Interview with Cheryl Baker of Zen 4 Animals Jewelry

I am so happy to have Cheryl Baker as my interview guest today.  Cheryl is an artist and an avid conservationist.  She has married these two parts of her life in such a valuable and productive manner.  Let's welcome Cheryl.

Cheryl and Dixie Doodle

NS  Please tell us when you first discovered your love of and respect for animals.

CB  Since I was a very young child, I have always felt a very deep connection to animals, It was more than just loving them for me, it felt like I understood them in a way that I couldn't put into words. I would come home with fallen baby birds, injured rabbits and I was always seeing stray dogs everywhere. We seemed to always find each other.

One of my very defining moments was one night during dinner when I was about 12 years old. As I sat sharing my dinner with my dog, Sandy, I alternated glances between her and the meat that was on the table. I remember wondering if there really was a difference between my dog and the food animal.

An earlier defining moment was after reading an article in the Reader's Digest about leg hold traps and the fur industry. I was so upset that I decided at that time to always help animals.
I would go to bed at night praying for all animals to have wings so they could fly away if they had to.

Fancy Face

NS  In what ways has your life been defined by this passion?

CB  Everything in my life has been defined by my passion and love for animals. From the cosmetics I choose being 'cruelty-free' (no animal testing) to the foods I eat. My journey has always been to choose kindness and compassion - everything else happens around that to light the way to who you are.
Through the years since childhood I've always chosen the 'rebel with a cause' path. I was inspired to protests against pigeon shoots, giving presentations about animal welfare, working with rescues and my work undercover in a research testing lab where they used animals to test cosmetics and household products. You can read about my experience in an article I wrote, “A Bunny Would Never Wear Mascara.”

Even the cars I choose in some way had animals at the heart of it. Well, at least one car I drove long ago that had a small hole in the back floorboard. I made the hole 'cat-size' and put blankets and pillows inside for the stray cat colony living behind my apartment complex. I felt bad when I had to evict them all, so I could go to work. I eventually found homes for them - (mostly my home).

NS  The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was very personal to me.  In what ways did it impact your life?

CB  I don't live close enough to have been impacted on a physical level but the disaster was a heartfelt reality of what consequences human mistakes can have on animals and our environment. It also was a reminder of how we can work together for the benefit of animals in a crisis. I believe there is always more good than bad and we need to focus on the positive aspects in any situation.

NS  Tell us about your animal jewelry and how that came about.

CB  I'm not sure, but I really think one of my cats insisted on it...:)   I've always loved creating things and one day while sitting at the table teaching myself how to make jewelry, one of my rescue cats,Fancy Face, jumped up and just sat there staring at me among my jars of beads and findings. In that moment she became my Zen Assistant and my jewelry business, Zen 4 Animals Jewelry, was born.

New items and new ways to help animals...

NS  Please tell us about your Peace for Pelicans jewelry and what you’ve done with it.

Peace for Pelicans Charm Key Chain

CB  A wonderful and compassionate man, Jeff Dorson, who is the Director of the Humane Society of Louisiana contacted me about making jewelry with a Pelican theme after the BP Oil Spill to help raise much needed funds for the animals and coastal recovery.

 I was thrilled at the opportunity help and I began designing many Pelican themed pieces of jewelry. I donate 50% of each Pelican item purchased to the Humane Society of Louisiana. The shelter has all of my items listed under their Merchandise page . I also list them on my website, zen4animalsjewelry.com

I would love to one day see my jewelry displayed and sold in stores so that more animals could be helped. I love making jewelry that people enjoy wearing and knowing part of that has directly helped animals. And people get to choose what rescue or animal organization they want to help with their purchases. I send a percentage of each purchase directly to the rescue they mention with their order.

Cheryl, this has been fascinating and fun!  It's so exciting to meet people like you who care so much for animals and see the absolute need to help our environment as well.  I wish you all the best luck in the creation and sales of your beautiful and worthy jewelry!

Black Onyx Bracelet

Write What Inspires You Book Review of One Pelican at a Time-Book Giveaway!

We are back at Write What Inspires You today for a review of One Pelican at a Time.  And you have the chance to win a copy of Pelican!



Please join us at this lovely blog, and see what is in store for our book, its characters, plot line and illustrations.  We should mention that the illustrations were done by the extremely talented, Samantha Bell. 

Leave a comment on either my interview or book review at Write What Inspires You and you are automatically entered at a chance to win a copy of  One Pelican at a Time!

 

One Pelian at a Time Reviewed at 4 the Love of Books

Today Pelican will be reviewed at 4 the Love of Books.  Please take a look at what this reviewer says about One Pelican at a Time:  A Story of the Gulf Spill.  This blog is beautifully done and is worth a look at in any event!


Britt, Bella and the old pelican



Brown Pelican in Flight

Remember, the anniversary of the Deepwater Gulf oil spill is April 20. Bella, Britt, Pelican and I will remember and make a pledge to do everything we can to help see this kind of thing never happens again.  And we know that kids can make a difference, too.

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Reprise

Many thought and hoped the oil spill of April, 2010 was past us, was history. Alas, it is not.

My publisher, Lynda Burch of Guardian Angel Publishing, emailed me from Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola Beach, Florida, where she and her husband spend some time each winter.  With her permission, the following is what Lynda saw and photographed very recently:

 Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola Beach, Florida

                        February, 2011

"It is definitely not over, and BP says they are pulling out- 1/2 the claims have been denied and what about what is still going to happen?

I can't let my guests or my grandchildren in those floating contaminants. Skin is the most absorbent organ a human body has. I didn't see any warning signs, anyone testing the water, anyone interested in cleaning it up.

The little silvery fish (2-3 inches, part of the food chain) were washed up on the shore dead. The gulls and pelicans were out there in it. The dolphins were also out about another 1000 yards.

Lots of people on the beach didn't even know what the black and brown slimy stuff floating on edge of the surf was. I did email the local TV station but probably should have called them instead. It was very disturbing for such a beautiful day."

Because it's out of the news, there seems to be no immediacy about the spill anymore.  If this travesty is not addressed continuously and with utmost vigor and vigilance, it will still be an unmitigated disaster.  From my research on the gulf devastation, I think a quote from Sir Winston Churchill during World War II is in order:  "Now this is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end.  It is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

It is Lynda's and my great hope that this kind of accident never occurs    again.  We adults, along with our children and grandchildren, need to     "take a stand on the sand" and see that it does not.  And if it does, God forbid, this time strong oversight should occur within the US government and any parties that caused it.

                                  

  

One Pelican at a Time Now Available Through Guardian Angel Publishing

One Pelican at a Time

A Story of the Gulf Spill

                                       

                                   www.blazingtrailers.com

 

Guardian Angel Publishing

Academic Wings 

Author: Nancy Stewart   www.nancystewartbooks.com

Artist: Samantha Bell   http://www.samantha-bell.com/

Print Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-61633-138-2; 1616331380
Print Paperback ISBN: 978-1-61633-139-9; 1616331399
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61633-140-5; 1616331402

Bella and Britt love living by the beach.  When they find oil washing to shore from a gulf spill, they want to help but are told there is nothing for kids to do.  But when their old friend, the pelican, becomes covered with oil, they help save his life by their quick thinking and action.

One Pelican at a Time will soon be available through:  Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, http://indiebound/ and museum shops and aquaria.

One Pelican at a Time Virtural Book Tour, April and May, 2011

Bella, Britt, Pelican and I will virtually tour the blogosphire, beginning  April 4 through May 27, 2011 on my first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book! And, of course, none of us would be touring without the marvelous artwork by Samantha Bell.

About One Pelican at a Time

Bella and Britt love living by the beach. When they find oil washing to shore from a gulf spill, they want to help but are told there is nothing for kids to do. But when their old friend the crooked beak pelican, becomes covered with oil, they help save his life by their quick thinking and action.

Read the Excerpt

The girls waited and watched while adults tried to fix the problem. That is, until they saw the old pelican leave his perch and plunge into a patch of blackened sea.

Britt gasped.  "Will he come back up?"

"If he does, how can he live? Bella asked.

But he did come to the surface, covered in heavy tacky oil. After seeing his oily feathers, the girls took action.

"Help! Help us help the pelican! both girls screamed.

Normally on such a hot summer day, the beach boy would be renting colorful umbrellas to his customers. Instead, he sat alone on the sand. "What's wrong?" He jumped up and ran toward the girls.

"The old pelican! The old pelican! We have to save him! Bella sobbed.

"Come on. No time to lose!" The young man sprinted down the beach toward the clean-up crews.

"Ah, I know that old bird," nodded the crew chief. "Let's go get him."

                       One Pelican at a Time coming soon!
 

One Book at a Time May Help Save Our Planet

A Deepwater Horizon drilling rig was rocked by an  explosion and fire on April 20, 2010.  It sank into the Gulf of Mexico. Tragically, eleven crew members died. Multiple attempts to completely shut off the flow of oil failed. On September 19, 2010, BP announced that its well was permanently sealed.

The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as to the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries.  This kind of catastrophe should never occur again anywhere on our earth.

To this end, I've written a  children's picture book, One Pelican at a Time, to help put a face on this disaster.  One old, crooked beaked pelican helps Bella and Britt point the way to what even kids can do in such a tragedy.


Pelican will be released in the coming weeks.  This is the first children's book dealing with the Deepwater Horizon spill to be published in the US. 


Children want to know what they can do in such times.  One Pelican at a Time empowers kids to help in a real and meaningful way.  I hope they, and you, enjoy it.  And if it becomes a teaching moment tool, how wonderful is that?

Pelican Cleaning from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Beautiful Brown Pelican



Picture book, One Pelican at a Time, coming soon!

My first picture book in the Bella and Britt series, One Pelican at a Time, is getting close to its release date of early 2011. The book tells the story of the girls' heroic efforts to save the old crooked beaked pelican from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  They have know the pelican all their lives, and he, more than anything, stands for everything good about the beach.  Along the way, Bella and Britt assist other pelicans who are in trouble.

This was an emotionally difficult book to research and, in some ways, hard to write.  It is my wish that children take heart and courage from Pelican and do their part to help save this fragile planet they are to inherit.