Japan

Everywhere the news about the devastation in Japan and ways to help are showing up over the internet. Of course, wanting to do my part to help however I can, I started trying to think of how best to do it. I'm not a big enough company to do like Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab nor do I have the market base to make a successful "All Proceeds go to. . ." offer. (Read the details on their blog HERE, and by all means, if you're a fan of BPAL, it's a good time to buy and help out a charity.)

I decided the best way is for me to just take cash out of pocket and send it directly (you can find lots of ways to even text donations from the US and Canada not only at the above blog link from BPAL but on tons of twitter feeds as well.)

I still wanted to do *something* though. So, I looked through my shop and I have one Magic Vial Pendant that is somewhat "Japanese" themed: Sakura (pictured left). And so I decided, the first person to email me at Contact Izile with a screencap, e-receipt, or any kind of proof of donation to any Japanese earthquake related charity fund of $10 or more gets this pendant for absolutely free.

I wish that the cherry trees were already blooming, and I could make more of these and offer this to more than just the first person. And I may yet take some time to think of other Japanese themes I could make and continue this; not just be a one time thing. After all, these charities are going

to need support not just this week, or this month, but for a good long time.

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Lots of people want to give, and lots of etsy-ers want to find a way as well.

Vintage and Handmade by Jeremi has a series of photo prints for $10 each where all proceeds go to relief efforts to help Japan. All four prints are of photos taken in Japan and are brilliantly lush and green, as we hope it will be again, soon. Pictured here at right is one of my favorites of the four, taken in Kyoto.

GemsBerry is also selling a Sakura themed necklace with 100% of the proceeds going to help Japan as well. A collection of sterling silver, freshwater pearls, rock crystal and pink Peruvian opals.

There are lots of other etsy sellers out there who are offering items with proceeds going to Japanese Earthquake relief charities. I did, however, not plug anyone who either did not state the percentage of the sale that would be given to charity, or those who were only giving a certain percentage out of the sale. Those are personal judgment calls to be made by the buyers and sellers themselves, and not something I'll get into here. These sellers I have featured I did so largely because they used the phrase "all proceeds" (or some variation).

Snow!

So we had our first real snow last night here in NYC. A light but constant flurry that seemed to persist for hours and did eventually stick enough for a light coating of white. It always makes the city so beautiful when the snow is fresh. It was a great way to finish a great night.

Also, little note, It is Tuesday the 14th, and I believe I will be putting Izile's Oddities on seasonal hiatus starting Thursday the 16th. So if there is anything any of you might have been wanting to buy from my etsy shop for Christmas, best to do so soon. The SALES listed a couple of posts down are still in effect until the shop goes on seasonal hiatus. I will be back January 3rd, 2011, and will probably have the shop open no later than Jan 4th.

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SNOW! I basically grew up without snow. Maybe we'd get a little snow that would stick once every

4-5 years back in Mississippi, but even then, it

was almost never enough to play with. No, we more got ice, if we got anything at all. So, yes, I still get excited about snow as an adult, because it's something I didn't get to play with or experience much as a child. Here is a photo from

"Snowmageddon" last year that my roommate took of me while I made a pitiful attempt to build a tiny snowman out in our back yard. I will say I have two things working against me when it comes to snowmen, 1) lack of experience, 2) Reynaud's Phenomenon. I won't go into details about #2, but feel free to google.

Now, back to snow on etsy!

So, "snow" results in more pages than I can shake a stick at. So, one of my favorite themes in snow are angry bluebirds. My grandmother did some birdwatching before she passed, and I remember books with lots of photos of puffed up "mad" looking bluebirds in the snow. Well, Makaio's Fotos has a couple of Eastern Bluebird photo prints. They don't necessarily look as ticked off as the ones I remember, but they are truly puffed up! There's also a great variety of other nature based shots to browse through.

And of course, when the results are too overwhelming, I know I can always check in and see what my fellow members at FAE (Fantasy Artists of Etsy) are doing. (You can always check out the items for FAE members by searching "faeteam" on etsy.) I try never to promote the same shop twice, and I've got a lot of the FAE artists covered, but Rainwater Studios has a great piece and is new enough that I've never had the opportunity to feature them before. At right is there Winter Fae Necklace. They've only had a very few sales and have 4 pages full of wonderful things to look at. Lots of great wire wrapping and fantasy themed creations!

Hester Street Fair

For those of you in and about New York City, Sunday, June 13th, I will be vending at the Hester Street Fair in lower Manhattan (corner of Seward Park at Hester St. & Essex St.) It is also (for the locals) 4 blocks up from the JMZ/F train Essex-Delancey subway stop and just a little over 1 block down from the F train East Broadway stop. Official Website for those wanting more information.

It was a last minute cancellation that made this available to me through the {New New} Etsy Street Team. Their links are always present on the lower right side of this blog. And if you are a New York City etsy crafter and not a member of the {New New}, then I might point out that I believe June is one of their joining months, so contacting them now about joining (only $5.00 a year) would be good timing. I will be sharing space with two other {New New} members, whom I will be plugging below in my featured section.

That said, so far I've, of course, got lots of Magic Vial Pendants to sell, and have just come back from the print shop and have a limited run of prints of my original watercolor paintings that will be for sale as well.

Hope to see some of you there, and keep your fingers crossed for me! This will be my first craft fair since the first Steampunk Day at the Brooklyn Indie Market.

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As mentioned above, there will be two other {New New} vendors also attending this Sunday.

Apeture Agog - described as Needlecraft Graffiti, Derby Action and Mischief. Has a very unique and interesting collection of crafts. Photography, t-shirts (those would be the Roller Derby items), and even night lights are in her

arsenal of artistry. I chose a picture of the Needlecraft Graffiti, because I think that that phrase is wonderful and needs to be seen to be grasped.

The other vendor, I'm a little confused about, to be honest. She's on the list to be there this Sunday, but Hester Street Fair is not included in her list of places she'll be on her etsy shop or on her blog. Hmm. Well, I'm a cautious girl, so I'll include her anyway. (hey, her stuff's good whether she's at Hester or whether the roster on the team page is a bit behind).

Claudia Pearson Illustration has cute and sometimes a little quirky drawings available as prints, bags, coloring books and even tea towels! She's got very interesting and detailed prints of local goods and "Brooklyn Bugs" but I really love the color saturation and design of her Summer tea towels - plus what a neat and innovative way to display a print! - so that's what's pictured here at right.

So, if you're in the area, come check out Hester Street Fair, and if you can't get here, visit us on etsy and keep an eye out for future markets this summer!

Back in Brooklyn!

This will be brief because I've still got a lot to do.

I just wanted to make a note that I'm back in Brooklyn, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is going to have a great New Year!

I just took my Etsy shop off vacation mode and renewed the few things that had lapsed while I was on vacation (and marked them down and moved them to the SALE section!) It will still be a bit before I can start making new things, but I wanted to go ahead and open up since I am home and can go to the Post Office now.

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For my plug, just because I'm glad to be back, I searched "Brooklyn."

Firstly, I saw this and had to include it, though you might have noticed I don't really include a lot of photography in my plugs. But I love this park, and that tree in particular, and this is a great photo of it.

It's an 11x14 from Dooley Images of Astoria.

At the etsy shop you can also find other examples of photography. I also like the high saturation in the fall leaf shots.

My other pick is a tote bag from My Cute Handbags of Brooklyn. 15x14.5 in cotton canvas, in a choice of colors, and best of all, printed with a design of Brooklyn pigeons. Great for books or some light grocery running.