So the wolf talisman jars and charm necklaces are officially FOR SALE!

I'm starting a fund raiser to benefit my local wolf sanctuary as well as participate in a benefit walk for Native American youth living on reservations. The fundraiser will go on until August when I go visit the sanctuary. I will be picking up a few frozen turkeys and take up at least one painting to donate to their charity auctions as well as bringing them a decent monetary donation. The benefit walk is in June, depending on how much I have saved for the wolves will determine how much I skim off and give to SOTY. They ask a minimum of $5, but I'm going to try to give at least $25.

I couldn't find an official website that had even info, but here's the description of the benefit walk:

"June 4 Save Our Tribal Youth Walk SOTY is a non-profit organization to help feed and clothe Native American children across the country. With a donation of $5 or more, walk with us at noon on Sat. starting at the NW end of WalMart parking lot in Lancaster. We will walk 8 miles but you may turn back at anytime. Raindate: Sat. June 18 @ noon."


To read about the wolf sanctuary, check out :Wolf Sanctuary of PA

So from now until the beginning of August ANY wolf related items will benefit their kind.

What I have so far:

Wolf Talisman Jars - These are small jars (about an inch tall once the cork is on them) filled with loose wolf fur and some gemstones, some will also have a piece of either wolf lip or wolf leather. They are $8 (shipping included) and $5 from each sale will benefit the wolves.

Wolf Charm Necklaces (VERY limited!) - These charm necklaces come on an adjustable cotton cord and have a bundle of wolf fur as well as a small wolf bone with a few wooden beads. Coyote teeth and claws may be added for free at request. They are $35, and $27 goes to the wolves.


Because these sales are separate from my regular items I have a separate chart for people who are waiting for one. Because these are going to a donation pool I ask that you send the money on paypal as a GIFT, or paypal will take it's portion for fees.

Wolf Item Sales Chart

If you already ordered on you can send payment (again, as 'gift') to deathbymexico [at] yahoo.com

Don't forget to mention your username or something so I know who send what and send me a note with your address, and remind me it's for a Talisman Jar!

So far I have everything READY for orders, I'm now waiting for payment. I do have more fur so I can start making more jars as soon as I get orders for them. Some gemstones are limited but I have quite a few in my art bins, so ask if you're interested in something you don't see.

I have a shipping date scheduled for next week, if you don't send payment by Thursday (early) unless I have at least 3 other things to mail it'll be 2 weeks before I go back to the post office.

If you have any questions about any of this please ask.

Now I gotta go make a fire for spring

I'll post more later :>

I just hot new fur in got jars, but the person who donated the wolf fur was VERY generous, so I'll be making several wolf necklaces similar to these:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9932009/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9885827/

I have wolf bones and wolf fur, I do not have teeth or claws, so I'll offer the option to add on a coyote claw and canine for $3 more (which is just the cost of the items)


I have a VERY limited number of wolf bones, 4 ATM. So these will be pretty much first come first serve.
I'm looking to get $35 for these necklaces, again, I'm only keeping a small portion to cover materials. So for each one I sell $27 will go to the wolves.

I have 3 types of wolf fur to choose from: Arctic (white) Canadian, and Alaskan (both of those are grey and brown, the Canadian is REALLY long!)


I'll allow people to "put their names on one" for now, but I won't be accepting payment until next week, when I'll be selling the jars. Which, by the way, I'm back to making. I have all the ones requested made, and waiting for me to be ready to sell/ship.

The list is here: Waiting List


If anyone else wanted a talisman jar Let me know, I have enough amethyst to make ONE jar, but I also have; jasper, granite, tiger's eye, and jade. I have a pretty decent container of mixed gemstones, too, but those are the ones I KNOW for sure I have. The talisman jars are $8 shipping included, and $5 from each sale go to the doggies.

I think that's all I have to mention for these for now, I'm gonna go make up a charm necklace now for a sample. :>

If you wanted a wolf jar, and I replied to your comment saying I had one for you, I still do!
I just had a HUGE response for them, and I've been SUPER busy all week.

I found someone who is going to trade me for some more loose fur, so by Wednesday at the latest I'll have more fur to make more!

I DO NOT want payment for these quite yet, the only one I actually sent out was the malachite one because the person already bought something else from me and I wanted to ship it with their necklace.
I'm holding off on payment because I'm starting a donation pool for the wolves and I don't want the donation money to get mixed up with my supply budget.

I'm about to make myself 2 more charts that will be publicly viewed, one for the current donation totals, and one for wolf jar orders.
FA has a TERRIBLE note system... I get SO many messages lost, and I need to get in the habit of just deleting messages that have no significant information right away.

Another thing to keep in mind is I have a few more wolf related items coming up soon, these ones will also benefit the wolves, there will be at least 5 charm necklaces and possibly one cuff.

I'll come back to this journal and add in links to my charts once they're all done, if this is causing any inconvenience for anyone who wanted one, I am VERY sorry, but I REALLY need to keep this all organized. The last thing I want is for some of the money that's supposed to help the doggies go to the wrong place.

Once I get everything in order I'll reply to each individual comment on the original submission just to make sure everyone is informed about the situation.

Again, sorry if this is throwing anyone off, but I need to make sure I'm doing this right.

---

EDIT

Waiting List

If you wanted one but are not on the list LET ME KNOW! some stones are retired, but I have LOTS of gemstones!

So I think in 2-3 weeks I'm going back to the flea market that the furrier I bought my last lot of furs vends at.


I had a LOT of people contact me a bit too late to buy the tails/furs they wanted. Most sold VERY quickly. The ones I have left are for crafts, so ATM I have NO MORE to sell.

I'm going to give people the opportunity to request tails they'd like me to pick up.
The guy had LOTS of stuff:
Raccoon
Finn Raccoon
Coyote
Foxes (Red, Grey, Kit, Arctic, and pretty much all morphs)
Ermine
Bobcat
Canadian Lynx
Marten

As well as faces for all or most of those.
If anyone would like me to pick something up for them PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!

I WILL be asking for a deposit on these, last time I went I had to borrow money from my BF after I spent all my own money. Shipping per item will be $2.50, plus $0.50 for each additional item. The tails range from $12-$25 ish (I forgot what the arctics went for, I only bought kits and reds last time, not sure if they were more but some reds were 20+)

You don't have to pay the entire amount, I just don't want people to back out last minute and me be out the money.
I'll ask that people give $10-12 for a deposit, MONEY WILL BE REFUNDED IMMEDIATELY IF HE DOES NOT HAVE WHAT YOU WANTED!!!

I'll be offering the same deal as last time with the loops, $1 to add a leather loop affixed with a grommet and rivet for the first 2 tails, I'll do that for free if you order more than 2.

If you have any questions on this PLEASE ask.


I think that's all I had to mention on that ...

Go check out Lupa, She just joined FA and she's a fellow nature crafter!

She's written several books on totemic practice and neo-shaman lifestyles, and she's been in the crafting industry for a VERY long time, I'm sure many of you have heard of her on either Etsy or DeviantART :p

 lupagreenwolf

Go give her a warm welcome and add her to your watch list! If you like what I have to offer, you will NOT be disappointed!

I can't find my camera, so I'll upload pictures later...

But I have a few NEW talisman jars for sale with all profits going to charity!
They will be $8 each with an optional eyelet and chain attached, or they can be strung onto a leather cord necklace for $1 more.

The shipping ($2) is included in the price, the profits will go to the charity pool I'm starting to help support the wolves in the Wolf Sanctuary of PA, the only thing I'm keeping is $1 from each sale and the extra $1 if anyone wants them made into a necklace to cover materials. so all PROFITS will go to the doggies. Basically $5 from each sale.

I have 6 currently, but none are for sale just yet, though I can reserve them for people. Each has some wolf fur either a piece of wolf lip or some wolf leather, and several gemstones:

Wolf of the Sea - contains pink coral stones
Night Wolf - contains black obsidian
Wolf's Moon - contains moonstone
Wolf of the Winter's Night - contains snowflake obsidian
Wolf's Rose - contains rose quartz
Great Wolf Protector - contains malachite


The fur, leather, and lip pieces were 'trash' I got is a trade and re-purposed, so no wolves were killed to fulfill the needs of these crafts.

So I heard sweetsushi was doing this raffle for some PJs and ya'll know that's in my interest!
Go read more!
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4362109/

Basic raffle, toy watch her, pimp the journal, and a winner will be selected randomly!

I have 2 fundraising events coming up this Summer.

I want to make a large donation to the Wolf Sanctuary of PA and take the doggies up 3-4 large frozen turkeys as well as offering time and attempt to become a volunteer, either helping out with tours, helping distributing/preparing meats, and/or doing office work for them. I may even donate some paintings for their charity art auctions/sales.
Wolf Sanctuary of PA

I also want to participate in a 8 mile walk to benefit Native American children:
"June 4 Save Our Tribal Youth Walk SOTY is a non-profit organization to help feed and clothe Native American children across the country. With a donation of $5 or more, walk with us at noon on Sat. starting at the NW end of WalMart parking lot in Lancaster. We will walk 8 miles but you may turn back at anytime. Raindate: Sat. June 18 @ noon."


I'm looking to go to the Wolf Sanctuary in August, I have my goal set at $100, but I'll be saving all I can until then.
What I'll be doing is taking a portion of everything I sell from now until then.

Depending on how well I'm doing with the wolf fund will determine how much I'm donating to the SOTY, if I have 100 by June I'll do $25 or so for the walk, if I have more, more will go to that (being that I've made my goal to fund the doggies)

I'm going to also be accepting donations from the community to go towards each event.
But I won't be accepting any funds until AFTER I buy my stamps ($30) and bulk gift boxes ($35).

That way no one will think I'm pooling together 'fund raising' money and spending it on my own needs.
I'll also be documenting both donation pools to show that the funds ARE going to where I've stated.


As I said, I'm not going to start asking people if they want to chip in right away, but in the near future (either next month or April) I'll be starting that little fund raiser up.


Let me know what you guys think of this, and if it sounds like something anyone would be interested in helping out :>

I'm still 'jet lagged' from my weekend I've been sleeping on-and-off and trying to get my house in order, But I had quite a few notes, responses, and several people ordered some things and I have what I needed to stay secure.

The orders will be going out first thing Friday morning, and I have a little money to sit on in case we should need any food, kitty litter, or anything else until my BF's next paycheck.


If you DID want something and didn't have quite enough just for future reference, I typically DO allow some wiggle room with my pieces, depending on what it is. Because I use natural materials some stuff is pricey, labor excluded.
So I need to make back my investment in materials as a BARE minimum
But these things are really open for discussion. So don't be afraid to hit me up with an offer. I DO try to keep my prices pretty fair. Most of the things I sell are under $30.

Again Thank you all so much for the continued support, generosity, and kindness. It means so much to me that so many people were willing to help me out <3

So I had to make an unexpected trip to New York this weekend (in case you didn't notice I was gone)
My sister injured at work which kept my Bro-in-law away from home to be with her in the hospital. He needed help at home taking care of pets and picking up my sister's work. They bot work with special needs kids and over the weekends tutor students, they usually will work with them for at least 4 hours a day on the weekends.
They have a duplex and rent out sections of the house, so between taking care of their pets, the kids, and regular tenant responsibilities they were in a bit of a bind.

I had to go up to help take care of the dog and cats, then hang out with my sister while her husband was running around doing all the other errands.

I pretty much spent all I had to get up there and take off some of the stress they were going through while she was incapacitated. She broke a bone in her hand and had to get needles put in, she's in a cast now and she'll be going back to work within a few days, she was only in the hospital for 2 days (not even 2 full days)

My shipping, needless to say, will be slightly delayed, but I'm going to send out freebies with those packages.

I don't have anything extra for food, gas, or to ship the packages I have out.
The car has close to a full tank, so gas isn't the biggest deal, and we do have plenty of food until my BF gets paid again, but I don't like having literally no money. I at the VERY least need to get some to mail out my packages.

I'm offering "name your price" discounts on everything I have in my gallery for sale, Mind you I'm not going to accept $2 offers for items that had a original price of $45 or something, but any reasonable offer will be considered. I just need to get some of the money back that I spent getting to New York and back... My goal is to get something like $80 in case we DO need anything, aside from just getting $15 or so to pay for my shipping.

I DO apologize to anyone who did buy anything from me in the past week, I'll have it all shipped out ASAP, I never spend the money I make selling items prior to mailing, but my sister really needed me this weekend, and my family really means the world to me.

If you can help out thank you so much, If you can't maybe pass this link onto others so I can get the word out. I really don't like to be under financially, especially in this situation, where I need to get mail out. I've tried VERY hard to be an honest salesperson, and keep muck off my reputation, the last thing I want to do is mar it due to a family emergency.

Thank you for understanding, I will keep everyone posted on my mailing status and hope I can get everything out ASAP.

So if anyone remembers a while back I was talking about trying to take my 'business' to the next level.

I want to get some stamps made, buy a butt-ton of gift boxes to ship things in, get an etsy account started, re-design my site, buy several tools and bulk necessities, like large spools of sinew, cleaning/sanitation materials for salvaged craft items, replace my dremel (it's starting to go :/ ) look into getting a rotary cutter, as well as purchase bulk shipping supplies and a postal scale(I've thought about stamps.com, since they supply a scale.. but I don't have a printer.... Shipping seems to be more now and I keep having to pick up the remaining shipping since I always estimate too low for quotes)

If you didn't know, 85% of the money I make from my crafts goes RIGHT back into the hobby (It's very much more a hobby than a business) I rarely buy things for me or use the money on personal things. I usually just buy more beads, leather, findings, or other materials with any 'profits' I make.

I have a few things I want to get some are more important than others, the dremel and scale for instance, my drill is working fine, so the dremel really is only used for etching art onto items, which ATM I really don't have any requests for. And the scale is just for convenience of estimating proper postage/mailing directly from home. I also did just buy a good amount of shipping supplies, so I really don't NEED those yet either. I'm waiting to see if I get this job I applied for to start and etsy, because of their fees and such.

But I saw some people use sites like Kickstarter to pool together donations to fund projects. But I know they don't allow you to start a pool for funding small businesses. Does anyone know of any similar sites I could sign up for to help accumulate funds?

I may just go back to the 'donate what you can' streams to fund this, I don't just want to flat out ask for something (especially money) without giving something back

I love pajamas... if I'm not going anywhere I'll wear them all day...
I literally have more pajama pants than regular pants...

I want an opossum kigu.

I think they're adorable and they look warm, soft and comfy!

Who wants to make a deal with me?

I'm not sure what the general price is for these... I'm just kinda looking for someone who will be willing to make me an opossum kigu for partial for full on trade.

I know they're made of fleece typically but I don't use a sewing machine, so I don't know what the labor value is, AT ALL.


If you're handy with tailoring, and know how to kigu... and want something I've made, or in my abilities of making, or even if you want something you think I could get a hold of... LET ME KNOW!
I'd love to set up some kind of exchange!

I know I AM going back to the flea market that I picked those furs up at, so I can get tails and faces next month. I have LOTS of materials on hand to make a VARIETY of crafts from jewelry to purses, form hairpins to body armor, Rattles, fans, wall talismans, staffs, ALL KINDS OF THINGS!

So yea... If you can make me a possitita kigu... give me a holler!

<3

So I've been shopping around for stamps and stuff... I might actually just buy a custom stamp, I found a place that'll sell me a 5 x 8.5 stamp for not too too much...
I can get my tile logo on there and some other graphics or words made on there, maybe a mini logo or something for the outside packaging....

It's not something I have money for right now anyway, so I have some time to thing about it.

I also want to buy a box of boxes to ship stuff in, right now, for jewelry, I have to buy 3-4 boxes, and hand adhere the kraft paper on them and seal it with mod podge. It's not a terrible deal of work, but it is daunting when I have 3-4 pieces of jewelry to mail out. I found a site that sells bulk padded boxes already made with kraft paper, so all I'd have to do is put my insignia on them.

I've decided that in the pretty immediate future I'm going to make a foam stamp instead of using my stencil, it just takes forever to get stuff done. I'm still working on finishing my stack of tags. @.@

The process is VERY simple, and my main logo will be very easy to do.
Basically I'll get some extra thick 'fun foam' carve out my shapes and adhere them to a wood block. Pretty straight forward.
I'll be working on this later this evening as I work on getting loops on all those tails. I have all the other stuff packed and ready to go.

I just picked up rivets from the store this morning, THE LAST PACK THEY HAD! Lucky!

I really need to get an etsy account up... I have one... just I need to have all my professional stuff in place before I open a shop in their marketplace.


So yea, I'll need something like $120 to get all the things I want together to take my 'buisiness' to the next level..
I'm gonna start saving up for this... and get into gear finishing up some of my new items I've been slacking on..


I actually have SEVERAL new items in the works:
Purses
New pouches
Fox Talismans (similar to the Coyote one I did)
Bobcat, Rabbit, Raccoon, Fox, and Coyote charm necklaces
MORE VIALS!
Cuffs
And I'm sure there are more...
But I'm really tired now... it's late and I need sleeeps -.- z Z ^{z Z} z

Does anyone know how to make rubber stamps?

Or know a place that makes them for a reasonable price?

I've seen a few places that make them with a laser, so it's all done by computers but the quotes are something like 35-50 BEFORE shipping

I'd really like a stamp of my logo so I don't have to keep using stencils, I can only put it on one paper or card at a time then I have to wait like 10 mins for the paint in the stencil to dry so I can make another card...

This week is going to be a LOT of busy work, just making myself new tags and packaging paper @.@

I'd love to set up a trade with someone to possibly do a linoleum cut, I don't know if there's anyway to make a rubber stamp at home that doesn't involve a cutting tool (I nick my hands up so bad with those)

I need 2 logos done, one is easy (tho symbol on my packages) the other is more complex (my watermark)

I'm going to go around on etsy again and see if someone will sell me the watermark one as a raw stamp, like no wood, maybe it'll be cheaper...

I just updated my order page, located here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnM_uFC7pvGFdGx3YTVIM2VsdjJ0N3o5T25iZG9jNVE&usp=sharing

I went out and replenished my shipping supplies, and I have enough orders open that I'm ready to start up my next batch of packages.

I'm still going trough my messages, I have a bad habit of browsing on a phone, reading comments or PMs, then forgetting to go back on the CPU and respond, So I'm going to go through and try to make sure I responded to everything I need to.

If you had something in mind you'd like to order from me, and I haven't added you to the list, don't be afraid to toss me a note and remind me.

That being said: if you did order something recently, and you ARE on the list either PM me, or e-mail me if you need my paypal, I don't want to send everyone invoices, because I've always had issues with asking people to give me money, I don't like to pressure people... :/ Not with money, I've been hungry plenty of times, and I just hate asking in case someone just doesn't have it right away. I'm in no rush, so just drop me a line when you're ready.
(That's probably a stupid way of thinking...)

Also, regarding my last journal, Thanks again, truly to those who offer their support, and to those who've continued to leave me encouraging messages. I really don't feel bad about any negative comments. I've had SO much good experiences, a few bad ones really can't shake my outlook.
Thanks a lot guys! <3

I just went to the place I pick leather up at and spent like... ALL my cash on leather XD
I have several shades of brown and black leather, all are pretty thin, so very flexible and relatively easy to hand sew.

The pieces are something like the size of a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, I picked them up for $4 a piece, I can ship them for a dollar, so $5 per piece, but I can combine shipping if someone wanted a few pieces.

I forgot who wanted some, I'll get pictures of the colours I have when I get back from the hospital
These will be first come first serve.

I can go get back, but the place I go to get leather isn't too close, so it won't be for a few weeks.
If you think you might want a piece leave me a comment, and I'll give those people first dibs once I get the pictures up.

If you want some and pay with paypal by tomorrow night (or first thing Thursday morning) I will get it out Thursday evening.

<sub>I'm hopping off in a minute, I'm just going to be brief.

My mom is in the hospital for an intestinal infection, nothing major, but she'll be there for a few days.
I was going to pack stuff tonight to ship later this week, but I'm going to be staying in the hospital with her, because, well, that's what families do.


I'm hoping this will not make a difference with my shipping day, being this Thursday, but with her out of commission that leaves me to take care of her house with the 2 dogs and a cat, my house with the same, and my niece, whom by mother usually watches for my brother when he's working.

So I'm just not sure how much energy I'll have, but tomorrow I aim to get my packing together while I'm at my house, unless I'm needed to stay again at the hospital.


Thank you for understanding.</sub>

UPDATE!

My mom is doing MUCH better, she's no longer in pain, just uncomfortable. They're considering letting her come home tomorrow, but we both think it's going to be another day at least. They didn't let me stay the whole night, new policies, our main hotel in our town used to let one family member stay with patients their whole stay, they changed it at the beginning of this year. So I'll be getting to my packing this evening, and my mailings will be going out on schedule.

I'll post something when I actually have the mail out, Thank you for all the well wishes and support! I really do appreciate the comments and good intentions.

I'm just so happy that this didn't turn into something serious, I didn't have time to really explain all that happened, it was a little more than just, 'oh my mom went to the hospial'

Yesterday I went over there to drop off lunch and have a visit, I made sushi the night before and was going to eat lunch with my mom (I only make veggie sushi, so it's perfectly fine to eat the next day) She was not home but my brother was coming into town and I thought she was with him. The dogs were both locked in separate rooms, she never does that, but we did have a talk a few days earlier about her stressing out too much about my sister's dog. My mom takes care of both dogs when my sister is out but when she is home my sister just lets the dogs do whatever, and a lot of times they pee in the house and my mom has to come home to a mess. This is unacceptable. My sister is not a child, she's the oldest in the family. It's not only lazy, inconsiderate, neglectful, but also a HUGE disrespect to my Mother and her house. I told my mom to stop watching Lily, (my sister's dog) and just crate her when my sister is out, so she doesn't have to stress so much with 2 dogs, Jack, her dog, is not a problem, he's very well behaved but Lily kinda brings out the worst in Jack because he's all about the attention from my mom, and doesn't like to share her.

Anyway, The dogs weren't in the living room, waiting for her, so I figured she was just trying to take a bit of control over the situation, and she was out with my brother. I let the dogs outside, fed the cat, hang out with my bird for a bit, left a note about the sushi and went back to my house.

Later in the evening my brother sent me a text, we were supposed to get together to hang out at night. I asked him if he was still going to come pick me up and if he was with Mom. He didn't answer, he does that very often, so I didn't think much of it.

This morning I got a text from my sister saying my mom was in the hospital with an infection. Apparently she had a lot of pain, called the ambulance and went to the ER. My brother thought she was with me, I thought she was with him, pretty much we all thought she was with another sibling when in actuality she was in the ER, and pissed off at my sister and just didn't call anyone.

So I went to see her earlier, and when I got home that was where I was at when I posted the journal.
It was hectic @.@

TL;DR

Mom is great, mail should be out on time.
Thanks for the support <3

I have a coyote skull that I need to figure a purpose for. Its missing a few teeth (3, 1 top secondary eye tooth, and two secondary eye teeth on the bottom) and the cheek bone is broken on the right side. The sections on bones that run along the snoot are also weakened.
At first I was going to make it into a rattle, but I chose not to because of that, I didn't want it to break from the inside out.

I'm somewhat stumped on what to do with it, I could sell it, but I'd kinda rather make something of it, since a lot of people would rather have that PERFECT skull, and a lot of people seem to think a piece with slight damage is pretty much worthless. To me this way of thinking really just makes me want to do MORE for the skull or pelt.

Take the 'underdog' and make it something beautiful. I see potential in all types of things.


This is what we're looking at:
http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums...../Coyoskull.jpg

I have trouble in the creative process at times, sometimes things will SCREAM to me. I immediately get inspiration and I'm motivated to work with things and I'll finish something in a very reasonable amount of time.

Sometimes I have an idea of what I want to do with something but little things get in the way, like resources. Sometimes I have a very good start on something, but I sorta hit a wall, and although the item may seem like it's finished to me it'll be missing something. It doesn't happen all that often, but often enough I'll have something I feel has a lot of potential, but I just can't see it, or it's not so obvious to me...

This piece is giving me a little trouble...
I was thinking making a staff... but I wouldn't be able to ship something that large.... I mean... I've never shipped anything that large.

I want to work with it.... but I guess now is just not the time...

Hey guys, one of my buds (  hidingmonster ) hurt herself doing some work, She cut her thumb open with a knife and had to actually get stitches for it, She had to go to the emergency room and she doesn't have insurance.

She has a lot of REALLY cool jewelry for sale, she uses similar materials as me, natural stuff like bone and feather, but she has a very unique style.

She has lots of stuff available for sale at her store: http://hidingmonstershop.weebly.com/in-store.html


She's also taking commissions to help get some fundage together medical bills, more info here:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4256854/

If you can, please help!
if you like dangle style earrings she has a lot of REALLY nice stuff! Stuff that I would wear if my ears weren't stretched so much. @.@

If you can't help out financially, maybe post a link to her journal?
Thanks for your time!

GET WELL SOON hidingmonster!!!

I have 2 now, one is my "professional" one with my craft work. If you don't have it already follow me:

http://shamansyoik.tumblr.com/

And the new one is for re-posting things and topics not directly relating to my art. You'll find interests and articles and what not, but for now it's just blank... I need things to follow ouo

http://opossum-opproved.tumblr.com/

PS there will be a stream later tonight oh me either working on the headdress, or another pelt project!

As the title states.

I do not want the sorrow in my home, I do not want to purchase pelts from people who make a living off that type of pain, I cannot directly support a practice that brings such a cold feeling to my heart.

Yes the pelts you see in ranched foxes are utterly beautiful, and yes, all pelts obviously came from an animal that went through pain and trauma when they met their demise, but at least a wild animal felt grass under it's feet. They tasted water from flowing rivers, perfected the skills to hunt or learned tactics to keep themselves from being caught by a predator. They has the opportunity to socialize with other free creatures and knew the seasons as they change, and learned the schedule of the Earth.

They were not packed in a minimal sized cage, walking on wire so their keepers did not have to clean piss and shit. They were not fed kibble or scraps of fox meat from last seasons harvest. They did not know of man's cruelties as a daily routine.

They had a life not knowing the true intentions of man, when they did meet man it was for a brief moment before it was released from life. Yes animals die to create the art I choose to work with, but they should not be here for our monetary gain.

It's strange to have boundaries when it comes to this craft. It really is. But it's something that would hold a greater emotional toll on me. I am not directing this at anyone, or criticizing anyone who does work with ranched pelts. I am not trying to make myself out to be more sympathetic, or suggest that my moral code is higher than anyone else's.
I just want to put it out there so that I don't have anyone else ask me.

Again, I don't mean to offend anyone, this is a personal choice.


The only exception I may make is if you'd supply a pelt and have owned it for some time, but even then, I reserve the right to refuse work, and I can suggest other crafters who can comfortably work on these sort of projects for you.

I'm sorry if this hits anyone wrong.

tastybones has hit some hard times! She needs to take on a lot of emergency commissions to raise money for rent!
She has an amazing inking style and just made up some groovy "Gig Poster" badges she's only asking $15 (which I think is pretty cheap, I see most badge style illustrations start at $20)

She has a pretty varying style, from things that look like old school wood cuts to rat-fink-esque characters as well as semi realistic pieces!

If you have a little spare cash to blow do get some art!

More info here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4234597/

I will not be streaming any more streams that deal with the working of pelts in raw stages or in conditioning stages. I know I told a few of you that I would share streams of me working with pelts as far as fleshing, tanning, reforming/rehydrating, and treating. Something inside of me really wants to share these processes to guide new comers to the practice. But a larger part of my view these processes as too personal to openly share them with the world.

I will still offer as much guidance as I can but the pelt working is something too personal, I feel, than I should be streaming on the internet. I realize this now and I'm sorry to anyone who was looking forward to this weeks production schedule (I was going to stream at least 2 projects involving pelts)

Please forgive me, it's just something I cannot do without cheapening the practice in my own beliefs. To me it would be like becoming a televangelist, parading my PERSONAL beliefs open to the world and putting them out on exhibit as entertainment. Not only would it be disrespectful to my culture but also the animals I'm working with.

This really may sound silly to some people and I DO respect that opinion, but I also try to respect opinions and beliefs others have even if they contradict my own. I do apologize again, and hope you can understand.

It really wasn't something I should have offered in the first place, I see that now, this is a part of growing up, something we're never really done with. Please forgive me. I will still offer tips to people if anyone has questions. I really do hope all of you can understand.

http://www.berkscountyweb.com/birds.....dentified1.htm

A pure white bird of prey seen in my general area a few years back.
Spotted this image on a birdwatching site.

I love natural genetic mutations like this, it really sucks that these animals typically don't live their full life potential due to trophy hunting but at the same time they cannot blend in so hunters cant always hunt, and prey is far too easy to spot.

I'd love to see this bird IRL

Although I did get to see 3 vultures digging in the garbage this morning... :p