Take a Deep Breath...

I am not a ‘kid person’. I think kids are great, but my husband and I don’t want any of our own (aside from the furry ones), and I am often lost when it comes to how to deal with children when I encounter them (other than acting like one of them myself, which usually leads to me getting hard looks from their mother after I ramp their little darlings up on sugar and then encourage them to run around like wild beasties).

However, I do love and respect parents. Parenting has got to be the hardest job on this planet. I understand it is also infinitely rewarding, but those rewards all come with a high price in time, effort and emotional energy.

Even more so when your child has special needs.

I am pretty sure everyone on my F-list is either related to or knows someone with Autism. I have a number of friends whose children are autistic (from mild to severe). One of those friends is femkederoas , who often talks about the challenges of living with not one, but two beautiful little girls, both of whom have been diagnosed as being ‘on the Autism Spectrum’.

She is an amazing, patient and very HUMAN mother to her children. Not perfect (who is) but working hard to give her girls every advantage as they learn to exist in a world that isn’t really adapted to their needs.

femkederoas and her mother are going to be taking the girls to participate in the Walk Now! Event on September 10^th. She has set up a Team Page where you can go to donate. The page has a current goal of raising $500 toward increasing awareness of autism disorders, funding research and advocacy for those with autism and their families.

I am making this post to let you all in on this opportunity; I am also making it as a commitment to donate myself once payday rolls around. I think we can blow that $500 goal out of the water.

If you cannot donate, I totally understand; if possible, I  would ask that you help boost the bandwidth on this opportunity by posting information about this effort to your own LJ or FB pages. Thank you for any help you can offer

Love you femkederoas , happy to support you and your girls in any way I can!

Crossposted to my Facebook page.

I guarantee you got nothing on harmanhay .

First of all, she is the creator of Your Wardrobe Unlock’d and Foundations Reveled.**  

What? Never heard of them? You sew? Historical garb? Fascinating….

OK then, have you seen the Oak Leaf Dress? Three months of handsewing five hours a day. Just to get the leaves done.  

The. Leaves.

*gob-smacked*

If you were at Costume College in 2009 you may have seen it in person.



Original:

And honey…that was the warm up.

So what is this deranged woman up to now?

Just a little something ya’ll like to call the Peacock Dress.

For realsies.

What’s more? She’s doing it FOR CHARITY.

Those ‘feathers’? Hand beaded. All over. The whole dress.

And she is going to make a copy. In exacting detail. And let us all follow along.

*faints dead away*

Wanna see her go insane? Go forth and throw your sweaty dollar bills in her basket! That way you get to watch as the madness unfolds (the dress diary on this one is going to be set to private – so if you no donate, you no get to see).



**/insert due credit for mmcnealy as the inspirational editor on these sites! (Even harmanhay says so! - see comments below *grin*)