Send a Valentine: Share Your Love 2012

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Today, Etsy announced the return of their Special Delivery campaign - Share Your Love 2012. Etsy will once again partner with Citymeals-on-Wheels to bring nutritious meals & companionship to elderly New Yorkers with a little surprise...a Valentines' Day card from you.

Check out details on how to get involved, where to send your cards & any dos or don't here. Since K. Batty Design & Stationery is my name & cards are my game, I'm super excited to participate in this & pledge to send 20 cards. Maybe more! I love the opportunity to bring up the spirits of a fellow New Yorker.

I hope you'll join me in bringing some cheer with Etsy & Citymeals-on-Wheels!

PS If you're still gazing at your holiday cards & wondering what to do with them, check out Sara's post from the other day on how they can be upcycled for charity.

Kerry



Meet our Cavalcade Charity Partner: Brooklyn Community Foundation

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For this year’s Holiday Handmade Cavalcade we are proud to partner with the Brooklyn Community Foundation. With its motto "Do Good Right Here" the Foundation succinctly states its mission which is:
to improve the lives of people in Brooklyn by strengthening communities through local giving, grantmaking and community service.
As the only community foundation dedicated exclusively to the people of Brooklyn, the organization focuses on five different areas of support:


Art Print - My Zoetrope
 

Arts for All--

Seeks to support local arts and cultural organizations

Caring Neighbors--

Assists vulnerable Brooklynites and their neighbors

Community Development--

Supports efforts to provide affordable housing and neighborhood stability

Education and Youth Achievement--

Supports programs that promote access to quality education and academic success for all and assists organizations that help young people make smart life choices and nurture their social and emotional well-being

Green Communities--

Fosters the development of green spaces, jobs, and neighborhoods

Kids Hat - Ellis Design

Of course the Arts for All fund is very close to our own interests as artists and designers of the {NewNew}. One of the grants the Foundation recently made was to Cool Culture an organization that partners with 90 of New York City's best known cultural institutions to provide access to museums, zoos and parks to 50,000 underserved New York families.

Given the breadth of causes supported by the Brooklyn Community Foundation, you are sure to find a project that you can help fund by donating to the Foundation. So come to the Holiday Handmade Cavalcade where you can chat with representatives of the Brooklyn Community Foundation about their different funds and awards. Plan out this year's charity giving and take care of some holiday shopping at the same time.

Simone
groundsel.etsy.com

Hats for Young Runners

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The New York Road Runners is not only a premier running organization for adults, they also offer extensive programming for children. Their Young Runners program is a free after-school program available to underserved communities in New York City. Their Mighty Milers program teaches kids of all fitness levels and abilities how to run or walk a half-mile, two to five times a week.

When The {NewNew} found out about a drive that combined the passion of quite a few of our members namely running and knitting, they were excited to commit their time to knit up hats for some of the neediest participants in the New York Road Runner Youth programs. Modeled by some of our "honorary" members, here are the first hats about to be delivered to the NYRR.


If this inspires you to donate some of your time to a charity crafting project, check out Lion Brand Yarn's Charity Connection hub where you can find out about charity projects in your community.

Happy Crafting

Simone
groundsel.etsy.com

A Few More Crafty Resolutions for 2011

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Happy New Year!   It's that resolution time of year and if you're anything like me your crafty life could use a resolution or two.  Here are five to get you started:
Knock Knock Studio
1. Get organized
You can't work if your space is piled high in supplies. If you're organizationally challenged, check out some of our past Workspace Wednesday blogs for inspiration.  Get crafty when it comes to space saving and storage solutions turn tea boxes into drawer dividers or cans into pencil holders.  Optimize your storage space by using wall space.  I was inspired by a pegboard design in Ready Made magazine.
Journal by BlueStitchBooks
2. Use what you have before buying more
How many times have you bought supplies only to find that you already had that item?  I do it all the time – I must have a dozen sets of number 8 knitting needles!  If you've got 8 balls of the same yarn – make a project with that first. Figure out what size brushes, needles or what color pencils you need before you buy another.   I’m writing a list of all the needles I have and keeping it on my iPhone ( I bet there’s an app for that).  Write down what colors you don't have in your silkscreen paints. Keep an easily tracked inventory if needed in a notebook if you are lo-tech.  Check out some of the journals available from The {NewNew}.
Pillow by AlexandraFerguson

3. Finish at least one unfinished project before tackling a new craft
Many of us have multiple interests and mediums. If you spin and knit, finish spinning that skein and knitting that hat before moving on to a new embroidery project. Don't buy expensive screen-printing equipment when you've got 4 unfinished quilts sitting in the corner in a basket.  In other words, just say NO, temporarily that is!
4. Donate unused supplies
Did you decide that sewing was just not for you but still have a box of fabric? Give it to a nursing home. Tons of empty sketchbooks that you’re ignoring in favor of beadwork?  See if there's a daycare that can use the extra paper. Pastels a thing of the past? See if your local elementary school can use them.  Schools, nursing homes, and women's shelters are always good places to contact about donating supplies.
5. Use your powers for good
There are plenty of charities that accept handmade goods.  Sew up a stuffed toy and give it to the women's shelter. Knit some preemie hats and give them to a local hospital. For inspiration check out the hats The {NewNew} and visitors to the Maker Faire donated to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital last fall.
Share your crafty resolution for 2011 with us!  We'd love to hear from you.

Who will get these cute hats?

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Newborns at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital!
The {NewNew} is kicking into high gear to prepare for the first Maker Faire in New York City to be held at the Hall of Science this Saturday and Sunday. We are collecting shirts to turn into yarn, going over our patterns and preparing kits for you to learn knitting and crocheting.(Yes YOU!) At the heart of all this work are tiny newborns joining the world at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital each day.

Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center serves the South and Central Bronx and has been providing compassionate health care to those in need, regardless of their ability to pay for over a hundred years. Bronx-Lebanon's mission is to fill the role as "Doctor to the Community." They do this by regularly providing free check-ups and screenings to schools, shelters and senior citizen centers throughout the community.  These programs and many like it bring physician and medical services directly to the community where they are need the most.

The {NewNew} wants to help in a small way by donating 100 items for the babies brought into the world at Bronx Lebanon Hospital. The 100 baby items we have pledged to create starting at the Maker Faire will be put on tiny heads and feet at the hospital's new Children’s Wing that opened in 2009. The Children's wing is providing state-of-the-art inpatient and outpatient care in a family friendly environment to the children of the Bronx. But wait, there's more: We have prepared goody bags for you as a thank you for helping us with this project. So make a booty and get some booty.

With the future children of our community in mind, we look forward to hanging out with you at the Maker Faire and joining in our crafting circle at "Shirts to Hats Booth 4285". We are in Zone C right by the Bust Craftacular. Here is a map.

Broadway Bears: Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking Bear

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The Great White Way has a lot to offer, but one more contribution that may surprise the uninitiated is Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS charity. Drawing on the star power and talents of various New Yorkers, they raise money though such unique events as the upcoming Broadway Bears Auction (not to be confused with their fundraising strip show, Broadway Bares).

One bear appearing on the auction block this year has a NewNew connection, since it was made by Kari Love of Ikyoto.


The bear of the hour represents Carrie Fisher in her hit one-woman show, Wishful Drinking. Perhaps inspired by a combination of her 2009 Conan O'Brien appearance as the liberator of the masturbating bear and the proliferation of dolls made of her in the past (noted in the show itself), Ms. Fisher was eager to have a bear in her likeness.


The bear features a "Gypsy Lace" duster of assembled and sewn fibers creating a web-like texture of yarns made by Diane Prekup, who also made the original. Underneath, she wears midnight blue silk charmeuse pajamas cut from remnants of the original Broadway garments with a pocket filled with confetti from the show. Her sandals feature silver leather straps adorned with Swarovski crystal beads. Her wig is a reproduction of her famous Princess Leia hairstyle. She has also been signed by Carrie Fisher.

(Kari proudly shows off the signature on the bear.)

You can make a bid online until the auction on February 14, 2010, or even by phone during the event if you can't attend.

~Kari
http://ikyoto.etsy.com