Sarah's Spotlight - Veganosaurus

How can you not love these adorable critters? Welcome to Veganusaurus, a shop I stumbled upon recently. The shop owner has had a creative streak since childhood. She opened her first etsy shop, artbysusmitha, in 2007. Here, she features jewelry, clay beads, and other art. About a year and a half later, Veganosaurus opened in November 2008. You can visit the store at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/veganosaurus.

This shop owner states in her profile that she has been a fan of clay her entire life. A serious hobby turned into a passion and career more recently. She uses iclay to create her little critters. I googled iclay to learn more about it but was disappointed to find limited results on the internet. It appears to be similar to polymer clay, which I know is used frequently for beads and jewelry.

This shop owner is Vegan and says it is the spirit of her Veganism and love for animals that has lead her to create her critters. I can't say it better than she does in her profile: "Every little sculpture is designed to remind that each and every being has thoughts, feelings and a personality of its own."

It is nice to see a shop owner who is very active in the Etsy community. She belongs to several Etsy teams, including: Vegan Etsy Team, Cruelty Free Etsy, EtsyVeg, Etsy For Animals, and Pagans of Etsy Street Team. Her profile includes links to each team's website or blog. She is also very active with charity and donates proceeds to several different charities. Now through February 13, 2010, a full 50% of her profits from this etsy shop will go to helping to save 3 bulls who live on a friend's property and were due to be slaughtered today. The current owner is willing to sell the bulls to the friend but needs a large amount of money in a short amount of time. It's very impressive to see someone who clearly loves what she does and shares her profits with others in need. 

Also be sure to check out these other sites:
Personal Blog: http://cutelittlepackage.blogspot.com
Art Blog: http://susmisminis.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/veganosaurus
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/veganosaurus

And because I'm newly engaged, I only thought it was fitting to include this pair: