I will never get a dog. Then, I met Miko and he is just such a cutie~! So, I couldn't resist and went searching for a Havanese and found Momo. So, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have my big bundle of joy waiting for me at home :)

~ Pay It Forward on Etsy ~

I listed my first PIF (pay it forward) item today. PIF items usually cost only shipping and listing fee, which means the item is free! After purchase, the buyer is supposed to list a PIF item in their shop or perform a random act of kindness for someone. Here's my first PIF item, made from beads I got from glittercritter, who graciously sent me supplies for free when one of my suppliers refused to refund or send me my backordered items.


I was looking through Etsy and found some awesome PIFs. I must admit that there are some PIF listings on Etsy that are not really PIFs. These are all true to the PIF spirit though. Take a look!

From MissBettyLou, PIF Fuschia Pearl Earrings


From shegreetstheday, An Apple for Life Keychain

Wisdom Earrings


From PoshWashsoap, Bubble Yum Lip Balm

Mineral Eye Shadow


From Orglamix, mineral eye shadow


From Thebarefootshaman, Super Sioux Tomato Hierloom seeds


Remember to pay if forward!

~ The Kindness of the Etsy Community ~

[image from mamamonkey.etsy.com ... click to go to the shop]

I know there are many other handmade sites for artists out there. But, I have stuck with Etsy and one of the main reason is that I love the Etsy community. Some people say there are a lot of drama and calling out, and yes there is. But, there is also a lot of support and just simple kindness here.

A special act of this kindness has been bestowed upon me and I am so very happy. Here's the story...A supplier didn't send me my backordered items and are very unresponsive. So, I was very frustrated and posted this in the forums:

"I ordered about $90 worth of sterling silver findings and tools during a sale at a bead store online. It's not a very big bead store and they have a physical store in Florida. I figured it was a good sale and bought a bunch of stuff and I have bought from them before. It's been 6 months and they have not shipped me the backordered items which is about $80 worth of supplies. I have emailed and emailed and they stopped responding to my emails. The last email I got said "We will ship your items when they arrive". That was in April. I started calling them 2 weeks ago. Supposedly, they changed owners. The guy I talked to said, he'll call me back. He didn't. Called again. He said he's driving and he'll call me back. He didn't. Call again, he said he's driving and he'll call me back. He didn't. Called again. No answer so I left a message. I am not asking for money back. I just want my headpins. Now, I have ordered from other small suppliers who have physical stores and everything worked out fine. I am very disappointed now and will think twice...no probably 10 times...before ordering from a small supplier again. I paid with Paypal so I am about to file a complaint through them. I know it's been a long time and I should have file the complaint probably 3 months ago. I just wanted to talk to a person there before I do that."

I got a few comments and advice about how I can try to get my money back or get a response from the supplier. One person actually convoed me and offered to send me some sterling silver head pins! I declined because I can't just accept free things from her for no reason. But she insisted. So, I figured, her shop has cute stuff, so I'll just order some headpins from her.

I just got the package yesterday, super fast shipping! And there's so much more inside than I ordered!!! She's such a sweetie that she took time to look at my shop and put together this thoughtful package.


I was so shocked and surprised and I just couldn't believe it. After I thanked her for the package, she told me what her great aunt once told her ...

"the way to live a life you're happy with is to do random acts of kindness every day. One for your children if you have them, one for your parents if they're still around, one for your mate, one for a friend and one for someone you don't know."

Sometimes you may think everyone in the world is out to look out for themselves. But, there are people who will genuinely help others for no other reason than to be kind. I have decided that all the extras I got will be made into special jewelry that I will list as PIF (pay it forward) items. Thanks you Margaret from GlitterCritter. Your kindness is very much appreciated.

~ World Ocean Day ~

Today (ok...I am a little bit late, sorry) is the first official World Ocean Day! According to Wikipedia,

World Oceans Day was officially declared by the United Nations as June 8th each year beginning in 2009.^[1] The concept was proposed on 8 June 1992 by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and it had been unofficially celebrated every year since then as World Ocean Day.^[2]

On the first World Oceans Day the Secretary-General of the United Nations gave the following message:

The first observance of World Oceans Day allows us to highlight the many ways in which oceans contribute to society. It is also an opportunity to recognize the considerable challenges we face in maintaining their capacity to regulate the global climate, supply essential ecosystem services and provide sustainable livelihoods and safe recreation.

Indeed, human activities are taking a terrible toll on the world’s oceans and seas. Vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as corals, and important fisheries are being damaged by over-exploitation, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, destructive fishing practices, invasive alien species and marine pollution, especially from land-based sources. Increased sea temperatures, sea-level rise and ocean acidification caused by climate change pose a further threat to marine life, coastal and island communities and national economies.

Oceans are also affected by criminal activity. Piracy and armed robbery against ships threaten the lives of seafarers and the safety of international shipping, which transports 90 per cent of the world’s goods. Smuggling of illegal drugs and the trafficking of persons by sea are further examples of how criminal activities threaten lives and the peace and security of the oceans.

Several international instruments drawn up under the auspices of the United Nations address these numerous challenges. At their centre lies the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It provides the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out, and is the basis for international cooperation at all levels. In addition to aiming at universal participation, the world must do more to implement this Convention and to uphold the rule of law on the seas and oceans.

So, I just want to take this opportunity to share with you how I conserve water and resources in my life to minimize my carbon footprint. I think I mentioned some of these for Earth Day already.

• My family has a lot of fish tanks. Every time we change water, we don't just drain it in the sink. We use it to water our garden.
• We save egg shells, peanut shells and other organic food byproducts, powder them and use them as fertilizer.
  
• I take short showers.
  
• When I wash my hands, I turn off the faucet when I am lathering up with soap.
• I reuse and recycle as much as I can. Check out my posts about things my dad and I have reused.
• I don't print anything I don't absolutely need.
• I used to only carry a small purse. But, now, I carry a big purse. So, if I need to buy anything (except groceries), I can just stick it in my purse and tell them to save the plastic bags.
• I don't use pee pads for Momo. I use newspaper.
• I work 8 miles away from home. I like to minimize the amount I have to drive.
• I turn off all the lights when I am the last one to leave my office.
  
• I reuse bubble mailers for my Etsy shop.

What did you do for our oceans lately?