A Little Awareness

This is a post I meant to write yesterday but I've not been the most organised person recently and have been going through a bit of a rough patch recently.  I feel that even though its a little late, this was a post well worth writing. Yesterday was Ovarian Cancer Awareness Day - this is an issue close to my heart as my Grandmother (who I lived with as a child) died of ovarian cancer and my sister has had her own battle with this terrible disease, I'm happy to say she has been cancer-free for about a year now.

I think raising awareness about ovarian cancer is really important as it's one of those cancers where the early signs can often be missed unless women are aware of the symptoms.  If you want to learn more, you can find plenty of information here.  Ovacome is a UK based charity that raise awareness of and provide support to those affected by ovarian cancer and my sister found them to be invaluable during her illness and has continued to support their work since and I have tried to help her in my own way.

Last year I made a bear which she auctioned at her 50th birthday party and I have since made a couple of other little bears which will soon be helping the cause...

Raphael, on the left, got his name from an article I read in the days while he was being sewn - it was about a vet called Raphael who helped to save the life of a street dog; for some reason I looked up the meaning of the name and discovered it meant 'healer' and I thought it was such a great name for a vet.  Its quite a big name for such a little bear, but it just seemed like the right name to choose - sometimes the names just happen like that.  The little fluffy girl on the right is called Faith, which seemed like a natural choice of name after making Hope for my sister, I think she comes across better in person than she does in a photograph and I hope that someone will fall in love with her when my sister takes her up to London for the Ovacome members day, where hopefully she - and Raphael - will find a new home.  One of these little teds already has someone waiting to adopt them, I'm just not sure yet which little bear she'll choose.

Above are a few other items I've made ready to take with me - some little felt broaches and a beaded keyring - made one evening when I was struggling to relax enough to sleep.  Our local library now runs a craft club once a fortnight and at our last meeting I handed out some little felt bird broach supplies in the hope that I would have a little help to make some items to raise money for the charity and I'm looking forward to seeing what my fellow crafters come up with as I gave everyone the opportunity to interpret the broach in any way they wanted.  My friend Clare has already completed hers and blogged about it on her wonderfully crafty "Summerhouse By The Sea" which you can see here.

Wishing everyone health and happiness!

Minstrel Needs A Home

This is Minstrel.  He's around 8cm tall and is made from a mixture of mini-bear fabrics - American Velvet and Cashmere; he's stuffed with polyester filling and his feet contain steel shot which gives him the stability to stand independently.

I made Minstrel for an auction arranged by some friends of mine in a group I belong to.  All the members of the group are creative people with chronic health problems and all the items have either been donated or handmade and donated by them - Minstrel is my contribution.  The auction is now open to bids, which can be made up until the closing date - 28th April 2013 - and the person who has made the highest bid will win the item.  All the money raised will be shared equally between Macmillan and Invest in M.E.

If you're interested in bidding for Minstrel you can access him directly here - alternatively you can access the rest of the auction site here.

I wish you very happy bidding, I am happy to be contributing to two great causes which are both very close to my heart, and I hope Minstrel finds himself in a lovely new home very soon.

If you want to know any more about the organisations we're supporting, please follow the links below:

Macmillan Cancer Support

Invest In M.E.