Bitty Birdie For Haiti

A new little plushie chicken with all the usual accoutrement has been created and the details for its listing has been sent to the Craft Hope for Haiti effort. The posse over at Craft Hope have been inundated with donations so despite all their best round-the-clock efforts, it is taking up to 24 hours for new donations to appear in their Etsy Shop they have set up to benefit Doctors Without Borders in support of Haiti. So, if you are interested in making the above little Birdie yours, all I can tell you is keep an eye on their shop.

And in case you have not been following, you should know that the Craft Hope for Haiti effort has already raised $7000 (in only two days!) from all that has been sold in the Etsy shop. Amazing, I tell you. I feel so proud to be part of this effort, however small my part may be--because it is grass roots and it is all about how a lot of little donations can make a difference. If you have not been over to the shop--go over and check it out. They are constantly updating as new stuff is in and it is selling very quickly.

In fact, I did a little shopping myself. Bought these lovely little organic cotton pink booties for a friend's baby shower that is coming up. They were made and donated by Funchi. So sweet and could be a lovely little heirloom. But best of all, that $28 I spent will all go to help the people of Haiti.

Crafting Some Hope for Haiti

(photo courtesy of Craft Hope)

When something happens in the world, like what has occurred in Haiti, I always feel I have to do something, however small, to help. As citizens of the earth, I believe we owe this one another. The question for me is always, what is the best way for me to help? Then I came across this new to me website/blog--Craft Hope.

Craft Hope is a website that finds opportunities for people to hand-make specific items for those in need. For instance, they recently concluded a project for Margaret's Hope Chest focused on handmade quilts that would be donated homeless children in the Michigan area, where they have been so hard hit by the recession. Through Craft Hope's initiative, 437 (yes, 437, people!) quilts were handmade and donated.

So, now they have set their sights on Haiti and the opportunity here is to donate any handmade item of your own making that will then be offered for sale in a special Craft Hope Etsy shop (go check it out now--items are already in there and for sale). 100% of the proceeds from the sales will be donated to Doctors Without Borders so they might continue their critical work helping the injured in Haiti. You read more about it here.

Perfect for me. I plan to make and donate one of my Bitty Birdies--because they always sell right away and because they are one of my more pricey items, so it will raise more for the project. Mr Beeper is also considering making something to contribute.

So, I would ask all of you who are crafty and who are artists to please consider making something to donate to this effort. It could be anything--a knitted hat, a plushie, a necklace, pottery--anything you might make yourself and that you feel would sell well. You can find all the details about how the Craft Hope Etsy shop will work and how to make a donation, here. I would also ask those of you who are bloggers to consider putting the Craft Hope button (found in their sidebar) in your sidebar with a link to the site, or put up your own post about Craft Hope and the effort to garner handmade donations for this project--as well as to get traffic out to the Craft Hope Etsy shop to purchase what is out there.. The more we spread the word, the more we will help this very important effort.

And one more thing, The Pioneer Woman is donating 10 cents for every comment left on this entry (there are 24,000+ already--you do the math if you think your 10 cents is not worth it)--as well as an opportunity to be the winner of a $500 donation to a charity of your choice that will benefit Haiti. Yup--head over there now. NOTE: This opportunity is closed now--there were about 25,000 comments which meant $2500 to be donated--but Ree ended deciding to donate $2500 to 3 of the top charities mentioned--so there is $2500 going to Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, and CARE. This is in addition to the two $500 giveaways--amazing generosity.

Oh, and thanks to One Pearl Button for pointing me in the direction of both of the above opportunities to help Haiti. So lovely of you.

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.

--Mother Teresa

Forlorn Plushies and Plush Artists on the Dole

Have you heard about how legislation that goes into effect come February will effect every single plush artist or independent craft person making items for children? Please read more about this here and take action to help prevent this ridiculous blanket legislation from going into effect as it stands today. I mean, I don't want lead or other toxic chemicals in my little boy's toys, but I also still want to be able to buy wonderful handmade toys for my son from other crafters and artists--and I want to continue to make and sell my plushies to other parents for their children. Please help us modify this legislation so my, as well as other, plushies are not left forlorn without a kid to love them...