Artists For Animals Shop of the Week: Sarawen Perfume Art

Every week, the Artists for Animals team features a Shop of the Week to get a little extra attention. This week, we're spotlighting a unique perfumerie, Sarawen Perfume Art. Let's begin with something on the festive side as we start our mini tour, since most of us are doing some holiday shopping right now.

 Is it too early for a little Yuletide Bliss? Of course not! This would be a great fragrance to don at this year's Thanksgiving get together. Something I love about this shop are the photos and descriptions of each item. They're positively sumptuous!
"The scent of the holiday season - delicious mulled apple cider with warmed spiced rum. In the background is a hint of candied almonds and sweet sugared pears. It's as if you've walked into a Victorian parlour during a Christmas party! This merry seasonal fragrance is seasonal and available only through Winter 2012."

 

Her products are not only beautiful, they're vegan and free of animal testing, so you can feel good about everything you buy. Even better, look around and you can find some great things that support animal rescue. When you purchase this set, for example, 55% of the proceeds will be donated to Animals Asia. You're really giving two gifts when you put this under the tree. Pretty cool.

 

 My personal favorites are the perfumes based upon the Sherlock Holmes series. Great gift for the reader in your life, or your favorite Sherlock (as in, the British T.V. show) addict. I'm both. Ahem.

Another thing that strikes me about this shop is the beautiful art that adorns each bottle. Anyone with a penchant for the past is sure to love parousing Sarawen Perfume Art. Give it a browse!

BNR? BNS? Not just (veggie) alphabet soup. :)

Every week our fabulous volunteers, Joanie and Phi, put together a team BNS and BNR (respectively) to promote shops from our team and give some great deals to shoppers.

On Sundays, Joanie posts a new BNS treasury. Here's this week's to give you an idea:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjI3OTM2MTl8MjcyMzM3MTQ2Mg/open-artists4animalsteam-bns-rnd

First, it benefits etsy sellers in two ways. If you're a shop owner of any shop at all in the Etsy universe, when you purchase a product from any shop featured in the treasury (it does not have to be the item pictured, just any item from that store.) you get to have your shop featured in the next BNS treasury Joanie puts together the next Sunday. Just be sure to post, in the comments, which shop you purchased from, along with the other basic information requested. Don't worry. You don't have to memorize all of this. Just refer to the first comment posted. All the info you need is there, and Joanie is alway happy to help if you feel a little lost. I've, personally, had a lot of luck with BNS treasuries helping my shop gain exposure, and with the holidays upcoming, this is a fabulous way to purchase the most unique, handmade gifts for everyone on your list (they won't see this year's presents at the mall!) while promoting your shop as an added bonus.

These treasuries have another benefit to the buyer. Typically the stores featured offer special coupons for the treasuries' buyers. Don't forget to look for the most recently updated coupon list in the comments. You can find all kinds of deals you won't find anywhere else, from percentages off of your total to free shipping, you'll find the best coupons, and you can't go wrong with that!

 

Now, a BNR is a little bit different. Phi posts one of these at about noon every Thursday, on our team's discussion board: http://www.etsy.com/teams/8090/artists-for-animals?ref=pr_teams

A BNR is like a BNS sped up. BNR stands for "Buy and Replace", so when you make a purchase from one of the featured shops, your shop replaces them immediately until someone buys from you, then they replace you right away, while a BNS or "Buy and Stay" allows the featured shops to stay listed until the next round begins. Both work similarly, it just depends on your preference.

So, come give it a try. You won't be disappointed. All the beautiful items pictured in this post (and many more) can be found in this week's BNS.

Aaaaand We're Back!

Our blog is up and running again after the summer break and I'd like to begin by announcing that our blog's charity page is now up. Click on the other tab above the blog post and you'll see a list of our members and the charity each store supports. Now, don't think that our team is that small, I just haven't heard from all of our members yet! If you're a teammate and you haven't sent me your store's choice of animal charity, please post it on the message board (you'll see a discussion devoted to it).

All of our members make a committment to donate to an animal chairity of their choice, 100% of the proceeds from the sale of at least one designated item in their shop. A lot of our members do a lot more, from listing several 100% donation items in their stores, to donating a portion of all their other items to charity along with their 100% items, to donating items from their inventory to rescues for their fundraising events, and even volunteering for their local rescue groups.

So, give the list the once-over and do a little shopping for a great cause. You get the goodies and the animals get helped. That's all kinds of good.

I'll close with a gratuitous picture of the kitten we adopted.

Shop of the Week: Kittredge Candles

I'm an admitted candle junkie, so I'm very pleased to introduce our shop of the week, Kittredge Candles. Though candles dominate the name, they share the shop with an assortment of other handmade, scented products such as soaps, lotions, and other beauty products.

Shop owner, Jennifer, has plenty of experience making candles. “My passion for candles began in the early 1970's, when I made novelty candles on a hot plate in my basement and sold them to my classmates. I revived that passion in 2009 when I pulled out my old molds and got a burning desire (no pun intended!) to make candles again.”

Kittredge Candles' Charity
Jennifer's chosen charity she supports via Kittredge Candles is Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society. They offer an extensive array of services to help unwanted, stray, and feral cats in Massachusettes and New Hampshire, including:

• Two no kill adoption centers in Salisbury, MA and PetSmart in Danvers, MA.
• A feral trap, vaccinate, neuter, and release program
• A spay/neuter program for ferals
• A low cost spay/neuter program operated by the Catmobile
• A foster home program for healthy and special needs cats and kittens
• A barn program for feral relocation
• Low cost vaccines, and veterinary care
• The Captain Courageous Fund which assists injured cats
• The Bridge Program to assist those that need emergency boarding for their cats.
• The Spay Mass Hotline to assist pet owners access to low cost spay/neuter services for cats and dogs in Massachusetts

“We donate all the money from the sale of our cat candles and soaps to our local cat shelter to help the homeless kitties.” Jennifer informed us, but there's more. According to her shop listings, you can "purchase any of our candles and put "MRFRS" in the message box at check out and 50% of the proceeds will automatically be donated to MRFRS." That's pretty darn excellent from my p.o.v.!

Yay! Coupons!

Also Jennifer has added this extra coupon code for this week: Cinnamon

for a discount of 20% off for any jar candles which can be found at

www.etsy.com/shop/kittredgecandles?section_id=6133453 and

www.etsy.com/shop/kittredgecandles?section_id=11112233”

 

Please visit her shop at

www.etsy.com/shop/kittredgecandles?ref=seller_info and help some deserving kitties!

A New Member, Animal Abuse Awareness Week, and a BNS!

A lot of exciting things going on this week. First, I'd like to introduce our newest member, Nicole Chen, and her shop The Stardust Studio. Nicole's shop donations will support the Toronto Humane Society and the Ontario SPCA (Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals). Check out her incredible selection of companion animal portraits. I love the tiny canvases and easels. She also has the most adorable little dog sweaters. My dog is jealous that they aren't available in his size. Yet. (Hint Hint...he's 12lbs. :))

Please stop by and give Nicole a warm welcome by hearting her shop, adding her to your circles, etc.

BNS and Other Treasuries

We also have a couple of treasuries to check out. There's a brand-new BNS treasury beginning tomorrow at noon. This is a great way to get some exposure if you're an Etsy seller, while picking up some rocking good...uh...goods, no matter who you are. :) Stop by and take a look. Coupons are already being posted by the featured sellers. Come take advantage of these excellent deals.
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjI3OTM2MTl8MjcyMzAwNTc4NA/will-open-july-1st-artists-for-animals

We also have a regular treasury featuring many team shops. Take a look, leave a note and share!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTY4MzEzOXwyNzIwNDQ5MDEz/am-i-blue

Anyone can make an Etsy treasury to show off their favorite shops and items. I'd love to feature your treasury featuring Artists for Animals Team Members. There's a place to post them on the message board so I won't miss it.

Animal Abuse Awareness Week
This week has been Animal Abuse Awareness Week, a time to stop and consider what we can do to end the abuse/neglect/exploitation of animals. If you're like most animal people, you've likely seen an animal being mistreated at one time or another, yet felt helpless to actually do anything about it. Don't let that feeling stop you from making a difference. Please take a moment to click the following link that leads to the Animal Legal Defense Fund's suggestions on how to handle these situations effectively: http://www.aldf.org/section.php?id=93
Read it now, before an issue arises, since how you react and either help save that animal from further harm, or can put that animal (and/or yourself) in danger. There are different ways to help, depending on whether you're dealing with an individual abusing their pet, if you're encountering a pet store that's neglecting the animals in their care, or a case of institutionalized mistreatment. Animal Legal Defense Fund is a well organized group of legal experts who devote themselves to animal protection. If anyone knows how to handle this type of problem, they do.