RCS helping out
Thought it was time for a bit of an update about how we’re tracking with the Bushfire Appeal. It was a bit hard going away while things were in full swing but I still managed to make a bit of a contribution while I was away.
The amazingly awesome Gemma Jones threw together an awesome art raffle at Outre Gallery to raise funds, and pulled in over $12,000!!! I contributed the original of the Question Authority pattern which you can see beautifully displayed above. And it went to a very good and appreciative home so that was wonderful to hear.
Also while I was away was the Sustainable Living Festival and I had a whole pile of stuff for sale at the Design Market on the Friday. I’m yet to hear how that went but will update this when I do. And the day before I left I had a stall at the SUPER INSPIRATIONAL Sticky Zine Fair in the Flinders Subway. I met some incredible people including one member of the Craft Cartel I hadn’t met in person yet. And I rasied an extra $30 for the appeal there.
And of course the Radical Rags store is stocking pretty much everything as a Bushfire Appeal fundraiser. I’ve just got patterns in there at the mo but when I get my stall back I’ll be relisting all the other bits. I’m up to about $70 raised in the store so far so getting close to my goal of $200.
Two of the patterns from the store were purchased to use as a giveaway. So If you’re keen to get in the draw to win some patterns, go visit the Craft Gossip giveaway page. The patterns are about halfway down the page. So go enter!!!
Just go visit and help ok?
Art Fights Fire: Call Out!
Every Victorian has been watching the news this week and thinking ‘what can I do?’ Aside from the immediate obvious things like donating blood and money, many people are looking around and seeing what other skills and resources they have available to contribute.
One such person is the ever amazing and super cool Gemma from the Kaotic Kraft Kuties, who is donating her exhibition organising skills to quickly throw together a major contemporary art raffle.
And she needs more art so for those of you (especially overseas!) artists who would like to contribute a piece of work to this show, we’d love to hear from you asap.
The show is being held at Melbourne’s iconic Outre Gallery in Elizabeth Street and is featuring these artists so far:
Arthur’s Circus (thank you Nat and Nick)
Gina Garan (of This is Blythe fame in NYC)
Magic Jelly (in South Australia)
Lab Partners (San Francisco)
Angelique Houtkamp (Amsterdam)
Shag (Los Angeles)
Audrey Kawasaki (big thanks to Outré Gallery for the generous donation)
Beci Orpin (Melbourne)
If you think you can add your name to this list – and this means having a piece of work you can put in the post today if you’re overseas – please let us know.
We will be selling raffle tickets and then doing a live draw at Outré in Melbourne on Wednesday 25 February 2009, 249 Elizabeth St, Melbourne VIC 3000
When the tickets are available I’ll post details.
International people are welcome to buy tickets – but we are asking that if you win something, that you pay for postage (average AU$25).
Stay tuned for more details.
xox
Crafters Contributing to Bushfire Appeal
The last few days have been so harrowing. Watching and listening to news reports and following Twitter reports on the bush fires has been overwhelming at times. I am afraid to discuss how many lives have been lost as I know that the number will go up even before I finish writing this post.
For those of us crafters who have limited incomes and resources it’s a bit hard to know what to do to help. One thing we’re good at is banding together as a community to pool small amounts of resources into big resources.
So here’s some places to check out if you’re a crafter and want to help.
The two most important resources that are needed right now are money and blood.
If you are eligible to donate blood (which a lot of people aren’t so if you are, congratulations you’re special!) please call 13 14 95 to make an appointment or visit http://donateblood.com.au As someone who used to work for the blood service I’ll also add that if you’re an existing donor please consider getting on the plasma program now. And if you’re a new donor, please be aware that it does take longer to process new donors so it might take a bit longer to get an appointment. But PLEASE make one, even if it’s in a couple of weeks. The first time is always the longest but it gets easier after that. And Australia does have shocking blood donor rates, so do your bit and get on board!
Secondly of course is money.
To Donate To The Salvation Army Bushfire Appeal – 137258 (13SALVOS)
To Donate To The Red Cross Bushfire Appeal – 1800 811 700
If you have spare money, please do that now!
For those in other parts of the world looking to help, consider purchasing a Bushfire Appeal item from Etsy. There’s lots of sellers donating items across Etsy as fundraising items, you can see them all here. Alternatively you can donate and buy items from the OzBushFireApppeal Store that has been set up. I’ve dedicated a heap of items to the fundraising effort including a bunch of patterns and hoopla. You can see all the items here. I’ve already made some sales so the effort is under way.
Other crafters are starting to make items to donate when the calls for new clothes and toys start to come out from the support agencies. Pip at Meet Me At Mikes is collating information for people wanting to make items to donate.
But of course most importantly now is the cash. If you have any spare dollars, please call one of the numbers above and give what you can. And join with me in sending our prayers to all the communities still on fire and protecting their lives and homes from Mother Nature’s fury.
(photo nicked from flickr off some guy that nicked it off theage.com.au)