HAPPY FANTASTIC LOVES OUR FURRY FRIENDS!!!

Many of you know that I am an avid dog lover and have 3 basenji dogs (Miss Happy Fantastic, Mr. Calvin Cuddles, and Miss Toni Terrific). I am a volunteer with the dog "shelter"/rescue group BRAT- Basenji Rescue and Transport (http://www.basenjirescue.org). Basenji Rescue and Transport rescues, rehabilitates and re-homes dogs of the basenji breed as well as mixed dogs. BRAT is an all-volunteer organization and has been recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt charitable corporation since its founding in 1999. BRAT rescues basenjis from shelters, abusive situations, and relinquishing owners. Basenji Rescue and Transport provides routine and advanced veterinary care for the dogs and insures that they have been spayed/neutered and appropriately immunized before placement in a forever home.

This past year Basenji Rescue and Transport has taken in an alarmingly high number of dogs (mostly from puppy mills that were thankfully shut down). As a result they are greatly in need of money and assistance to care for all of the dogs they have taken in. I am currently donating 50% of my profits from my on-line shop to the dog "shelter"/rescue group BRAT- Basenji Rescue and Transport. So, if you are looking for that special birthday present or a nice surprise for any occasion please consider the happy fantastic items in my on-line shop www.HappyFantastic.etsy.com

"Buy Handmade" + "Buy Local First!" event @ The Bobbin

There will be a good n' crafty event this Sunday at The Bobbin -- Burlington VT's only Sew Bar + Craft Lounge that specializes in eco-friendly and sustainable crafting! More details are below.

Excerpt from an e-mail communication with The Bobbin co-founder, Gyllian Svensson:

"There's no better time to support local crafters than during the holidays, especially in this challenging economy. Keep your dollars local and support your neighbors by taking a pledge to buy local, handmade goods and services this year. Please join us on Sunday Dec. 7th from 2pm to 6pm and take the pledge. Enjoy localvore hors d'oeuvres and make your own ornaments in the Craft Lounge! Hope to see you there!"

The Bobbin Sew Bar + Craft Lounge
299 N. Winooski Ave. (corner of Archibald)
Burlington, VT 05401
www.thebobbin.com

Also, there is a great article on The Bobbin in St. Mike's student multimedia journal "The Echo" http://journalism.smcvt.edu/echo/11.19.08/Stories/Features/Bissett_bobbin.html

And of course, The Bobbin is a great place to take a cool crafting class or to purchase vintage fabrics and other unusual and/or vintage sewing and crafting supplies.

Pug Social

PUG SOCIAL is this Saturday, Sept 20!!! Gary will be working my booth and he will have a DELUXE assortment of "Pugalicious" tees, totes, and accessories. I will be DONATING 50% of my profits to Green Mountain Pug Rescue. Shopping at this event supports both a LOCAL VERMONT business as well as a WONDERFUL pug rescue.

Pug Social
Saturday September 20
10am-5pm
Topnotch Field
Stowe, VT

Shelburne Museum Goes to the Dogs / BRAT Fundraiser

Well, the weather was wet and windy (the wind broke the tent and prevented me from hanging the BRAT banner) but I still managed to raise almost $100 for Basenji Rescue and Transport (BRAT) at the Shelburne Museum Goes to the Dogs event!!! BRAT is a national non-profit dog rescue group that specializes in re-homing basenji's and basenji-mixes that need to be adopted into new homes. The dogs enter into BRAT for a variety of reason with the most common being the result of divorce between owners, death of the owner, and puppy mill busts. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, this year BRAT has acquired an alarming number of sick, traumatized, and malnourished dogs from puppy mills. The dogs from puppy mills tend to require a great deal of medical expenses and the cost of the vet bills can be painfully expensive. If you would like to donate additional funds to BRAT (or just want to learn more about what the heck a Basenji is) feel free to check out their website: www.basenjirescue.org

A big heartfelt thank you and "Ba-roooooo" goes out to all who purchased items from me at this event or donated money. :)

Art Hop Fashion Show PREVIEW!

The Art Hop Fashion Show is almost here! Check out these exclusive preview photos of Happy Fantastic Designs that will be going down the runway. This year the show should be excellent as there are a greater number of designers AND a professional modeling agency (Fusion Management Group) AND hair salon (Pure Salon) involved as well! WOW!!!

Strut 3: An Art Hop Fashion Event
Friday September 5
7pm and 9pm
Large tent next to Lake Champlain Chocolates
Pine St.
Burlington, VT

BeCause Craft Show

Thank you to all who came to the "BeCause Craft Show" where I donated 50% of my profits to Basenji Rescue and Transport (BRAT). Basenjis are known as the African barkless dog and are intelligent, curious, and fascinating dogs. BRAT is a non-profit dog rescue organization made up of a truly wonderful + caring group of volunteers. BRAT recently acquired 30+ basenjis from a puppy mill that was going out of business. Most of these dogs are in very bad shape and in desperate need of medical care. :( Many of the females are pregnant and the number of basenji's needing vet care and homes will soon rise to 40-50. These dogs have never felt the caring touch of a human and are timid, skinny, little bundles of fur. It will take 4-6 months to rehabilitate these dogs and to prepare them for their forever home (all are in caring foster homes with BRAT volunteers).

My dog Happy came from BRAT and she even made it to the fundraiser to help teach people about basenjis and to model my line of canine couture. Happy was a retired breeding dog and had bounced around between 4-5 homes before she came to live with me. When I got her she was lonely, terrified, and afraid to trust anyone. She is now 16 tears old and over the years she has blossomed into a truly wonderful dog! She is my loyal companion and I love her so much that I named my art/design business after her.

With your help I was able to raise almost $65 dollars. My parents have agreed to match whatever money I was able to raise making it a total of $130. In total, that will cover the cost of 1-2 vet examinations for homeless Basenji dogs. YIPPEE!!!