Pages

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Volunteers Needed

From Elena:

Dear Charity Wings Volunteers,

Calling all local volunteers!!
We need to go through our storage unit!

U Store It
2220 Watson Way
Vista, CA 92083

This is a really big task and has to be done in one day. 
Friday March 2nd 10 am till 5pm. 
 If you can come for any part of this please email me.

elena@charitywings.org

You do not need to do heavy lifting.
Some of it is consolidating and organizing.
We will be selling lots of stuff for cheap,
and donating some as well.

Please come help if you can!

Thanks so much,

Elena

Friday, February 24, 2012


Charity Wings at CHA January 2012.


Once again, I volunteered to help Charity Wings at CHA. It really is a lot of fun. The best part of it all – the other Charity Wings volunteers. There is a lot of work involved in setting up a booth, helping the video productions run smoothly (and happen at all),
and participating in the activities that promote awareness - the make and takes with Westcott, the raffle of all the fabulous donated art we had at CHA’s member carnival party, and “manning” the booth.


Of course, the craft flash mob we participated in, She’s Crafty for Charity Wings, staged in the lobby at the opening of CHA was a highlight, maybe we could say “the highlight” of the convention. 


We, volunteers, did have meals and social events together too; so, it’s not all work.

 The camaraderie, whether it was work or play, and you can see it was often hard to tell the difference, was terrific! A huge thank you to all the volunteers and donors who help Charity Wings do the good work it does.

Our booth was tiny but amazing with beautiful wing garlands made from Spellbinders wing dies – truly, they are spectacular! 

The dies and the gorgeous Unity stamps at our “Fishing for Wings” raffle were very well- loved prizes. 




The wing art from all the wonderful supportive artists that Charity Wings displayed in the booth drew much interest. So many folk wanted the art pieces, and though we had to say no to those requests, we were so happy to direct the visitors to the artists’ websites.


The Charity Wings’ booth was in the middle of CHA, in a charming spot for us and all the other CHA sponsored charities. The carpet was designed as a roadway with a central green town square with benches, chairs and tables for folk to meet and rest - just like any village square. CHA really is a community and I think the message that it is a caring community was well expressed there.


It truly is fun to see the beautiful products the manufacturers bring to the show each time. As volunteers we do get some free time to explore and those who participated on-line got to experience in depth some of that discovery, too. This season was no exception to beauty and excitement. We hope that many of these products make it to your local stores for they are truly wonderful.
What trends did we see at CHA? It is hard to summarize since there is truly diversity and something to meet the needs of most crafters but a few things stood out.
A vintage antique theme, especially French inspired, was prominent. There was a fabric trend as well with hexagons, herringbones, chevrons and quilt patterns showing up in a number of collections and some manufacturers continue to make the fabric papers. Images that appeared frequently included: deer, VW Beetle cars, toadstools, clouds, and bicycles; while butterflies and music paper remained strong. Travel themes are popular ones in many collections.
Freestyle scrapbooking with alternatives to the standard 12 x 12 and 8.5 x 11 were everywhere, not that the standards were abandoned.  Mixed media books, folder scrapbooks, sketchbooks and smash journals are only some of the options. Shaped minis continue strong and so many of the companies had smaller paper pads. Alterable products were everywhere – not just paper but letters and metal embellishments, too. So many different textures, material (even tyvec), and colors for embellishments were apparent. Washi tape, colored twine and stencils of every sort were featured products. Of course we delighted in all the new versions of items like stamps and rub-ons. Clips, tabs, envelopes and transparencies of all sorts are being made and will contribute to inventive and interactive pages.
Manufacturers are making so many handy new tools – we love Westcott’s scissor mouse!



So many inventions and improvements on the tools and consumables (paint, glitter, mists etc.) that we know and love are now available. Being a crafter promises to be ever more enjoyable with all of these new and improved products.
Yes, CHA is an adventure and a good place to further the aims of Charity Wings, as it is a unique opportunity for crafters and artists to raise money and awareness for charity.  We were able to bring awareness to CHA members of Charity Wings as a resource for the craft community.

We had a lot of fun, too!



submitted by - Karen Poirier-Brode (Ladydoc)

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Giving Back through ART: Jenny Doh

Artist Jenny Doh of CRESCENDoh! is committed to giving back through ART.


Through her website and ART SAVES program, Jenny is helping water.org.  




Jenny writes:
"I have been deeply inspired by Sheena Matheiken's The Uniform Project (www.theuniformproject.com). Artist Cynthia Shaffer has designed and created a uniform inspired by the project that I pledge to wear for one full year, until Valentine's Day 2013, to bring attention to the world's water crisis, and to join countless others who are finding ways to mend, alter, make, and make do."
Read Jenny's full post here. Jenny also has a Fundraiser page here.  Her goal is to raise $5000 during this year long awareness campaign.

How do you give back through your ART? Tell us about it here, and please help Water.org by sharing Jenny's blog post and donating through her blog.

eBay auctions from CHA are up!

If you missed CHA Live with Charity Wings, don't fret!  You still have the chance to score some products that are new (some aren't even in the stores yet).  Click on the eBay logo to see the Charity Wings auctions.



There are a lot of great items - and you have until Sunday to make your final bids!

Here's a sneak peek at some of the item listed...



There's A LOT more new/unreleased products in the ebay listings too - go check it out!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Did you miss CHA Live?

If you did...you sure missed out some great chats and product reveals!  We also had a lot of fun tutorials and lots of funny chuckles!

However, we can't keep secret all the wonderful manufacturers and designers who came by....so here's a list of links to their websites, blogs, facebook pages.  Go check them out!  We know this is a lot of information but many of them have put up pictures and video streams from CHA.  It'll feel like you were there - we promise.


Spellbinders


Designer Chat #1 

Unity Stamps
 
Paper Wizard
 
Fancy Pants

Maya Road
Lisa Pace web site: http://lisapace.com/
Clearly for Art Modelling film: http://lisapace.com/2010/11/clearly-for-art/

Want 2 Scrap

Clear Snap

Sakura

Prima

Faber Castell

Helmar

She's Crafty
Marilyn Dennis Show:  http://www.marilyn.ca/
She's Crafty show:

Ice Resin

Plaid

Provocraft

Glue Arts
Unibind PhotoBook Creator: http://www.myphotobookcreator.com/

Designer Chat #2

Westcott

3L/Scrapbook Adhesives
Web site: http://www.scrapbook-adhesives.com/

Tattered Angels

Copic
Blogs:
Marianne Walker

LaBlanche Stamps

Canvas Corp/7 Gypsies
Canvas Corp Blog: http://canvascorp.com/blog/

Epiphany Crafts

Graphic 45


GCD Studios:

Nikki Sivils

Miss Vicky B

Basically Bare

Cover2Cover   (acrylic page)
(NOTE: Store link doesn’t seem to be working yet)

Ruby Violet  (bracelet make and take)