Finally I'm Back Again

Now that I have 2 blogs, if you do not see recent blog entries, check out The Very Best Cats blog.

I have tried a few different ecommerce sites and some I have decided not to keep using and some to continue using. I just opened a new internet jewelry store at Shop Handmade. Take a look at the site. The owners/designers of the site have sponsors helping out with their costs. One of the things that I really like is that when you make a purchase from my store, a percentage of the price goes to help save the rainforests. The artists selling on the site get to decide if they want to do that or not. I think that is a very important thing for us to do. I just watched a show on the National Geographic channel that told about how interwoven the rainforests are to global warming. As more and more trees are cut down, the earth's temperature gets warmer. And another reason it is important to save the rainforests is because there are many species of animals that would be lost forever without that environment. So if you like my work and are interested in making a purchase, possibly for a holiday gift for a special friend or family member, check out my Shop Handmade site. I still have more items listed at my Etsy jewelry site, but I will continue to list more and more on Shop Handmade as I can.

Friends for Life

Just wanted to let anyone that might be interested in coming to my Home Jewelry Show this saturday, that 10% of all jewelry sales will be donated to Friends for Life. Friends for Life is a local non-profit that relies solely on donations to do their good deeds. They help the needing animals in our community find homes, and many other good services. Please go to their website to learn more about them.

Labor Day Weekend

Just finished up a 3 day weekend. Went to Chapman's Gem and Mineral Shop on saturday. I haven't been there for years. I was actually surprised that the place was still open. It is a big funky gem shop with a museum of rocks and raw gemstones. And both to buy in their retail area. It was fun to go again.

My husband has been working with me to design a business card for my Etsy jewelry site and my Etsy bead site. We are almost done. It will be 1 card printed on 2 sides. The designs look great. We are almost finished. I am looking forward to having a new card. It has been a while.

Today I joined the group Etsy for Animals, http://www.etsyforanimals.com. This a group of artists on the Etsy site that are donating a portion of their profits to an animal organization. My charitable organization is Friends for Life www.dogrescuers.org. I will probably continue to donate to this organization until the end of the year. So far my sales have been slow so I want to continue to collect for them as the year continues. Remember, 10% of all of my sales gets donated to Friends for Life.

I am planning to do a big studio sale for my paintings in about 2 weeks. I am planning on selling my watercolors for 40-50% off my gallery prices. I really want to find new homes for these works of art. If anyone is interested, you can contact me and send your email. You can also get a look at some of my available work at www.MaryAnnTestagrossa.com.

That's all for now. Made a couple of pairs of earrings this weekend. Hope to get more creative work done on wednesday.

Donation to Friends for Life

This saturday night is a fundraiser for Friends for Life at the First Street Gallery from 7:00 until 10:00 PM. There will be food and drinks and a silent auction, all to raise funds for animal rescue in our local area. I was asked to donate a piece of my jewelry to the silent auction and this is what I just finished making. It is a combination of my polymer clay and bead work. The image is a geisha, permanently transfered to the clay by a heat transfer method. The necklace measures 16" and has freshwater pearls and garnets that match the coloring in the geisha pendant. It is finished with a simple pewter toggle clasp.

Friends for Life

I have decided to donate 10% of my jewelry sales profits to Friends for Life. They are an animal adoption agency in my local area. This is where I found my cat Tiger. My husband and I were coming home from a walk and we both knew I wanted an orange kitty. Because we have an older cat, K.C. (short for Kitty Cat-how clever!) I wanted to make sure that the cat we introduced into our home would be compatible. I was told by someone, I think at a pet store, that a young male cat would be better than a female for this reason. So, on our way back from our walk we decided to walk to our local pet store to ask more questions. So what do you know? Friends for Life were outside the pet store with some kittens and older cats. Tiger was there with another sibling. Of course he wasn't Tiger yet. But I kept going back and forth, holding him, putting him back, asking lots of questions, until I decided we would take him home. And the rest is history. (Tiger's sibling was being adopted at the same time so I felt OK, that he was getting a home too).

Tiger has brought so much love into my life. And more of an awareness about conscious care for a pet. I knew if I adopted a cat, I would be committed to taking care of him for the rest of our days. I think a lot of people do not have the awareness that pets need attention, time and care each and everyday. It makes me sad when I see an animal that is neglected or abused. It breaks my heart.

So, this is why I want to give back to Friends for Life. As I said, Tiger has given me so much. I know there are many cats right now that need homes and I would like to help Friends for Life with their expenses for the care of the animals they are helping.

Oh, and as for K.C. and Tiger getting along, no way. Tiger is jealous and gets noticably angry with me if I give her attention. They live on separate floors of our home. Not what I was hopeing for but it is how it all turned out.

This is our K.C.