Truly Handmade With Love

Recently, I crocheted a bunch of snowflakes with hopes of sending them to the Sandy Hook PTA for the "Snowflakes for Sandy Hook" project.  When I visited their website to get the address, I was slightly disappointed to see that they no longer needed snowflakes, as they had enough snowflake donations to cover the entire town!  But I couldn't stay disappointed for more than a few seconds... it made me smile to think of all the snowflakes that were created with so much love!

By the way, if you happen to need a crochet pattern for snowflakes, ChezCrochet is a good source.  I soaked these in a glue/water solution with a bit of fine, powdery white glitter, to make them stiff and slightly shimmery.

I am not always great with words (and blogging), especially when it involves such a profound situation.  The snowflakes were a chance for me to say... in a befuddled way... I would crochet a thousand of these if it could change what happened, but for now I will crochet as many as I can to let someone know I care.

The United Way of Western Connecticut Response for Newtown/Sandy Hook is accepting donations to provide support to the community.   I will either donate these snowflakes to our local school if they need them or auction them on eBay and have the money go directly to the United Way branch listed above.  I have other listings on eBay donating to this charity, along with a section in my Etsy shop.

Several sellers have made generous contributions to the "Help the Gulf Coast" shop on Etsy.  A quote from the shop's announcement...

"This is a collective etsy shop to help the gulf coast recover from the massive BP oil spill. Etsy sellers have donated their items so that 100% of the proceeds can be given to charity.  We've set up a separate paypal account for this shop. 100% of the proceeds (after etsy & paypal fees) will be donated to OxFam America and the National Wildlife Federation. Both organizations have given us permission to fundraise on their behalf."

I have donated prints of my original painting, "Fairy Tale Forest" and 5 CDs of my album, "The World Beyond" to this shop.   If they sell quickly, I will probably contribute more.  Even though it seems small in the face of something so huge, it makes me happy to be a part of a larger effort that is working to make positive changes!

The print is 8.5" x 11" and comes sealed in a protective sleeve.  I sign and date all of my prints on the back, and they are printed with a professional Epson printer on heavyweight paper.  

The CD includes Oblivion, Firefly Rendezvous, Fairy Story, A Waltz in the Woods, Nocturnal Sonata, The Arrival, Midsummer Muse, Nereides, First Snow, Timeless, Majestic, Mirabella, The World Beyond, La Vie en Roslyn, and Fall.  (53.3 minutes)

Hearts for Haiti

There is a new store on Etsy, "Hearts for Haiti," to raise money for rebuilding Haiti! Many Etsy stores have donated items and the proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders. Twig Studio has donated items, including the Valentine's Day cards shown. The selection is quite incredible and many items include free shipping!