TaDa! The 2011 Challenge Themes are Here

Mucho gratias to Brizel4theAnimals, Catcalls, FairyCardMaker and JFIllustrations for their ideas for the 2011 Challenge themes. January's challenge choice was easy. Three of our list makers suggested it! Amazingly many of the themes were combinable. Similar ideas have been blended so that there is more of a group consensus for several of the months. I'm thrilled when this happens. It makes my choices easier. To see the 2011 list check out Themes-at-a-glance.

Thanks, again, to our entrants whose keen wit and sharp thinking have provided us with our next twelve thought provoking EFA Challenge themes.

LolaLynn - EFA Challenge Blog Administrator

HAPPY THANKSGIVING - SAGE SNUGGLE SACK - Ultrasuede and Minky Fleece Lining - WOW FACTOR MEETS EASY CARE - Embroidered Personalization by Rendachs

Primmie is celebrating a bountiful harvest with her pumpkin. Now that Halloween has come and gone - she'll ready her pretty pumpkin for her Thanksgiving Feast. My love of animals goes back to a childhood filled with slurpy memories and happily wagging tails. My house is still filled with happy tails from my rescued dumpster kitties to a recalcitrant aging English Setter and a puddle of Dachshunds. I am so privileged to have close contact with exotic wildlife on a regular basis. Cairo, my "grandcub" has stolen my heart. Prince, a rescued lion, fills me with wonder as he carefully puts his paw to my daughter's hand. They share a very strong bond - one few understand. EFA and Etsy have thrown me in the eye of the storm for animal charities. I donate a percentage of all my sales to the charity of the month or outside charities who contact me for help. I enjoy creating items to benefit specific groups. And...I still pick up a stray or two occasionally. Some things will never change!

Pumpkin Fleece Jacket with Cat Buttons/RESERVED by Catcalls

This pumpkin fleece jacket is the both the perfect color and the perfect warmth for autumn weather. Made with light weight soft fleece and the cutest cat buttons, this is the purrrfect style for fashionable cat lovers! A portion of every month's earnings goes to support my local rescue for cage sponsorship. I am also very fond of the Feral Cat Rescue, last month's charity, and send catnip toys for the kitties to play with.

Sitting Hen by Aubreymade

Cluck, cluck... It's a hen keeping your bread warm on the table. Or sitting duck on eggs for kitchen decoration. A unique gesture to gift your Mom, Aunts, Grandmas or for someone who hovers the kitchen a lot. Hmmm. The hen is accompanied with a bamboo plate.

I love animals especially cats. We have lots of strays in the neighborhood. I regularly give them cat food. I give 15% of certain items that is connected with the team EFA COTM.

Autumn Leaves Doll Clothing Set for American Girl by Chicadolly

This is an OOAK pull over sweater hand knit by me from an original pattern to fit an American Girl Doll or other 18in. doll of similar build.It has three small antique metal buttons on the left shoulder for closure and elastic in the neckline for a perfect fit. It is made with worsted weight acrylic in varigated earth tones and matches the included maroon lightweight ultra suede pants with elastic waist and decorative embroidered trim back pocket.

This item is for an older girl because it requires skilled coordination to put on the doll and would prove frustrating for a younger child.

10% of this sale will go to http://www.seashepherd.org, our EFA charity for the month of November

Apple Harvest Kitchen Towel by faeriegood

I love helping the animals in any way I can and also enjoy using my creative talents and participating in each month's challenge.This item will benefit http:www.seasheperds during the month of November.

My special local charity is S*N*O, http://www.siberiansneedingowners.org
and on a larger scale it's Defenders of Wildlife: http://www.defnders.org

Thanks for shopping for the animals and buying homemade!!

Autumn Wolves, 8x10 Fine Art Photograph by thebluewindmill

I’m Heather of The Blue Windmill and help animals by donating to a variety of animal organizations, advocating for animals through written articles on the EFA blog, participating in EFA’s charity of the month, and volunteering as challenge promoter for our team.

For our lovely “Bountiful Harvest” theme, I decided to enter my photo of Mexican Wolves. When I first heard of this month’s theme, I kept trying to think of a way that it pertained to animals. Instead of thinking how humans harvest food, I instead thought of how animals harvest food. One definition of harvest, which I found at www.thefreedictionary.com, is “To take or kill (fish or deer, for example)“.
Well, that fits with the theme, I thought.
“Mexican wolves eat white-tailed and mule deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, javelina, beaver and other small mammals, with elk being the preferred prey.”
http://www.fieldtripearth.org/article.xml?id=1112

Another reason why I chose this wolf photo as my challenge entry is because not only do I hope our wolfy comrades have a happy harvest this thanksgiving, I hope they have a happy wild harvest for this is where they truly belong…in the wild.

In Feb. of 2010, Defenders of Wildlife, one of the nation’s leaders in conservation, reported that Mexican wolf numbers are down.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that the Mexican wolf population plummeted by 20 percent in 2009, according to its annual year-end survey of the recovery area spanning New Mexico and Arizona. This recent survey counted only 42 wolves and two breeding pairs brings them closer to a second extinction in the wild.
“The following is a statement from Eva Sargent, Ph.D., the Southwest program director for Defenders of Wildlife.
“’Mexican wolves are in big trouble. With numbers so perilously low, every single wolf in the wild counts toward the animal’s survival. Turning this dire situation around will require every effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to craft a science-based recovery plan that pays careful attention to genetic issues. The Service must also make a renewed commitment to keep wolves on the ground.’"
http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/press_releases_folder/2010/02_05_2010_mexican_wolf_numbers_down_to_42.php

Here’s to a happy and bountiful harvest for our wild brethren!
As for the rest of us humans...who’s up for some Tofurkey?

Pewter Button Signed Squirrel by theanimalsmagicshop

For the EFA November Challenge, presenting the animal I would most like to be if I could walk in another guy's paws for just one day - the fabulous squirrel! The squirrels here at Faerie Crossroads have been taking advantage of the bountiful crop of acorns this year and harvesting them right and left. No one works as hard at being prepared for hard times as Squirrel. Knowing one has a plentiful supply of food for the winter is a comforting thought. But they balance their work with lots of play in between and I just think they're the best!

Sky says, "Ever since I was a young pup, I've wanted to be more than just a dog. I'll never stop dreaming and trying to be more. As far as I'm concerned, the sky's the limit and I'm enjoying every minute of the trip!" Sky and his person work together to help make the world a better place for animals. Their favorite charities are Patriot Siberian Husky Rescue and Defenders of Wildlife. A portion of all the sales in TheAnimalsMagicShop also benefit the EFA Charity of the Month.

unique Silk Tapestry Box stash keeper Autumn Squirrel by brizel4TheAnimals

Presenting... Autumn Squirrel... a small unique handmade decorative Silk Tapestry Box... a soft vibrant fiber arts container featuring orange & red upcycled silk sari yarn paired with chocolate rainbow rayon. It has a lid of its own which is embellished with a gorgeous carved blue adventurine squirrel.

Autumn Squirrel got her name because she has the best reputation in her neighborhood for gathering the most acorns during the fall season. She happily keeps her bountiful harvest in this colorful stash keeper.

Nicole of Brizel4TheAnimals donates to various animal charities including EFA's charity of the month and Defenders of Wildlife and is EFA's co-secretary and blog mistress to the EFA blog.

3 Thanksgiving Baby Turkey Cards by mvegan5

3 Blank 5"x 6.5" cream colored, recycled card stock cards. Cover features a print of close up view of an oil pastel mural I did in RI.

Individual card available for $3, any amount of 2 or more can be requested for $2 each and may also be mixed and matched with the other images in my shop. 8"5 x 11" print available for $12. 10% goes to the Charity of the Month.

California Golden Poppies, 4x6 photo on a 5x7 notecard by LolaLynn

When I'm in San Francisco visiting my daughter and her family, I love to walk around the area taking pictures of all of the plants and flowers. This was taken during the latter part of the summer but the colors are very "fall like."

50% of all my sales go to either EFA's charity of the month or to LMMSTRP, a turtle rescue in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sea Turtle Pendant with Green Glass Bead by JFillustrations

I decided to go with the sea turtle pendant - their eggs were "harvested" by poachers until almost extinction (on top of other man-made causes) and now researchers are scrambling to harvest the eggs in the same way but for a different reason - to save them. They keep them in safe areas and release them once they hatch. So, here's to a successful harvest of eggs, which may lead to the bountiful numbers of hatchlings and releases into the ocean for many, many years to come until sea turtle populations are back in strong numbers!

At the moment, I am working with an AR organization on a fundraiser. 50% of sales from this dove pendant http://www.etsy.com/listing/59404268/dove-pendant-with-clear-glass-bead will benefit NARA Campaigns (National Animal Rights Association, Ireland www.naracampaigns.org) and their work to educate the general public on the plight of animals.

Snuggly Pugkin Head Hat for Dogs by jessicalynneart

This item is not only a costume for Halloween, but also a celebration of fall in its entirety. Pumpkins are rich in the colors and flavors of fall, and this sweet little hat embodies the whimsical nature of autumn. Everyone needs a little pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, so why not have a hat that makes your pooch the talk of Thanksgiving, too?

My shop, All You Need Is Pug, creates items for pets and the people who love and cherish them. I am inspired by my own pugs and the animals that I encounter when I volunteer at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA). This shelter is important to me because I get to interact with animals and help shelter sweethearts in a way that feels more personal to me than sending money along. I do also donate $1 from every purchase from my shop to either the MSPCA or the Pug Rescue of New England, which is the rescue that I adopted my pug, James Dean, from.

I have also donated one of my photographs to the Fabulous Animal Rescue Project, which uses artwork that artists from around the world have donated in order to create items whose profits will be donated to shelters. Several of my items have also been donated to pug rescues across the US to raffle off at events and fundraisers.

Fields of Gold - greyhound photo greeting card thedoghouse

Although not strictly 'harvest', the dominant colour palate in this print reminds me of harvest, & it was taken in Autumn!

I am passionate about greyhound rescue, have 2 rescue greyhounds of my own, & work with my local greyhound rehoming charity, Gracehounds, to whom I donate a portion of the profits from all my sales.