Basically, all you have to do is get a group together and announce it through their Meetup Everywhere tool. Invite all of your friends for a craftivism party. And the 15 groups with the most people RSVP’d by Tuesday, August 10th will receive a box of supplies from the peeps at Etsy. How cool is that! So this is your opportunity to get your community involved. I can tell you now we are working on an Austin group so stay tuned!

Frequently asked questions for Project 9…

What type of fabric should we use?

ConKerr has been working with the hospitals and know exactly what they’ll accept. They will only accept 100% cotton fabric. Also, please do not use flannel fabric as it won’t be accepted at the hospitals for their reasons.

What if there isn’t a ConKerr chapter in my area or my country? Can I start one?

If you are interested in establishing a ConKerr chapter in your area or country please email Cindy at cindy@conkerrcancer.org. Let’s help them grow globally!

Where should we send the pillowcases again?

Please send the pillowcases directly to the coordinators, not the hospitals. The hospitals do not have the facilities to store these. The coordinators will make all of the arrangements to deliver the pillowcases to the respective hospitals. Here is the link to the coordinators again. The names are under the names of the hospitals.

What are the metric measurements for the pillowcases?

Body: 67.3 cm x 102.9 cm

Border: 26.7 cm x 102.9 cm

……………………………………………….

Also please remember to make pillowcases for boys and teens. A lot of times we get caught up in what’s ‘pretty’ and receive an overwhelming amount of girly items. Please, please, please think of the boys and the teenagers. They have a difficult time finding pillowcases for them.

Remember to get those groups together and register for the One Million Pillowcase Craft Party on Etsy! I know we are!!

We are healing hearts. Spreading love and hope. Sharing joy. Absolutely priceless. Your hands alone are touching lives through your beautifully handmade donations.

I am more than excited to announce this most recent project. The love and outpouring of support that I know you all will give this project brings me to tears already. I’ve seen it time and again with you all here at Craft Hope.

There are times in our lives that stop us in our paths. Heartbreaking news meets us on our journey of life. Unexpectedly. At Craft Hope we cannot stop earthquakes from happening, children from becoming orphans, or children getting sick. But what we can do, we can love those affected. Show them that people care and give them a glimpse of hope.

For Project 9 we will be working with ConKerr Cancer to benefit terminally ill children. ConKerr Cancer was established two years ago to put smiles upon the faces of terminally ill children in the hospital. They provide bright and cheery handmade pillowcases for these children. They have succeeded in delivering 225,000 pillowcases up to this date. They have a goal of providing a beautiful pillowcase for every seriously ill child in North America by 2012. Well I think we can just help them achieve that goal don’t you?

I think we have all somehow been personally affected by a child suffering from illness in some capacity. It’s heartbreaking and doesn’t seem very fair. We can take that energy and transform it into something beautiful for these children.

So we are asking for handmade pillowcases for these children.

If you sew… please use bright/cheerful/beautiful COTTON fabric to make a pillowcase or twenty. Please no flannel, per their requirements.

If you knit/crochet… please make a lace border or embellishment to add to an already beautiful new pillowcase.

If you embroider… please stitch up something sweet on a new pillowcase.

The deadline for this project is September 15th as September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month!

We will be posting up links to patterns and ideas later this week. Even great ways to get your kids involved. Please do not send in new packaged pillowcases. They need to be handcrafted with love in some capacity.

This is a testament to the power of what a gift such as this can do…

“Dear kind people of ConKerr Cancer: I first found out about you while my son, recovered from a brain tumor at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The staff told me there was a basket of which we could pick out a pillowcase. He was not allowed out of his room at that point, so I picked him one. When I got there, not many were left. But one Eagles pillowcase caught my eye. I knew he would like that, and he did. It was one of the first smiles I got during his recovery from surgery. It’s funny, but it’s amazing to know how much one pillowcase can brighten a whole life and a whole room. John is doing much better and is now back home. The pillowcase is now a cheerful reminder of hope and kindness during that horrible and frightening time. Not only did the pillowcase tell us that others have shared in these difficult times, but also that a little touch of love and color helps give you a little more strength to fight through such a serious illness. Again, I want to thank you on behalf of my son and my family.”

Here is the pattern ConKerr Cancer provides for making the pillowcase. Please feel free to use whatever pattern you’d like, but make it for a standard size pillow.

For Project 9, you will not be mailing the pillowcases to us here at Craft Hope simply because there are many hospitals in your area that we’d like for you to connect with. Update: Please direct questions and mail pillowcases to the coordinator in your area. Please do not mail the pillowcases directly to the hospital. This page provides a regional directory of hospitals and coordinators for ConKerr. For those of you not in the U.S., they also have locations in South Africa and Canada.

Please include a note that you are with Craft Hope so we can try to keep a tally of how many pillowcases were sent in.

Ready, set, go… Get your groups involved, rally your friends/family/coworkers/craft groups/camps, and tell them what we are doing at Craft Hope. Shout it from the roof tops. Tweet about our latest project. Blog about it. Put your pictures in our Flickr group to inspire others. Join our Facebook group for the latest announcements. Send it out to the world to get more people involved. Let’s make this our largest project yet and help ConKerr Cancer meet their goal of providing a pillowcase for every sick child.

Update: If there is not a coordinator in your area and you’d like to start up a chapter please contact ConKerr.

Please leave a comment on this post if you are going to participate and/or get a group together to participate. Thank you.

Sarah and I will be coordinating this project together so if you have questions, please contact us. We’ll both be fielding questions and writing posts. Thanks Sarah for helping!!

Hope. That’s really what it’s all about after all.

I really am just a girl, who had an idea, was contacted by Lark Books to share my vision, and somehow landed a book deal. I had heard rumor that Craft Hope books were shipping. The ‘official’ release date for the Craft Hope book is August 3rd. To my surprise, they started showing up in stores yesterday.

So I went over to my local Barnes & Noble. Nothing.

Then today I checked online and it said they were in stock. WHAT?!? My book is on a bookshelf… that people can go and buy… right down the road?!? I started getting phone calls and emails from friends taking pictures of the book to share with me. Honestly, I’ve had a hard time grasping this whole thing. It just never seemed real. Even with deadlines looming and late nights working, I still had a hard time grasping that it was turning into an actual book.

Really, I’m just a girl who is trying to figure out how to be a good mom. I have endless stacks of laundry. Toys strewn about. Play-doh bins emptied all over the living room. Dirty dishes in the sink. And three kids under six running in circles around me. My oldest is starting kindergarten this year, which brings about a whole set of running around and new adventures. The nine month old literally keeps me chasing after her all day long.

All the while I’m running Craft Hope from my laptop in the living room.

All of this to say… thank you. Truly, thank you from the bottom of my heart. To my friends/designers that contributed projects to the book. To the charities that so graciously open their doors to our donations. To the Craft Hope community that rocks my socks on a daily basis. I am endlessly amazed by your thoughtful nature and willingness to give of your time. Your handmade items, your notes you put in the boxes, your emails and comments… they all matter and go straight to the heart.

So as you can see my book is now in many stores around the nation. Of course you can buy it online, but there really is something about going into a bookstore and buying a book. Thank you to those of you who continue to support Craft Hope. We are growing like wildfire. An incredibly, beautiful wildfire that spreads hope around the world.

**************************

And…. We now have a Post Office Box! For those of you who have towels from Project 8 to mail, please send them to me. Please do not make anymore towels unless you have a group already planning to get together. The need has been met, but I will continue to collect those that have been made and get them to the relief organizations.

Here is our spanking new mailing address:

I will be accepting donations for the next couple of weeks and after that we’ll be moving on to the next project. Thank you all so much who participated in Project 8! You supplied enough towels to the relief organizations along the gulf coast for years. Thank you.

Kimberly graciously put up three posts last night showing you all the enormity of Craft Hope’s Project 8. We have thousands of people participating. Groups from all around the world have come together to aid in the cleaning of the oiled sea animals due to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill. We have collected and distributed 65,000 towels. Thank you simply is not enough.

In order to not become a victim of our own goodwill we are going to have to put the brakes on Project 8. We have supplied the relief organizations in the gulf coast with towels they can use for years. They have reached capacity for what they can store and use. Job well done my friends! You stepped up when called upon and met their needs. This is what we are here for as a community.

So here is where we go forward…

If you have towels and they are ready to mail, please wait for a blog post later this week. We are contacting more relief organizations on the gulf coast and hope to have mailing addresses for you to send towels to directly.

If you have a group that has planned to get together to make towels, please continue to do so. Again, we’ll have an address for you soon.

At this point we ask that you don’t make anymore towels that aren’t already in the works. Thank you so much for understanding.

We’ll have plenty of follow up information for you on our site very shortly. We’ll also be launching the next Craft Hope project very soon!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for everyone involved in this beautiful Craft Hope community. You are all amazing and have proven that little things do make a difference. Each and every towel crafted with love…. 65,000 times. Thank you.

Sunrise came rather quickly on Sunday morning, and a 5am wake-up call came even quicker. Did we even sleep? haha! No matter, we were ready to go!!! The above Uhaul picture is a 5am sunrise crowning through the treetops over the Project 8 Uhaul, all ready for departure!  Apologies for no loading photos from the night before… it was pitch black and we were focused on loading more so than snapping photos. Work was to be done.

Hello to Craft Hope, My name is Kimberly Davion (that’s me above) and I am the Craft Hope Project 8 coordinator. I thought I’d would post up some photos and put a face to where you all are sending your donations to. As well as show off the amazing quantities of donations that have been stacked up, teetering, in what I call Project 8 Jenga around my house.

The Story: So as I was trying my best to “summer” clean the house, around the several hundred or so, 8 foot stacks of Project 8 boxes in each room of the house, I just happened to pass the window only to look out to see a very very large semi-truck slamming on his air brakes down the middle of our very narrow city neighborhood street.  “Oh no.” I think in my mind. Yes, surely I have been greatly blessed in this amazing mission for Craft Hope’s Project 8 that I have coordinated. And saying “oh no” is not to say that I don’t want donations in the least for this tragic disaster, But… I am running out of room in my home. And here, suddenly, a very very large semi, is now stopping in front of my home. (did I mention it was very, very, large?) All I could think was “oh no!” How many? And most importantly, how heavy?!!!

As I am now spying from a tiny corner of the window, hunkered down in a worried panic of what massive quantities were about to be laden down upon my front porch, the doorbell rings. It’s the semi-truck driver. Oh no.

So I answer the door. A disheveled mess, no less – a rats nest of bed hair, no make-up, a flimsy tank top, McHammer Capri workout sweat pants, stubbly legs, and grungy white Adidas workout shoes… really not the kind of look you would prefer to answer the door in…. the doorbell rings again. I pray. Lord, please let not this man judge me upon my appearance. I answer the door. The semi driver is just what you would expect in the least. No taller than I am (and I am all of 5′even), a Sopranos gangster ego and dialect, fat stubby, ash laden nub of a cigar, hairy chest, gold chains, basically a Devito clone. He looks at me and says, eh, I gotsa delivery for yous. Wheres’yas want it? Donno if I’ms gonnas gets my forklift up dat incline in da yard…. I’m suddenly stunned….WAIT! WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!!

Forklift!!!??

He says “Yeahs, da forklift. Its a 220lb.palette of boxes.” So wheres ya wants em?”

Wait… Forklift?!! Wait… 220lbs!!!

He says “Yeas. Yous gots a hearin’ problem? Yous keeps a repeatin’ everything I says.”

And he just stares at me. Cigar ash, slowly falls down into graying gnarled chest hair.

So I just stand there, trying to absorb the information just giving to me in Soprano dialect.

Okay Kim. Process. Thoughts. Forklift. Palette. 220lbs. OMGOSH!!!!

Where is this going to go!?! How ever in the world am I going to deliver this to IMMS?!!

So I put on the best, petite southern gal in distress bit in my arsenal of syrupy sweet skills. I say “Well, its just little ole me, I’m not sure how I’m going to handle this? Can the package be broken down into smaller bits? Something that I can handle? Can you help me?!  *Bats eyelashes* (hey, at this point, its all I’ve got)

He suddenly realizes the circumstances and says to me “uh, yeas sure. I tinks so… yous can come looks in the back of ma truck at it. We can figures somethins out for ya.”

Looking into the back of the truck, I feel a little light headed. There were stacks upon stacks of boxes. And several VERY LARGE Palettes inside. Some saying 300-500lbs. Trying to retain composure. I remember, my delivery is just a mere 220lbs. clearly all these others were not for me. So I ask Mr. Soprano, where is my palette? He shuffles about, squeezing his sweaty robust stomach around boxes and forklift.

I’m standing outside of the back of the truck, a hot mess, with my large Granny Anonymous sunglasses on, looking around, noticing I have the entire blocks worth of retirees at full alert. Lord, please don’t let the neighbors call the Neighborhood Association for violation of receiving a non-residential delivery. oh my!

So Mr. Soprano finds my palette and slaps it. Making me anxiously jump to attention. “Heres it is” he says. “yeas, looksa like its a justa wrapped up, lika smaller boxes, Yousa can handles dat, right?” Yes I say. So he begins to unload his forklift with palette. And drives it up into the middle of my driveway, sets it down and proceeds to pack it up to leave. “Wait!” I yell to him. “You can’t just leave it in the middle of my driveway. I need to park cars here!” So he takes a hard drag on his knubby cigar, huffs a bit, and repositions the forklift back under the palette and moves it into a side area of my yard. Thank goodness.

So I thank him again, he says “Goodsa Lucks” and leaves. I just stand there, inspecting the palette. And recalculate the new totals for Project 8. 30,000 just went to 60,000 really quick just now. Then I realize, the neighbors are still staring, and I slowly make my way back inside figuring out what next.

Then reality sets in of what just occurred. There is a 220lb palette in my yard! I slightly hyperventilate. Oh my gosh! I need to text Jade!! I need to get a Uhaul, some equipment to move this palette! I need to do this now! I need to go start loading up the truck after work on Saturday.. I need to go make deliveries on Sunday. I need to do this now!!! Eeeee!!! wow!  I sent Jade a frantic text. I hope I did not freak her out, which I’m sure I may. I was having a “Oh My Gosh, Is This For Real!” moment.

I got in touch with Jade, (she is such a peach), since she was in the middle of vaca at the House of Mouse, donations were sent ASAP for transportation provisions, I immediately had reservations made, IMMS was called and now I am settled and relaxed. All is taken care of, Mr. Davion will pick up the large Uhaul Truck on Saturday. We will spend the night packing the truck, and will head out to IMMS on Sunday.

I am still in awe and very much humbled over the donations and effort of so many. I still can’t believe it. I feel like I am living in some full-time Project dream, but no, its a reality. And I am so glad I am a part of this. I am so glad to have stepped up to have coordinated and participated. And this will be something I will remember for the rest of my life. And possibly grow onto other missions after this. I am blessed.

We are in the process of filing our nonprofit status, but things take time. The problem we are having now is that we are receiving so many towels and don’t have the funds to be able to rent trucks to deliver them. Craft Hope doesn’t receive any money any place. All of what we have done so far has been done through the generosity of the Craft Hope community. We are also going to need to start storing the towels as Kimberley’s garage, in Pensacola, is like a huge Jenga puzzle and is jam packed with boxes of towels. I’m going to start receiving the towels here in Austin, but am sure my garage will fill up in a matter of days as well.

So here is my humble plea to ask for sponsors to help pay for the storage and truck rentals to deliver the towels. Both Kimberley and I will drive anywhere we need to to be able to deliver the towels for you. We are asking for sponsors to help with this process. Anything will help at this point. And for those of you who would like to make a tax deductible donation I can try to get receipts for you from the rescue organizations we are working with.

If you are interested in sponsoring Craft Hope Project 8 :: Gulf Coast Oil Spill please send me an email at jade@crafthope.com. This is all new for us and we are doing our best to be able to collect and deliver the tens of thousands of towels coming our way. Many companies have contacted me asking if they can make a towel donation, actually a sponsorship would help so much more at this time. Please consider helping in this way.

Here is a video from The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies of how they clean the oil soaked turtles. Bath time!

For those of you who live in the Austin area, I am making a trip to Gulfport, MS to visit The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies on Friday. I know it’s short notice but I would love to be able to hand deliver your towels for you. Please contact me at the above email address if you’d like to meet up so I can get your donations from you. My family and I will be allowed in the quarantined oil soaked turtle area to see the turtles and talk to the folks at the IMMS. Such an honor that I don’t take lightly. I’ll be taking loads of pictures and video to share with you all.

If you are in the Gulfport, MS area or are passing through the IMMS would love for you to visit. They have public tours that you can find on their website.

Today my kids and I are cutting up old towels to donate to the IMMS and we are reading library books about the ocean. Our visit to the IMMS will be such a wonderful experience for all of us and I want the kids to know that they can make a difference in this big world. One turtle at a time.

If you would like to sponsor Project 8 please contact me at jade@crafthope.com. Thanks for all you do!

…………………..

As of this time (7/20/2010) we have suspended donations due to meeting the needs of the gulf coast rescue organizations! Please email jade at jade@crafthope.com if you have questions. Thanks so much!

As of today, we have collected 15,173 hand towels! This more than triples the amount of items we have collected in the past for previous projects. Thanks to all of you for spreading the word. People are finding out about our cause thanks to all of you.

We are working feverishly with our contacts at the rescue organizations to make sure everyone who needs towels gets them.

Here are some photos from a friend of Pensacola beach. Devastating.

I will be leaving on Friday and traveling through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida to see the devastated areas first hand. I hope to have pictures, as hard as they are to look at, to share with all of you along the way. Please be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date on current happenings.

Just a reminder that we moved the deadline to the end of August.

…………………….

As of this time (7/20/2010) we have suspended donations due to meeting the needs of the gulf coast rescue organizations! Please email jade at jade@crafthope.com if you have questions. Thanks so much!

We have decided to move the deadline for Project 8 :: Gulf Coast Oil Spill to the end of the summer so keep the towels coming. They are all needed and will be used. This is not a situation that is getting better. Thank you to those of you organizing groups, cutting up old tees, and knitting/crocheting washcloths. Each stitch, each cut, every little motion is filled with love.

This beautiful picture showed up on the Craft Hope Facebook page from Lisa. She wrote…

“Thanks to the inspiration of my daughter, Savannah Moulton, I have suggested to our Summer Camp that our “Pass It On ~ Giving Project” be in supporting your efforts in caring for and cleaning marine mammals. We are kicking this off tomorrow and here are a few campers and a counselor working on the sign to let the parents know how they can help with Project 8. Hoping it will be a success and we will be sending our donations soon!”

It truly takes just one person to make a difference in this world. One person to have an idea, feel led, and act upon it. Every little thing you do for the greater good makes a difference. I read every single comment and email that comes in. Many times I am brought to tears. To those of you who are organizing groups, you amaze me. I’m hearing stories of church groups, camps, colleges and universities, girl scouts, schools, and friends getting together and cutting up towels to send along. People around the world are stepping in. Craft Hope has truly become a global community of the most beautiful kind.

Lauren is one such person who stepped up and made a difference in her community by rallying folks to get involved with Craft Hope. See Lauren’s amazing interview on the local news here. She got together with others and they made 4,000 towels and collected over 1,200 oz of Dawn. Way to go Lauren!!

Truly nothing melts my heart more than seeing kids involved with Craft Hope. Ashley did a wonderful demonstration that you can also do for your kids here. Maybe it’s the teacher in me, but show your kids what’s going on. Teach them about the earth. And empower them by showing them that they can help.

Here are some Craft Hope kids!

As of right now we have collected over 3,000 towels and over 500 people signed up to make towels or lead groups. Keep them coming!

If you have photos of your group participating in Craft Hope or media you’ve received we’d love to share it. Please send them to me at jade@crafthope.com. Thanks to everyone involved in Craft Hope.

Also, if you are sending more than 10 towels please count them and put a total someplace in the box. That would help us out so much!!

Spread hope!

……………………………..

As of this time (7/20/2010) we have suspended donations due to meeting the needs of the gulf coast rescue organizations! Please email jade at jade@crafthope.com if you have questions. Thanks so much!