Sharing their love with the less fortunate children around the world

They say to 'Love life and it will return the favor'. And here is a great example of Ladies loving life and sharing their love with the less fortunate children around the world. From a Group of staff from Dromana Secondary College, Victoria in their first sewing bee. 

Picture sent by Barbara Kerby. Thank heaps, ladies!

It's Easter Time !

It is Easter Time once again ! Three years ago I made a dozen of decoupaged eggs and when I saw this bunny with an egg seater on the side I thought I would recycle one of those decoupaged eggs to adorn this bunny.

Hope everyone will have a happy Easter!

Labels and Patterns

Here is an update on requested labels and patterns :

1) All requests for labels and patterns since the week of 24-March until yesterday 11-Apr have been posted today. 

2) Starting today, requests will be processed only every two weeks so any requests received between today until the end of this month the 30th will be processed, filled and posted on the last day of the month. Requests received from the 1st of the month to the 15th will be processed, filled and posted on the 15th of the month and so forth and so on. These changes are being made based on the experiences I went through last year and hopefully will be more organized on time. Going to the postoffice to post requests will be more aligned with pickup of parcels and avoid minor injuries and/or inconveniences. Parcel pickups will still be every Saturday mornings.

3) Will resume donation acknowledgements received towards the end of this month when am back in Sydney.

To those intending to make and donate dresses, please be guided with this schedule so no one would wonder whether I have received requests. Thank you.

Parcel Feedback from Widows of Africa Kenya (c/o Pastor Joshua)

Whenever I send a parcel, I normally would note that down in my phone calendar and depending on the location and how the parcel(s) was sent, I would create a notification to be sent to myself after a specific period of time (number of weeks past) reminding me or giving me a heads up that perhaps the parcel(s) is about to reach its destination. This notification allows me to get ready to make a follow-up and/or enquiry with the postoffice just in case I dont receive any feedback from the recipient(s) that the parcel has been received. And because some locations takes between 8-12 weeks for parcels to arrive I really need this reminder. :-)

Anyway, just about 10 minutes ago, I received an email from Pastor Joshua of the Widows of Africa in Kenya letting me know that the package has been received.

Whew! Now I dont have to make a follow-up with the postoffice. And see, I am doing my job, making an extra effort of making sure that the parcels reached its destination and that the dresses you donate are about to find owners. I do not relax and make myself comfortable until I am sure that everything is ok and that each one of you have really made a difference to the lives of these kids through the dresses you make and donate.

Thank you to Natascha and Make and Learn

This errand is so long overdue and finally I managed to pick up a bag full of dresses kindly made and donated by a group of ladies who attended a charity sewing event organized by Natascha Wettmarshausen of Make and Learn last December and February of this year. The proceeds earned from the attendees of the sewing workshop was also donated to help in covering the cost of postage and distribution of the dresses to the different countries.
 
The formal donation acknowledgement of dresses will be done when I get back to Sydney next weekend but would like to take this opportunity to express my wholehearted thank you to the ladies who were involved in this charity sewing event and my heartfelt thanks to Natascha for organizing the event.

If you want the creative you shine through or want to tap into those hidden creative skills you've got, check out Make and Learn or click on the image below for its craft activities and events. Thank you.

These guys are coming!!

These guys are coming soon and will try to help Dress A Girl Australia 'shake for a better world'.

An exciting opportunity to help make a difference to the lives of the disadvantaged children around the world. Sew.....watch out for it !!

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#36 to #39 - From Jayne, Heather and the Golden Girls 2 Kay, Betty, Pauline & Julie

I kind of overslept last night coming back from a full day of marketing (was totally over awake at midnight) I decided to open the parcels I picked up at the postoffice last Thursday and took pictures of the donations. It took me only about 45 minutes to do the task including putting them in plastic bags and decided to spend another hour taking pictures of the remaining items that did not sell at the market so I could post them in my online shop. By the time I wanted to post this article I felt sleepy again and decided to continue today. 

I have just finished posting the items for sale and other stuff and are now available for purchase in my online shop so now it is time to acknowledge the donations. Again, one article with 5 separate batches of donations of dresses, winter set for the winter appeal for South Africa and a few dress accessories and undies. Here they are -

1) Donation #36 is a parcel of 8 dresses from Heather Harris -

2) Donation #37 is a parcel of 13 t-shirt dresses from Jayne Hogan -

3) Donation #38 is a parcel of 21 dresses, 2 sets of tops and shorts and 2 skirts from the Golden Girls 2 namely Kay, Betty, Pauline and Julie -

and here are the Golden Girls 2 Kay, Betty, Pauline and Julie who are having a great time sewing dresses for the disadvantaged kiddies -

4) Donation #39 are dress accessories and undies from the Golden Girls 2 and Jayne Hogan -

The next donation (and last for this batch 3-Apr-2014) is for the Winter Appeal for South Africa Batch #5 from Jayne Hogan. It arrived just in time before I had to close off the last parcel of winter clothes for South Africa.

A wholehearted thank you to the Golden Girls 2 Kay, Betty, Pauline and Julie, to Heather Harris and Jayne Hogan for the wonderful donations. Thank you for your kindness and generosity and unwavering support of Dress A Girl Australia's campaign of making sure that every girl in this world gets to own at least one dress, not just a dream but a reality. It may not be for the entire world but at least a portion of it. We can proudly feel and say that at least we got the chance to provide dresses to a few of them. Thank you.

Market Day and Products for Sale

It was a very long day as today was market day for the quarter.  A very good and happy day but tiring. Woke up at 4am after going to bed at midnight and arrived back home at 5pm. Fell asleep and just woke up. Now cant go to sleep so I might as well take pictures of dresses and acknowledge donations until I feel sleepy again. 

Sharing with you some products I had at Dreamers Markets today. Creating these items are what I consider my 'Days of Happiness' especially when the end result is making happy the disadvantaged children around the world. I enjoyed making each one of them.

A few of these items are still available and will be posted in my online shop today. Shown above are - (Update : Now available in my on-line shop. Just click on the hyperlinks)

(1) Bucket 1 of 2 of the dammit dolls. Only 2 are left but will be making more and be made available soon. $15.00 each.
(2) Easter Bunny pins. Only 5 are left and when they are gone, they really are gone. $10.00 each.
(3) Easter Lavender Bunnies. Only 7 are left but can make more if needed. $5.00 each
(4) Easter Lavender Packs. A few are left but will be making more if needed. $5.00 each and comes with a card/envelope for easy gift giving.
(5) Happy Easter Buttons. Easily done if needed and available all year round in my creativity with buttons shop. They come in size 38mm (1-1/2") and 57mm (2-1/4"). Size 38mm is on sale at $1.00 each and size 57mm also on sale at $2.00 each.
(6) 'A is for Apple' Magnetic Blocks in a tin for kiddies to enjoy learning the alphabets, numbers 0 to 9, a few shapes and animals. They are about 5cms x 5cms  in size and full-sized magnet at the back. Selling them at $19.95 each.
(7) Last but not the least is my favourite and an original - 'Mama's Fabric Bust'. Comes with an easel stand for support. Selling at $20.00. Size about 20cms x 15cms (widest and tallest point)

Please check them out and if there is anything you like, please make a purchase as the proceeds are going to a very worthwhile cause. Thank you.

My very special thank you to the organizers of the Dreamers Markets for providing me with a free stall. Next market date is the 9th of August. 

And feel free to sing along with me in this 'Happy' song. *********************************************************
Chorus lines from Pharell Williams' 'Happy' Song 
          Because I’m happy
          Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
          Because I’m happy
         Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
         Because I’m happy
         Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
         Because I’m happy
         Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do

*********************************************************

FY14 Charity Drive - Arts & Craft & School Supplies Donation #5 - From the Ladies of QCWA Willows Branch

This is Donation #5 and the last of the arts & craft supplies for the Indi Kindi project. This parcel was donated by the Ladies of QCWA Willows Branch and sent in by their president Jacqui Piper. 

To all the ladies of QCWA Willows Branch, thank you for the great pack and special thanks to Jacquie for sending the items. Your kindness and generosity is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Winter Appeal for South Africa Drive is now officially closed

In response to all the emails I received the past few days, am sorry but I am no longer accepting winter clothing for South Africa. The boxes are sealed and am just waiting for a time I can spare to bring the parcels to the freight terminal. Due to unexpected circumstances I had to cut short the time frame of the drive and send the parcels earlier than scheduled. Maybe next time but thank you for the thought of trying to help make a difference to the lives of these kids, keep them warmer during their winter season. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#35 - 50 t-shirts from heyboom

Around August of last year my sister Joan Wolf of heyboom brought me a parcel which was supposed to have 50 t-shirts inside. These t-shirts I would have used to make into t-shirt dresses. (She supplies all the t-shirts I used to make into t-shirt dresses). But when I opened the parcel it only had 31 pcs inside. It turned out that she actually splitted them into 2 parcels and one was left behind in Oman where she lives with Andre her husband who works over there. Yesterday she handed over the remaining 19 t-shirts -now I cannot remember if I actually acknowledged the 31 last year but they still are intact, still in the same packaging. And also now I have 50 t-shirts to make into t-shirt dresses for the rest of the year.

Thank you Joan Wolf. Here is one of the t-shirt dresses I made in 2012 from the first batch of 50 t-shirts you brought worn by one of the girls from India. I was told that she loves the dress so much she wants to wear it everyday. She reminds me of our neighbour Vimla who used to ride with us when Daddy used to take us to school everyday. Vimla unfortunately passed away last year.

Acknowledgement on Days for Girls (Oatley NSW) parcel

After twice forgetting to take with me the parcel I packed for Days for Girls (Oatley NSW) I finally was able to send it last Friday, the 28th. I checked out the date I finished the packing and it was on the 4th of March. Took almost a month to get to Oatley. :-)

Today, it was delivered and received this email from Beverly de Meur -

It was a pleasure packing those items knowing the end results of those materials would be going to deserving teens or mums around the world.

Dress A Girl Australia Dress Distribution volunteers

From now on if pictures are available I would be posting the individuals or groups of people who spare their time distributing dresses, pairs of shorts and other accessories on behalf of Dress A Girl Australia. I think you have seen pictures of the group of university students from CDO, the lady from India and the pastor from Widows of Africa and about a year ago some friends from the Qantas Cabin Crew team and from Uganda. I think I even have a picture of the lady who distributed the quilts to the kiddies in Romania.

This time I want to share with you a picture of a group of missionaries and volunteers headed by Norie Bordador who have been busy distributing dresses in various locations in the Philippines on behalf of Dress A Girl Australia. So far they have distributed about 400 dresses and would be doing more in the summer months to come. I think it is just me who cannot keep up with their pace. :-)

I will be creating a special album for these special group of people and share the link on this site in the near future. My way of saying thank you for doing such a great job of making the less fortunate children happy and making this world a wonderful place to live for everyone.

Friendly Reminder on Dress Materials

A friendly reminder once again to please make sure that the materials you use for the dresses are not thin or flimsy materials. If one of the ideas as to why we want them to wear these dresses is also to protect them then using thin or flimsy materials where you can see through the dress is not going to help. So please bear in mind no thin or flimsy dress materials. Thank you.

FY14 South Africa Winter Appeal 2014 Batch 4 - More sets and other accessories for the winter program.

Wow!! Kindness and generosity  and the willingness of others to help make a difference to the lives of the less fortunate children and make this world a better place is overflowing here at Dress A Girl Australia. I feel like singing my favourite song 'What a wonderful world'.

This I believe would be the last batch for the winter appeal program for South Africa as I need to complete my packing and seal the boxes so it can be sent. Unfortunately, I cannot extend the date when I want to send the parcels. For this batch, complete winter sets from Karin Maltby(2), Marlene Van Zetten(2) and Carolyn Walker(1), hooded long sleeved shirts from Natasha Clarke of Sgt Floyd(11), two pairs of leggings from Monika Osvald and 14 beanies from Sandra Turnbull(10), Sarah Tanmahapran(2) and Vanya Bryant(2).And with the number of extras I received on singlets, beanies, pairs of socks and hooded and non-hooded long sleeved t-shirts I was able to create another set of 15 or 16 (I think! Sorry, was too tired to go back and count late last night but could be either of this number). Here are the contents of this final batch -

A wholehearted thank you once again to Karin, Marlene, Carolyn, Natasha, Monika, Sandra, Sarah and Vanya and to all the other donors previously acknowledged for all your wonderful contributions to this appeal thus making it a complete success. Thank you so much for the time, money and effort you all spent making these donations. It is so much appreciated. This posting closes off my Winter Appeal for South Africa charity drive. Heaps and heaps of thanks everyone!!

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#34 - Accessories from Pam, Monika, Sarah and Carol

I think I like combining posting of similar items being donated and just split them by category such as dresses and pairs of shorts or dress accessories or arts & craft supplies or quilts or by charity drive. Not really sure though if it makes the job quicker but does saves space. :-)

Anyway, this category is new which I call dress accessories. It could be anythng from fabric tote bags, undies and small toys and handmade softies which I include as extras to dresses when making a distribution. Light items that do not add that much weight to parcels. In the future this will also include items which every now and then I get to receive from generous donors to sell in order to raise money for postage.  Maybe am just too organize and creating more work for myself!! But being organized sometimes makes things easier for me especially when it is time to pack. :-)

Donation #34 are small tote bags from Pam of Threading My Way (10), string bags from Monika Osvald (44), undies from Carolyn Walker and Sarah Tanmahapran and small softies from Monika.  

Thank you so much Ladies for your kindness and generosity. The time and effort you spend making these small items is very much appreciated and for some kids finding new pairs of undies in the dresses' pockets or being handed a mini toy or softy makes them giggle more. Thank you for making this world a wonderful place for the less fortunate children. Much appreciated.

FY14 Charity Drive - Arts & Craft & School Supplies Donation #4

These Indi Kindi kids are going to have the time of their lives drawing and colouring or learning new skills even with just the box of supplies I have collected for them. On Monday I am going to be bringing with me my bag full of crayons, pencils, sharpeners and rulers, art papers and picture books. If only I can spare the time I have 3 panels left of the very old Teacher's Pets - A learning book I can make them into clothbooks for them.  It is intended primarily for children aged 2-6 and will help to teach them basic skills and concepts such as counting, alphabet, comparatives, shapes and colors and is filled with adorable animals and useful information. Maybe I will just do that one of these nights.

Anyway, here is another box full of arts and craft supplies, school supplies, play and learn books from Carolyn Walker, Karina Tomlinson, Pam of Threading my Way's mum and Dawn Manser, Pam Baber and Myf Macfarlane of Swan Hill Victoria. I've also put in another 3 sets of the big sized colouring pencils. These big sized pencils are supposed to teach you how to hold a pencil properly and write clearly. Maybe its true...maybe not but am sure whoever gets to hold one will have a fun-full of drawing and writing day.

Again, a wholehearted thank you Ladies for your kindness and generosity. With your contributions, you are making a difference to the lives of these children, helping break the cycle of Indigenous destitution through the Indi Kindi campaign of the Nangala project.

For more details and/or information of the Nangala Project's Indi Kindi campaign, please click here.

And here is the almost 4-kilo bag full of educational materials I will be handcarrying to work on Monday and another one on Tuesday - in addition to my normal work-day bag . The weight will be interesting....but anything to make kids happy.  :-)

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#33 - A couple of quilts from Sandra

Yes, I still am receiving quilts after the '100 Days of Quilting' Charity Drive I did last year. Although I am not doing a quilt charity drive this year, I am still continuing on with keeping children warm with the quilts that are being donated. 
This time Donation #33 is a couple of quilts from Sandra Turnbull and 10 beanies for the Winter Appeal for South Africa.

To Sandra, thank you so much. Thank you for helping keep the children warm during their winter season. It is so much appreciated. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgements FY14/#26 to 32 - From a group of 7 wonderful ladies

I better start my donation acknowledgements and finish by 8:30pm if I am to join the Earth Hour campaign. Since there are only 7 acknowledgements to make I am again combining all acknowledgements in one posting and I think it does save me a few minutes. Not that much but still helps. 

This time from a group of 7 wonderful ladies - Sharron Arnold, Monika Osvald, Eileen Brogan, Pam of Threading My Way, Sarah Macraild, Sarah Tanmahapran and Vanya Bryant. Please note that these acknowledgements are only for dresses and pairs of shorts. Separate acknowledgements will be made for the other items such as for the winter appeal program, arts and craft supplies, dress accessories and even handmade toys. And also this posting closes my collection of donations for the month of March.

1) Donation #26 is from Sharron Arnold - a parcel of 19 dresses and 12 pairs of shorts -

2) Donation #27 is a bunch of 7 dresses and 3 pairs of shorts from Monika Osvald -

3) Donation #28 is a parcel of 10 dresses from Eileen Brogan -

4) Two dresses from Pam of Threading My Way is Donation #29 -

5) Donation #30 is from Sarah Macraild. Here is Sarah with her 4 dresses and a pair of shorts. She thanks her mum for leaving her some beautiful materials which she can make into dresses, her husband for giving her a great sewing machine and God for giving her sewing skills -

6) Donation #31 is a parcel of 5 dresses from Sarah Tanmahapran -

7) And last but not the least is Donation #32 from Vanya Bryant who can't seem to stop sewing. 13 dresses and 3 pairs of shorts this time -

A wholehearted thank you to all of you who made these dresses possible...for keeping the dream alive of owning at least one dress and perhaps a new pair of shorts for some less fortunate children around the world. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. Thank you for bringing more smiles and happy faces into this world through the dresses and pairs of shorts you make. It is much appreciated.

Feedback on Dress Distribution from Navotas Philippines

Dress Distribution done in Navotas Philippines two weeks ago by Norie Bordador and a group of missionaries and volunteers who has decided it is time to go out and spread the word on hope, love, compassion and kindness to everyone. More pictures will be posted soon.

Important Info on Parcel containing winter appeal clothing

I picked up 17 parcels from the postoffice this afternoon. The names of the parcel donors are on this list -

Parcel Acknowledgement 28-Mar-2014

If there is anyone who sent me a parcel containing winter clothing for South Africa and/or arts and craft supplies for Indi Kindi and whose name is not mentioned on the list (link above), could you please let me know so I can look out for it next week. Dont want your items to be left behind (parcels will soon, very soon be sealed) especially for the winter appeal. Unfortunately I cannot extend the date I want to send the parcels to South Africa. Thank you.

Update on Dress A Girl Australia well for Kalagi Uganda

Thank you to Martin Grunburg, the author of the New York Times' bestseller book The Habit Factor for donating my second place winnings from the Habit Factor global challenge and putting in a little extra to my fundraising campaign to build a well for clean water in Kalagi Uganda. It was a pleasure joining the competition. Thank you so much!

As of today, I have raised $942.75 for this project. I have $150.00 worth of checks which I still need to mail. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to post it. It needs my time so I can write a small note to go with it before mailing. I hope to speed up the raising of the money needed to build a well for clean water in Kalagi Uganda in the next 3 months. 

Meet Pastor Joshua from Widows of Africa

One of the nicest thing about what I am doing is (perhaps greatest is a better word to describe) is I get a chance to know people from other places, get connected with people from locations I never dreamed would happen if not for this charity work I am doing. It is not impossible but I just thought it would not happen to someone like me who does not have big connections or big corporations as sponsors. And the best thing about it is that I try to find them in my own little way and make a connection through my charity work and that is why I find it such a very rewarding experience. I get more exposure to the real world.  I get a chance to know and see how some people in this world devote their life and time in trying to make this world a better place especially for the less fortunate and it makes me happy to be a part of it. The heroes of the modern world and here is one of them. Pastor Joshua of the Widows of Africa, Miwani Kenya.

And am proud to say that Pastor Joshua will soon be a recipient of 2 parcels of clothes for the children in his community which I sent in early February. My best estimate is that these parcels are halfway to Kenya by now and I look forward to the day when it finally arrives its destination. 

Update on the 'Habit Factor' challenge - I won second place

WooHoo! Just got notified by email that I won second place in the 'Habit Factor' global challenge that I entered in early January this year. My prize is a $100 gift card or paypal donation. This money goes straight to my fundraising campaign for a Dress A Girl Australia well to be built in Kalagi Uganda. Thank you Habit Factor.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#23 to 25 - From Linda, Vanya, Terri & Marie

Wow! Looks like I did a good job of opening up parcels These are the last 4 I have received from Linda Smyth, Vanya Bryant and Terri Rose and Marie Dale.

1) Donation #23 are two separate parcels from Linda Smyth. The first parcel had 17 dresses -

and the second parcel had 5 dresses inside -

2) Donation #24 is from Vanya Bryant and the last parcel I have received too since January. It had 11 dresses, 6 pairs of boys' shorts, 2 beanies, 8 drawstring bags, 3 packs of girls' socks with 5 pairs on each pack and 20 head scarves.

Also this parcel came with 3 handmade bags for postage fundraising -

3) The last donation #25 came from Terri Ross and Marie Dale. The parcel had 12 pairs of boys' shorts, 4 dresses and 22 sets of boys' t-shirts, pairs of shorts and undies -

Again, thank you so much Ladies for your efforts, kindness and generosity in making a difference to the lives of the less fortunate children who will be recipients of these wonderful gifts. A wholehearted thank you to all the donors who helped make a good start for the year 2014 for Dress A Girl Australia. Thank you so much.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#18 to 22 - From Sharyn, Vanya and Kapunda Sewing Group

More dresses from Sharyn Paull, Vanya Bryant and the Ladies of Kapunda Sewing Group. Here they are -

1) Donation #18 is from Sharyn Paull - 7 dresses -

2) Donation #19 is from Vanya Bryant. There are 2 parcels from Vanya on this batch. The first parcel includes 8 dresses and 7 pairs of boys' shorts

and this is the second parcel which had 10 dresses, 5 pairs of boys' shorts and 6 beanies inside

3) Donation #20 are 3 parcels of dresses from the Ladies of Kapunda Sewing Group. For this first parcel came 22 dresses, 12 pairs of boys shorts and 4 hats -

and the contents of this parcel came from Margaret Adair, Shirley Bell, Loris Pullen, Mary Lauke, Helen Blane, Dianne Cain, Loretta Vodic, Vera Jeffs, Sally Giles and the hats came from Lyn Williams.

The second parcel came with 21 dresses, 1 girl's t-shirt and 8 pairs of boys shorts -

and the contents of this parcel #2 came from Deborah Parish, Margaret Adair, Shirley Bell, Loris Pullen, Dianne Cain, Mary Lauke, Helen Blane, Vera Jeffs, Paisley Parish, Robertstown General Store, Sally Giles, Julie Quast and Chris Redden.

Parcel #3 had 24 dresses and 9 pairs of boys' shorts -

and the contents cam from Shirley Bell, Dianne Cain, Margaret Adair, Loris Pullen, Mary Lauke, Julie Quast and Helen Blane.

4) Donation #21 came from Linda Smyth with 9 dresses inside -

5) and Donation #22 came from Evelyn McCarthy with 8 dresses as well -

Thank you so much Ladies. Thank you for the time, money and effort you spent making these dresses. Your kindness and generosity is unstoppable. Thank you. I also would like to take this opportunity to wish the Ladies of Kapunda Sewing group all the best for the future in their new endeavours. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#13 to 17 - From Kay, Virginia, Vanya, Sharyn and Betty

Third batch of donations to be acknowledged comes from Kay Innes, Virginia Smith, Vanya Bryant, Sharyn Cafee and Betty Barrett. More wonderful dresses to generate more bigger smiles from around the world.

1) Donation #13 is from Kay Innes, A parcel of 13 dresses, 2 boys shorts, 4 singlets, 1 t-shirt and 1 sun hat. the dresses each came with hair ties.

2) Donation #14 came from Virginia Smith which is a parcel of 4 dresses and 11 pairs of boys' shorts

3) Donation #15 came from Vanya Bryant. This is the first of four parcels she has sent in since January. First parcel of 16 dresses, 10 beanies and 9 pairs of boys' shorts.

4) Donation #16 is from Sharyn Cafee - a parcel of 11 dresses, 6 pairs of shorts and 3 packs of girl's undies -

5) and Donation #17 is from dear Betty Barrett - 4 pairs of shorts -

Again, thank you so much, Ladies for your kindness and generosity. Thank you for showing such a consistent unwavering support of the Dress A Girl (Around the World) of Australia. It is so much appreciated.