The CurlyPopsTwoHearts Teatowel

Oops it seems to have been a month between blog posts.... but I have fantastic news

Following on from the #CurlyPopsTwoHearts project that was running over on Instagram during DonateLife Week 2014, we now have a teatowel featuring some of the gorgeous images.

This is a very special project that was inspired by two friends who were both on the transplant waiting list waiting for new hearts.

During DonateLife Week 2014, I asked all of my instagram friends to post a pic of a heart and tag it with the official hashtags #DonateLife and #HaveTheChat along with #CurlyPopsTwoHearts.

The idea behind it was to create awareness, and to inspire discussion with family and friends about organ and tissue donation.

Then my lovely creative friend Belinda had the brilliant idea of creating a teatowel. The teatowel could hang in kitchens in Australia, and around the world, to inspire everyone who enters your home to Have The Chat.

My photographic assistants

We now have a fantastic teatowel filled with beautiful heart images, along with the IG usernames of those who provided the them.

The teatowel is now available for pre-order with 100% of the profits being donated directly back to The Heart and Lung Transplant Trust (hlttv.org.au) based at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne (where I received my lifesaving double lung transplant last year).

The Teatowel will be professionally digitally printed onto a 100% natural fibre light-weight blend woven from 55% linen and 45% combed cotton, and then hemmed and packed so it's ready to come to your place!

Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery (sorry but it takes that long for shipping and printing and then cutting and hemming).

You can pre-order your very own right here -

New Fundraising Shop for the Tour de Transplant!

Very exciting news today....

In March this year (22nd to the 30th) the Heart and Lung Transplant Trust Vic (HLTTV) is running the Tour de Transplant.  In conjunction with the bike ride, there will also be the Tour de Chat to encourage everyone to discuss organ donation with their families.

The tour is an 1100 km bike ride around Victoria - 1 km for every heart and lung recipient whose life has been saved at the Alfred Hospital.

Although I can't ride in the tour (Oh how I wish I could though), I'll still be supporting on the sidelines and doing a little fundraising.

 To kick it all off, I've opened up a little CurlyPops Fundraising Shop. 100% of the sale price (excluding postage and paypal fees) will be donated to my fundraising page for the tour.

I'll be adding more goodies once I've had a little stocktake and worked out what I have!

But for now, if you're looking for a rainbow brooch, head on over!!!

New Hexie Brooches

It seems that the only time I update the blog these days, is when I update the shop.

I never anticipated how busy I'd be post-transplant. Just keeping up with all the medical procedures and appointments and driving back and forth to the Alfred takes up sooooooo much time. Throw in some part-time contracting work, a daily exercise program (must do at least 30 minutes cardio daily post transplant), trying to catch up with friends and family, and keeping my little shop and stockists full of CurlyPops goodies.... and blogging sort of falls by the wayside.

I'm also now one of the joint editors of the HLTTV (Heart and Lung Transplant Trust) Circulator. I'm really enjoying it. It's great to be able to share the transplant experience with others who are also 'living it'.

Other than making my new Hexie Brooches and Hexienut Necklaces, nothing much crafty has been going on around here at all. I've bought fabric to make some summer dresses and tops (although this weather is making me wonder whether spring/summer will ever arrive), but it's just sitting in a pile on my workbench.

Anyway... I'm hoping to get some of these new products out to my stockists next week, so keep an eye out!

Can You Hear the Crickets?

 This is one of my new teatowel samples - available soon!

I haven't had the chance to blog much lately even though I have lots and lots to show you!

I'm busy collecting and photographing Hotties before I take the final lot into Open Drawer on Friday. I have about a bazillion Hottie photos to edit and show you very soon.

I'm also helping with the organisation of the Heart and Lung Transplant Trust (Vic) Trivia night this Saturday. There are still tickets available and they can be purchased online.

We've had some amazing prize donations for the silent auctions and raffles - they deserve an extra special thankyou post!

Oh yeah.... and I'm doing my first market stall in two years this Saturday too.... along with filling in for two weeks at my old job while one of the girls is off on holidays.

So if you don't see me around these parts, you definitely know why!

Life Flashes - FMS Day 3 Heart

Heart by Melbourne Epicure

Can I just say one word - WOW!

Yesterday's photo a day challenge on Instagram was amazing.

We had over 170 people post a photo of a heart and hashtag it with #LifeFlashes to promote organ and tissue donation awareness and DonateLife Week 2013.

I'm in the process of obtaining individual permission to use each photo in a large mosaic for the Life Flashes Exhibition. So far, I have 138 photos that I can use which is absolutely fantastic.

Once everything is completed, I'll be instagramming and blogging the photo mosaics so that everyone gets to see the beautiful finished product!

There are also some beautiful photos that have been submitted in the Facebook competition so far. The top ten will be printed onto large canvasses and displayed in the exhibition. Please go and check out the entries, and even enter your own photo!

All the details for the FB comp are right here (and you don't need to be on FB to enter, as you just email your entry to Louisa, our HLTTV Membership Officer)


If you're interested in learning a little about what it's like to be on the transplant list, then ABC2 is screening the BBC documentary Love On The Transplant List Saturday night at 8.30 PM.

 

A huge thankyou to Carly for putting me in touch with Chantelle from Fat Mum Slim and a giant thankyou to each and every person who submitted a heart. It means the world!

Life Flashes and the Fat Mum Slim Photo-a-Day Challenge

 

'Make your wish count. Discover, decide and discuss organ and tissue donation'.

A few weeks ago, I posted about the Life Flashes photography competition that is being run throughout December and January by The Heart Lung Transplant Trust (Vic) as part of DonateLife Week 2013.

I know that everyone was really busy with the lead up to Christmas, and lots of people asked me to post a reminder once all of that was over and done with.... so here 'tis

I'm calling out to all of my creative friends today to join up for a fun photographic competition.

I'm a member of the Heart and Lung Transplant Trust (Vic). It's an organisation that assists pre and post heart and lung transplant recipients at the Alfred Hospital.

The HLTTV is running an online photographic competition named 'Life Flashes' through December and January to celebrate DonateLife Week (24th February - 3rd March 2013) and promote organ and tissue donation.

DonateLife Week is organised by the Organ and Tissue Authority and held every year to promote organ and tissue donation. The theme of DonateLife Week 2013 is 'Make your wish count. Discover, decide and discuss organ and tissue donation'.


How the competiton works:

• Take / create a photo for DonateLife Week in line with the 'Make your wish count. Discover, decide and discuss organ and tissue donation'.

•  Write a  50-100 word essay to accompany your photo to explain how it relates to the theme and promotes organ and tissue donation.
  

•  All photographs will be published on the HLTTV Facebook page, and shortlisted photographs will be blown up and printed on large canvasses and displayed at The Alfred Hospital during DonateLife Week 2013. They'll be seen by thousands of visitors and staff.

•  There will also be a small launch event at the start of DonateLife week where prizes will be awarded to the winners.

In other exciting news, Chantelle from Fat Mum Slim has chosen the Heart Lung Transplant Trust (Vic) as her charity for the month of January 2013.

From Fat Mum Slim:

♥ I get a lot of requests for charities to be involved in the photo a day challenges, and I’ve had trouble figuring how I could make it work. I thought that in 2013 we could donate a prompt to a charity and bring some awareness.

For January I wanted to share the charity: The heart and lung transplant trust. So prompt number 3 is for them. They’re holding a photographic competition over this month to bring awareness in the lead up to Donate Life Week 2013 {24th February – 3rd March 2013}. You can read more about it here. The photo competition is titled Life Flashes, so feel free to add the hashtag #LifeFlashes to your heart photo.

All the details on how to play along are on Chantelle's blog. On the third of January, I'm hoping to see lots and lots of hearts with the #LifeFlashes hashtag. 

If you're posting them on Instagram, make sure to include the hashtag so that I can find them all and include them in an instagram poster for our DonateLife Week Life Flashes Photograpy Exhibition at the Alfred Hospital!

Any questions - please email me!

Packing and Prepping

I've spent the day packing and prepping...

I'm off to the B-Fabulous wedding on Saturday, but I'll also have some goodies available at the Polly Pratt Pop-Up Shop at Olive Grove.

 The Colour-In Kits have been updated and they're on sale!

 

Just in case I forget to blog the details later in the week... here's the poster!

I just need to pack a few more things, and then get organised to head off to tonights HLTTV meeting.