Dear, Deer

Our new neighbors

Elk in back yard

young buck Mule Deer in backyard

an Elk herd meandering through our little downtown. thx, 99.9 KEKB

Who's Ecologically Illiterate?

Oh my friends!  This article in The Guardian hits right square on the head of the nail for us here at Jag & Nevie.  It is a personal pet peeve (pun intended) that animal rights are often the only Eco concern the fashion industry has and only because PETA makes such a fuss. While we uphold vegan values of course, it is the health of the entire globe that drives our machine, so I'm happy to see someone highlight the issue so succinctly.  It's short article, please take a gander.
KEY SNIPPETS -

"It's simply amazing how far we are from being a seriously ecologically literate culture." (Rebecca Burgess, author, textile artist and founder of The Fibershed Project in San Geronimo, California)

"In order to get mainstream society to react faster and stronger we have to show victims (people and animals) of planet abuse." (Sarina Saturn, assistant professor at the School of Psychological Science at Oregon State University)

River pollution from fabric dyeing

Love those bunnies and mink and beaver and cows and pigs, but love the trees and water and mountains and PEOPLE too.

Denim causes major eco problems

PASS IT ON!

The California Mission Ride to Boot

 For most of you it's here - finally - BOOT WEATHER!  Can I get an "amen"?  Alas, here in swampy, southern Houston the long-awaited season is still far off, but a girl can pine...

And, on the subject of all things boot, cowboy boot to be precise  - - -

Have you followed the exciting adventure currently en route touring California's storied Missions, The California Mission Ride?  CMR is in it's second year, about to visit the last of 21 missions covering 600 miles - on horseback.  BRAVO!

CMR is led by Hollywood director, Gwyneth Horder-Payton (think Sons of Anarchy, The Shield, Grey's Anatomy, The Doors movie), writer Leslie Dunton-Downer  (The English is Coming), and Rod Rondeaux Crow/Cheyenne Hollywood Actor/Stunt Rider/horseman extraordinaire (Meek's Cutoff, The Lone Ranger, Into the West - below). 


 

Fierce barbed wire shorts and all, Rod Rondeaux is a force to be reckoned with.  It's impossible to gossip about him without mentioning his many bighearted causes both humanitarian and mammalian.  Rod and his wife, Equine Fine Art Photographer, Rachel Waller Rondeaux , operate a horse rescue/stunt ranch in far west Texas called Firelight South Ranch and he's behind The Indian Stunt Ranch.  Mr. Rondeaux also trains underprivileged Indian youth in the art of equine stunt riding with the goal of giving them a marketable as well as culturally significant skill. Last but not least, the Rondeauxs run the non-profit American Indian People for Wild Horses (major hand on heart) dedicated to the preservation of this beleaguered species so special to American history and ecology.

Happy Trails, CMR!  In lieu of riding shotgun, we excitedly await release of the documentary.

Rod Rondeaux - Roman Nose in Into the West (available on Netflix)

Wine: (Bottles) Fun for You - Good for Hummingbirds

Wine Bottle Hummingbird Feeders are a colorful and ecologically sound way to attract the little busy bodies to your yard.  Several of them frequent our feeders every day which makes the kids very excited.  We have also planted special flowers for hummers, bees and butterflies.  Southern Houston, where we currently reside, is an important fill-up station for hummers before they make the long arduous journey south for the winter.

I made these out of wine bottles, t shirt strips, fabric & plastic bag flowers and stoppers I purchased from Annnna on Etsy.  If you want to try your own, be sure to specify WINE bottle size when you order from her.

Notes about feeding Hummers - 

• the syrup recipe is 4 parts water to 1 part white sugar. NO colors please!  Food colorings are neurotoxins for humans and all other creatures.  Bring the solution to a boil and let it cool completely before filling feeders.  You can store excess in a sealed glass jar in your fridge for 2 weeks. 
• sterility -  If you life in a hot climate the syrup needs to be changed every few days to keep it from growing bacteria.  I bleach out my feeders every refill cycle and rinse well. 
• once you start feeding you must keep it up during the appropriate seasons as the birds learn to depend on you for nutrition!  Google when to put up/take down feeders in your area.
• bugs!  One site I read said to hang a porous bag of orange slices near the feeders as the decaying fruit (change them regularly :-) attracts fruit flies which hummers also eat to fatten themselves up.  

Have fun bird watching!  

Credit Where It's Due - Octopus Me

Of all the magnificent creatures in the world, the octopus has to be one of the most fascinating.  Octopus Me on Etsy is devoted to making gorgeous baubles celebrating nothing but octopi.  You can even find cufflinks to enrich your nine-to-five experience.

bracelet

stackables

 And my favorite - the black diamond baby octopus ring:

black diamond baby

Furry Tail

Woody Harrelson has long been a voice for all things Vegan, and he's just come out with a clever new video in support of The Humane Society's anti-fur campaign.  Watch it!  It's not gruesome, really. Persuasive, yes, gory, no.
I'm still struggling to part with my gorgeous vintage 50s & 60s coats with fur collars:-/  It seems to me that wearing them is a way of honoring and extending the "life" of the lovely furry creatures that gave their lives before their time.  I still believe it is ecologically better to "use up" what we have than throw it away or just put it back into the thrift store cycle on this point.  Yes, I could donate the collars to wildlife rehab centers as I've posted about before, but I'm not there yet.
Anyone want to enlighten me further?  I'm open to discussion here:-)

time to part?

Water Bottles - the ugly truth and chic alternative

The Green Shows just pinned this on Pinterest and I'm so glad they did.  I never thought about the "less attention to public systems" aspect before.
We LOVE our silicone sleeve glass bottles.  Beautiful design, don't you agree?  Lifefactory makes this one, but Amazon has several varieties and I'm even seeing inexpensive versions (reduced quality goes w/ the price:-/ ) at Target and our local grocers.  I use 8 oz. ones for school lunches.

A little rough but still tough

 I adore Iggy, always have.  He's just the epitome of one-of-a-kind, isn't he?  'Happened upon these two PETA posters and wanted to share because these guys are so... craggy.  In a fabulous way.  Mickey and his chihuahuas.  Amazing.
















(this is not exactly a PETA endorsement, btw:-)

What is Man Without the Beasts?

Words of Wisdom from Jane of the Jungle

Jane Goodall is a heroine if there ever was one; a woman whom went out on a limb (pun intended) to hang (another intended one) with the chimps way back when the glass ceiling really was low.  She exposed us to a life led fearlessly.

I was very fortunate to hear her speak long ago as a child and remember being in awe of her calm fortitude even though I was so young the content didn't really resonate.

A quote from a recent interview Rachel Sarnoff of Mommy Greenest and EcoStiletto.com fame conducted w/ Ms. Goodall:

"I met so many young people as I traveled who seemed not to have hope for the future. They were depressed, angry and apathetic. “Roots & Shoots” [encourages participants to understand that ] every single one of us makes a difference every single day. We can’t live through a day without making an impact. And we all have a choice."

What do you chose to make an impact about today?

Back to School, House of Slytherin

Welcome back to a new school year!  It's a good thing it's started because things were getting a bit wonky 'round these parts.  This is what happens when we have too much time on our hands...

10-yr-olds dye their hair neon turquoise

We joined the House of Slytherin - -

 

times two!  Baby Corn Snakes, Cherokee and Rosy (an gorgeous albino)

And I'm pretty sure poor, dear KittyPuss is happier even than I that school is finally in session.

Guide to Humane Clothing Choices

Here at Jag & Nevie we have been Vegan-izing our business over the last year.  First, I went Vegan in a dietary fashion and then I've been working on weening 'self of a leather and cashmere habit.  I'm not there completely because I have an issue with non-leather shoes always falling apart too quickly, and we all know how important shoes are to one's well-being:-)  Plus, I LOVE crazy fashion shoes, not boring, ordinary, run-of-the-mill, dullsville, comfort shoes.  There I said it.

Being an environmentalist to the core I still believe recycling (up-cycling, salvaging, what-have-you) is better for the planet in the long run than simply NOT making any more cashmere sweaters, but I'm open to persuasion on this subject.  At this point I don't plan to make more upcycled cashmere sweaters....

With that in mind - here's a great article on what goes into making angora, cashmere, alpaca etc.  All of those being animal products, of course.  Read it and be educated, lovelies!

an Angora bunny - not a sweater

ALSO - a comprehensive list, courtesy of PETA (by way Healthy Bitch Daily) of of vegan clothing & shoe companies here.  I'm going to give it my best shot and try some of the shoes:-)

T Bags for the Pets!

I just delivered an order of 22 T Bags to Pasadena Pets & People Alliance, a local Texas pet adoption center, and I'm VERY excited about it!
They plan to re-sell the bags as a fund-raiser at the Pasadena Strawberry Festival this weekend.  How fun is that?  Pics:

The P&P Alliance one at bottom is on one side of each bag

REcycyled Denim staps (including pockets when possible!)

The back of one bag - funny little logo appliqued below "Charge", eh?

KittyPuss approves of being rescued and adopted.  Once (self) promoted to her UnCut Denim Pile Supervisory role years 3 yrs ago she rapidly forgot her pre-adoption orphan days:-)

The HELPING PAWS & CLAWS Giveaway Contest! Enter to win a Tote Bag!!!!

ANNOUNCING ... The "HELPING PAWS & CLAWS" GIVEAWAY CONTEST!!

Today is our first ever Giveaway Contest!  Inspired by the antics of our beloved KittyPuss, the rescue kitty we can't live without, Jag and Nevie is giving away the Rescue themed REcycled

 TBag shown here.

 One of our super sturdy, double layer REcycled Tshirt TBags, it features a bright purple exterior, orange and red interior with red fringe, REcycled denim strap and interior phone pocket. Handy dandy!  Use it for the farmer's market, library books, kid paraphernalia, whatever...

notice the shut-eye happening mid-seam

Other than tuna, KittyPuss loves nothing better than to commandeer my fresh stacks of fabric, pattern pieces being drafted and, as you can see - sewing on the trusty old Singer.  Every cat I've ever owned has assisted my design projects. They can't resist!  I have to physically move her paws out of the way of the needle sometimes.  Crazy feline. 

 So - send us photos of your favorite animal kingdom helper in the act!  Jag and Nevie themselves will pick the winner on April 21st.  The winner will be announced here, on the blog, Sunday, April 22nd.
  
 SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY HERE!! (google docs)

Good luck everyone!  Thanks for playing:-)

Saving Animals 8 Shirts at a time!

Well, ok, so it's not literally saving animals in the physical sense, BUT... we DO donate to the World Wildlife Fund - so, yeah, a T Scarf does contribute!  I know the hard-cores out there don't like the WWF because they (WWF) doesn't condemn all animal killing.  I think it's perfectly lovely that this organization does what it can to work with governments to try to alleviate suffering and potential extinction of local species.  They may be moderate, but we have to start somewhere.  More radical activism can come along down the pike to reinforce the ground work laid by the WWF.

OK.  Breathe in.  Step away from soap box and noone will get hurt...
Here's the latest, greatest scarf in honor of my joining the venerable EtsyVeg team!!!!  Go EtsyVeg!

 Eight shirts were used and this time I was able to use both a front and back for two of them: the groovy "I'm a Wild Thing... and I need Katy Prarie (www.katyprarie.org)" Southern Leopard Frog shirt and the "Take a Walk on the Wild Side - Zoobilee" shirt shown in the collages below.

 Check the cool anatomy of a Bee shirt!  It's from a library Spelling Bee;-)  I can't define, let alone spell those words!

Thanks for looking.  I look forward to a Veggie fabulous future with EtsyVeg.  Check out the rest of the team shops from around the globe; we've even got mineral cosmetics, lots of great jewelry and FOOD!!!