Next Week~ In Haiti....

....we will be sharing our love of art with the older children at the Rescue Center. We have some simple art projects planned and one of the things we made to bring along is something I loved to make as a teacher. We recycled old broken crayon pieces into Cupcake Crayons. They are fun and swirly and they make beautiful designs. Kids love them because they are easy to hold, so hopefully some of the younger kids who are feeling better will be able to join us too.

If you want to make your own, gather some willing participants and have them pull the paper off the crayon pieces and separate them into a cupcake tin or segmented pan that has been coated with cooking spray. I found a triangle pan at a local thrift store that I think used to be meant for corn bread. I recommend using old pans so you don't ruin your favorite one. (I'm speaking from experience. ugh.)

Put them into a 250 degree oven until they start to melt together and get all swirly and shiny. It doesn't take very long, so keep a close eye on them. You'll know they are done when the tops are totally smooth.

This is how they look when they are finished. Sorry about the terrible picture. I only had my camera phone available because my camera and lenses are all in getting cleaned before we head to Haiti.
At least you get the basic idea.

Hopefully some of you will try this fun project. I'm so excited to spend time with the children at the Rescue Center and hopefully they will enjoy creating things as much as we do. When we return we will be adding new artists and hopefully launching our new website. Go out and create something for the children in Haiti.
What better inspiration, right?

Today.

Today. The Rescue Center has 350 patients waiting to be seen. Many who slept outside overnight. Many who walked hours to get help. Today. They have 70 children in their care. They are beyond full...but how can you turn away a sick child? So they make room. Today. They have some of the worst cases of Kwashiorkor they have ever seen. Several are on IV fluids and have feeding tubes. Several are near death. Today.

I know this seems a world away. It's easy to not think about it, but it's happening. Today. Right now. Will you please say a prayer for them? Or use this as an inspiration to create something that can help them? Keep these kids in your thoughts. They need supplies and funds to keep helping these children. Think of what you can do today to help them. Today.

Can you help these runners....

.....to help the women of Haiti?

Heartline Runners is a group of people who will be running together in a marathon at Disney World in January to raise money for an ambulance that will be used to save lives and to offer Haitian women better options for delivering their babies into the world safely.

You can read more about their efforts here or click on the button on the side of this blog. Sponsor a runner to help the women of Haiti. Do it because you are a runner. Do it because you are a Mother. Do it because you love Haiti. Do it because it will make a big difference in someone's life. Just do it!

Yee to the Haw

Our first attempt at a fundraiser was a great success. Way more people than we expected showed up and we were able to raise over $4500.00 for the Rescue Center. There was lots of shopping, eating, and dancing (mostly by the kids) and we were able to share Artists For Hope and information about the RC with a lot of great people.

Please reach out to those artists in your life! In 3 short weeks we will be in Haiti and I can't wait to add some amazing new artwork to our site when we return. If you are an artist....imagine what a difference your work could make in the life of a child!

It's a Haiti Hoedown!

We have been busy getting ready for a local fundraiser we will be doing for the Rescue Center. I wish everyone was close enough to attend! Our little group of 4 that will be traveling to the RC in November decided to have an old fashioned Hoedown to raise money for the kids in Haiti before we go. We're excited to have a fun and crazy night of dancing, silent auctions, food, and friends...all coming together for the children at the RC.

Please tell your friends, family, favorite artist, favorite Etsy seller, neighbor, dentist....you get the idea~ about Artists For Hope. When we return from Haiti, we hope to finish our promotional video and our Non-Profit status ~ AND launch our new website to share lots of Artists with lots of Art Lovers around the world!

Thank you again.

Look At These Boys!!!

They just took a new picture of the boys and they look SO great!
That Medika Mamba stuff is amazing and thanks to Tara Livesay lots and LOTS of kids will be able to have it.
I included the picture taken the first week and a few weeks later, so you can see the amazing transformation in these boys. I can't wait to scoop these little guys up and love on them when we get to Haiti!

Marathon For Medika Mamba This Sunday

Because of the matching grants that Tara had been offered when she decided to run for hungry kids in Haiti, we decided to donate the money we made through Artists For Hope to help Tara raise more for Medika Mamba, knowing that it would help the kids at the Rescue Center.

They have actually raised over $53,000 and you can follow their journey on Sunday by watching Troy's Twitter updates on their blog during the race. I wish I could be there to witness her cross the finish line, knowing that SO many lives have been changed because she decided to run! Amazing! I love when people see a problem and they decide to get up and DO something about it! BIG things happen when people do that!

You can also read a great article about Tara here.

Thank you for being an inspiration Tara and helping to provide "peanut butter medicine" for all those hungry kids at the Rescue Center!