charity

Under the sea for charity

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The CHA summer show is fast approaching, and as much as I loved attending the CHA winter show in January, I am unable to attend this next upcoming event. However, my art will be there! I was asked to participate in an fund raising event for the Wyland Foundation. There will be a silent auction with the proceeds going to help educate children about the environment and conservation.

The theme for the even is “Under the Sea”. Living in the middle of a land locked state, I rare have the opportunity to experience anything relating to the ocean first hand, so this project was particularly fun for me to imagine.

The first item I made is a pair of hanging votive holders. I imagined walking along the beach at night near old wood posts, each glowing from a single hanging candle.  I tried to create this same kind of deocr item that can be used both inside and out. Each glass jar is hand painted using enamel paints from Plaid. The lids were painted with several different shades of craft paint and then sanded for a weathered look. Then I added the hanging handle and large swirl embellishment by bending a wire clothing hanger. Finally I added small bent wire accents along with hanging sea shells and a bit of thin twine. Finally, each candle holder was partially filled with sand and a small votive candle was added.

hanging votive holder for charity event

The second donated item I created was a summer outfit for a toddler girl. The inspiration for this piece was the vision of an afternoon picnic on the beach with a cool breeze. The skirt was sewn using re-purposed linen which I then stamped with fabric paint using 3 seashell design I hand cut in craft foam. Both the skirt and top also incorporate white eyelet fabric.

hand sewn summer outfit for charity event

hand sewn little girl outfit for charity event

I’m so thankful this was a summer themed project, had it been winter I would have been inspired to knit… not one of my strengths.

End of day one at the Seattle 3 day

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So today was fantastic. It started off around 4 am, bus came to get us around 5 – hit the Bellview campus for the opening ceremonies where we encountered a plethora of joy and happiness… gratitude and complete and utter love for our being there. It was an amazing way to start the day!

There were pit stops/break sites about every 2-3 miles. We’d stop, grab a snack or a drink or tape our toes and then press onward. I think today we walked about 23 miles… there abouts.

My toes have a few blisters, but the rest of me feels pretty darn fantastic!

I’m looking forward to another day… just hoping my feet ease up on the painful reminders now and again.
😉

Penguin and I are in Seattle

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I have no idea where the time went, my 3 day breast cancer walk is tomorrow! With your help I’ve managed to raise $3135.00 – Besides requesting direction donations, I’ve sold mini buttons at a local shop, my little stuff pink ribbon penguin through etsy.com, pink ribbon themed gear through my website and helped sell buttons at a conference last month. As a team we’ve raised (as of today) $47,528.00.

That is incredibly amazing to me – thank you so much!

I left Denver this morning and arrive in Seattle just after lunch. The walk begins at o’dark thirty (check in starts at 5:30am) on Friday – please laugh quietly to yourself, I’m positive I’m going to be walking via out of body experience until lunch each day. If you’d like information about the walk area and route, updates on the event (there’s a live web cam, I hear), etc.

I do indeed have penguin here with me :D. That is, penguin AND my new pink ribbon penguin pal as well.

I will hopefully be able to blog a bit and keep everyone up-to-date on my own experiences with the event while I am there. I plan on trying to take as many photos as I can… So I can share the view with you when I return home on Monday.

I’m really looking forward to this experience. I thank you for your so very much for all of your support, encouragement and involvement!

Happy Monday!

Jen

Thank you to Women for Hope

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A special thank you to our friends over at Women for Hope.

Pam, an indie entrepreneur and the owner of Women for Hope, has offer to help our fund raising efforts for our Breast Cancer walk in September.

Shop for jewelry, bath and body products and fragrant home items from Women for Hope – use the code AMWFundraiser during check out and our team will receive 10% of the proceeds.

Women for Hope focuses on providing information and comfort dealing with issues that affect specially women. Read other women’s accounts of their struggles and triumphs, find out where to get help and shop for women inspired products and gifts. They offer awareness jewelry, every day gifts and much more

You may remember, last fall i was a participant in the Indie for Awareness event. Women for Hope was the host of that fabulous movement. Thank you Pam!

Although there are no JGoode Penguins here, Women for Hope is a wonderful supporter of the penguin and our team fund raising efforts. For more information about the walking event and our team, visit http://www.pinkribbonpenguins.com

Heading to Seattle for 3 Days of Walking

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The penguin and I will be participating in a Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-day walk In September, 2008. It’s 3 days walking 60 miles and loads of pink!

I have joined up with a fabulous group, Affiliate Marketers Give Back to help raise funds for the cure and I’m taking the penguin with me. We’re so excited to get involved this year!

I will be blogging about my experiences along the way including my adventures in training – it’s amazing how many muscles there are in my body that I don’t use regularly when I sit at this computer. I had no idea! They will all be in shape by September, I promise! I will even try to add in some videos from time to time — be prepared, I am not a professional film maker.

I’d love you to get involved and support me in this journey!

You can sponsor me by visiting my special donation page

Net proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure and National Philanthropic Trust, funding important breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment. Every dollar helps – I would really love all the support I can get!

About donating…

  • All donors will be listed on my Thank You page.
  • For individuals or companies interested in larger sponsorship benefits – You can sponsor a logo spot on our team shirts for $1000.00. There are 12 team member who will all be wearing these shirts for the entire 3 days.

More ways you can help..

  • Purchase any of my Pink Ribbon Penguin or other Breast Cancer awareness products now through August 15th, 2008 and 100% of my commissions will be donated to our team fund.
  • Spread the word by posting a link on your own site about our team (tell them JGoode sent you ~grin)
  • Purchase something from our team shop – 100% of the shop commissions will be donated to the team.
  • Visit PinkRibbonPenguins.com to read about my progress, updates on donations and more.
  • Watch for other for-purchase items as well as additional sponsorship logo options in the near future.

Please share your experiences and thoughts – this is a journey for us all and I am excited to share my portion of it with you!

Helping Children in need: Idol Gives Back

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I just finished watching the 2008 Idol Gives Back fund raising event on American Idol and again I’m in awe of how little is needed to help one child. However, there is a huge amount of money being spent… how can we help even more? There is so much we each have to offer and so much we can do with just a little of our own time and money. In this case, big names combine to help save lives and fulfill big needs.

Being the cautious and skeptical type, I did a little digging about the new charity organization “Idol Gives Back”. From what I understand, last year’s fund raiser monies were distributed by Charity Projects Entertainment Fund. This year the project is more directly overseen by the American Idol execs. I also learned that, according to an article at The New York Times, only about 7% of the total raised funds were used for administrative expenses such as phone lines to take in calls and legal expenses, etc. However, I read in other mini articles that the financial report for the 2007 fund raiser is not currently available.

I love that this program supports a variety of organizations both US charities and abroad. I also love that the focus is children.

This program is so inspiring to me on so many levels. Entertainers take time out of their schedule to not only visit the areas these charities help.. but also to entertain during the show and share their message. It’s a fun night with a real purpose and really it takes all of 5 minutes to make a contribution.. no matter the amount. It also only takes 5 minutes to stop and consider what the program is all about – the people involved, the potential life changes, the impact even a dollar can make.. or better yet, the impact of passing on the message. Take a minute to Help someone that needs help

My Favorite comment of the night was (paraphrased) “We though Bono had enough money to help everyone in africa… but he only has half, so we need your help”. – Rob Schneider (he plays a fun and funky Hawaiian man in one of my all time favorite movies – 50 First Dates)

I love this effort to help!

Tuesday's Topic: Celebration

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April is a great month for me. It’s my birthday month so its a time that I look back to see what i’ve accomplished in the year and look ahead at new goals. I also share my birthday with my Grandfather. This is an extra special treat for me. So April is all about celebrating in my world.

Birthday Party Penguins

Usually I set up a great birthday sale for the entire month, however this year I am doing something a little different. I’ve set up a registry at DonorsChoose.org. It’s a non profit organization that enables teachers to request financial assistance for things their students and classrooms need to succeed. So instead of spending that $25.00 on a t-shirt, I’d be just as delighted if you wanted to put it towards one of the projects I selected in my birthday registry. It’s going to help classrooms filled with tomorrow’s future – and I’m really excited about that.

So help me celebrate this month, get involved and for goodness sake – Be Happy!

Check out DonorsChoose
and my selected projects for the month

Thank you so much!

If you’d like to learn more about what I am doing to get involved, check out Design for a Cause. I’d love to hear from you!