Helloooooo Cookie! New Member The Organic Gypsy

This week we welcome new member Kelly Ann of The Organic Gypsy, a bakery shop full of vegan goodness. Please stop by, say hello, make it your new favorite... and try not to order everything!!

Marley's Peanut Butter Passions
from The Organic Gypsy

Vegan Etsy Team Grab Bag Giveaway on VegWeb.com!

That's right! For this week's Weekly Giveaway, VegWeb is offering up a Vegan Etsy grab bag. And it's super easy to enter! But you'd better do it soon, because you've only got until Tuesday the 24th! So hop on over to VegWeb.com right this moment...!!!

Two fabulous new members!

Please welcome the two newest members of the Vegan Etsy team: Maille Mosaics and Undead Trash! Check out these truly unique shops, and don't forget to make them your newest favorites.

Bronze Snowflake Chainmaille Earrings
from Maille Mosaics

TV Casualty Bride of Frankenstein
from Undead Trash

Busy Bees!

Whether you love them or run screaming at the sight of them, bees are our busy buzzing friends and we couldn't do without them!  Celebrate our winged buddies with these cute finds from the Vegan Etsy Team!

Chubby Bumble Desk Topper by Monkey and Squirrel:

Gigantic Bee Photo by 3 AM Art Productions:

Happy Anniversary Honey Card by Myzoetrope:

Bright Bees Earrings by Pink Bubble:

Queen Bee Bag from my shop, Vegancraftastic:

-Kala (Vegancraftastic)

Electric Vegan Rainbow!

Check out our new Vegan Etsy team treasury - it's called Electric Rainbow!

Be sure to visit our treasury over on Etsy and leave a comment to support our team, thanks!!! :)

-Kala (Vegancraftastic)

Eco Friendly Grocery Shopping!

Eco friendly grocery shopping can be fun!  The Vegan Etsy team makes environmentalism fun and stylish with these cool finds:

Grocery List Notepad from This Is It:

Snail Tote Bag from Sick on Sin:

Reusable Produce Bags from Johnson Family Zoo:

-Kala (Vegancraftastic)

Animal Adoption: It's In the Mail!

The other week while I was in line at the Post Office waiting to mail off an Etsy order, I happened to notice this amazing new set of stamps being sold by the U.S. Postal Service. They're calling the design Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet, and each of the ten images in the set depicts a different animal who was at one time in a shelter. "With these 10 stamp designs, the U.S. Postal Service hopes to raise awareness of the need to adopt shelter pets."

According to the page on the U.S.P.S. website, at the time the animals were photographed all but one had found a forever home - and I'm hoping that last one has too! I am so happy that the postal service has seen fit to bring this important issue to the attention of the public. And as the proud parent of a rescue bunny, I must point out that it isn't just cats and dogs who end up in shelters!

Every year, for a wide variety of reasons from the understandable to the unbelievable, many kinds of healthy animals of all ages wind up in shelters across the country. Few are lucky enough to be housed in "no kill" shelters; most face an untimely death by euthanization because they are not adopted quickly enough. This is one of the reasons that it is so important to spay and neuter the animals in your care when they are of appropriate age. But it's also important to adopt, rather than purchase, an animal companion - give shelter animals a second chance for a happy life!

Purchasing and using the stamps, note cards, and other adorable products in the U.S.P.S. Animal Rescue Line is a great way to spread awareness of all the animals in shelters waiting and hoping for their forever homes. And when you are ready to bring an animal companion into your life, please adopt!

VET in the 2010 Veggie Awards!

The Vegan Etsy Team would like to send out a HUGE congratulations to Augusta Vegan Bakery, Sweet Fritsy, and Sweet V Confections - all nominated for Best Online Vegan Bakery in the 2010 Veg News Veggie Awards! We are so thrilled for all of you. Just to be mentioned is a major recognition of how amazing your products are and how hard you've worked to make your shops something special. If only all three of you could win!

We have several-to-many other bakery and sweets shops among our VET members, and we know your stuff is fantastic as well - here's to seeing you among the listings next year!

Member News: Ladies Blend becomes Vegan Aesthetics

We are excited to bring you the following news from team member Pennie Mills, previously of Ladies Blend and now of Vegan Aesthetics. She has shared the following press release with us:

August 04, 2010

Ladies Blend has changed its name to Vegan Aesthetics

Melbourne, FL - Pennie Mills of Ladies Blend, a jewelry, accessories and housewares design company, announced last month that the company name would officially be changing from Ladies Blend to Vegan Aesthetics. Since the start of the Ladies Blend brand in 2003, the company has undergone a significant shift in its product line that led to the decision of launching a new brand. The Vegan Aesthetics brand will continue to provide the unsurpassed standard of product and customer excellence that Ladies Blend is known and respected for.

The unwavering focus of Vegan Aesthetics is to create beautiful, artful products for everyone without the use of animal derived materials. Products include but are not limited to sterling silver statement jewelry and hand stamped vegan inspired silverware. Pet tags and awareness jewelry are included in the trendy and popular hand stamped heart collection.

Products can be purchased online and are available for retail (US & Canada) and wholesale (US) purchase. Known as the go-to gift site, the current website is set up to easily process any product for gift giving, right down to a custom gift note.

Vegan Aesthetics is a family owned business under the leadership of Pennie Mills. Lifestyle driven, she creates purposely minimal, uncomplicated, meaningful designs that are fresh looking and comfortable to wear. For additional information, please visit Vegan Aesthetics online.

Team Chat Tomorrow!

Hey Teamies! Don't forget we have our August team chat tomorrow, August 9 at 7pm Eastern time. Check the boards for details. Hope to see you there!

Congratulations to our July GVEG Winner!

Congratulations to Crystal, winner of our July Great Vegan Etsy Giveaway contest "Summertime!" The item she chose for her entry was this beautiful lilac cameo hair pin from longtime team member PinkBubble Designs, who donates 10% of every sale to Peaceful Prarie Sanctuary. Crystal will be receiving one of our fantastic VET gift packs, stuffed full of a wide variety of vegan wares from team members.

Thanks to everyone who entered - we loved reading about all of your wonderful summertime activities. Keep an eye on the blog for the next Great Vegan Etsy Giveaway, as well as contests in team member shops and more!

Reading Rainbow

There's nothing like crawling into bed with a good book (and maybe a bit of chocolate) after a long day. Check out these reading themed items from the Vegan Etsy team to make your reading even more fun!

Summer Reading Print by Myzoetrope:

Gothic Bookmark by Starrlight Jewelry:

Young Reader Book Journal from my shop, Vegancraftastic:

-Kala (Vegancraftastic)