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Late Night Thoughts and Inspiration

8/2/2015

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The last few weeks I have been awake and taking care of essentially everything 15-20 hours out of each day. This is not a complaint, to be honest, I've been amazed that I can function like this given everything behind the scenes, however, it is in these late hours that I do start to feel stress in relation to getting the important aspects of Gracie's Gowns taken care of.

This is my job, this is my dream, this is the legacy that I will leave behind when my time is over on this earth, and I will continue to put forth every ounce of energy to make the bigger plans I have in store for Gracie's Gowns come true. However, despite all my valiant efforts to save the world one stitch at a time, it can be and sometimes is exhausting, overwhelming, and even in some aspects it can be frightening.

Those are the moments I look for inspiration to just keep swimming and to bring myself back to where it all began. Sounds simple, but even that can prove challenging. That being said, over the last month or so I have a constant reminder that has helped me to remember just how amazing this organization is and will continue to be, my roots in creating it, the reasons behind every stitch, and how far the organization has come since conception a little over three years ago.

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A little over a year ago I had a box of 4" x 4" fabric squares that had been cut from remnant pieces of gowns and from what I can remember now some of my personal projects as well, just taking up space, so to speak. It was always my intention to make them into scrap quilts and raffle or auction them off in order to help raise shipping funds and such.

I had posted to Facebook about this box of scrap pieces and Rosie was so excited to take them off my hands and make them into "something special." Little did I know that this something special would end up being for me. 

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When she first brought this scrap quilt over and I opened it up, I couldn't help but start crying. It is sentimental on so many levels. There are pieces from gowns from day one of me sewing them, gowns of children that have passed away, and so many pieces of gowns that I can pick out the name of who it was for, because I am just that kind of person that every child deserves a gown just as unique as they are. 

And then there are the random, I just thought they were pretty fabrics that I used to make items to sell at Graves Mountain over the last three years to raise money for Gracie's Gowns (like the macaroons one above). I originally had posted to our page that the quilt was going to be for raffle or auction, but the more I looked at it, the more I thought about it, the more I held it...I just couldn't let it go and in that moment, Rosie messaged me saying that the quilt was for me/Gracie's Gowns to keep as a reminder and keepsake of these children we make gowns for.

It is in my plans to have an office in the near-ish future, while I always say the sooner the better, we have some decisions to make and the office may have to be postponed just a wee bit, but I do know that when I have an office, there will be a reading corner for families and children to use while they are there. This will be going in that reading corner, so anyone who needs a hug, can snuggle up with it and feel connected and hugged by all the children who have gowns represented by this quilt. Right now, it sits on the back of my sewing chair...the best place for it to be, to continuously remind and inspire every stitch...and to keep me warm when this bedroom becomes way too cold. 

Thank you Rosie for blessing me with such a sweet keepsake...and thank you to all our families for blessing me with being a part of your child's medical journey, to inspire me to be a better person and to fight for not only what matters most, but what I believe in as well. 

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Operation NICU Surprise - Tripler Army Medical Center (Hawaii)

5/20/2014

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Earlier in the month we asked everyone on our Facebook page to nominate a NICU and/or Hematology/Oncology unit or clinic that was there favorite to receive a special surprise from Gracie's Gowns!

We are choosing two NICUs and two Hematology/Oncology units from those nominated to receive a special box from us. The first NICU was chosen - and it is going to Tripler Army Medical Center's NICU in Honolulu, Hawaii! Jennifer nominated the hospital after her son Colton (who is also a Gracie's Gowns recipient) was born and cared for by the NICU staff. She was awesome enough to include a story of his stay and just how wonderful the staff was - and some sweet photos to share as well!

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Here is her precious Colton when he was born and cared for back in August of 2011. She includes the following about the hospital and staff at Tripler Army Medical Center's NICU.


"Our son was in the NICU for 12 days in August 2011. Our pregnancy with my son was very rough. Not many doctors believed he would make it or he wouldn't live long after brith. The NICU was just very amazing with him. They did everything they could to help him and it was so nice to finally have someone believe in him. They felt like family to us when we were there. And they just went above and beyond for my son. The NICU staff was just amazing! My son had an MRI when he was 1 1/2 months old and they let my son back into the NICU to be observed overnight bc they knew I was very uncomfortable with him going to the PICU with a bunch of sick kids. They were very understanding and cared very much for my son! And being a Military Hospital a lot of kids are in there with just one parent and no other family members to help them out during a stressful time in life and they could use a little a cute hospital gown!"

The photo above on the left is Colton in his gown from us back in September of last year (2013) and the photo on the right is him today at 2.5 years old! Look how much he has grown and how precious that smile is!! Way to go Colton - you've come so far and we have no doubt it was because of the fabulous start and care you have received since coming into this world! 
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So what's the surprise we're sending to Tripler Army Medical Center's NICU?

Well, we are sending them thirty NICU smocks to be distributed to the babies they care for! We know it doesn't remotely even make a dent into the 1,100 babies they serve annually, but at least there will be thirty styling babies this year!

These will be sent out this week to Hawaii and we hope they are received with much love and bring many smiles to the families that receive on of the gowns!

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Thank you Jennifer for nominating Triple Army Medical Center's NICU and sharing Colton's NICU story with us and allowing us to share it with all that may read our posting!

Thank you as well to Kim for sewing pretty much every single one of these thirty gowns going to the NICU (after we drew the name - we learned Kim's granddaughter was born at this hospital as well, but fortunately did not need to be admitted to the NICU). 

Stay tuned for our second NICU to be drawn once we have the items completed - but also for our Hematology and Oncology units/clinics to be chosen!

Lots of Gracie's Gowns cuteness to come!
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Week Three of Winners Spring Raffle

4/22/2014

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We are entering the last week and some of our spring raffle now!
It has been so much fun drawing winners for the prizes given in this raffle and I hope everyone is loving their new goodies. Here are the winners from last year.
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Our eighteen winner was Vicki Quick - her items were from Scentsy!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Karen Day Hill!

Karen's business website is:
http://karendayhill.scentsy.us

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Our nineteenth winner was Susan Casey-Ellis - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were donated by Audra Smith - a Pampered Chef consultant that is close friends with a gown recipient's family.

Audra's business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/audra

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Our twenty-first winner was Irene Luck - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Marie Snyder - a local Pampered Chef consultant to Gracie's Gowns.

You can find Marie's business page on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/PampChefLady

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/foodisfun



CONGRATULATIONS to EVERYONE!!!
And thank you to everyone who has helped with this raffle by purchasing a ticket, donating items, sharing our event and inviting your friends as well!
We still have some tickets for purchase for the last of our amazing raffle items! There's a deep covered baker from Pampered Chef, Scentsy bundles and more still to be given away!
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A Little Break in Routine

4/15/2014

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Okay - so old picture, but had to use something with the sewing machine. I love sewing these hospital gowns, I love sewing them for your little ones and seeing their smiling faces and knowing how it can literally change a hospital experience from bad to at least tolerable. 

Sometimes though, I have to break the routine of making gowns and work on other projects, just to keep from crying over how many precious little ones are in need of such an item. It breaks my heart in so many pieces at times, that I have to sit back and remember how much of a blessing each child is, how they have changed the lives of those around them...how they fight, just to make it through another day and while yes, the odds are usually stacked against them, they inspire others to do such amazing things - like Gracie's Gowns and so many other organizations!

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One of the items that have been done and still being worked on were these squishy little monsters! We sold them over the course of a couple days in order to raise shipping funds for gowns.

I am happy to say they are almost all done and out in the mail (still have maybe 7 more in total to make I believe). Here is some of the ones that went out last week, as I didn't get pictures of the previous ones made to post. My apologies on that...they are too cute not to picture and post.

These guys come from leftover minky fabric that I have from making millions of blankets over the last few years I have been making for friends and family.

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One of the other items that get worked on in those little breaks are some bags for Beads of Courage - I love making these little bags from leftover pieces from gowns!

They are easy enough to make and still give that feeling of inspiration and fulfillment I suppose in knowing the fabric we use won't go to waste and can brighten the days of so many other children too.

This year we have 17 bags made so far to donate to Beads of Courage and will probably have close to 50 by the time the donation is ready to be made. We are hoping to be able to donate them to our local hospital with a Beads of Courage program. 

Lastly, whenever I really want to venture out into my sewing fun - I go back to making little items from leftover pieces of fabric and working through my own personal fabric stash and creating other items that we will be taking with us for our craft show in October - last year we raised $900 for Gracie's Gowns with items made from leftover pieces and whatever fabric I had on hand - this year we're hoping to meet and exceed that amount...especially with the Christmas Box Program coming up at that time of the year as well. Right now we've loaded the items into an etsy store (which will be put in vacation the Thursday before the show) to try and sell some of the items throughout the year with all the money being put into our shipping expenses. So here is the etsy mini with links in case you want to browse it!
With all that fun being said and shown - no worries, gowns are still being made, still being sent out and Gracie's Gowns is rolling right along like we always do. Sometimes just a little slower than normal, because we are in the process of moving and my health has gotten a little "interesting" for lack of a better word, but we are still upholding and maintaining our mission to provide every child we can a special hospital gown of their own to wear while in treatments, surgeries and hospital stays!

Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jessica
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Half-Way Through Spring Raffle

4/15/2014

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We're at the half-way point now!!
Fifteen days of winners and fifteen more days to go - we still have 78 tickets that we'd love to sell before the end of the raffle to meet our goal for sales. The proceeds from the ticket sales cover the cost of the items Gracie's Gowns had to purchase for the raffle, shipping costs of the items to winners, but also benefit our Christmas Box Program that we've been accepting items for and will continue through early December. The majority of the funds raised from the tickets sales will be put towards shipping of those Christmas boxes in mid December to our families that sign up for the program in late October.

So without further delay - here are some more of our winners in case you missed it on Facebook!
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Our ninth winner was Charlene - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Marie Snyder - a local Pampered Chef consultant to Gracie's Gowns.

You can find Marie's business page on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/PampChefLady

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/foodisfun

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Our thirteenth winner was Marla - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Marie Snyder - a local Pampered Chef consultant to Gracie's Gowns.

You can find Marie's business page on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/PampChefLady

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/foodisfun

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Our fifteenth winner was Kim - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Dawn Truex - a friend and Pampered Chef consultant to one of the families we have made a gown for.

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/mychefdawn



And that wraps up the second week of our winners and brings us half-way through the raffle as well!

Congratulations to everyone who has won and item so far and please don't forget to share, invite, and purchase a ticket for yourself!! We'd love to reach our overall goal for ticket sales, but even more so make sure we have funds available for shipping out our Christmas boxes!

To purchase a ticket please visit our events page at:
www.graciesgowns.org/events.html
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First Week of Winners - Spring Raffle

4/8/2014

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Our first week of winners and a special drawing winner have already happened!! So exciting and the majority of these items have already been mailed out too - thanks to some extra running around we've had to do in our personal world and was able to swing by the post office on those trips too.
We're excited to start another week of winners - after I draw today's winner - we still have 22 awesome days of prizes left to give away and another special drawing prize if we can still 200 tickets in total (we're at 117 right now). Lots of great Pampered Chef and Scentsy items are being given away and you're not going to want to miss out on the upcoming prizes for sure!
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Our first winner was Debbie - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Marie Snyder - a local Pampered Chef consultant to Gracie's Gowns.

You can find Marie's business page on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/PampChefLady

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/foodisfun

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Our third winner was Patricia - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were donated by Audra Smith - a Pampered Chef consultant that is close friends with a gown recipient's family.

Audra's business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/audra

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Our fifth winner was Ellen - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Marie Snyder - a local Pampered Chef consultant to Gracie's Gowns.

You can find Marie's business page on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/PampChefLady

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/foodisfun

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Our seventh winner was Becky - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were donated by Audra Smith - a Pampered Chef consultant that is close friends with a gown recipient's family.

Audra's business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/audra

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!!


To purchase your ticket(s) you can visit our website under the events tab - www.graciesgowns.org/events.html
and purchase them there using the Add to Cart button through PayPal.
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Tickets on Sale - Spring Raffle - Just for Mom

3/19/2014

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Gracie's Gowns is hosting a combined Pampered Chef and Scentsy raffle fundraiser just in time for Mother's Day!

We started selling tickets in February and will continue to have them on sale through April 30th, 2014. Tickets are $5.00/each.

Payments can be made by cash, check or PayPal - we will also have an "Add to Cart" button on our events page.



You can mail payments to the address below - please make any checks out to Gracie's Gowns, Inc :
Gracie's Gowns 
c/o: Jessica Kidd 
159 Ordinary Road
Mineral, VA 23117

They are two part raffle tickets, we will be keeping the part that has your name, address and phone number in order to contact you should your name be drawn as a winner during the raffle that will start on April 1st. The second section also has the same ticket number and that will be mailed to you once your payment has been received. 

Each day in April, we will be drawing a winner for one of our Pampered Chef or Scentsy prizes. They will alternate each day between the two companies. All prizes will be valued at $30.00 or more!! We will post the winners each day to Facebook and to our blog with a picture of the item won and the number drawn. Numbers will be drawn using random.org starting with the number 1 and ending with the total amount of tickets sold.

Your ticket can win more than once, but to have the best shot at winning an item, multiple tickets are encouraged.

Prizes will be mailed out weekly on Mondays - tracking numbers will be available as well once they are mailed. 

So make sure to share with your friends, family and everyone you know who loves Pampered Chef and Scentsy to help support Gracie's Gowns - all funds raised (after the purchase of the raffle items and shipping costs) will be put specifically towards our Christmas Box Program for this year


Here are some of the items we currently have in our raffle prizes!

We still have a few days left for any Scentsy Independent Consultant that would like to contribute towards our raffle prizes! All of our Pampered Chef days have been covered, but we have six Scentsy days that we need covered with item(s) valued at $30.00 or more. They can be bundled together to create the $30.00 value and we will be advertising your Facebook page and/or website each day that the item(s) you donate are given away.

Our Facebook event for the raffle is here - we will be posting winners every day to the event, as well as, our Facebook page itself:
https://www.facebook.com/events/631836276853318/


We have 60 tickets sold so far, we'd love to sell many more, so please share this with your family and friends so we can make this fundraiser really successful! Our biggest expense for the Christmas Box Project is going to be shipping, so the better start we can get on collecting the funds we will need helps us greatly!
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Fabric with Lots of Love - Lilahroo's

3/12/2014

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I have the wonderful opportunity to help out another great organization with some fabric to continue their mission. This time it is for Lilahroo's! Monica makes these precious, cozy, comfy and just wonderful blankets for children fighting medical challenges.

Do we have one? No - but my, oh my, you can just see from her photos and stories of children that have received one just how comfy they are! As someone who has made blankets for years, these are great quality, with wonderful fabrics. Cozy flannel on top and super soft minky on the back...perfect blanket ingredients!

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Here is Autumn with her gown and Lilahroo while at her clinic appointment! Doesn't she look super cozy there?!

There website to learn more about what they do, who they are, how to support and even all the stories from families that have received a blanket from Lilahroo's is:

http://www.lilahroos.com/


They are also on Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lilahroos/621064347914209

So since the kiddos and I are getting a lot closer to moving time and we've been holding onto some of these fabrics for a while now, without any requests to use them for, here are the cozy flannels we had to send Monica's way and even a minky fabric too:
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They will be on their way shortly - as in probably tomorrow's mail!!
Can't wait to see what little ones get wrapped up in a cozy blankie made from these fabrics.
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