Have a Blessed New Year, Thank You, and HELP!

Here is one reason you have not heard much from me lately:

My studio assistant Buttonwillow and I would like to thank all of our beautiful customers and patrons for keeping us so busy over the past few months. Not to mention, keeping the Willamina post office very busy too! I love sending my little goodies off to exotic and faraway places like Ireland, Hong Kong, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Italy, Mexico. and Portugal.

I love what I do, and it would not be possible without your support, encouragement, and friendship!

Buttonwillow continues to help in whatever way possible.
What IS her fascination with scissors!?!

(for a clue, see "Buttonwillow's Secret Identity...Revealed")

Here is another reason you haven't heard much from me lately:

Susan Faye World Headquarters is moving!

Here is the story: It seems that my sweetie Dave and I had a Golden Opportunity this past autumn to buy this lovely 3 bedroom home in McMinnville, Oregon, for a song. (Okay, we had to fork over some dough too, but not very much.) Our intent was to buy it as a rental property. But the more we hung out there, the more we couldn't resist its irresistible charms such as big windows, a fireplace, and the fact that it puts us 30 minutes closer to Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland.

We decided it would be crazy not to move in, and rent out my Willamina cottage instead, keeping Dave's acreage in the Coastal Hills for recreational purposes. So for the past few months we have been refurbishing the 20-year-old home (before and after pictures will be shared in the weeks to come), have moved in our personal belongings, hosted Christmas dinner there, and now it is time to move my art supplies, craft accoutrements, shipping supplies, sewing set-up, office furniture and business belongings.

Which brings me to the HELP! portion of this blog post.

Boy do I have a lot of STUFF! I'm not going to show you pictures of all of my STUFF, for fear of winding up on an episode of "Hoarders". But suffice it to say, it is time to liquidate a lot of my STUFF, because I simply don't want to move it or try to make room for all this STUFF at the new place.

So Phase One of my STUFF liquidation is my Out-With-The-Old-To-Make-Room-For-The-New Sale in my Etsy shop. I am retiring most of my 2011 designs, and prices have been slashed 25-50% with the help of my studio assistant and her razor-sharp claws. You'll find bargain prices on pendants, earrings, sachets, bookmarks, and more at this link: Susan Faye on Etsy


Your assistance in making these items disappear will be greatly appreciated. There are lots of "little somethings" that you might tuck away for Valentines Day or Easter gifts. Down the road, I hope to start listing craft supplies, and vintage items too.

Thanks again for all of your love and support during 2011, and here's wishing a fruitful, serene and beautiful 2012 for each and every one of you.

And thank you for not turning me in to "Hoarders". I'd be so embarrassed.

A Very Blessed Event

It's that time of year when we celebrate many blessed events: the miracle of gratitude and abundance at Thanksgiving, the Festival of Lights at Hanukkah, the promise and hope of a brand new year, and the birth of baby Jesus, who grew up to teach us beautiful lessons about compassion, tolerance, and love.

I'd like to share a story about another blessed event that I recently learned about.

Two and a half years ago I was contacted by a young woman still in high school. She wanted to commission a Mother's Day portrait of her two "moms" with two of their cats, Squishy Carson and Xyla. She wondered if she might also be included in the painting. Here is the portrait of Camilla, Danielle and Shannon:

At that point in time, Camilla and Shannon were Danielle's legal guardians. It seems that back in Danielle's freshman year in high school, life at home with her birth mother and her mother's boyfriend had become unbearable and Danielle and her older sister needed to find new living situations.

Danielle tells us, "Shannon and Camilla, family of our neighbor, offered me a home. (my sister who is two years older than me went to live with Shannon's brother and his wife). They had legal guardianship of me all throughout high school and technically into college." Shannon and Camilla have been together in a domestic partnership since May of 2001, became Danielle's legal guardians in May of 2005, and were legally married in October of 2008.

Camilla and Shannon are animal lovers, and share their lives with a large menagerie of pets that includes both felines and canines in a wide range of sizes and ages. You can see the whole kit and caboodle here in their pet family album. Camilla is responsible for the fun and creative names; Shannon is responsible for the photography (she is a professional photographer AND dog trainer!). You can see her work at these links:

PawsitivePortraits.net
PetDegreeTraining.com

A few weeks ago Danielle, now a college student, contacted me and wanted to surprise her moms at Christmas with a special portrait that would commemorate a very special blessed event. Danielle explains that this past year "We started talking and decided before I turned 21 (on November 11, 2011) they should adopt me."

So they did--on October 21, 2011.

Congratulation to this "modern family" and thank you Danielle, Camilla, and Shannon for a great holiday story that so beautifully teaches us about compassion, tolerance, and most of all -- love!

More Pet Poetry!

The Holiday Pet Haiku Giveaway ends tomorrow...have you entered yet? Here are just a few of the wonderful entries so far:

jhitomi wrote...
My cat wants sunshine
Please Santa will you bring us
Some Vitamin D?


Birgit wrote...
Dog looks for Santa
perched on the window sill
barking til dawn.

Growling and barking
he scares Santa Claus away
to my big dismay.

Amber wrote...
Mittens loves cocoa
Tries to sneak a sip from me
Batting at the froth

Now it's your turn...Give it a try!
Haiku is a beautiful and elegant form of Japanese poetry. The simplified version of haiku is usually described as an un-rhymed, three-line poem of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables. See what you can come up with using the theme of pets and a holiday of your choice (Christmas, Hannukkah, New Year's, Kwanzaa, etc).

Then leave your haiku in the comments section of the original post for a chance to win one of three prizes: THREE winners will be selected at random and each will receive a

$25 gift certificate to my Etsy Shop!

Each person may leave up to three different haiku in the comments, for three chances to win. Giveaway ends tomorrow, Saturday Dec. 17th.


Thanks for participating!

Pet Poetry

Thank you to all who have submitted entries in the Holiday Pet Haiku Giveaway so far!

Fat Dormouse wrote:
I miss sweet Pumpkin.
Her mad bauble-chasing fun
Used to make me laugh.

Cat Lady Karen D. wrote:
Room mate found kitten
snuck him home without consent
Love my cat, Quincey

Nancy said...
My sweet Sadie dog
sleeping under Christmas tree
hoping for a bone.

Now it's your turn...Give it a try!
Haiku is a beautiful and elegant form of Japanese poetry. The simplified version of haiku is usually described as an un-rhymed, three-line poem of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables. See what you can come up with using the theme of pets and a holiday of your choice (Christmas, Hannukkah, New Year's, Kwanzaa, etc).

Then leave your haiku in the comments section of the original post for a chance to win one of three prizes: THREE winners will be selected at random and each will receive a

$25 gift certificate to my Etsy Shop!

Each person may leave up to three different haiku in the comments, for three chances to win.


Thanks for participating!

Holiday Pet Photos

Do you have a favorite holiday pet photo?

This one was taken several years ago during an unusually snowy Christmas vacation. My son had recently moved to Oregon and it was his first experience at being "snowed in". We put out lots of extra food for the birds and Buttonwillow enjoyed lots of "wishful thinking"...

You are invited to post your own favorite holiday pet photos on my facebook page! I'm hoping everyone will be inspired by these photos, then write a holiday pet haiku (or three) for a chance to win one of three $25 gift certificates to my Etsy shop! Click here for details on the giveaway: Haiku Giveaway

Thanks for visiting!

It's Time For Holiday Pet Haiku! [And a Giveaway!]

(12/17 ...The giveaway has ended. Thank you to everyone who participated and congratulations to the winners!)

It's time to flex your creative writing muscles and enter the world of Holiday Pet Haiku! Give it a try. Just for fun.

New to haiku? Haiku is a beautiful and elegant form of Japanese poetry. The simplified version of haiku is usually described as an un-rhymed, three-line poem of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables. See what you can come up with using the theme of pets and a holiday of your choice (Christmas, Hannukkah, New Year's, Kwanzaa, etc). For example:

Buttonwillow sleeps,
dreaming of mouse-filled stockings
with no room for coal

See what you can come up with, and leave your haiku in the comments section of this post for a chance to win one of three prizes: THREE winners will be selected at random and each will receive a

$25 gift certificate to my Etsy Shop!

Each person may leave up to three different haiku in the comments, for three chances to win.

Giveaway ends the evening of Saturday, December 17 at 7 p.m. PST.

Please make sure that I have a way to contact you if you are a winner, such as a link to your blog or e-mail address (you may send info directly to my email if you don't want to make your contact info public). If you visit www.susanfaye.net , you will find an email link.

Also, if you encounter trouble with the Comments feature, you may send your haiku entry directly to my email .

THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!

Farewell to a Faithful Friend

I first met Reva Dog eleven-some years ago. She was a young girl then, and belonged to my sweetheart Dave. He had rescued her as a stray. She was shy and sweet and devoted to her canine "big brother" Scout, following him wherever he went.

She was an outdoor girl, built for cold climates and mountain climbing, but equally enjoyed many adventures in the deserts, valleys and canyons of California, Arizona, and most recently, Oregon. She loved gamboling, racing, exploring, and basically running wild and free in the Great Outdoors, always with her companion Scout, until he passed away a few years ago.

I'm going to miss her vivacious "doggie dance" and woo-wooo howling at dinner time, her impossibly fluffy ears, and her infinite patience with small, annoying cats. (Buttonwillow the cat thrilled at tormenting the gentle giant of a dog, unaware that she could be snapped in two at any moment by the jaws of the infinitely tolerant beast who chose to ignore her animal instincts)...

I'm going to miss her "Wookie talk" (she could sound just like Chewbacca) and the way her great plume of a tail would spin in a circle like a giant propeller whenever she would gallop to greet Dave.

Goodbye, sweet girl dog and faithful friend.