Mammajoy

One Million Mums in May

 

Today marks the launch of a campaign that is very close to home for me.  It's a campaign to help increase awareness of the rate of Post Natal Depression amongst Aussie mamma's, and the need for further support.  I believe that PND no longer has the stigma it once had, and I for one am so grateful that people are talking about it.

1 in 7 new mums will be diagnosed with PND each year and I am one of those.  I'm not ashamed or embarrased by this, I don't try and hide the fact and I'm so thankful that I'm part of a wider community of authentic, caring people who can handle mah crazy from time to time.

PANDA (The Post and Antenatal Depression Assocation) has gone live today with the 1 Million Mums in May campaign.  Did you know that there is a dedicated National Helpline for mum's who are struggling with PND?  At present it is the only one of it's kind in Australia and it's hours of operation are limited by the wonderful volunteers who offer a listening ear and kind words to those who need it most.

Now here's the crunch...

PANDA needs to gain essential funds to enable them to provide 24/7 access to this Helpline.  If nothing changes, 93 out of 100 struggling mamma's will miss out on support from PANDA that they desperately need.

Can you help?

Join 1 Million Mums and visit www.millionmums.org.au - there are two way's you can help.

1. Click on the  'Email your local MP' link to send a letter urging Government to prioritise funding for this vital resource.

2. Click on the Donation link to make a donation to PANDA.  As little as $1 will help.

For more information here is a downloadable PDF.  Print it out, give it to family and friends and urge them to join in!

Download PANDA_Infographic_May_2013

I'm so pleased to be able to support this campaign, and I hope you take the time to give what you can.

You could be throwing a struggling mamma a life-line!

 

 

Good Words

 

Queensland Flood Appeal Auction

Thank you for bidding and supporting

the Qld Flood Appeal Auction.

Congratulations Kylie!

You've won the auction :-)

.................................

Welcome to Mammajoy and to my auction in support of the Queensland Flood Appeal.  A huge thankyou to the organisers of this fantastic fundraising effort and to all the people supporting it.

All of the money raised from this auction will go

directly to the Queensland Flood Appeal.

I'm so excited to be able to auction one of my very own creations!  My label is 'red pear' and my range consist of uniquely designed handbags, totes and purses hand-crafted using vintage and recycled fabrics, notions and hardware.

The bag for auction today is called 'The Rachael' and is just gorgeous (but I'm totally biased!)

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Features:

- Fully lined and interfaced tote with hand-stitched handles

- Hand-stitched magnetic closure

- Internal pocket with pen holder

- Key hook  (never spend five minutes searching for your car keys again!)

- Sturdy bag base with purse feet

The dimensions of this bag are:

- Width across bottom - 12 inches

- Width across top opening - 14 1/2 inches

- Height - 8 inches

- Height including handles - 14 inches

Exterior fabric - Medium-Heavy Cotton

Interior fabric - Linen/Cotton blend (has a lovely sheen to the fabric not seen in the photographs)

This bag has been completely hand-crafted and sewn by myself in my downstairs studio.  All the materials used (excluding the purse feet and the interfacing) have been sourced locally and are recycled.

You won't find this bag in any store!  It is completely unique and individual.

 

 

How this auction will work:   (thanks Toni for these rules)

1. Bidding will start at $90.00 (Australian)

2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address.  Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.

3.  Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.

4.  This auction is open to everyone. 

5.  There is no extra postage charge for bidders outside Australia and postage is FREE!  To ANYWHERE!

6.  The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight, Monday 24th January 2011, (AEST, Go here to check our local time).

7.  At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your current email address).  The winner will then pay their winning bid amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email.  Once proof of payment has been received, I will post the bag to you.

8.  Thank you for joining in and happy bidding! 

Queensland Flood Appeal Auction

The devastation of the flood waters hitting South East Queensland at the moment is just horiffic.  Both Matt and I have been glued to the computer over the past few days, our hearts breaking and our prayers constant over the heart-ache and disaster that is devouring people's lives right this very moment.

Toni and Carli  have done some amazing work in pulling together an online Flood Appeal Auction in such a short time which myself and a host of other bloggers are participating in.  Aussie Bloggers rock don't they?

On Saturday 15th January 2011 my auction will open and bids are welcome (and in fact, mandatory!  Just kidding.  Only, I'm not).  The auction will close at midnight Monday 24th January 2011 and all money raised will go directly to Queensland Government Flood Relief Appeal.

See that pink umbrella button to the right over there?  Click that to get to Toni's blog where shortly you will find a big long list of all the different auctions available,  where all the money raised will go to the same Appeal. 

 

 

 

Here's some pictures of what YOU could win right here on this lil' old blog.  This gorgeous 'red pear' 100% handcrafted bag made from upcycled fabric and materials.  It's so fresh out of the studio I'm still working on it!  As you can see I've just finished hand-stitching the bag closure.

I'll post more photos when it's finished and I'll also post details on how the auction will work closer to Saturday.  YES, bids from international readers are WELCOME!

Being able to help in some way is great, and I do hope you'll support mine or any other auction you see in support of the Queensland Flood Appeal.  If you'd like to donate money directly to the fund you can here.

Words are hard to find to describe the heart-ache, the images, the faces and the tears that we have witnessed since Monday.

It's just so tragic.

Amanda

 

thought of the day

Do you ever wish that 'high-end' products could actually become 'low-end' products?

Where the items that are mass-produced in factories in China which rape the earth of her resources, uses cheap materials, under-pays their staff and gives exactly 0% love to it's end products, selling them for $3.99 at the nearest mega-store....could actually be the most undesirable products on the market?

Wouldn't that be neat?  Instead of the commercial hype and 'lifestyle factor' of an overpriced piece of crap from Hong Kong people would go skitz over a handmade tea cozy from Byron Bay.

Any takers?

shak'n things up

This is an awesome project.

Here's the site.

I wish it were July so that I could get into this up to my eyeballs and share it with my church family before the craziness begins in our 'lil neighbourhood.