The Heart Walk and a Huge Thank You!

Two weeks ago, I participated in the Seattle Heart Walk, benefiting the American Heart Association. And thanks to donations and purchases made through the Help a Heart event in addition to my personal donation, we managed to raise a whopping $1,103! Can you believe it? To everyone who participated in any way, whether it was spreading the word, making a purchase/donation, or leaving your lovely notes of encouragement, I want to say thank you so, so much. I definitely would not have surpassed my goal of raising at least $1K this year without you. =)

Before I write more about the Heart Walk, I want to give some specific thanks! Everyone here put time and/or money into Help a Heart and many of the generous ladies listed have blogs (all of which I follow) or super cute shops, so be sure to check them out! THANK YOU to...

The lovely hostesses of the promotional giveaways!
 *Aizzing of Icing and Write
 *Cara of Marvelous Flight of Cara
 *Sammy of The Cookie Button
 *Jessa of Caked Vintage
 *Kate of Scathingly Brilliant
 *Mandy of Miss Indie
Congrats to the lucky winners!

These beautiful bloggers who posted about Help a Heart!
 *Dorien of Bodacious Thought
 *Julie Ann of Julie Ann Art
 *Kaelah of Little Chief Honeybee
 *Susie of Even Sweeter Dreams

All of the generous people who donated and/or purchased pieces from my shops!
 *Pearl and Kelvin my always-supportive parents
 *Peggy, Patty, Valerie, Rosa, and Mona, my generous aunts/relatives
 *Teresa, one of my best friends, who is always incredibly generous with charities!
 *Lisa L, Sharilyn C, and Cathy G, my coworkers
 *Ashley, owner of Raen Clowds, an adorable crochet accessories shop!
 *Gemma F
 *Laura M, blogger at Tutus and Tiny Hats, an inspiring and sequin-filled blog that I am now following!
 *Karen T
 *Junko, my awesome friend who just passed the NY bar exam (go Junko!!!!)
 *Fiona M
 *Courtney M
 *Lauren W, blogger at Old Red Boots, a fun and colorful blog that I am now following!
 *Davina C
 *Lindsie, Jacob's fun and generous friend
 *Ivy F
 *Melissa O

... and to everyone who shared the event via e-mail, social media, etc!

Please let me know if I missed you (maybe you blogged about it and I was unaware) or if you're on the list but have a link to share (shop, blog, etc.) - I'd love to go check it out!

Now on to the actual Heart Walk. =)

This was my third year participating and it was as busy as ever. My pictures of the crowds didn't really turn out, but you can see a small piece of it here. It starts at the Seattle Center, which is the area surrounding the Space Needle. We arrived at 8:10am on Saturday morning and I actually stopped by the Space Needle first to pick up my medal and goodie bag. I had no idea when I set my goal, but apparently if you raise over $1,000 you're considered a "top walker" and get a bag of treats from the sponsors. You also get invited to breakfast at the Space Needle, which would have been cool... but I had breakfast with my friends after the walk instead!

Booths line the perimeter of the lawn area. The booths belong to the Heart Walk sponsors (including my previous and current employers) and many of them offer healthy freebies and/or helpful information.

Caught up with some friends / former coworkers! Some people brought their dogs along for the walk!

Me, Erin, Olivia, Jas (canine)

 Jared, me

 I used to be a part of this picture each year! But since I joined my current employer's team this year, I took a picture of the team photo instead of being in it. I was in mine, of course... but couldn't really take a picture of myself. =D

Then we went to check out the booths before the walk started. I don't like bananas, free or otherwise, but other people snatched them up!

A few booths had silly heart-themed games.

Stopped by to take a picture at my employer's booth.

They had a band play... yup, that's Seahawks gear they're wearing. I'm sure they're related somehow... maybe the team's band? (I know nothing about football.)

And then the walk began a little after 9am! It was a three mile walk - pretty chilly and windy out, but it wasn't raining. That's always a good thing in my mind. Firefighters created an archway for us to walk through.

I stopped to take pictures of cool things along the walk route.

And that was it! Shortly after the walk ended, one of the current team co-captains for my department at work informed us that she was stepping down next year and asked if anyone wanted to take her place. We do events at work to raise money that gets donated to the general fund for our department's team. For example, we had a soup and salad (and dessert) luncheon - various people made and donated dishes (I made a vegetarian vegetable & orzo soup) and then everyone paid $7 to participate. I love that my work encourages charitable events - I also donate to United Way of King County (a local charity) through a payroll deduction each paycheck set up through the company, which makes it really easy and hassle-free!

Anyway, I digress. So... I signed up to be co-captain for next year. It will take some effort but I think it's worthwhile. I actually thought of Help a Heart fairly last minute this year and it ended up being incredibly stressful - I wouldn't change a thing except that I would start earlier! I loved the result, but it did contribute to my recent burnout. So next year I'll start way earlier and hopefully make this event even more epic and appealing to everyone!

Thanks again to my lovely readers and participants!

Help a Heart Update #2 & Fun Heart Links

Tomorrow is your last chance to place an order or donate via Help a Heart.
We have raised $802 together!!
While that is incredible and so humbling, I'd love to see if we can make it to $1,000! For anyone new, all revenue in my shop benefits the American Heart Association until tomorrow, October 19! First, I want to share a story from a coworker, Cathy, who explains why all of the funds we raise for the American Heart Association means so much to her. Then giveaways, new products, and other heart-related links. =)

Cathy's Story
Here’s my heart story.

June 6, 2004, changed my life forever.  That’s when I had a stroke.  Yes, a stroke at 48 years old.  It was caused by a birth defect…a hole in my heart…called a Patent Foramen Ovalle (PFO).  That was eight years ago and I still have left hand numbness and weakness and let’s just say the brain will never be the same.  But I am a very lucky stroke victim with minimal side effects.  Because we all know someone that has had a stroke event that did not fare as well.

So I gladly raise funds for the American Heart Association because it does hit close to my heart.

Giveaways
Congratulations to everyone who won a giveaway that has ended! There are still three giveaways currently running (including one new one since my first update). All of them offer extra entries for any purchases made to benefit Help a Heart. Please go visit these lovely ladies and enter the giveaways! And if you've already made a purchase, don't forget to get your extra entries! ;)

Jessa of Caked Vintage
Kate of Scathingly Brilliant
Mandy of Miss Indie

New Products in the SHOP!

I posted new headbands, purse charms, earrings, and lots more rings in the shop! Check them out! I also have hair pin sets and a few more garden rings that will post tonight in the final batch. =) Sorry for the crappy photos... I pulled an all-nighter trying to finish photographing and posting everything and still didn't make it. But I promise everything is really pretty in person! Click here to check out the new items above and so much more!


Heart Links (a mini T&TT post)
Just for fun, I thought I'd share a few pretty heart-related things I've found around the internet! Especially since I'm skipping out on Thoughts & Things Thursday again... so just a few links for you this time around. =)

Check out Katie's amazing and nostalgic finds! Love how she organized them in hearts by color. Man, what a find.

Aubree wrote about these pretty Milk brand bags, including the heart-shaped one below!

And... I'll admit, this isn't exactly heart-themed. But look at those giant hearts the dinos with mustaches are holding! Amazing, right? Definitely getting a set of custom matryoshka dolls from the Ponychops shop someday!! Chantal is one talented lady.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in Help a Heart in some way! If you have anything to spare and want to pick up some cute jewelry for yourself or as a gift (holidays quickly approaching!), please consider purchasing from my shop today or tomorrow! 100% of the purchase price will go toward a great cause!

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Thoughts and Things Thursday is a weekly feature where I share links to articles and posts I enjoyed reading, artists I discovered, pictures I came across, and more. These may include things I found funny, heartwarming, sad, ridiculous, interesting, heartbreaking, or just important to share. Some are themed, others miscellaneous. They are things that got my attention and what I thought of them. You can read all of my T&TT posts here.

Help a Heart - Update #1

I thought it was about time for a little update on Help a Heart! New items, giveaways, etc.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far via donations, purchases, or spreading the word. It really does mean the world to me. Keep it coming! So far we've raised $300. Just remember that you only have until the 19th to make a purchase that 100% benefits the American Heart Association (and catch the 25% off sale!). I am stocking up as many small items as possible to make it truly affordable to add your own little contribution and I'm really hoping to pick up the pace! So here's what's new.

New Items
Trick or Treat Bags
I just added these fun Halloween trick-or-treat bags, which basically work like super value grab bags (you get twice the value you spend), except you get to include some preferences (style, color choice, type of goodies)! I'll personalize them just for you and it'll still be a fun surprise! Check out the listings for details. I can also do custom amounts - contact me to set one up. These are the best value I've ever offered and I'm not sure if I'll be continuing these... so get one now if you're interested!

Necklaces and Rings
Tons of new items posted in the shop. I'll be adding some other types of goodies shortly... hair pins, purse clips, ear studs, headbands, and such. Keep updated via my shop facebook page. Here's a little peek of a few necklaces in progress!

... I've also gotten word from several very, very sweet major bloggers that they'll be linking the event soon. So if you see something in the shop, be sure to snatch it up ASAP as many of the pieces are one of a kind or may not be back in stock for a while. I will do some limited reserves if you're waiting on another item type to show up in the shop or something else, but due to the nature of the event I can only hold items for a few days at most.

Giveaways
Thank you to these super sweet lovely ladies hosting giveaways to help promote Help a Heart! If you don't already follow them, I highly recommend doing so - and make sure to enter all the giveaways! Some of them end very soon, while others run through the entire event and include extra entry points if you make a purchase, regardless of the amount!

*Aizzing of Icing & Write
*Cara of Marvelous Flight of Cara
*Sammy of The Cookie Button
*Jessa of Caked Vintage
*Kate of Scathingly Brilliant

Thank You
At the end I'm going to do a big thank you post, so if you donate, make a purchase, or spread the word, be sure to leave me your shop/blog name (checkout notes, Etsy conversation, or e-mail) if you have one - that way I can link to you!

Help a Heart Event

A week and a half ago was my little brother Corbin's birthday. I wrote a happy birthday post and told his story about the fight with heart disease. If you missed it, I really hope you go back and read that post as it sets the tone for today's part two post - what I'd consider the most important thing I've written on my blog thus far.

New heart-themed designs in the shop.

Part Two - The Help a Heart Event

As I mentioned in Part One, I am participating in the Heart Walk again this year, which benefits the American Heart Association (AHA). I typically send an e-mail to close relatives asking for donations and many of them have generously contributed over the years. This year, I thought hard about what I could do to step up my fundraising efforts and also express my appreciation for everyone who contributes to the fight against heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. I decided to start the Help a Heart Event.

ALL revenue from my Etsy jewelry shops will be donated to the AHA from now until the Heart Walk. As an added incentive, I'm temporarily discounting everything in my main shop by 20%, so everyone wins! And I really do mean that I’m donating 100% of the purchase price, meaning if you pay $25 for a piece, the AHA will get $25. I am donating the materials, time and expertise in making the pieces, Etsy fees, and shipping cost. Help a Heart will be a combined effort from you and me. =)

I designed several heart-inspired pieces with the event in mind and I also included quite a few Halloween-themed designs to make things fun! I'll be adding lots of new items to the shop over the next few weeks.

You can participate in a several ways.

1.   Donate directly to the AHA on my page here (minimum online donation is $25). If you want to donate a smaller amount, contact me at kelsea@pinkwonderland.com! I'd love for you to also send me an e-mail so I can thank you personally. =)

2.   Buy anything in my etsy shops: cameo jewelry & boxes, polymer clay jewelry, gemstone jewelry. I'll then take the revenue and donate to the AHA every few purchases/days.

3.   Contact me to set up a purchase. E-mail me at kelsea@pinkwonderland.com letting me know what you’re interested in – the heart necklaces, a custom piece, etc. We can talk about the minimum donation amount for the piece you have in mind, and we can talk details.

4.   Donate products. Are you a vendor? If you’re interested in donating revenue from some of your own products, please contact me! It's for a great cause and I will do what I can to bring some exposure to your shop - possible vendor highlight posts, and at the very least, mentions on the HELP A HEART page + social media love.

5.   Share your story. If you have heart disease/heart problems or know someone who does and is comfortable telling their story, I would love to hear it and share it on my blog. Please contact me at kelsea@pinkwonderland.com.

6.   SPREAD THE WORD!! Please, please, please. Anything helps. A link on facebook. An e-mail to friends or family you think might be interested. A tweet. A blog post. Adding a badge to your page. Anything. I appreciate it so much – by all means tag me or let me know! I am also happy to do a guest post about Help a Heart on your blog – let me know! I may even send you a little thank you gift. ;) Also doing some limited giveaways to spread the word. You can link this post or the HELP A HEART page, which I set up for this event and will be updating regularly.

Basically, I want to make this as easy and rewarding for you as possible. I'll be putting up custom piece listings, which I will likely take down after this event. I will try to set up some grab bags for surprise items. I’m finishing up and finally posting tons of half-completed pieces in my studio. Whatever I can think of to make this fun and beneficial for everyone!

PLEASE CHECK THE HELP A HEART PAGE FOR UPDATES.
I’ll post new things available, links to donation grab bags in my supply shop, etc. I will also post updates & new items on my Pink Wonderland and Kelsea Echo facebook pages.

This event lasts until 5PM PST OCTOBER 19th. The earlier the better so I have time to get everyone’s donations in before the Heart Walk on the morning of October 20^th.

Please contact me if you have any questions, thoughts, ideas... anything! Thank you so much for reading this post and I really hope you participate, even if it’s just by spreading the word!

I have no idea how this will go, but I have high hopes! Let's see how much we can raise together. =)

Happy Birthday, Corbin!

This is a two part post, the second of which which will be posted on the blog shortly. Both parts are very, very important to me, so I really hope you take the time to read it through!

Part One - The Story

First off, I want to wish my brilliant little brother a happy birthday! Corbin turns 23 today.

 Me and Corbin in Roatan, Honduras - Winter 2010

 Me and Corbin in Costa Maya, Mexico - Winter 2010

Since Corbin is only two years younger than me, we really grew up together. As with any siblings, we’ve had plenty of fights over the years, but ultimately, Corbin is one of the people I care most about in the world. He and I used to play legos a lot – for years, we grew our collection. He wanted to build cool things like planes... with mismatched brick colors, which drove me nuts. I, on the other hand, cared more about the personalities of our lego characters. We also loved books. Both of us devoured tons of books growing up, sharing our favorites and recommending series and authors to each other. When we got a new book, sometimes we’d fight for who got to read it first. I am a very fast reader, but Corbin goes through things at lightning speed. He’d remember every detail too. I know because I’d set up quizzes for him and his friends, where I would be the host – game show style. They would have to answer questions about the Star Wars universe or whatever the latest popular series was. The winner would get a prize from me – usually a hand-drawn trading card (yeah, we were nerdy) or something else I had fashioned.

Corbin is also a chess wiz. I really mean that. He’s won lots of state and national tournaments. He teaches summer camps and does private tutoring. He’s worked hard to learn a lot about chess, but he's also a natural. I was actually the one to receive a chess set as a child with a book on how to play. But Corbin was the one who became interested in the game. Even when he was little, he was so good… when I beat him once, so far into forever ago that I have no idea how old we were… I was so obnoxious about it because it was a huge accomplishment. I actually drew a chess board, drew the pieces in my winning position, and posted it on the wall for everyone to see (probably with the title “Kelsea Beats Corbin”, although I can’t quite remember). Terrible, I know.

Yoda and Corbin at the Mardi Gras Museum in New Orleans - Winter 2010

In high school, Corbin started flying out to major chess tournaments on his own. One day, he didn’t wake up for a round despite numerous phone calls from his friend to his hotel room, alarms, etc. We were all stunned and frustrated with him. How could he possibly miss something so important?

Later, we would find out that he has heart disease and has probably been suffering from it for years before we knew. The day we found out through a rather traumatic event which ended up with him in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), my dad happened to be in Bellingham, a city 90 miles north of Seattle, on a cycling trip. I picked up my dad and we drove down to visit Corbin at the hospital in Portland.

See, when Corbin was 13 months old and a tiny little fussy baby (our parents said he was really fussy), he had open heart surgery to fix a hole in his heart. He healed up nicely and other than taking medicine before going to the dentist and a scar on his chest that grew as he grew, there were no signs of any damaging effects. We had no idea it would strike years later.

Corbin is a fairly private person, and for his sake, I won’t go into the details of heart disease symptoms, along with the symptoms of other things he has since contracted, including diabetes. But know that he has talked to me about some of it – probably not all, but enough for me to be totally at a loss to truly understand. I can’t imagine feeling sick constantly, having to take dangerous medicines daily, and having to worry about mortality in my late teens and early twenties. Being sick for years and years and years. It just seems so unfair.

In chess, there are several coveted titles. One of them is Master. Corbin’s rating from tournaments is so close to what he needs for the title. But he also has to take a daily medicine that makes his brain cloudy. It makes it harder for him to concentrate – something devastating to a mind as brilliant as his. He can see sixteen moves ahead in chess - that is no exaggeration. I can’t even imagine how much thinking power that takes. His current rating is 2157, which is 43 points away from the rating needed for a Master title. But the medicine makes it difficult to think straight and there’s no choice of taking it or not – it’s a life or death pill. So we still have strong hopes that he can make it to Master someday, but with the side effects of the medicine, it isn’t going to be easy.

Unfortunately, Corbin is far from the only one suffering from heart disease. It is America's number one killer. Most people have a cause that is near and dear to them – something they care immensely about. Mine is heart disease. Each year, I participate in the Heart Walk, which  benefits the American Heart Association (AHA), and I ask a few friends and family for donations. I never want anyone to feel obligated or guilt-tripped into donating, so I always feel a little uncomfortable asking. I thought hard about what I could do this year other than just ask for money. I decided to sweeten the deal. In a month, on October 20, I will be walking in the Heart Walk, and I hope to have more money raised this year than in the past.

As such, I'm going to announce the details of the Help a Heart Event here on the blog very soon. Hoping to get the final preparations done this weekend and announce it by Monday. Thank you so, so much for reading through this, and please stay tuned for the details of the event.

Also, I just want to say that I reached 100 followers today via Google Friend Connect, and I am so grateful to each and everyone one of you! Whether you follow Pink Wonderland regularly via GFC or Bloglovin', click in through Facebook or Twitter, drop by the blog occasionally, stopped in from Pinterest, or are just reading for the first time today, thank you! I'm considering doing a giveaway to celebrate... any interest?