It's on now

I have a plan to sell 1000 hankies by Christmas!

Why? To give 50 cents per hanky to the Scarlett Kisses project - gifting small photo frames to mothers in hospital who have just lost their baby to stillbirth or neonatal death. The frame is wrapped with a SANDS brochure and tied with a sweet tag. My second baby, Caitlin, was stillborn so it's a cause close to my heart.

My friend Jen, who I met through SANDS, thought up and started the project herself, saving up and buying frames when they were on sale, in memory of her stillborn baby, Scarlett.

It's just a little project now, but I'd love to support it and help it grow. When your baby dies it's a very lonely grief. The hospital staff will usually take photos for you, and maybe hand and foot prints ... whatever they can. This frame gives the mother somewhere special to put that first photo, honouring that little soul.

Now, on to happier things! I've done a number of designs, some of which you've already seen here, and they come singly or in packs of 3. Singles are $6 each, and 3 packs are $16. They're available in my madeit store now. If you've already bought one or more, your donation has been counted, so thank you so much.

I've got more designs in the pipeline, but for now there are two versions of Gesundheit! (which I happily learned actually means "Good health to you" in German - that's lovely, isn't it?) And look Lisa, you can blow your nose in the middle with this one! (Actually the screenprint is still quite soft, so you're able to blow your nose over the print if you really want to.)

This one reads "For your lovely nose" in Finnish. See, handy AND educational.

And these ones quite obviously say 'Lovely', 'Bless You' and the just a little frisky 'Hanky Panky'. Which mean just that. No surprises there.

So please help me hit the 1000 and place a little (or big!) order. They're great to pop in a card to a friend or send to someone who's sad. They'll wipe hands, clean glasses, dust computer screens, mop brows and start conversations - you can even blow your nose on them if you need to. And once you've got one in your bag, you'll wonder how you managed without it. Hankies are just great.

Thanks so much for all the encouraging comments so far. It's seems like a daunting goal, but I really think we can get there. I've loaded them in batches of 4 or 5 in the store, and will reprint as they are sold, so just email me if the one you want seems to be missing.

And please pass on "THE GREAT HANKY DRIVE" details to anyone else you know who'd like to help.

You're all quite lovely, you know.