Monarch Post

weekends, here and there

Meet my new birthday present! Isn't it gorgeous. It's been sitting in a bag since the Mothers Without Borders charity bazaar, waiting till it was officially my birthday (It's Saturday, but today is close enough, right?) When I saw it, I told Mike I'd picked out my birthday gift! It's hanging across the upstairs hall banister now, giving lots of personality to a spot that was boring.

 
Never got around to posting photos from the bazaar weekend. These are some of the women who have been taught to sew by Mothers Without Borders. They sustain themselves now with sewing skills.

Such talents. Fifty plus natives, sold out. Mothers Without Borders helps find ways for those talents to be shared, and the crafters now earn incomes from their folk art.

 


Even the children are being taught to sew and crochet to sustain themselves with a trade. Look at their beautiful art!

I have to say, buying that quilt and knowing each dollar would go back to Africa to do lots more good felt really, really, really good. Beats WalMart (where I don't go anyway) shopping all to heck...  

........ 

I'm tagging along with the husband, who has a conference in Palm Springs this weekend, for my birthday gift. Just the two of us for three days-- I won't know how to act!? But I plan on learning fast at the pool;)

Take care, hope your weekend is wonderful too! xoxoKelly 
 

   

December 1st

Today is World AIDS Day. There are so many simple ways to help fight this unparalleled humanitarian crisis now, via the internet. Here are a few places to start from... It only takes a click or two. Click on over to World Vision and make a specific donation. Or, while you're out and about holiday shopping for a certain item this year, look for the Product (RED) label on products from Apple Inc., Starbucks, Converse, Motorola, Gap, Microsoft, Dell, Emporio Armani, Hallmark, and now Nike. A portion of the sales will go to fight AIDS in the poorest of countries.

 
Half of all HIV infected children under the age of two will die. Who would they have grown up to be?

We have so much in America, and they don't even have a chance without our help. xoxoKelly

so far, so good

 
Back to working on crafting ideas and projects for the Mothers Without Borders charity boutiqe today. I've suddenly depleted my fab vintage earring and button stash! Tomorrow, I'll need to hit the thrift stores and hunt for more.

Anyways, I decided some stylish AIDS Awareness Day (Dec. 1st) red ribbons would be a perfect place to start crafting for this charity. They could even double as Christmas tree ornaments after wearing on Dec. 1st! :)

 

After a few fancy ribbons, I moved onto felted wool ribbon making. One felted red sweater back made about thirty ribbons! Not bad, for an old castoff. Plain and classic red wooly ribbons for the Land's End crowd, I'm thinkin.

Gotta run! Take care and happy Monday to you:) xoxo~Kelly

make new friends, but keep the old

She's on her way to CRAFT HOPE charity headquarters. Mademoiselle Emilie, (Sophey picked her name) the sock monkey is this week's extra fun, extracurriculur craft project. Why didn't anyone tell me sooner how much fun sock monkeys are to make? ;) The pattern is so simple; the body only took about an hour to sew and stuff.

 

Dressing her was another matter... It's was way fun to feel like my eight-year old self, who loved nothing more than dressing baby dolls all day long :)

P.S. Don't you love my estate sale vintage sewing basket I found this summer? All it needed was a fresh coat of red paint to be cute perfection ;)

Beret on (have you ever made a beret for a sock monkey? Well, the ears just needed to show, so this is what a beret looks like on a sock monkey!). Mary Jane's on. Sweater, check. Satchel for travelling, check. Love note for new playmate, (most important check) check.

Take care, sweet Emilie. Bon Voyage. Have a safe trip, and enjoy your new sunny California home. We hope your new friend loves you as much as we do :)

Speaking of friends... My Sophey is so happy this week. A week before school started, she learned her best friend (who would have been in the same class) was moving. They've been best friends since diaper days. After weeks of tears, her best buddy is back in Sophey's class.

I love Sophey's first piece of schoolwork out of the backpack:

"I treasure Love becuse it's all you need"

"I treasure life becus life's opertunities that we get to do"

"I treasure Friends becuse they help you trugh"

She's a wise little thinker for eight. I couldn't agree more.

Have a lovely weekend! xo~Kelly

monkey business

    

 Yesterday I found a kit at the craft store for making sock monkeys. A very timely find-- considering I signed up last month over at CRAFT HOPE for their next project of making sock monkeys and haven't started yet! I've wanted to participate in past projects, but just didn't have the time. This will be fun! All the info is over at CRAFT HOPE for this good cause; it's not too late to sign up to make a sock monkey yourself-- the deadline is Sept. 18th. 

The kit I found is the original Rockford RED HEEL. It's made by Fox River Mills, Inc. Osaga Iowa 50461 USA. Couldn't find a web site on the packaging, hope that helps. I found mine at my local Ben Franklin craft store, so you might find more sock monkeys hanging out at other Ben Franklin craft stores. You can make two monkeys per package. With a 40% off coupon, that means two monkeys for about 3.50 each. Such a deal :)

Sophey looked at the pattern yesterday, all wide-eyed excited, and asked if she could make one too. She's my girl. So we'll be starting out with the traditional sock monkey, then I think we'll be moving onto sock monkeys in pink and wild florals... That's my girl too.

See you soon!

xoKelly 

one at a time

 

Sunday evening I ran across this site.  knit-a-square.com is a fairly new charity site. They're wanting the word spread to knitters and crochetters about their mission, so I'm doing my bit for them today. And I joined their square circle forum to see and learn more about their work.

  

knit-a-square is asking for donations of 8" X 8" squares. Hand knitted or crochetted in preferably wool yarn for AIDS orphans in Africa. Their goal is 10,000 blankets for 2009. They're happy to receive a donation of one or one hundred squares...

400 squares makes 10 blankets

4 000 squares makes 100 blankets

40 000 makes 1000 blankets

400 000 makes 10 00 blankets

Lots more info at their site. Yesterday I found the brightest, reddest, yummiest skein of 100% wool on sale at Ben Franklin. It's going in my "to go basket." I need something new to work on, and this is such a great idea. I'll show my squares later, but thought I'd pass this along now. Hop on over to the folks at knit-a-square if you're needing a project :)

Happy Wednesday to you!

xoxoKelly

 

 

 

This, I love

      Last night I was doing a bit of web surfing. My email letter from my favorite social justice company, Bead For Life had arrived, and they mentioned another women's social justice organization. Women Thrive. I surfed on over... this is their vision and mission:

  "Women Thrive develops, shapes, and advocates for policies that foster economic opportunity for women living in poverty. We focus on making US. international assistance and trade programs  prioritize women. We bring together a diverse coalition of over 50 organizations and 25,000 individuals united in the belief that women are the key to ending global poverty, and empowering them is not only right, it's also the most effective long-term solution to world poverty."

I was completely taken aback by this part of the above quote: "individuals united in the belief that women are the KEY to ending global poverty" Can I quote that again... "women are the KEY to ending global poverty, and empowering them is not only right, it's also the most effective long-term solution to world poverty"  WOW. That is a stunning new insight for me. Stunning. 

I find myself over and over, drawn to these organizations, and somehow, someday, someway, I want to be a part of this justice movement... for now, I've signed my name to the Foreign Assistance petition. Our foreign assistance program is outdated, and an update will ensure more help for men and women living in poverty. The petition will be sent to President Obama and our Congress. Lets hope change happens for those who need change the most. Over one billion people worldwide live on a dollar a day or less.

In the meantime, you can also buy some fabulous fairtrade handmade items from Women Thrive. (Click on shop the cause). Like that bowl in the first photo-- it's made from trash candy wrappers. Can you believe it?

Or this tote bag, also made from plastic bags that litter the streets of New Delhi.

 Amazing.

   Or how about a new necklace from Tibet? You'll be the only one in town with one of these babies!

      Or maybe real cloth babies stitched by Burmese women. Buy one, and one gets donated to a child. Can't beat that. And you can't beat the prices either. There are oodles of amazing handmade items for sale.

All the items listed on Women Thrive are very reasonable, so stop buy and check out the goods. And Petition our President and Congress, if you want, while you're there. I'm liking it... why didn't anybody tell me sooner... we can shop and change the world?! I'm buying the candy wrapper bowl...Go girls, go.

Love,

xoxoKelly

selling cuteness and cookies

  Last Saturday our Brownie troop sold cookies at a booth sale. The girls did a great job selling and even up-selling! Door-to-door sales are over now, but keep your eyes peeled for cute little Girl Scouters selling at booth locations- there's another week to go for booth sales at grocery stores, and various places.

The proceeds help the Girl Scout program at a national level, and at troop level the girls get money for troop activities, and camp. They also learn how to set goals, sell, count money, and improve social skills. The girl scout motto is: Building girls of courage, confidence, and character. What a deal people- eat cookies and build strong young women. Buy cookies, buy cookies everyone!

Take care,

xoxoKelly