Cora's: the shop

Jessica McClenahan (Cora's mom) is planning on opening an Etsy shop soon, with all proceeds going to Cora's Playground. I was so happy to be able to help out with the banner, avatar, tags and stickers, and I love how everything turned out! I think polka dots and multi-colored lettering will definitely be making an appearance on some of my new items!

Cora Paige Benefit Sale {Update #2}

I just read a beautifully written Storque article on Etsy, which has apparently inspired over 40 additional Etsy sellers to join the Cora Paige Benefit Sale, bringing the total to 120 Etsy sellers participating! I decided to conclude my fundraising when I reached $500, but the event will continue until Cora's birthday, March 5th, at which time we'll all donate our proceeds online.

As of yesterday 32 sellers had reported their sales totals to the organizer, Heather, and the total amount that has been raised so far by those sellers is $5,600! I'll let you know what the grand total ends up being at the end of the event.

One of the comments posted on the Storque article was that "crafters are such nice people"... I couldn't agree more!

Cora Paige Benefit Sale {Update}

This has been such an interesting day... last night I added some 8x10 prints and postcard sets from my Etsy shop to the Cora Paige Benefit Sale, and so far I've raised $290! It's been so rewarding seeing this project come together because I couldn't have donated that amount on my own, but donating the prints and postcards is no problem at all.

I'm so excited to see what the grand total ends up being from all of the Etsy sellers who are participating (there are currently over 300 items for sale!)

Cora Paige Benefit Sale

The McClenahan family has been on my mind all week since I learned about Cora, their beautiful 11-month-old daughter, who was diagnosed with cancer just a few short weeks ago and passed away on Sunday, February 8th. They've been so generous to share their journey and their faith through their blog. And now the blogging/Etsy community is coming together to pay tribute to Cora's memory through a benefit sale to help support the building of the Cora Playground.

Please take a moment to browse through the items that are being donated by over fifty talented and generous Etsy sellers. (The fabric flower brooch above is one of the purchases I've already made from Sunnypond.)

Donations may also be made directly to the Cora Playground here.

funny

We were in the car yesterday after I picked up Jack from kindergarten, and he was telling me about a box that another kid brought to school. I asked him how big it was, and he said, "it would probably hold about 30 or 50 note cards." What a nice boy to put it in terms I would understand!

design inspiration

I worked an average of 14 hours per week in January (just filling orders and not doing anything else - no marketing, no new products), and it felt just right. I'd been planning to continue working this way until the Fall when Jack starts 1st grade and Emma goes to full-day preschool 3 days a week, but then I started looking around at blogs and websites and got an overwhelming urge to create new designs.

I'm not sure how long it'll take this time around from the initial concepts to product photographs that I can post on my website and share here, but in the meantime, here are a few of the designers that I've been inspired by recently...

Japanese artist, Shinzi Katoh:
ISAK home accessories by designer Sandra Isaksson in England:
Isa Form, a Swedish company run by designer and illustrator Isabelle Norman Sällström: