Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada) collects and distributes handmade greeting cards to nurses, staff and families to give to hospitalized children on their birthdays and other special dates. Our focus will be on providing happy, upbeat birthday cards and "glad you're going home" cards but we will also make and provide cards for holidays throughout the year.



Sunday, September 23, 2012

First delivery to Toronto Sick Kids




First delivery to Toronto Sick Kids

Some sad news

I am sad to have to share that Lynnette, our Alberta coordinator, needs to step down for personal reasons. Lynnette has been a wonderful, enthusiastic supporter of Send A Smile 4 Kids over the last year - she committed a lot of her time and energy to setting up the program for Edmonton Stollery Hospital and she created countless cards to cheer the kids up.

Luckily, Lynnette promises to keep sharing some of her card creations with us! She is a generous supporter of numerous charities and I'm thrilled that she'll continue to be part of SAS4K as a contributor.

Until a new coordinator can be found for Edmonton, I'll collect and deliver the cards (thank goodness for relatively inexpensive Canada Post rates). So please don't stop sharing all your creations! When you send in cards, if you want them to go to Stollery (or BC Childrens) specifically, then just include a note to that effect.

Once again, thank you to Lynnette for all her hard work over the past year. You'll be missed!

Monday, September 17, 2012

More thank you's

I didn't think to hold my mail while I was away on vacation these past couple of weeks. I'm used to having mail delivery to the house but my new place has centralized mailboxes instead. Well, the mailman must have been plenty upset at me for hogging all the space in the parcel section of the mailbox! I just about fell over when I saw that there were 2 big boxes of cards waiting for me, plus another huge bag and box that were hand-delivered to my door.

I can't say thank you enough to these wonderful contributors:

Diane H. went above & beyond yet again, sending in a box of Halloween, Christmas, birthday, thank you and anytime cards to both our BC and AB coordinators. I always love how Diane uses photos on her cards for that personal touch and don't you agree that her puppy is perfect for a Christmas card! And check out this super special birthday card that includes a birthday boy pin, crayons and colouring pages.

Back of card
Front of card & envelope
Thanh's donation of over a hundred cards, 3D projects and card kits pretty much blew my mind (in the very best way). She donated cards that she and her many friends created, as well as some from card swaps and other events. The cards cover a wide range of ages and purposes and will be very useful.
A small selection showing some of the cards perfect for teenagers and older kids.
I'm imagining these adorable little handbags as going home gifts
Marcia H has been very creative lately - just check out these paper quilled cards she sent (and these are just 2 of the dozens of designs she made). I couldn't tear my eyes away from the intricate designs so I imagine the kids will be equally enthralled.
 
Marcia also included some Halloween cards that range from creepy to cute. The hospital likes to make the most of all holidays so I'll be sending over Halloween cards for the first week of October.
 
And Lynnette asked me to thank Karen who sent this adorable card all the way from the UK - the girl who gets this will definitely be smiling!

Thanks to each and every supporter - whether you donate a single card or a boxful, your creativity and generousity are appreciated. Thank you for sending smiles and for supporting Send A Smile 4 Kids!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Nancy's one-of-a-kind cards

I wish I could share photos of each & every card that is sent in for the kids but I have promised myself that I'll at least share a couple from each donation. Today I'd like to send out a huge thank you to Nancy D from Courtenay for sending in a box of cards including these gems (which are my personal favourites of the 21 cards).

First is this absolutely fantastic frameworthy card. Any little girl would be thrilled to get this card for pretty much any occasion.
SAS4K can use multiple copies of a single card design but special one-of-a-kind cards are the most appreciated
I want to share this card because I think it's perfect for one of the often forgotten age ranges - teenagers. We crafters love making cards for little kids but it can be challenging to make cards for older ones, especially boys. Not only would a horse-mad teenage girl like Nancy's card, but I expect there are more than a few teenage boys who would enjoy having this card to look at (lol).
Next time you make a card for SAS4K, consider creating one for a teenager
Thanks for visiting and thanks for supporting Send A Smile 4 Kids!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Make cards for Ontario kids with Cropcircles

The Cropcircles team is throwing an all-day card-making day in support of Send A Smile 4 Kids. The store is located in Peterborough, Ontario so if you are in the area, please consider joining in. I wish I didn't live 4,000 miles away because it sounds like a lot of fun!
 
Send a Smile 4 Kids Canada RAK (Random Acts of Kindness).

Come join us for a day filled with fun Saturday September the 8th. Stay an hour or stay all day but let us know so we can reserve your seat at the table.
 
This is an open day for cardmaking and fun, No Costs involved just bring your smile and your own supplies.Don't have supplies ??? Come anyway as we have lots of stash to use up. We have all kinds of stamps,dies,punches for you to use to create cards for the patients and staff at Sick Hospital.

This is a great way to destash your supplies and get rid of those bits and pcs. Refreshments provided and if you want to bring a dish to share by all means.

What to bring,papers,adhesives,anything you want to create your cards that you are donating.
 
Visit the Cropcircles website to learn more & to sign up!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Some thank you's

Post updated to include photos!

Lynnette, our Alberta coordinator, has some thank you's to pass on.

Karen from the United Kingdom sent in 3 beautiful cards. A horse one that she created for the the US blog challenge (she's now on their Design Team!). A House Mouse card showing a very tired little mouse who is filled up with watermelon, so cute! And a Christmas card with snow bears on it.
Marcia from Bellevue, WA sent in 39 cards with 19 envelopes for some of the different size cards that she sent.  We have plenty of standard sized envelopes but when you send in odd-size cards, it's really appreciated if you include an envelope. The cards from Marcia are for birthday, spring, mother, thank you and hearts one.  She also included some quilled cards that are especially nice. Lynnette is feeling the incentive to start working on some of her own quilling.
 
And a mystery package arrived from Manning, Alberta but unfortunately there is no name on the package. So thanks to Anonymous for the 16 birthday, different occasion and Halloween cards. Yay for Facebook! The generous crafter has been identified and it's Julienne Gagne. Thanks Julienne!
 
Thank you to all our wonderful supporters! Keep crafting and bringing smiles to the faces of the kids!