Things have been a little crazy lately and our Valentine’s Day/long weekend kind of evaporated, to say the least. Trying to catch up with all my work in the meantime hasn’t left any time for fun crafts, photos, or other things to share over here. I’m excited for March on all those counts! So I thought I’d post about two local craft fundraisers you might enjoy supporting (one is now exclusively online, so no worries if you’re not in Portland) and then vanish for a bit until things smooth out again.

Andrew, Pearl and I went out to the First Thursday art openings downtown this month and saw both these shows in a very happy back-to-back. Wieden+Kennedy hosted a Handpulled for Haiti opening this month to sell prints of original designs created by their studio artists, with all sales going to Mercy Corps.

I am a true lover of screen-printing and seeing what a few dozen super-talented graphic artists can do on a dime, with a worthy cause to inspire them, was absolutely stunning.

All the money raised goes to Mercy Corps and W+K is matching 100%, turning your beautiful $25 poster into a $50 donation for our local heroes making a difference in Haiti. We chose three posters and I love them all:

Each print is signed and numbered and you can scoop yours up here. Thank you to W+K for their generous support of Mercy Corps, and thank you to the artists who did such beautiful work for such a worthy cause. So inspiring on all counts!

Equally lovely is the Valentine’s Invitational at Reading Frenzy, with dozens more local artists and crafters pitching in. The artwork was unveiled via silent auction at the beginning of the month and is now for sale at a set price, with 50-100% of the sales going to a cause dear to Chloe Eudaly‘s heart, the Special Education PTA of Portland.

I snapped a few quick photos but you should really go in and enjoy all 60 or so pieces in person in their sweet salon-style collections… it will all be up through the end of the month. I have a little piece in there along with some of my favorite artists, and as far as I know it is still up for grabs, along with lots more artwork.

The Valentine’s Invitational benefitting SEPTAP is up through the end of the month, and the Handpulled for Haiti show is now living over here until the shop is empty and Mercy Corps’ coffers are full.

p.s. one last update: I am sorry to report that SB 1032 was caught in a deadlock in our state senate yesterday, and the bill that would have banned BPA in certain children’s products in Oregon is no more. I am thankful that activists in Washington, Minnesota, Connecticut and Massachusetts have had better luck, and I hope we will see some progress at the federal level soon too. My deepest gratitude to everyone who worked on this project, contacted their reps to support the bill, and supported me in my efforts to spread the word. Thank you.