Christmas deliveries to Stollery & BC Childrens

I was a bit late this year but the boxes of Christmas cards and gift tags went by express sleigh last week to both BC Childrens Hospital and Stollery Hospital. The selection of cards & tags are especially good this year - lots of cards for a variety of ages and styles.

The hospitals try to make the most of any holidays and special events. The hospitalized children come in all ages & interests so it's great being able to provide a good variety for the staff & families to choose from.

Part of the reason I was delayed in getting the cards out (normally I would've sent these by the last week of November), was that so many of you have donated lately. Each time I thought the boxes were ready to send, another delivery of cards would arrive at the door.

Thank you so much to Patty, Diana, Marietta and Loll for your recent donations. Your cards are just fantastic!



Diana sells Magnolia stamps and shared many cards that her design team has been making.

Love all the bright colours!

Christmas cheer

An extra big thank you to the card crafting group led by Kate at Scrap 'n Stamp for their latest donation of handmade cards. Kate and I spoke a while ago about the types of cards that were most needed and her group sure delivered! They provided cards for boys, cards for teens, cards with humour and moving parts. Every card was different - many in unusual shapes & sizes (remember the cards are being hand-delivered to the kids in the hospitals so you don't have to worry about mailing costs for oversize or extra-heavy cards). I'm so impressed at the variety and quality of the cards this group made during their card-making day! Thank you so very much!!!

Couldn't pick favourites but here is a sample of the cards

Kids love cards that "do stuff" so this wobble card (the bear is
on a wobbly spring!) and waterfall card will be sure-fire hits

This fun card was made by a 4-yr old who was crafting with her grandmother!

Also included in the package was an extra-special group of cards. I've scanned in the note that accompanied the cards and have permission to share it with all of you. Have you ever heard anything sweeter?

Cards created by kids for kids ... aren't they too cute?

 

Imaging these kids creating their cards to share with children less fortunate than themselves really put me in the Christmas spirit. I hope that it does the same for you!

Sparkle & shine from Sandra R.

It's been busy this week with packages arriving from all over. Today I want to thank Sandra R. from North Vancouver for her amazing collection of Christmas cards & tags. Here are my favourites - don't you love the shine & sparkle? Kids are very fond of cards with texture and shine and Sandra has provided both with shiny papers, liquid pearls and glitter glues. Love it!!!!!

Thank you Sandra for sharing these cards with the kids!

Tags from Tammy

Thanks to Tammy Winton for dropping off a large envelope full of cards and Christmas tags - it was so exciting to open up the package and see what she created for the kids.

I love that Tammy used regular shipping tags as her base for the gift tags. With the addition of patterned papers, ribbon, buttons and other embellishments she turned them into wonderful tags for the hospital Santa's Village.

We are always short on cards for boys so it was great to find a fun collection of cards perfect for boys (mind you, there were some great girl cards too!). Don't you just love how Tammy used buttons for the car tires?

As always, thank you to all our supporters - your time & talent are appreciated!

Smiles & thanks,
Shelley

Christmas cards all the way from Texas

A huge thank you to Beverly who sent a box of Christmas cards and gift tags all the way from Fort Worth, Texas. Beverly emailed me so I knew the package was on its way and we were a little worried at how long it took to arrive (customs can take weeks sometimes) but the cards were worth the wait!

I just adore the old-fashioned appeal of these 2 card designs (my favourites in the package) and the variety of tags will ensure there are choices for everyone.

Thank you Beverly for sharing with the kids!!!

New coordinator for Alberta

Great news! Please join me in welcoming Dawn Frost to the Send A Smile 4 Kids team. Dawn has volunteered to be our Alberta coordinator. So, if you have cards that you'd like to share with the kids at Edmonton Stollery Hospital then send them to Dawn at this address:

Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada)

c/o Dawn Frost

4825-11A Ave NW

Edmonton, Alberta

T6K 0H1

Canada

 

Dawn will be collecting Christmas cards and gift tags for delivery to the hospital in early December so if you have some extras that the kids would enjoy, please send them in.

 

Welcome Dawn and thank you for helping the kids!!!

A happier Halloween

I sent off 140 Halloween cards today - one box for BC Childrens Hospital and a second box for Stollery Hospital. I can't get over how fabulous all of the cards you donated are, either. From cute to creepy, funny to scary, there's a card for pretty much any child. Thank you, thank you, thank you to each and every one of you who donated Halloween cards this year! It's impossible to post pictures of all of the cards so I had my own boys help me pick out a few to share with you all. Don't you just love them all?

And now it's time to get your jingle bells on because Christmas is coming fast! In addition to needing Christmas cards, the hospitals go through a lot of gift tags. Whether you want to make one really special tag or a set, they are all appreciated!

Cards & tags should be suitable for children, ages infant to 19 yrs and the deadline for getting them to me is end of November.

Thank you for your continuing support of Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada)!!!!!!

First delivery to Toronto Sick Kids

First delivery to Toronto Sick Kids

Some sad news

I am sad to have to share that Lynnette, our Alberta coordinator, needs to step down for personal reasons. Lynnette has been a wonderful, enthusiastic supporter of Send A Smile 4 Kids over the last year - she committed a lot of her time and energy to setting up the program for Edmonton Stollery Hospital and she created countless cards to cheer the kids up.

Luckily, Lynnette promises to keep sharing some of her card creations with us! She is a generous supporter of numerous charities and I'm thrilled that she'll continue to be part of SAS4K as a contributor.

Until a new coordinator can be found for Edmonton, I'll collect and deliver the cards (thank goodness for relatively inexpensive Canada Post rates). So please don't stop sharing all your creations! When you send in cards, if you want them to go to Stollery (or BC Childrens) specifically, then just include a note to that effect.

Once again, thank you to Lynnette for all her hard work over the past year. You'll be missed!

More thank you's

I didn't think to hold my mail while I was away on vacation these past couple of weeks. I'm used to having mail delivery to the house but my new place has centralized mailboxes instead. Well, the mailman must have been plenty upset at me for hogging all the space in the parcel section of the mailbox! I just about fell over when I saw that there were 2 big boxes of cards waiting for me, plus another huge bag and box that were hand-delivered to my door.

I can't say thank you enough to these wonderful contributors:

Diane H. went above & beyond yet again, sending in a box of Halloween, Christmas, birthday, thank you and anytime cards to both our BC and AB coordinators. I always love how Diane uses photos on her cards for that personal touch and don't you agree that her puppy is perfect for a Christmas card! And check out this super special birthday card that includes a birthday boy pin, crayons and colouring pages.

Back of card

Front of card & envelope

Thanh's donation of over a hundred cards, 3D projects and card kits pretty much blew my mind (in the very best way). She donated cards that she and her many friends created, as well as some from card swaps and other events. The cards cover a wide range of ages and purposes and will be very useful.

A small selection showing some of the cards perfect for teenagers and older kids.

I'm imagining these adorable little handbags as going home gifts

Marcia H has been very creative lately - just check out these paper quilled cards she sent (and these are just 2 of the dozens of designs she made). I couldn't tear my eyes away from the intricate designs so I imagine the kids will be equally enthralled.

 

Marcia also included some Halloween cards that range from creepy to cute. The hospital likes to make the most of all holidays so I'll be sending over Halloween cards for the first week of October.

 

And Lynnette asked me to thank Karen who sent this adorable card all the way from the UK - the girl who gets this will definitely be smiling!

Thanks to each and every supporter - whether you donate a single card or a boxful, your creativity and generousity are appreciated. Thank you for sending smiles and for supporting Send A Smile 4 Kids!

Nancy's one-of-a-kind cards

I wish I could share photos of each & every card that is sent in for the kids but I have promised myself that I'll at least share a couple from each donation. Today I'd like to send out a huge thank you to Nancy D from Courtenay for sending in a box of cards including these gems (which are my personal favourites of the 21 cards).

First is this absolutely fantastic frameworthy card. Any little girl would be thrilled to get this card for pretty much any occasion.

SAS4K can use multiple copies of a single card design but special one-of-a-kind cards are the most appreciated

I want to share this card because I think it's perfect for one of the often forgotten age ranges - teenagers. We crafters love making cards for little kids but it can be challenging to make cards for older ones, especially boys. Not only would a horse-mad teenage girl like Nancy's card, but I expect there are more than a few teenage boys who would enjoy having this card to look at (lol).

Next time you make a card for SAS4K, consider creating one for a teenager

Thanks for visiting and thanks for supporting Send A Smile 4 Kids!

Make cards for Ontario kids with Cropcircles

The Cropcircles team is throwing an all-day card-making day in support of Send A Smile 4 Kids. The store is located in Peterborough, Ontario so if you are in the area, please consider joining in. I wish I didn't live 4,000 miles away because it sounds like a lot of fun!

 

Send a Smile 4 Kids Canada RAK (Random Acts of Kindness).

Come join us for a day filled with fun Saturday September the 8th. Stay an hour or stay all day but let us know so we can reserve your seat at the table.

 

This is an open day for cardmaking and fun, No Costs involved just bring your smile and your own supplies.Don't have supplies ??? Come anyway as we have lots of stash to use up. We have all kinds of stamps,dies,punches for you to use to create cards for the patients and staff at Sick Hospital.

This is a great way to destash your supplies and get rid of those bits and pcs. Refreshments provided and if you want to bring a dish to share by all means.

What to bring,papers,adhesives,anything you want to create your cards that you are donating.

 

Visit the Cropcircles website to learn more & to sign up!

Some thank you's

Post updated to include photos!

Lynnette, our Alberta coordinator, has some thank you's to pass on.

Karen from the United Kingdom sent in 3 beautiful cards. A horse one that she created for the the US blog challenge (she's now on their Design Team!). A House Mouse card showing a very tired little mouse who is filled up with watermelon, so cute! And a Christmas card with snow bears on it.

Marcia from Bellevue, WA sent in 39 cards with 19 envelopes for some of the different size cards that she sent.  We have plenty of standard sized envelopes but when you send in odd-size cards, it's really appreciated if you include an envelope. The cards from Marcia are for birthday, spring, mother, thank you and hearts one.  She also included some quilled cards that are especially nice. Lynnette is feeling the incentive to start working on some of her own quilling.

 

And a mystery package arrived from Manning, Alberta but unfortunately there is no name on the package. So thanks to Anonymous for the 16 birthday, different occasion and Halloween cards. Yay for Facebook! The generous crafter has been identified and it's Julienne Gagne. Thanks Julienne!

 

Thank you to all our wonderful supporters! Keep crafting and bringing smiles to the faces of the kids! 

Santa is on his way ...

I know that it's the middle of summer and the last thing we have on our minds is Christmas but we crafters tend to work well in advance of major holidays so, believe it or not, we've started collecting cards for Halloween and Christmas.

Both of these holidays are HUGE for the kids and their families and there will be a big demand for cards. I'm guessing that we'll need up to 200 Christmas cards for each of our hospitals and up to 100 Halloween cards. The hospitals really appreciate getting handmade Christmas gift tags too!

So break out those Santa stamps and spider web embossing folders (but maybe not for the same card ... lol).

Your continuing support is appreciated! Please keep sending in your cards to help put smiles on the faces of hospitalized kids.

Exciting news!

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada) is expanding to Ontario! That's right, Helen & her team of card makers at Cropcircles have volunteered to collect cards for distribution at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto!!!!! I've checked out the store website and the cards being made are wonderful - the kids are going to be thrilled!
If you have cards to donate, they can be mailed to the Cropcircles store or dropped off (and while you're there you can pick up a few of those coveted necessary craft supplies you've been wanting needing).

Cropcircles

360 George Street North

Peterborough Square, Lower Level Unit 12
Peterborough, ON

K9H 7E7

Phone: 705-201-1097

Welcome Helen, Maria and all the rest of the Cropcircles ladies! So glad to have you on the team!!!

Camrose drop-off locations

Lots to report from Alberta where Lynnette has been busy setting up easier ways for you to get cards to the kids. If you live in, or near, Camrose then you now have the option of dropping your cards off at two of the local businesses that are kindly acting as collection spots.

The Shirt Off My Back Tailoring
4937 - 49 Street (east of the main post office)
Camrose

Mainstream Accounting
4704 - 49 Avenue, Suite E
Camrose

We are so incredibly grateful to both of these businesses for supporting our efforts to collect cards for the kids! Please drop by and say "hello" to these lovely people.

Mother's Day delivery

Just a quick note to thank everyone who sent in Mother's Day cards. For those kids who are too sick to make a card themselves (or for those who aren't crafty) it's wonderful to have handmade cards to choose from! Mother's Day is a very popular event at the childrens hospitals and it feels great to help make the days just a little more special for the kids and their moms.

Thanks to all of you, a package of 227 cards (over 50 Mother's Day cards plus birthday and blank cards) has been taken to BC Childrens Hospital. I'm particularly pleased that this batch of cards included some for infants as well as a selection for teenagers.

The next delivery will be in mid-May and will include Father's Day cards. Thank you to those of you who have already sent in Father's Day cards - this is another popular event at the hospital and it's great that we will be able to support the kids with such great choices!

That's it for now. Keep crafting and always remember that whether you send a single card or a box full, you are truly bringing smiles to the faces of these kids!

Smiles & thanks, Shelley

Sharing pictures of some of the cards donated recently

Sharing some of the amazing cards that have been donated for the kids at BC Childrens Hospital and Stollery Childrens Hospital. Thank you to all the generous crafters for donating cards.

Cards for older kids donated by Diane H

Diane often incorporates her own photographs (like this gorgeous flower from her garden) into the cards.



100 cards from the BC team of Jan R and her friend Pat, Karen D, Margaret D, Suzanne T and her grand-daughter Brenna and Marj S.

Abby H. made 12 cute, sweet Easter cards. They all so darn cute - the kids will love them.



An Easter card and a Father's Day card from Tara M.



These 12 cards came from Julienne G. in Manning, Alberta.

Theresa sent this batch of cards in - love the chicks!

Jenny R created these 3-D cards

Lynnette went to a "Stamp a stack" session at Donna's place yesterday afternoon. Donna sells Stampin' Up in Camrose. We were making cards for different ages of children and also some thank you. When Amanda J. was done making her cards she donated these cards to SAS4KIDS. Thanks so very much for your support! Lynnette made 12 cards there herself for the kids.

Stollery kids love their cards!

Wanted to take a few minutes to share this email from Lynnette, our Alberta coordinator.

Yesterday we delivered 167 easter cards to the Stollery. I received a good report from Diane and she was willing to visit with us for awhile.  She says that they are fitting the cards into their programs with great success. Also that kids and parents are thankful for the cards they have gotten.  Parents are asking for thank you cards to give to the hospital staff and they are happy with the cards that  are given to them to use.   She also said that some of the children just want to hug the card and to not give it up or write in it so this is okay with staff.  I and my husband, Horst my driver were thrilled to hear this and this makes it all so worthwhile. She also said that mother's day and father's day are huge at the hospital.  If it were any way possible they could use 200 for each of these holidays. 

Smiles, Lynnette

 

We hear this type of thing all the time - the kids just love to give and receive your handmade cards! Whether you donate a single card or huge batch, please know that you are part of helping a child's hospital stay just a little brighter. Thank you!!!

Cards for all seasons & some amazing generosity

This is going to be a bit of a long post but there are pictures of creative & beautiful cards so it's well worth reading!

I've been absolutely overwhelmed by the amazing generosity of SAS4K supporters (of course, when am I not overwhelmed? You guys ROCK!). The cards are just flooding in, to the point where I've set up storage containers for extras. My new house has an absolutely huge walk-in closet and I'm using part of that space for 2 rolling caddies to hold all of your cards until they are sent to BC Childrens Hospital. This is great news because it means that you can send in your seasonal cards any time of the year. I have drawers set up for Christmas, Valentines Day, Halloween, birthdays by age range, etc. The Hospital doesn't have alot of storage space so I send the cards in batches as they are needed.

Gay (Vancouver, BC)

I'm really glad that I got those storage drawers set up because I picked up a batch of cards from Gay (Vancouver, BC) recently and she really went all out! Gay is in the process of clearing out her crafting space so she packed up most of the cards she had previously made and donated them to SAS4K. In total there were over 400 cards! And her friend Heidi dropped off another 100 cards! There are Christmas cards, Valentine's Day cards, lots of blank cards and even some adorable cards for infants.

Loll (Surrey, BC)

And on the subject of Christmas cards, check out this gorgeous design that I received this past week from Loll. Loll sent me a bundle of cards - this is definitely my favourite.

I'm really thrilled to be getting some special requests from the Hospital staff too. Most recently they are asking for more cards for teenagers (especially teenage boys). Don't groan ... I know that boys are tough to make cards for, but imagine the fun you'll have meeting the challenge!


Diane H (St. Marys, Ontario)

I shipped out a big box of cards last weeks with some absolutely wonderful Easter cards. I can't show you all of them (or this post would go on forever) but I can't resist sharing one of my favourites. I think it's so cool that this card is made using a photograph of a rabbit from Diane's very own garden. In addition to Diane's photo cards, there were also cards made with peel-off outline stickers, stamped images, paper piecing and digital stamps. Some had handmade embellishments, many were hand-coloured, and every card is unique and special. The kids are going to love them!

Father's Day cards from Diane H.

Right now I'm collecting cards for Father's & Mother's Day. There are a few in the drawers already but I'll need at least another 20-40 for each day. These cards are a bit unique in that the cards aren't being given to the kids but instead are given by the kids. The hospitals have great craft rooms set up for the kids, but not all kids are able to make their own cards (and hard as it is to believe, not all kids want to) so we provide an assortment of handmade cards that the kids can pick from. So when you make that card for your own Mother and/or Father how about making an extra one for SAS4K?

Thank you to each and every one of you! Whether you donate one card or 400, each card is appreciated, admired and truly helps bring smiles to the faces of kids who are inpatient at BC Childrens Hospital and Edmonton's Stollery Hospital. Keep up the great work!

Heidi (Vancouver, BC)

Diane G. (Deatsville, AL)

Shirley (North Vancouver, BC)

Alberta rocks!

I've had several emails from Lynnette (the Alberta coordinator for SAS4K) asking me to thank some wonderful crafters for their card donations. Here, in Lynnette's own words, are thank you's:

• I need to thank Diane H. from Ontario for sending in 22 easter cards with matching envelopes and stickers to seal the envelopes with. Love all of the pretty colors she used on them.
• On Friday I picked up 17 cards for birthday, all occasion and easter from an anonymous customer from my LSS. Thank you very much!  They were nice to pick up.  
• On Friday I got 41 cards from a customer at my LSS.  The back of her cards says stamped with a smile by M.K. She gave the kids beautiful cards from Stampin Up.  There are encouragement cards, blank, thank you, love, birthday and fall thanksgiving  cards.  Such a real lovely assortment so thank you to her.
• Gail L. from Alberta sent in 28 gorgeous cards that she has made.  They are for encouragement, thanks, a blank one, easter, mother's day and my first 3 father's day.  These cards are really sweet.  Gail L. also gave a monetary gift towards envelopes.

All of these cards will be going to Stollery Childrens Hospital in Edmonton. The kids are so appreciative! Lynnette has posted pictures of many of the donated cards on Facebook so please check them out!

Overflowing hearts

I just have to share the amazing week that I've had! It all started with a trip to the mailbox where I found not 1 but 5 packages of cards! Thank you to Peter G., Diane H., Sandra S, Diane G. and Sandra R. for their generousity in sharing their talent and time. I'm just in love with all of these cards but am especially happy at seeing a bunch of cards for boys. I don't know about you, but I sometimes have a hard time making cards for boys ... but I'm certainly feeling inspired now!

The week just got better when I also received emails from several people who are cleaning out their craft rooms (you mean I'm not the only one who made that New Year's resolution?) and plan to donate large numbers of cards that they've accumulated over their years of crafting. I can't think of a better way to make space than to donate those boxes of cards to the kids!

To finish off, I have to share the following email that was sent by Diane who is the Director of the Child Life department at BC Childrens Hospital:

On behalf of the children, families, and staff at BC Children’s Hospital, thank you so much for yet another donation of beautiful Christmas cards, gift tags, and general-use greeting cards we received on December 9^th.  

It is so nice to have such wonderful, one-of-a-kind cards and tags for gift-giving.  Your lovely gifts were used on all of the Christmas packages for patients.

Thank you so much for sharing your time and amazing talent with us.

Wishing you a joyous 2012.

Sincerely,

_____________________________

Diane Hart,

Director

Child Life Department

I can only add my own thanks to all of you who support SAS4K - you are all amazing!!!

Change in shipping address

Hi, it's Shelley. Well, the date is finally here and I'm moving into my new house in just 4 days! I'm really looking forward to the move although it will be chaotic for a while. Please forgive me if I'm slow to respond to emails or comments - I'll certainly get caught up as soon as possible.

My new address for shipping cards is:

SAS4K (Canada) c/o Shelley Dureau
20125 Bruce Avenue
Maple Ridge, BC
V2X 9P2
Canada

If you've already sent a package to the old address, please don't worry - I have mail forwarding for 1 year so even though it could take a bit longer, it will eventually find its way.

Once I get unpacked, I'll be starting on Easter cards. I have some adorable digi stamps and papers that are crying out to be used! The deadline for Easter cards will be March 9th so get out those bunnies, chicks and pastel colours! Whether you are able to donate a single card of multiples, each and every card will help to bring a smile to the face of a sick kids. Thank you for support!

Delivery to Stollery just in time for Valentine's Day

Hi everyone. I was able to deliver yesterday for Sendasmile4kids.blogspot.com 264 cards and 20 valentine's day boxes for the children to make. They were valentine, birthday, all occasion, blank cards to the Stollery hospital.Thank you cards for the parents to use at the Royal Alex hospital.

Thanks to everyone who made this possible. The continuing support means a lot to me. I was able to see some of the children yesterday in their playground area. It made my mother's heart glad to know that we have such a place for them to go to when children get sick. And thankful and blessed that my children have been relatively healthy.

Thanks, Lynnette

Can you feel the love?

If you don't read Cardmaker Magazine then you might not be aware that Send A Smile 4 Kids was profiled in the December issue in their Readers Reach Out section. Readers of the magazine were asked to send in Valentine's Day cards and the response has been great! Most of the cards have been going to the US addresses for SAS4K but Lorraine & I have recently received a bundle of cards each from Diane H. of St. Mary's Ontario. Every card came with a handmade coordinating envelope and I just have to share a few of them with you - just check out these fabulous designs (and go to Facebook to see even more)!

   

Lorraine also received 20 cards, 1 birthday tag and 20 gift treat boxes for the kids to make from Gail L. from Manning, Alberta. They are so adorable (my favourite definitely being the monkeys!). Lynnette has posted pictures on Facebook so go on over and take a look! And what a great idea to let the kids put the treat boxes together themselves! Card kits are always hugely popular with the kids at the hospitals.

I'll be taking Valentine's Day cards over to the hospital by the end of the month (a bit late but I'm moving houses and accidently packed some of the cards I've been sent - yikes!). The next delivery will be scheduled for early March so get working on those Easter and Spring cards! Remember that cards are needed for kids of all ages (0 - 19yrs) and that there is a continuing need for birthday, congratulation and blank (no sentiment) cards.

Thank you all for your support!