Featured Friday - Suegray of Suegray Jewelry on Etsy

One of the things I love most about Etsy is that it is a meeting ground for so many creative minds!  I could (and do!) spend hours at a time perusing the wares of others, marveling at their craft, becoming inspired by their work!  One of my most recent meanderings on Etsy lead me to a wonderful shop by Suegray Fitzpatrick called Suegray Jewelry.  The reason Suegray's shop jumped off the monitor at me was because of this beautiful pendant that she creates and sells on her shop:

Suegray creates the most magnificent hand-made jewelry out of fine silver using her personal collection of unique and amazing antique wax seals.  This particular pendant of a greyhound running with a letter in it's mouth also has a wonderful french proverb above, "je suis presse" which translates as, "I am pressed (for time)" or "I am in a hurry".  She does call out that the words are so, so small that they are very hard to read on the pendant (even with a magnifying glass), but you can make out most of it in the image above.  She creates each pendant by hand-stamping the antique french seal into fine silver- the result is this amazing seal that conveys so much old world charm!

This second greyhound charm also caught my eye and also evoked a very emotional response as I read the description.  This "wax seal" pendant has a wonderfully faithful greyhound sitting next to a monument with the phrase "le temps passe l'amitie reste" written around the edges in very tiny letters.  The translation is, "the time passes...the friendship remains".

In Suegray's photos, you can see some of the small, interchangeable seals that she uses to mold the silver into her beautiful pendants.  Here's a better look at the actual antique tools she uses to create them:

As you can see, a variety of pendants are available, not just greyhound ones!  Some of my other favorites are:

The Curious Dog 

(no real story here, just a pointer- beautiful!)

"Calmede ons agitee au dedans"

This phrase on the below pocket watch pendant translates as, "calm when agitated on the inside" or "calm when inwardly agitated"...but Suegray has a beautiful (and trendy!) translation of, "keep calm and carry on"!

And, lastly, this ever so true "c'est la vie" pendant of a small, single-masted sail boat traversing the rocky sea!  "Such is life"!

So, how can you buy Suegray's amazing pendants (and other fine jewelry!)?

• You can shop on her Etsy store, suegrayjewelry, or you can shop from her personal website, suegray seaglass jewelry.  All of her pendants at either shop are about $40 before tax & shipping!
• If you are in the Rhode Island or Massachusetts area, you can find her in-person at the following events:
• The 36th Annual Harvest Fair (10/2 & 10/3, 10am-5pm, Middletown, RI)
• The North American Seaglass Festival (10/9 & 10/10, 10am-5pm, Hyannis, MA)
• The 19th Annual Cornucopia Sale at the Pennfield School (11/13, 9am-4pm, Portsmouth, RI)

Please note: All photos are the property of Suegray Fitzpatrick of Suegray Jewelry.

Featured Friday - The Mod Dog

One of the first things new greyhound owners learn about their pup is that their heads are much more narrow than their necks, which means they require a special kind of collar called a martingale.  The martingale collar is designed to keep the greyhound completely secure and comfortable at the same time.  A traditional collar would need to be kept tight around the smallest part of the greyhound's head, which definitely would be uncomfortable for the dog.  A martingale collar has two loops, instead of the traditional collar's one loop, and the large loop is meant to fit loosely (but still snug!) around the neck.  There is a ring on the small loop where the leash is clipped- as the dog pulls forward or the walker pulls back on the leash, the small loop is pulled tighter, which causes the large loop to fit more snugly around the neck.  Once the tension on the small loop is released, the collar loosens again- perfect for those pups with narrow heads because they won't be able to slip their collar!

Here's an example of a basic martingale:

When we picked up our first greyhound, Ana, we went to the adoption coordinator's house where, in addition to filling out the paperwork, meeting our new family member for the first time, and standing around in awe looking at all the fresh-off-the-track beauties, we were able to peruse their "shop" of greyhound necessities.  We picked out a basic martingale and matching leash in a solid color that would go with everything.  We told ourselves that we would pick up a "pretty" patterned martingale in a few weeks.  Three years and another greyhound later, neither of our two have fancy collars.  I've gone to a lot of greyhound picnics and events where vendors sell them, but they always have been either too ornate, or let's face it, too expensive (some vendors will charge up to $75 for a collar!).  Enter Etsy and The Mod Dog!

Another fabulous find for our Featured Friday segment, The Mod Dog creates custom collars and leashes for your pet! You can choose the style of the collar (buckle or martingale), the webbing color (which is the main collar material), the pattern (which is attached to the webbing), and the hardware!  Each collar is custom created for your pup, so it will take between 1 to 2 weeks after your order is placed for the collar to arrive.  I've found quite a number of "favorites" on the shop, and they look like they would be well worth the wait!

The Halloween Retro Mod Dots Martingale Collar

The Jumpin' Jack Martingale Collar

A Whale's Tale Martingale Collar

I haven't purchased one (well, two!) for my hounds yet, but I already have the two picked out that I want to get them.  It's a trend in our greyhound group to color-coordinate our dogs with a signature color.  Ana's signature color is purple, and Blue's is, well, blue.  They also have secondary signature colors, just because we like variation, and Ana's is pink, and Blue's is red (we like him to wear blue and red together because they are Superman colors!).  So the fancy martingales we want need to coordinate with their primary and secondary signature colors.  Here are the ones we love for our two:

The Crimson and Clover Martingale Collar - only $20!!

The Polka, Polka Makes Me Happy Martingale Collar - only $19!!

(but we'd want to make it either 1 1/2" or 2" wide)

And, because we at Greyhound Threads love shops that work with rescue groups, we are excited to share with our readers that a percentage of every sale at The Mod Dog is donated to a local Georgia rescue group (mainly the Atlanta Weimaraner Club Rescue).

So, where can you find more information on The Mod Dog and purchase collars and leashes?  Here's the scoop:

• You can shop The Mod Dog on Etsy
• You can "like" The Mod Dog on Facebook
• You can "follow" The Mod Dog Blog (we love the blog and the alliteration!)
• And you can stay in touch through The Mod Dog twitter updates
  

Featured Friday - Molly Mutt

Being an avid DIY-er, I have spent many an hour brainstorming the best way to turn our pups' beds into chic, trendy decor.  A few months ago, I bought a curtain with a lovely pattern from the Crate and Barrel Outlet (there definitely are some perks of living near a big city like Chicago!) that had a white lining.  I was able to slip the egg-crate bed and a goose-down comforter (yes, our dogs are spoiled) between the white lining and the pretty fabric to create a pretty little duvet for them.  This lasted all of about two weeks until our two decided that the bed wasn't fluffy enough anymore, so they started digging and rooting around to "fluff" it.

Tired of the mess of blanket and curtain, I returned to an idea that has come to mind more than once in the three years we've had the dogs- baby mattress!  I thought we could streamline the whole process by purchasing a baby crib mattress (only $35 at Target!) and crib sheet.  Win-win, right?  The dogs get a real bed to sleep on, and we get a sleek and tidy dog nest next to our bed.  The only thing we didn't count on?  They don't like it.  We felt sure that they would appreciate sleeping on a real mattress since they love to sleep on ours and often fight over who gets to sleep on it at night (they don't like to sleep on it together..."he's touching me!!!").  Nope, neither of them liked it, so after three nights of trying to coerce them to sleep on it, I caved and added the goose down comforter to the top of it again.  Now, they will at least lay on it, though they both still want to be on our bed.  So, back to the drawing board.  As I started to reflect on my options, I remembered Molly Mutt, a trendy shop I saw online created and run by an equally trendy girl named, well, Molly.

I can't remember exactly how I first stumbled upon the gem that is Molly Mutt, but perhaps it was during one of my marathon searches for the perfect dog bed.  I would venture to say that Molly has revolutionized the dog bed industry (or at least is well on her way to doing so!) with her DIY Dog Bed Duvet Kits.  The concept is genius and is made up of two parts: the dog duvet and the stuff sack.

With the Molly Mutt dog duvet, you can cover any existing dog bed or fill it with pretty much anything soft that you have laying around your house- old clothes, sheets, blankets, stuffed animals, etc.  For example, this adorably awesome little number called Mr. Roboto:

But Molly takes things one step further.  If you decide to stuff your dog duvet with household items (or a couple of old beds too flat to be of use on their own), it would be a pain if you had to take everything out just to wash the duvet, right?  Well, Molly introduces us to the concept of the "stuff sack".

Essentially, it's a mesh sack that makes it easy to take all the old soft stuffing materials, toss them into the stuff sack, and use the dog duvet to cover it up.  It makes upcycling items that normally would sit in the back of a closet, get put in the attic, or get thrown away so simple!  On the Molly Mutt site, Molly points out that as the dog duvet wears out, you can even use it to stuff your next Molly Mutt bed!

The cost of the "huge" duvet is $45, and the stuff sack is priced at $15 (really, deals on their own!).  Molly recommends that you have at least two duvets so you can wash one and have another available to put on the bed immediately (or, let's be honest with ourselves, there are too many fantastic patterns to be able to narrow it down to just one!).  She makes it easy, and cost effective, by offering the DIY Kit- 2 duvets and one stuff sack for only $95 (that's a savings of $10, not to mention she offers FREE SHIPPING on orders of $75+).

I love that Molly took a concept that solved an everyday problem for her and turned it into a solution for every dog owner- check out her shop online, or stop by her blog to find out more about Molly at Molly Mutts!

*Note: All images are from Molly Mutt's website and are the sole ownership of Molly Mutt.

Featured Friday - Going Renegade!

While this Feature Friday is neither about one artist in particular, nor is it necessarily about a greyhound craftster (though we hope we find some here!!), we felt the Chicago Renegade Craft Fair was too amazing to pass up blogging about!  Whether it's street performers, local theater and artisans, or large-scale DIY events like the Chicago Craft Social or next weekend's Renegade Craft Fair, Chicago is an unbridled mass of raw talent and energy just waiting to explode on the crafting and art scene at every turn!  We here at Greyhound Threads are most excited about the Chicago Renegade Craft Fair, having read about it and longed to attend since way before moving out here to Chicagoland.  Here's the skinny on the event (you can also see this same information on the Renegade Craft Fair's Chicago FAQ page):

What is the Renegade Craft Fair?

The Renegade Craft Fair is a large-scale DIY event featuring hundreds of independent artists and their unique handmade items. RCF is held in cities across the US every year - including Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles & Austin. The fair is known for being one of the first events of its kind, and for featuring top-notch indie-craft artists and designers who travel from all over the map to participate.

What kinds of crafts will be there?

At RCF you’ll find all sorts of cool handmade stuff – including clothing, housewares, posters + prints, plush items, ceramics, jewelry, stationery + more. Each Renegade Craft Fair draws hundreds of applicants, all juried so that only the best arts + crafts are available.  The fair also features choice local eateries, marching bands, entertainers, dj’s, raffles, workshops, photobooths and other festivities!

When and where is the fair being held?

Chicago’s 8th Annual event will take place Saturday + Sunday, September 11 + 12 from 11AM – 7PM each day. Vendors will stretch down Division St. between Damen + Paulina, in the Wicker Park neighborhood.

How do I get there?

We encourage you to bicycle or take public transportation to the Fair!

By L train - Take the Blue Line to Division St. From there, head West on Division and it will take you right to the event. You can also take the Blue Line to North Ave., and walk south on Damen Ave. until you reach Division St.

By Bus - You can take the Division St. bus to Ashland Ave. from the East, and to Damen Ave. from the West. Coming from the North + South, you can take the Ashland or Damen buses to Division St. From Ashland, head West on Division and it will take you right there. The Damen bus will let you right off at the fair at Division St.

What if I can't make it next weekend?

If you can't make it next weekend (and we really hope you can!), this event is brought to you by the same owners of RENEGADE HANDMADE, a unique one-stop shop for DIY goods that features the work of over 300 artists!  It was created as an extension of the RCF and the store serves as a permanent location for people to buy and sell unique handmade items throughout the year (yep! They do consignments!).  Their store front is located in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood, and they are also found on the interwebs here.  They have an amazing variety of handmade housewares, jewelry, posters+prints, plush items, clothing, stationery and more from the most fantastic crafsters around!  You can also head over to their fantastically hilarious (and informative!) blog so you don't miss a renegade beat.

We hope to see you there!

Feature Friday - Sarah Regan Snavely of Sarah Regan Snavely Studios

For this Feature Friday, it's hard to know where to begin!  It's the main reason Sarah Regan Snavely of the Studio by the same name was not the very first Feature Friday post- her work is so immensly amazing that it can be intimidating to find the words to describe her work!

I first found Sarah's work by searching for greyhound artwork on the interwebs shortly after getting Ana in October of '06.  At the time, there really wasn't much available (and there still isn't a great deal now) in the way of Sighthound work.  Once I found her site, I was entranced by not only Sarah's portfolio of work, but also by her study of the greyhound!  What sets her apart from other artists who feature greyhounds in their work is that Sarah is the proud owner of a pack of greyhounds, herself, so she has had ample opportunity to study their lithe, elegant, muscular bodies and use them as models for her work.  She lives in the Southwestern corner of North Dakota and has a studio there where she works mostly in clay making sculptures and tiles, and occasionally working in sterling silver for jewelry.

Here are a variety of small sculptures made by Sarah and featured on her homepage- you can see the amazing detail and how she captures every expression and pose of the greyhound so flawlessly!

She creates memory boxes like this one pictured below as well...having not yet experienced the pain of losing one of my greys, I hope it is a very long time before I have to think about purchasing one for my own, but they are still beautiful works of art I can enjoy now!

And here are some of the types of tiles that she creates- so beautiful!  She has been able to capture expression and motion even in the tiles!

Sarah is also a fellow Etsy seller- you can find her shop here, but she's currently away for an event.  You can, however, click a button on her shop to be emailed when she returns.  Her items move fast, so if you are looking for a particular item, you may need to stalk her shop for a while (or convo to see if she'll do a custom piece).

You can stay in the know by joining her Facebook page- she posts lots of photos of pieces she's currently working on, and you can also shop her Etsy page from there.  Enjoy!

Featured Friday - Elle J. Wilson of Almost an Angel

Every Friday, I would like to show appreciation for my fellow artists and crafters by showcasing them here in a segment I'm calling "Feature Friday".  I hope these posts will not only raise awareness for these amazingly skillful artists, but also illustrate the vast variety of greyhound-inspired work available!  And now, with no further ado, I would like to announce our very first featured artist- Elle J. Wilson from Almost an Angel.

I was first exposed to the amazing work of Elle J. Wilson through GreytArt, which is a fantastic resource for finding greyhound-themed art featuring a variety of artists.  Elle began painting greyhounds in 2005, when she received her first commission, and was inspired and enchanted by their mystique.  She captures them in watercolor/ink pen, oil, or acrylic, and each one has a magical quality to it!  Elle has a fantastic talent for capturing the expressiveness of the greyhound face- soulful, timid, haughty, adoring...the list goes on!  If you purchase a print, it is hand-signed, titled and numbered by Elle, personally, and comes with a Signed Certificate of Authenticity.

I own a watercolor/pen ink print entitled "A Little Attentive" which has become a cherished addition to our art collection.  The print seems to be no longer available- I can't even find more than a thumbnail image of it, but Elle has an extensive variety of greyhound (and other breed/animals) work to choose from.  It also makes the print we have feel even more special knowing that it is a limited edition!

Here is a thumbnail of the print we purchased through GreytArt:

Another example of a Watercolor/Ink Pen print - "In the Doldrums" by Elle J. Wilson

An example of her Oil painting titled "The Simple Life" by Elle J. Wilson

 There are a few ways to purchase some of Elle's greyt work to call your own:

1. Through her Etsy shop - prints and cards of Elle's work are available
2. Through her website - you can purchase prints of her artwork, or you can commission your own custom piece!
3. Through GreytArt - a site that "strives to provide high quality art work that promotes Greyhounds as loving pets and great athletes."  They also support rescue and adoption efforts by contributing a portion of all proceeds to organizations that promote greyhound rescue and adoption efforts.

I have already scoped out my next purchase from the amazing selection available- it's going to be "A Little Tired"available on Elle's Etsy shop.