A big awwww and a little hint.

There I was merrily checking what the postie had brought me and in with the usual bills and bits for recycling immediately, were 1 box and an interesting envelope.
The envelope came from Seattle, USA and there I am thinking ''I don't know anyone who would write to me from there!'' So I open said envelope and this was what was inside...............

Remember me telling you all about the amazing project that Melissa had been developing called Project Team Ewan which I blogged about here? Well when the tutorials and digital work became available I bought it and made my donation to the research cardiology unit at Seattle Children's hospital. I must admit the little letter brought a tear to my eyes. It was such a lovely surprise to be thanked for such a small thing which I hope will make some difference to the future children who need cardiac interventions. That's the big awwwwwww.

In the box was some supplies I had ordered for the next big project which is JYC 2010............... I had ordered some things from The Craftz Boutique only yesterday and here they were not only swift service but beautifully packaged, I felt like I'd been Christmassed.............

 Isnt this just the cutest reindeer tissue paper ever?

 My lil tag put a big smile on my face

 Some of the transparencies I purchased.............

 and the other bits including some tule and Jenni Bowlin bingo cards.

I have also spent today printing out and chopping up these.................

 ...............Ali Edward's 6 x 8 December Daily pages which you can purchase as a digital file and pdf from Designer Digitals.

 I have also bought the traditional new decorations this year. Above are a new glittery bauble and jingle bells plus a red traditional wooden heart all by Gisela Graham. I love her stuff. Also some red spotty ribbon and some cute lil christmas tree pegs. I bought the Spode serviettes as they match some Christmas china I have.The red and brown felt is for another project.

We also went to Lakeland on Monday and I managed to get some gr8 cutters for biscuits and some edible gold stars for cupcakes. More on that another time. So all in all the flat is starting to feel like Christmas is coming. Also Leonora's new Create 10 class which for Christmas is now live and at £5.00 I am having fun already.

Project Team Ewan

 .....................hi there and thanx for stopping by. I cant believe another month has almost flown by and by Sunday the evening will be darker in the UK. Anyway 2 things today, firstly Melissa has blogged more details about Project Team Ewan which I talked about here. There is now a proper flier and release date..........

It is such an special project and very close to her heart as Ewan was Melissa's friends' son. Please hop over and have aread and support her and the Children's Hopsital if you are able. I know I will be.
In other news, I am thoroughly enjoying Shimelle's new class. It's a while since I actually journalled in a book and this has got the creative juices sort of flowing.So the other day I explained how one of the ideas was to journal using all the letters of the alphabet in a fun way. Lot's of ideas were given and I went with the writing something about somebody, namely my friend Luke. I have already made a LO about our friendship but hadn't gotten the journalling sorted so this is waht I came up with, it's abit mushy, I warn you!!!!!...............

''Everyday I am Grateful to have such an Amazing friend in my life. Yes, that individual is you Luke. Ever since we met, our relationship has become one of Deep friendship and respect. Some People have said it's 'Queer' loving the pun there? But I feel True friends are Rare. Underneath your Cute, Bubbly exterior is a man who has faced insults and trauma for being who you are. Why? because they don't understand what an Xceptiona, Funny and Special Human being you are. You are Zaney, Irrepressible, my One of a Kind Luke. Me, I am your loving friend Jo xxxx ''

I think I have used all the letters in the alphabet in this short letter to my friend. I hope it portrays a small amount of the feeling I have for this amazing man. At only 21 he probably knows me better than anyone and he is my lil nurse student protege, only 6 more months and he enters the realms of qualified nursing status. When I actually complete the LO I will post the pictures.

Hope you're having a fab Thursday, and don't forget to join in on the party hop you have until tomorrow, so far I have 27 names, it would be gr8 to have a round 30! 

Jo xxxxx

Prizes and Project Team Ewan....................

So after the excitement of last night, hopefully the prompt will stay at the top of the page until 6th November, I had another surprise this morning. I have followed Melissa's blog for quite a while now as she is a gr8 scrapbooker and also does the ''All about me challenge'' site.
Anyway she is a really inspiring person and apart from all the work she is doing already, she is organising and developing another very special project, Project Team Ewan. 

Ewan was a very special little baby born with a rare heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot or Fallot's tetralogy.

Ewan's parents knew he had this condition antenatally however his condition was far rarer than anyone expected and he died a couple of weeks ago in Seattle Children's hospital.

In honour and memory of this little baby, his family and the work this hospital does for children and families, Melissa and a team of scrapbookers have developed Project Team Ewan to raise awareness, raise funds for the hospital and provide us scrapbookers with specially designed classes from some amazing teachers. The whole project goes live with the classes in 3 weeks.

His parents also keep a blog documenting their son's brief life and their challenges now as grieving parents here it's a tough read and very personal but open, I would advise you to take ur time and have tissues handy because it is gutwrenchingly honest. As a past NICU nurse and bereavement support nurse and counsellor, they have taken an amazingly open way of describing their grief and many people may find it hard to take, so although I encourage you to visit, I also advise you that their honesty is raw and no holds barred, as I personally feel it needs to be, however if you have ever had a baby/child die or are currently grieving I would be well aware of the challenges you will face if you decide to read their blogging.


So imagine my surprise this morning when Melissa's blog had picked me as a winner in one of her giveaways in advance of it's sale on Etsy. The class is called Scrapbooking with symbolism.

The Class is in an easy to follow PDF format.  We go through the elements and principles of design and how they can relate to your layouts in a symbolic way.  And guess what?  I'm already working on my second class!  I felt like as I worked on this class there was so much more to cover and that's what I'm doing with the next class that will probably be out sometime in January.

The class will officially be for sale via my Etsy shop (it isn't ready yet) by November 1st for $15!  It will also be included in the wonderful Project Team Ewan class package!!! Woohoo!!! Even though I'm organizing this amazing fundraiser, I'm still blushing a bit to have a class among such other fabulous talent.

 Here are some of the key contributors to this amazing class package:

Nancy Doren
Jen Martakis
Iris Babao-Uy
Kara Haupt
Melissa Elsner
Dora Phillips
Erica Hernandez
Kristina Proffitt
Jen Gallacher

Janet Bodet Carr

So I am looking forward to receiving my prize from Melissa and also joining in with the classes the team are developing over the nxt few weeks. Please do follow her work and the teams, Ewan's story is not the end but the beginning for this project and for all children and families in hospital at Seattle Children's. As scrapbookers, we have an amazing opportunity to do something wonderful in response to something so sad.