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Indiesmiles celebrates birthday for ASPCA charity!

August 29, 2010 :: Posted by - Sue :: Category - Contests, Headline

ANNOUNCING THE INDIESMILES CHARITY BIRTHDAY BASH
EXCITING CONTEST FOR BEST PET AND BEST HANDMADE ITEM TO BENEFIT ASPCA!

Image courtesy of 1959creations

Come join our celebration starting 9/1/10! Why are we celebrating? It’s our birthday! Indie Smiles and its columnists have been sharing news for a year and we want to give back to the community.

Our articles feature various Indie shops including those affiliated with specific venues such as Etsy, Folksy, Zibbet and ArtFire together with shops that are not affiliated with a specific venue and cover a variety of topics.

Here is just a small sampling of some of the fantastic articles that have brought to you by a few of Indiesmile’s outstanding columnists that have been presented over the past year:

Inspired Mosaics by Barb from All About Buttons

(http://www.indiesmiles.com/inspired-mosaics/),

Make Your Own Boppy by Nikkie of Sugar Shox Crafts (http://www.indiesmiles.com/make-your-own-boppy/), T

The Sultan of Scrollsawings by Jay of Haffina Creations (http://www.indiesmiles.com/the-sultan-of-scrollsawing/),

Let Flyby Linda

(http://www.indiesmiles.com/let-fly/)

Collar Up (your) Pup by Donna of Glass and Wire Gems (http://www.indiesmiles.com/collar-up-your-pup/).

Our goal is to make a difference through charity and community work as well as bring you exciting and educational articles.

This year, to celebrate one year of contributing articles, we are supporting a nationwide charity, it’s a charity most of us have heard of, it’s ASPCA! It was the charity of choice for our Indiesmiles Charity Birthday Bash!

ASPCA – the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – is the charity focus of our birthday celebration! Founded on the “belief that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans, and must be protected under the law”, ASPCA works to fulfill its mission “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.” ASPCA leadership covers three key areas: “caring for pet parents and pets, providing positive outcomes for at-risk animals and serving victims of animal cruelty.”

Their programs and services arise from three core areas: Community Outreach, Animal Health Services and Anti-Cruelty Initiatives. The Community Outreach area includes adoption centers, animal welfare organizations, animal-assisted therapy, disaster readiness and response groups, etc. Animal Health Services includes poison control, spay and neutering services, hospitals, etc. The Anti-Cruelty Initiatives area includes field services, humane law enforcement and government relations.

When she heard which charity we were supporting, Linda, one of our columnists, wrote: I love the ASPCA. They need all the help they can get! I got my 2 babies, which includes Peanut there, in NYC along with her brother. Y’all should know who Peanut is by now if you've looked at my Etsy shop. Domino lived to be 11 yrs old and Peanut was on this earth for 20 years. Very loving and caring people work there as well. Even if they have to put some of the animals to sleep. While they are there, they get the utmost care, I think, at least the one in NYC does, that I know of. They have so many animals that need homes, it's overwhelming. You can view the artwork Linda has created out of her love for Peanut in Linda’s shop by going to http://lindagj.etsy.com

Amy, an ASPCA member who is shop owner AmyCreates, shares the following: My husband and I have adopted 6 cats (5 girls and 1 boy)–4 from the Humane Society and 2 from the hot Arizona streets. It's really more like they adopted us! Our 2 from the streets each came to us in the summertime (a year apart), and were "foreclosure cats," pets conveniently left behind when people moved out of their houses. That anyone could do such a thing to a precious and innocent life is just horrifying.

We never set out to have 6 cats, it just happened that way. But I wouldn't change our family for anything. We all love each other and there's a good balance, and the best part is that no matter where I am in the house, a cat is sure to be there with me!

A special thanks goes to Donna of Glassandwiregems, Nikki of Sugarshoxcrafts. They have been the coordinators for this event. Andy whose wife owns Incredibleangels has put together special programs that will allow you to upload your own picture (handmade or a pet). There is no limit top how many pictures you upload but there is a donation requirement for each pic you enter into the contest.
Also a very special thank you to 1959creations for puting together a host of images for us to use in our Charity Birthday Bash.
And a special thanks to anyone who joins our celebration by donating, entering their pics and voting! Thank you to all of loyal readers of Indiesmiles, we couldnt’ do this without you!

So get started by getting your favorite pics together because starting on 9/1/10 you can donate $5.00 using the left side donation button and go to the birthday bash handmade or pets and upload a picture. When you are ready to vote, you can go in either category and vote, vote, vote!
Plus, for more fun, the best Pet and the best Handmade item that draws the most votes will win prizes with values over $100.00! Don’t miss it!

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Crackin’ Up with the EGG Team

March 28, 2010 :: Posted by - Nikkie :: Category - Headline, Teams rule

Image courtesy of MyTwoGirlsBakery

By Contributing Columnist Nicole M aka Sugar Shox Crafts

No yolks about it; one of Etsy’s newest teams is planning to make a big difference both inside and outside of the crafting world.

The Etsy Goodie Goodies Team’s (“the EGG Team,” for short) mission is twofold—to have fun and support its members’ shops, and also to do at least one big good deed a month, said Melanie Fonseca (“ReduceReuseRepurpose” on Etsy), the founder of the team.

Fonseca said that she felt that the need to do good deeds was a very important part of setting up the team.

“I felt some teams I was on [previously] focused too much on one thing, so I thought why not add the aspect of doing good deeds to my team,” she said. “I have always felt strongly about doing good things, no matter what they are or how big or small.”

Usually, the team votes on its private board on causes to pick for the monthly good deed. Members post ideas on the board, and it’s up to team feedback of whether or not it’s a good idea to finally decide if that idea is implemented.

The EGG Team is carrying out this mission of supporting both its members and the community, as we speak with two events that are going on now—the SPCA Blanket Drive and the Egg Hunt.

The SPCA Blanket Drive will be collecting crafted blankets from March 15 to May 14 to benefit the animals of the Niagara County SPCA in Niagara Falls, N.Y. Members will knit, crochet or make small fringed fleece blankets for the animals to give them a small token of the comfort of home while they stay in the shelter. The blankets will also go home with each animal when they are adopted.

The shelter is in particular need of donations at this time, as local news reports from the area have indicated that it accepted about 40 new dogs from an illegal shelter.

The team is helping its members promote with the Egg Hunt. Until April 3, participants can hunt for hidden eggs in various team members’ shops. One name will be randomly selected from all those who find the 22 hidden eggs, and will win a $150 prize package of handmade items that were donated from individual Egg Team members. Fonseca came up with the original idea for the Egg Hunt, which also hatched partly from the upcoming Easter holiday and the team nickname.

The EGG Team is relatively new, but has already earned a team grant from the Etsy website. Funds from that will be used for promotional items, graphics and possibly website advertising for the team, Fonseca said.

Team members are from a wide variety of places, including the USA, Canada & England. Many, like Erin of the “Fyrecreek” shop, Melanie of “theCreativeCaravan” shop, Erynn of the “flowergurlcrafts” shop and Nohely of the “LavanderDreams” shop joined and appreciate the team for its sense of community, and how that allows them to be able to learn from and communicate with fellow crafters.

Nohely said she loves how the EGG Team has a worldwide sense of community.

“One of the things I like the most about the team is that we have members from all over the place, with different cultures and backgrounds, coming together to exchange ideas, offer support to each other, and at the same time, do things for others like our communities and bring awareness to special projects,” she said.

Membership on the EGG Team is open to all Etsy sellers who are 18 and older. Fonseca said that participation is very important to the team and that prospective members should be ready to regularly post on the team’s private bulletin board and its Etsy chat thread.

A team shop may be set up in the future. Team members will craft items for the shop, and the proceeds will go back to supporting the team to help offset the cost of advertising and team events\activities. Fonseca said team swaps\exchanges, more cross-promotional efforts for shops and even a member meetup are also possible future happenings.

“I’m hoping to one day assess how many members we have in each region\state, and see if any of those would like to get together for a real-time meet or team promotional event at a craft fair or show,” she said.

Become a part of the fun and check out the latest on the Etsy Goodie Goodies Team on their blog!

: The EGG Team is looking for more members! Team Graphic courtesy of Melanie Fonseca (”ReduceReuseRepurpose”)

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Smiles for the Animals

November 04, 2008 :: Posted by - Sue :: Category - Headline

Here you’ll find items that completely benefit the animals. Each week El and Sue will choose items that donate 100% of their proceeds to animal charities. These items are from shops that may or may not belong to our smile program, but are certainly from animal friendly shops. Links to the items are provided below the image section.

Please note: Each of the shops that have submitted an item pledge to donate 100% of the items proceeds (displayed below) to an animal charity of their choice, Indiesmiles does not make any guarantees of such donation.

We want to spread smiles for the animals, so if you have an item in your shop that completely benefits the animals (100% of the proceeds) and you would like to see it pictured here, please fill out our Smile for the Animals Form. These smiles are shared free of charge! By filling out our form and submitting an item that completely benefits the animals, you can receive our Smiles Subscription at a reduced rate!!! Check it out here.

These items were listed here free of charge to benefit the animals. If you would like to have your item listed here and it completely benefits the animals (100% of the proceeds), then please fill out our Smile for the Animals Form.

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