Carpe Canem Benefit Auction and 3 Peeps Designs

Mona of 3PeepsDesigns (a fellow CFA member), is taking part in the Carpe Canem Benefit Auction, which started today and is ending on September 20. Here is a little information that she has provided.

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Well, today is the big day, the auction benefiting Carpe Canem started at 9am. This was the first chance I would have to view my cuff that I donated to them and see what they started the bidding at. There are a ton of items that have been donated, from cups to t-shirts, collars to note cards and they all have different starting bids.

My cuff, which I sell for $75 starts at a mere $6 bid. I'm a bit miffed at that starting bid as a t-shirt gets a starting bid of $10! I don't see the rationale in that, perhaps they feel they will get more bids if they start lower? Perhaps they don't have any idea how much time and money goes into making the cuff. It takes hours to first develop the pattern and then hours more to stitch it up, make changes if necessary, cut out the leather, then attach it (sew by hand) onto the leather, and then attach the snaps to the leather.

I know that there are a lot of people out there that don't appreciate handmade goods. They don't see the value of the time or the fact that they are getting an original item. This isn't something available at Walmart or Target. No, it doesn't have a label from some designer with a store on Rodeo Drive. This designer only has a shop on Artfire, I'm not well known, but some day I may be.

Now, instead of just feeling good about having donated one of my cuffs to help an organization that I like, I am also agitated that they didn't see the value of my time, effort, or materials. This will make me question whether or not I will want to donate to Carpe Canem again. The least they could have/should have done was start them all at the same dollar amount.

They should have included my contact info with my donation, not just my name. By not including my contact info (blog, Artfire shop, email) they make me appear as just a hobbyist and not an artist. After, all, I am doing more than just donating something for them to auction off, I am also blogging about it, talking to my friends and family about it, advertising it on Facebook, and twittering on Twitter about it. The very least they could have done was have my contact info underneath the item.

Regardless of my personal feelings, I hope they raise a good amount of money so that they can continue their rescue and rehabilitation of greyhounds. And this could be your chance to get a great deal on a handmade Peyote stitched greyhound cuff.
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