crafts for the animals

Last year, my friends Kim and Lisa decided to take a girls trip and fly to Las Vegas where they picked up a rental car and drove to southwest Utah. There, they spent a few days voluntering at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary; the largest no-kill animal shelter in the United States. From the pictures they posted on twitter and facebook, this place not only touched their hearts, but it also inspired them to launch the crafts for the animal campaign.  The For the Animals! campaign will raise handmade donations to animal shelters, and to encourage people to tell stories about how their lives have been touched by shelter animals. 

You can read all about Kim and Lisa's stay at the BFAS on their blogs here and here. To read more about the campaign including how you can participate, click here for full details. Kim also has a crochet pattern for a pet mat that is free for all to download here and there are tons of ways to follow along - twitter | flickr | ravelry group

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Growing up, I was never allowed to have pets. So, of course, as a crazy cat lady, I swooned over our neighbour's cats - they had 3 next door and another 2 the house next to theirs. Robert has always grown up with cats, so when we first moved in together (2002), he said that we could get a cat of our own. However, I had to wait 30 days while we settle into our new apartment. Well... three days later, we were parked outside the BC SPCA and I had a list of other shelters to check out just in case. Cleo was the second cat that I saw and it was love. We brought her home... she jumped out of the box and we have been attached at the hip ever since! She's not too friendly to others (classic siamese trait), but loves her family. Cleo is now 15 years old and lives in London, UK. Check out her Van City Kitty feature on Vancouver is Awesome here.

Stay tuned for part two where I show you how to make your own cat nip dumpling treats!