Friday 3 October 2008

Animals and Communicating - so important!

Who's this beauty??
Arabella relaxing ofcourse!
Wesley at the rescue centre - so glad he made it there! and even gladder he made it to Me!!

I have 2 lovely rescue rabbits living at home with me, Arabella (my bags inspiration) and Wesley. Arabella came from a rescue in Perthshire, Scotland and Wesley from The Rabbit and Guinea Pig Welfare http://www.rngp.org/index.shtml in Rugby, England. They live in my house, ofcourse, and have free range of everywhere all the time.

When we collected Arabella in 2005 she had been shut up in a hutch for 2 years! Isn't that shocking. It has taken here at least 2 more years to pad around the house without being afraid of noises or what was behind the door. Now she really has come out of her furry shell and she loves to explore. Particularly at breakfast time - she dashes over to peer inside the fridge with me - demanding that I give her a portion of greens. Her small demands are always met.

Wesley is happy at the moment keeping warm and sleeping unlmited safe hours on his fleeces. He stretches right out - on his side and his big lop ears fall over his face. He has many deep sleeps a day and is very contented to doze away. He has plenty of room and a basket of toys but at the moment he isn't showing too much interest in them. He is just over 2 now and was found on a disused railway line covered in urine and blood. he has many cuts and nicks on his ears and when we took him home it took a few months for him to trust me to gently caress his ears and forehead.
Whenever I am going out, even for 5 minutes, I always let both of them know when I will be back, and what I plan to do.

A few years ago at my grans the TV was on during the day. Which is pretty rare, but it must have been fate because the daytime show was on - can't remember what one it was, but they had this lady on who could 'talk' to the animals. Well, I have always been fascinated by animal communication so I watched avidly. The lady was Amelia Kinkade, http://www.ameliakinkade.com/ an American animal communcator who is highly accomplished in this field. She was just amazing and the host had invited her to his home where she had talked to his 3 dogs. She was spot on with each dogs foibles and quirks that he was amazed, and pleasantly shocked!
Later when I got home I searched on the web and found out that she would be holding a workshop in Scotland in a few months so I promptly booked myself on it. It was a full days communication workshop with a lot of animal guests that our group of 30 bombarded with telepathic questions!! Not one furry friend blinked an eyelid in this melee and the majority of people managed to communicate successfully, their answers were confirmed and their notebooks filled.

I highly recommend going on her course if you ever get the chance. I read her book first 'Straight From the Horses Mouth' http://www.ameliakinkade.com/fromhorsesmouth and found it amazing and fascinating. Never again would I presume that the spoken word is reserved only for homo sapiens ears, regardless of 'complexity'. As soon as I read the book I started to talk all the time with Zai - my first rescue rabbit http://www.sadtohappystory.blogspot.com/ and that brought about so many changes for the better! Zai would no longer be sitting right at the door as I came home very day, his back to the door in a huff - he would be relaxed and going about his usual things because I had told him exactly how long I would be, what I would be doing and when I would be home! (and I was Never late).

At the workshop one of the first guests we met was a young dog, and we had to ask him what he had had for breakfast. So, in the silence I asked my telepathic question and instantaneously I heard the words 'star-shaped cat food'. My gosh, I thought, that's odd, but I better write it down. Then I sat there wondering what to say when Amelia would ask me. After she had been around the group - chops, biscuits, lamb... she pointed to me and I blurted out 'star-shaped cat food' and the dog's 'owner' said 'hey! he had that for breakfast by mistake this morning' and I thought Wow this works!! There was a gasp in the group and the dog was just sitting there cool as a button!

After the workshop I purchased Amelias CD on Meditations http://www.ameliakinkade.com/cd_english . Every fur friend I come across I treat as an equal - because we all are eh! - all living beings - breathing the same air, drinking the same water, and I always say hello to them! If you love all animals then you should have a look at Amelia's book, it truly is an eye-opener. It is a step up from the excellant Monty Roberts http://www.montyroberts.com/ab_about_monty.html - I read his book years ago. Well worth the read. Did you know that rabbits are like horses too - if you put pressure on a rabbits side then they will push back!
Well, I have been reading a fellow etsy for animals team-mate's blog Dawn of Without Quiltification and I came across a sad story - had tears in my eyes, of a beautiful and needy labrabor called Gutter http://withoutqualification.com/2008/09/05/gutter-senior-lab-with-seizures-needs-donations-and-rescue/#comment-376 .
After having one of his sleeping seizures he actually goes around the house to make sure everyone is still there - and I was wondering if maybe he had been abandoned after a seizure? He has a great need and desire to check that everyone is still there, next to him!! I truly hope he finds a loving forever home. I sent some dollars his way :)
Dawn is doing great work helping many little friends. She also has an etsy shop Fashionsplatter and all sales go to help her rescue http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5276773 and part to another rescue. Her pendants are lovely! and meaningful too http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11497953

Wednesday 1 October 2008

A Big THANK YOU!

to my super customers!! - I have sold 3 Arabella Bags during the Etsy For Animals Birthday Celebrations and I have donated a total of $22.60 to 2 super rescues - The Buckeye House Rabbit Society in Ohio, USA http://www.ohare.org and the Rabbit and Guinea Pig Welfare in Rugby, England http://www.rngp.org/ and to the World Scoiety for the Protection of Animals http://www.wspa.org.uk/. Also, one of my customers donated a further $15.60 to Buckeye!

I also sold 2 original Priceless and Evdokia ACEOs and 3 of my Arabella handmade cards. So - thank you very much everybody for choosing to buy my artwork! especially considering the amazing wealth of talent out there.

I am sure the animal organisations really appreciate these extra funds and I am very pleased indeed to be contributing in this way. Just incase you don't know I also paint pet portraits, starting from $160 in watercolours. I also paint house and building portraits, landscapes and wild animals. If you are interested please take a look at my fine art style here http://www.dragonhouseofyuen.co.uk/petportraits.htm .

So - here are the bags that have gone to great homes ....

This Arabella Bag has been sold!
This Arabella Bag has been sold aswell.

This Arabella Bag has gone to a new home too.


Also a Very Big Thank You to all the wonderful folks - you know who you are! - who have said lovely things about my bags and cards and hares. It means so much to me and when I am quietly working away at 2am and can hear only the clock ticking I remind myself that other people love my small creations too.