Candle giveaway!

I'm being featured on the Bath, Body, Candle blog. There is also a giveaway where you could win these pure beeswax layered candles! Just go to the link and comment to win! :)

Donate While You Shop: Helping Others Street Team (HOST)

Preface: About Etsy

Before starting into this post I want to make sure you understand the players. For those of you who don't know, www.Etsy.com is a an online community for people to buy and sell handmade items. Since Etsy's launch in June 2005, over 100,000 sellers have opened up shops. A real sense of community has grown among this international group and continues to grow.

HOST

To continue along this theme of donating while you shop I want to introduce you to the Etsy Helping Others Street Team (HOST). I won't paraphrase their mission, but let you read it for yourself:

"Our goal is to give unconditional support to any fellow Estian in their time of need. Support being prayers, thoughts, hugs; a shoulder to cry and lean on; money; sales. We only care about the person, not their race, religion, or nationality... We are a community here of caring hand made artisans who just want to extend a helping hand all year long."

I am a new member of this group but I've found the people very friendly and willing to help, often even when they're experiencing emotional or financial difficulties themselves. This is a generous and dedicated group, and worthy of our support!

HOST helps out financially through some individual contribution of team members and also through their team shop that you can find at http://HOST.etsy.com This shop is made up of items donated by HOST members. When the items are sold, 100% of the proceeds go to helping Etsy members in need.

Online Trunk Show tomorrow!!

But wait there's more! Some of the members of the HOST group (including myself) are having an online trunk show tomorrow October 16th at 7 p.m. EST. This is a way for people to chat a little about their shops and their craft in a real time interactive environment. Come join us! Just come to Etsy and then Community tab and then Virtual Labs and you'll see us there.

Here are just a few of the great items in the HOST team shop:

Donate while you shop: Miss Emma's Closet

This is a shout out to Alison from Etsy shop Miss Emma's Closet. At Miss Emma's Closet you'll find great handmade children's items, home decor, and gorgeous ring bearer pillows.

By supporting this shop you can help give back to the community. Alison donates 10% of all her sales to her daughter's hospital (St. Peter's University Hospital) "to give thanks to the good docs and nurses for saving my little miss's life!"

Here's something from Alison about her crafts and her inspiration:

"I am a mom to 2 fabulous kids! My son is 7, and my daughter is 2. I have been crafting ever since I can remember. I used to sell my wares at local schools when I was young and then I graduated to craft fairs. It has always been my dream to own a shop, this is my jumping off point. I create one of a kind shabby chic items. I love to incorporate old reclaimed treasures into my work to create a fabulous design. But enough about me and my shop!

"Miss Emma's Closet is dedicated to my daughter, Emma. She is my motivation and the strongest person I know. She is the only child in the world with her genetic abnormality and along with that a laundry list of problems, including a rare seizure disorder. The doctors and nurses on her team are fabulous, and I wanted to be able to do something give back to them for saving her life. Miss Emma's Closet will donate 10% of it's profits every year to her hospital. My goal is to be able to help other families feel safe and not have to worry, just like we did."

Here are a few of the great items in Miss Emma's Closet.


Pumpkin Decor


Scalloped Edge Treasure Box


Burp Cloths or Changing Pads

Cancer Research Donation

My partner Sarah and I both currently have mothers fighting cancer. I had been thinking for a while that I would like to make regular donations to a charity that was important to us. There are many that we've considered but for now we're going with cancer research.

From now until January 2009 we'll be donating 10% of ALL sales (internet and craft show) to the Cancer Research Foundation. In January we'll decide if we can afford to continue with 10% and we'll decide if we're going to stay with the Cancer Research Foundation or change to another charity.

I'll post updates here to let you know how much we've been able to donate. I'll also do some poking around and see if I can find other Etsy shops donating to charities. I'll be sure to let you all know what I find.

There's little we can do right now to help our mothers - other than offering our emotional and sometimes financial support while we wait to see what happens. But it feels good to be able to contribute even a little towards finding a cure. Hopefully we can help save people in future generations from having to go through what our families are going through.