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| Arts & Crafts >> Crafters for Critters |
 Evil Cotton Candy Scarf - $19 |
Cooked up in late 2003, Crafters for Critters is a non-profit that sells donated goods and donates the sales to all sorts of animal rescue organizations. Run by Melissa, she's helped along by her mother, Ian, Kerri, and Ryan. Not only is the project helping animals in need, it also gives the crafters who have donated items extra exposure for their projects. 'I thought it would be cool to form it as a 'hub' of indie talent, a sort of community all together in one place', says Melissa on starting the project, 'Basically, to sum up, I wanted to create a project that combined two things that I care about: independent crafters/creators and animal rescue. When I started it, I didn't intend for it to go beyond the first round. But the response was so great, so I decided to try to keep working at it.' |
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The two aspects to Crafters for Critters are also two dominating forces in it's founder's life as well. Melissa not only heads up this project, she is also involved in animal rescue, by way of the Michigan Greyhound Connection, and she's the crafty gal behind Lekkner (tshirt reconstruction/handmade gear). On her involvement with the Michigan Greyhound Connection Melissa says, 'my boyfriend and I have adopted a couple of retired racers, and we go to 'meet & greets' events to educate the public on greyhound racing and adopting a greyhound. We also foster retired racers that have just come off the track, and take care of them at our house until they are adopted.' In a nutshell, she explains Lekkner, 'I tear apart thrifted t-shirts and make them into new things, like clothing, pouches, etc. And I also offer a custom t-shirt reconstruction service, where people can send me their t-shirt and I will reconstruct it into one of the 15 styles available.' Pretty sweet, right? Bitten by the crafty bug as a kid, 'As kids, my sister and I were encouraged to be creative and make things. My mom is an experienced seamstress, so I picked up the interest in sewing from her. Everything just kind of spiraled off from there', she says. These days there isn't much down time for personal projects, I even get a little laugh when I asked about down time.
The second organization to receive a donation from Crafters for Critters was Michigan Greyhound Connection, (Sasha Farm also based in Michigan was the first), and they've gone on to donate to PAWS, Best Friends and others, though she does note that they'll probably get back to fundraising for smaller groups in the future. I really think that large or small, Crafters for Critters is a positive project. Donations from all sorts of rad crafters, Bake Sale Designs donated scarves, Young and With It sent in chicken butt stationary (!), and seamripper has some really nice stationary there too. There’s also gear to get crafty with, like the embroidery kits from Sublime Stitching and the yarn from Lanas de Libélula. At first, this menagerie of crafters were people Melissa already knew from having her own crafty shop (Lekkner), and through word of mouth Crafters for Critters has grown to receive donations from all these wonderful crafty shops!
On what's to come for Crafters for Critters, 'Mostly I'd just like to see goods going in and out via donators and shoppers on a regular, consistent basis. I'd just like to be able to keep doing it, so as long as there are donators interested in donating and shoppers willing to shop, I'm happy.’ Crafters and animal rescue orgs take note. Get in touch with this gal here.
Melissa’s Playlist - Albums
1. Deerhoof - The Runners Four 2. Russian Futurists - Our Thickness 3. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary 4. Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness 5. Beatles - The White Album Crafters for Critters |
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