Some VERY exciting news

As a crafter, I am frequently inspired by the projects I see out in blogland and I must admit to being an avid scrap-lifter of ideas and designs. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Cards for Kids(Canada) started because of someone else’s idea.

When I first heard about Send A Smile 4 Kids, my initial thought was "what a great idea, I'll send some of my cards". My next thought was "Why spend money on postage to the U.S. when there's a Children's Hospital right here in Vancouver that would appreciate cards". I suggested setting up a Canadian branch of SAS4K but the timing wasn’t right; so a quick email to B.C. Children's Hospital and a follow-up telephone conversation and Cards for Kids was born.

I kept in touch with SAS4K though in hopes that one day we could partner together. And, yay, that day has arrived!

Effective today, Cards for Kids has officially become Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada)!!! The Send A Smile 4 Kids team, led by the amazing Karen, has been so welcoming and have even invited me to be a guest designer on their next challenge. I’m so excited to be part of this wonderful charity and look forward to sending a lot more smiles to kids in the U.S. and Canada! You'll notice there is a new badge on the sidebar - please feel free to grab it and share on your blog.

And to close off, I need to say thank you to all the amazing people who have already heard about the partnership and have offered their welcomes. I am so incredibly pleased and proud to be a part of this community!!! Thank you all ... and welcome to Canada!

Some Halloween fun

Just a quick post to share a few of the Halloween cards that are ready to send off to the BC Children's Hospital. I'll be taking the next batch of cards over in early October so that they can be distributed for Halloween. Cards are needed for all ages of kids.

Still here ...

I haven't posted anything for quite a while but that doesn't mean that I haven't been working hard on cards. After taking in the big batch of birthday cards, my focus is now on Halloween and Christmas cards. I hope to also collect enough Christmas tags to stock the hospital Christmas Village (each year an area is set up for kids & their families to wrap presents; they go through up to 100 tags!).

I'll post some pictures soon as the collection grows but in the meantime, please consider making a card or two for the kids.

Thank you letter from the BC Children's Hospital

Just a quick post to share a letter I received from the coordinator at the Children's Hospital. I think it's amazing that she took the time to send this letter and, although it is addressed to me, it is really thanks to all of you who donated cards.

First batch of cards being delivered this weekend

I'm so excited to be taking the first batch of cards to the B.C. Children's Hospital this weekend. Inside these 2 boxes are 38 hand-made greeting cards for kids of all ages. We have a good mix of birthday cards along with several more general cards that could be used for "going home", congratulations or encouragement.

Thank you for visiting Cards for Kids! Hope to see you back soon!

Thank you Leslie!

A huge thank you to Leslie who just this past weekend donated this lovely batch of greeting cards. These are just so perfect for older kids & teenagers!

For the most part I have collected birthday cards but cards like these that are general in nature are also perfect. The nurses and staff at the hospital will be able to write their own message within the card - whether it is words of congratulations or encouragement.

After adding these cards to the collection we are now at a grand total of 38 cards! I'm hopeful that as more people get involved, the numbers will increase even more. I've started collecting cards for Easter and even though it may sound strange, it's never too early to start on those Christmas cards & tags. I've been told that the hospital sets up a Santa's Workshop where the family of hospitalized kids can go to wrap gifts. Last year they went through over 100 gift tags. I think it would be wonderful if those tags could be handmade!

Well, that's it for today. Just a quick thank you and reminder about sending in those cards. Let's put some smiles on the faces of a few sick kids!

Cards for Kids launch

I recently saw a posting from an online friend who has started collecting hand-made greeting cards to distribute to her local Children's Hospital. My initial thought was "what a great idea, I'll send her some of my cards". My next thought was "Why spend money on postage to the US when there's a Children's Hospital right here in Vancouver that would likely appreciate cards". So, a quick email to B.C. Children's Hospital and a follow-up telephone conversation and here it is ... "Cards for Kids".

My initial goal is to collect 40 cards to be delivered to the Hospital in February. At this time, the focus is on birthday cards but later in the year I'll also be collecting for major holidays such as Easter, Halloween and Christmas.

I would love if you joined me in this project. Drop an email to cardsforkidscanada@yahoo.ca and I'll give you the address to send your cards (or if you are in the Lower Mainland I can probably pick them up).

Let's bring some smiles to the faces of kids in need!