Crazycaterpillar's Place

What an amazing result!!!- SCKC 2008 Wrap Up

Both Southern Cross Kids Camps were AMAZING!!! The books a huge success, the buddies and staff thrilled with how they made their life at camp so much easier and left them feeling thrilled to gift the children with stunning books..

The first week was quite stressful as we had multiple technical problems with the computers and printers and I spent most of my time at them trying to either resolve the situation or proof the ever growing numbers of pictures.......The books were brilliant, the buddies loved how easy they were to create and i was relieved that my attention was able to stay on the photography side of things. At the Church were the parents and carers gathered to pick up the kids and hear a little concert, I saw many children proudly showing their parents how they had in fact climbed a 10m climbing wall, used a drill to create a wooden car or plane, dressed up as princesses for a spot of high tea or ridden the infamous tea cups at the birthday gala day, all of the stress of the week seemed to evaporate away at their pride.

The second week was as perfect as any of us could hope for, better for me as my two youngest were there as Cousins. I can't articulate the feeling of overwhelming pride I had in their 150% commitment and focus on the children we had in our care. The campers were a beautiful group of children, mostly homeless due to marital abuse and some due to financial difficulty, with only a few behavioural problem kids, so it was easy to pour love out onto them as they were like sponges ready to soak it up, forget their troubled realities and simply be kids. Thankfully, being assigned a photographer, i  had the opportunity to be with them on all of their activities and I captured the first day the initial scared and tremulous looks when the arrived and continued with them daily to see them all open up and by Wednesday, huge smiles, triumphant high fives and faces bursting with pride and excitement filled the photos on my camera.

It was truly an awesome and privileged thing to experience being there to hear there excited giggles, their triumphant war cry when they over came obstacles they thought impossible, watch them discover the delight of simply playing and being children and best of all, watching them receive their books in an almost reverent way at the end of the week. I cant share their faces with you, but ALL were gazing in awe at the faces that shone back at them, the memories of their week captured in gorgeous keepsakes that you all helped create.

The combination of the children's reaction and the buddies overwhelming relief & gratefulness that the books they could give would be so very easy to make and yet be so incredibly beautiful had me wanting to email you all  through the weeks to share with you the absolute success of our combined LO creations.

So THANKS AGAIN!!!! I can now say with utmost authority, YOU really made a difference, in a huge engine that is SCKC, as individuals, in all our different ways we came together to ensure 47 Children & their families or carers had the most amazingly memorable SCKC Camp!!!

Below are some picture collages of both camps buddies making the books and a collage of one of the weeks children's receiving theirs. I hope that in the future we can continue to work together to ensure we can impact more and more of these most deserving children, making sure they have days of sunshine to light up their entire year. I know that three SCKC converts now live in my house and we are already planning ideas for next years camps!!

THANKS, between us all we have made 47 little lives a little surer that they are worth the effort!

Jules x

SCKC..... Starts Today!!!

Hey!!

Well the SCKC Camp that started this whole avalanche of LO donation, begins today, My living room now looks like one again, with all the books and supplies waiting to go into my car!! I am so very thrilled to be beginning this two week journey, knowing that so much love and compassion went into the Memory Books that will be filled and presented to the kids next Friday, It just makes this year that much more precious.......and the Thanks for that Must go to you!!

I could never have done it with out your help, I cant wait to see the buddies reaction and I have made a simple notice board, many of your letters that came with your LO contributions are up on display for the Buddies to see what helping meant to you guys too........

Anyway, I must say a huge Thanks to the ladies who have contributed this week..Carolyn O and her Scrapping friends donated a staggering 430 odd, Dianne Davison from Canada sent her beautiful lot such  an incredible distance, ElaineS and last but not least Dawn L......Thanks so much ladies for your contribution...we now have an incredible 6650 LO's!!!!

I will be taking photos through the week, of the buddy's creating the books, the completed inside of a few AND I am going to try and get some of the children looking at their books, they wont have quite the impact I would like you guys to see as we cant show their faces.......but alas, you will get the idea...On that note, I am off, I need to pack...Take care and see you in two weeks.

Mwahhhh

Jules 

Yarra Ranges SCKC says .........

ETA Monday 31st: New total 6197!! Thanks to Gloria W & her daughter Mellissa, Wendy G and last but not least by any shot, Susan B, a wonderful contribution ladies!

ETA Todays contributions by Tam P and Susan M has taken our SCKC LO total to 6009!!!!! An amazing amount of combined caring and generosity, THANKS again to each and every one of you!

Yarra Ranges SCKC says .........

THANKS!!!! The directors, Buddies and general staff were overwhelmed when I arrived Monday afternoon with my suitcase absolutely stuffed with the LO's you all contributed, packaged into mini kits with the SEI books, co-ordinating papers and embellishments! It was almost as overwhelming to experience their excited gratitude first hand as it was to receive the amazing response from you ladies.

After a lovely dinner and a welcome talk the buddies enthusiastically began the task of creating the precious books for the children that attend the Yarra Ranges camp. Many of the staff and directors commented that this much "first night enthusiasm" about the memory books was unheard of, the buddies embraced the challenge, even the guys seemed to enjoy the process. And the LO's created so enthusiastically by you ladies were complimented with beautiful covers, made ready for a week full of memories to remind the children 365 days a year of their joyful week at camp!!

Truly you guys continue to Thank me for offering you the opportunity to help SCKC, it really is me that needs to Thank You, I have had the most wonderful experience giving the buddies their books and knowing that at the end of this week 29 little kids will leave with their memories wrapped up in a book full of and made with the purest Love!

ETA:  A huge Congrats to Sarah Fawcett & Megan Griffiths........My daughter  helped me do the "Thank You" Gift draw, two yummy gift packs kindly donated by Sasha at Shop and Crop..... and both your names came out of the box!!!

Time Flies......

My apologies, who came and stole the last 10 days??

I have been overwhelmingly busy, life in general snuck up and reminded me of its existence, the Easter came along, a mad dash to Melbourne!! It has all been happening!

AND Your wonderful LO's have continued to fill my PO Box!! 454 have arrived over the past few days, Thanks so much Kathryn s, Rihani, Kim A, Belinda A, Cara H, Deb B, Julie M, Wendy S and Belinda B, once again a gorgeous lot of LO's that will fill the pages of these precious Memory Books for the deserving Children that attend SCKC. This contribution brings our total running tally to an incredible 5948!!! Well Done everyone who has and is contributing!!!.

I must say a very special and Heartfelt Thanks to Julie from Scraptacular!! Wow Julie your generosity was overwhelming, dozens of Alpha Sticker sets, Dbl sided Tape, Glue, AC Buttons and more, an incredibly generous box of goodies!! Thanks so much for your continuing support! It was amazing to bump into your Aunt at the Melbourne Camp, (More about that in next post!) I recalled you mentioned your Aunt helped at similar camps, but had no idea it was a SCKC camp and was thrilled when I could say I knew you!!

Stay Tuned, I am just about to draw the Thank You prize for two lucky ladies AND I have some Pictures of the Buddies from the Yarra Ranges Camp!!

Soon!

A HUGE THANKS

ETA: 17th March.... 757 new LO's to add to the total!! !!!!Thanks to the Girls from Scrapbookit, Michelle R, Genevieve C, Helen F, Julie S, Liz H, Jodie B, Mandy K, Ann M, Jennifer M, Sally C, Janet W, Kaylene H & Emily B, an awesome contribution ladies! Also a huge Thanks to Michelle Wallace from Fiskars 180 gorgeous LO's Michelle, Debbie W, Debbie Y, Marilyn Peters and the girls that helped you create a huge boxful!! Karen and again some generous Singaporean scrappers, Felicia and another Thanks to Maricar and her group for their huge combined contribution!! They are all gorgeous and will look amazing in the albums!!!

Hello Ladies,

Once again, I have received a huge number of Pages for the Deserving Children that attend Southern Cross Kids Camp..... A big Thanks to DebG, gorgeous! Sylvia, Thanks once again for your continued support and a whopping contribution from the Girls at Scrapbook'n'Bits, Karen C, Alison C, Alison E, Noela H, Michelle J, Toni M, Malinda G,Julie C, Linda E & Susan L

Simply stunning, the running tally for LO's contributed for the deserving little kids that attend SCKC each year is now at 5390 an incredible combined effort. Don't forget those who have contributed will be eligible for the Thank you Draw......with two prize packs donated by Shop and Crop worth $35 each AND I am happy to announce  a gorgeous goodies pack donated by Stampin Up!!! I will draw that on Tuesday the 25th of March

We still have many more to come and are thrilled with the result! I have been asked to attend the Annual SCKC Directors summit to talk to all the directors about the significance of the Memory Books, with the addition of journaling throughout and lovingly scrapped by so many. With the amazing total above, It really does mean that I can stand there in all confidence and give assurances that we are willing to provide the Base LO's for the Books. Which is just brilliant, with your help we can really change the lives of over 300 Children a year!!!

I want to reassure you that any LO's still coming will most certainly be put into Memory Books for other camps AND If you are reading this for the first time and want to help, your offered contribution will also be greatly appreciated! In fact if You still want to join us, have a read of my earlier post about the abused Children of SCKC , and if you have your contribution in before Tuesday the 25th, you will be eligible to enter the Thank you draw mentioned above!

Here are a few piccies of the pages all sorted ready for the Books, yes There is carpet and a pool table under that lot!! LOL......Last night I put them all with the books and have begun sorting them into age group and sexes.....Such an amazingly satisfying job and so thrilling because even without Photos and extra embellishments, positive Journaling etc, they look fantastic and I know the children are going to realize how much love went into them!

Take Care and have a good rest of the weekend!

Jules

My Postie put in a compo claim!!

ETA Thursday 13th....83 today.....Thanks Lyn F & Jen Kirk!!  A great contribution!!!

LOL..... Just kidding about the Postie!!!

Another incredible number of LO's for the deserving Children that attend Southern Cross Kids Camp......another 556 in total today!

A truly international effort today with Marion K's arriving from Singapore, and Nic Howard sent a big boxful from the Timaru Girls with an extra special thanks to 9 year old Natasha, who made some wonderful LO's for the kids, also thanks to P Marshall, Emily P, Susan M and another special thanks to Susans Daughter, 7 yr old Amanda, Beautiful LO's Amanda, Thanks for helping Mum out!! Also a big thanks to Amanda R and her group that got together to create pages Marnie, Danielle, Sonya, Corrina and even Danielle's husband Jason, who was so moved by the cause he not only helped the girls out but made a set of 20 himself!! WTG Jason!! & last but not least Linda P who has already contributed three packages so far .

In total you wonderful Scrappers have now contributed a staggering 3778 LO's for these precious 6x6 Memory Albums....that is almost 188 Albums or  almost 6 whole SCKC camps!!! Just incredible!!

Once again I cant say enough about the difference we are all making!! I spoke to the Buddies and staff at our SCKC  pre camp meeting on Monday night, and shared a little journaling I had done about my Grandpa to try and illustrate the impact journaling can have, they were excited at the prospect that this year they can concentrate on writing meaningful and positive words in their childrens books!!!

Exciting news too, Kathy Smith from Rememberwhen has been emailing me with a fund raising opportunity for SCKC she has generously offered! More about that soon, Thanks Kathy, your generosity is wonderful!

Huge Hugs to you all!

Jules

Phew!!!

ETA Tuesday 11th March  Another 179 to add to our SCKC Count!!

Special Thanks To Sharon's 8 yr old daughter for her LO, thanks Honey, your's and Mummies were all so beautiful I couldnt tell them apart! Also Thanks to Cari who sent her contribution all the way from the USA; The lovely Lee L and Yvonne from OzSwap and last but not least Kristine....Thanks Ladies!

Wow!!! Today my PO Box was chockers!! Full of LO's donated by you wonderfully big hearted scrappers for Southern Cross Kids Camp

11 Packages, containing a  whopping 1128!!!!

The girls from One Stop Scrapping contributed an amazing 500 pages; Thanks Tracey C, Lesa, Rebecca, Char, Tam, Alia, Tracey T, Deb, Sonja, Wendy, Janine, Kristy, Sally, Louise, Sandy, Kathy, Nancy & Beryl....Awesome effort ladies that is enough for 25 complete books!!

Also a huge thanks to the NZ Ladies, sent via the Lovely Trina, thanks to Trina, Andrea, Jo M, Fiona, Debbie B, Katie, Kelly & Jo and Deb, an awesome 310 LO's!!

Phew....LOL......More grateful Thanks to Karen R, Sharon G, Sylvia M, Dawn S, Ngairie B, Megan G, Yvon, Ruey (Thanks For the load of stash too, will be very handy :) ) and last but not least Tracey C.

We have a new counter now Melbourne's Needs are fulfilled, WOOOHOOOO, the new counter will be a simple count up so we can all see how many we have accomplished together!

I spent the weekend sorting pages with my Girlfriend, we have sorted 28 Boys books and 35 Girls book so far!!!! Just wonderful, I wanted to pop some piccies up but now we have so many more LO's to sort I will try and do it tomorrow!!!

Thanks again Ladies

Jules

Illawarra Needs Fullfilled!!

ETA: I popped down to my local Scrap Shop tonight, the Girls were having a Friday night crop.......They created a huge 102 LO's for SCKC....Thanks Brige, Ally, Janine, Cass, Kim, Alison, Mel , they are beautiful and have helped Melbournes Camp enormously! Mel who owns Addicted 2 Scrappin was kind enough to source the SEI Albums we are using at the three camps this year, very cheap too! Thanks Mel!!

WOOHOOOO!!!

LOL, so funny that to complete the needs ofthe Two Illawarra Camps we needed just 20 LO's.....well today I arrived at my PO Box and there was One lonely little Package, with 20 LO's inside!!!! How amazing is that!!

Thanks Annette! Gorgeous LO's too!

So now we move onto Melbourne SCKC and establishing a new counter to keep a track of what you send in  for the next scheduled SCKC camps. You are all more than welcome to continue scrapping these LO's and we will sort and store them for camsp coming up next. I have had several emails from Ladies who plan to keep  scrapping them through the year when they have left overs from other LO's created! Then when it comes to an annual call, they will have some on hand!

From a little seed, desperately planted a few weeks ago, an incredible and enduring tree has sprung, one which has innumerable branches that have sprouted their own branches and fruited so quickly...., now in that seed that was planted, was a hope, maybe, just maybe, united, we COULD provide that physical anchor of love and HOPE to ALL the SCKC camps in Australia & NZ ( 8 at this stage) by providing enough albums/LO's for all the children that attend each camp.........we think, with just a few more scrappers, which will come in time, that this could be a reality as early as next year!!! AND HOW AMAZING WOULD THAT BE!!!!

I really hope you all understand what an amazing thing this drive for LO's has been, the wondrous way that so many women from all over the world, have combined to create these gorgeous pages, that will be sorted and find their way into lovely books with precious photos, positive words and take pride of place in lots of very deserving children's hearts and hands. A very precious and worthy thing we have all contirubuted to with such open hearted compassion!



If you are keen to help these children out once a year, you can email me or head over to my blog to register your offer of help. Or if you have already contacted Myself, Nic Howard or Trina McClune rest assured when we do a drive perhaps later this year, we will email and alert you.

.....From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of so many.....THANKS and God Bless!

Wanna See What over 1600 LO's look Like!

AMAZING!!! Another 348 Today arrived in 11 separate packages.

Huge Thanks to Allie and Her lovely Little Girl Marnie :) ; Jody; Jaimiee; Jayne; Robyn; Fiona; Chris; Karen; Vesna; Julia and Michelle.....Wonderful Ladies Thankyou so very Much!!

I really have to begin sorting them as Melbourne SCKC is in 3 weeks, I know there are many more coming, and those we will need for Melbourne and NZ and the other camps that will happen throughout this year. Like I said ladies, don't be alarmed that LO's you are doing now, or planning on doing are in vain, They aren't......We are keeping them safe or will be  and organising them into lots for future camps!!

I know I have received many emails from you all regarding future commitment to these Memory books and hope I have replied to everyone, this truly is such a wonderful achievement and we look forward, with your help to being able to supply ALL the Memory Book needs for All the SCKC camps, if your keen to contribute or continue to, please check out my first Post about these wonderful camps.p>

For now though we are only 20 away from fulfilling Illawarras Needs!! How awesome is that..... Melbourne will countdown next and then beyond that we will create another combined SCKC ticker that will count up so you can all see the growing contributions!! Thanks Ladies this has been one of the most heart warming & rewarding experiences to be a part of! Combined we REALLY are making and ENORMOUS difference!!

Hugs to you all!

Jules

Wait till you hear this!!!

ETA WE gave the Melbourne Turtle a little head start by sharing some of the LO's we got today!!

184 Kids Camp Lo's  Arrived in my PO Box today!!! Thanks greatly to Shelley, Marie, Suzanne & Linda. I was also delighted to receive a huge box of "Collections" Raw Chipboard Alphas & Embellishments...Thanks Julie, what a wonderful contribution from everyone!

ETA : Tim the Director Of Melbourne/Yarra Ranges SCKC has popped in and left a comment you might like to read >>> Here <<<<

YIPPEE, a massive 419 today!!!!

A huge thanks to, Kerry, Tania & Vicky, Karen, Dee (again !!) Cassandra & Suzanne, Sylvia (again!!), Julie and Sophie, who has sent hers all the way from France!

I continue to be amazed and thrilled at everybody's big hearted generosity. WTG LADIES!!

Froggy is nearing the finish line and I know many of you are checking in to see his progress, Or you have just popped in for the first time, some of you maybe even busy creating pages and wondering do we really need them now?? .....

I am thrilled to be able to say YES WE DO!

I have an email from the camp Director of SCKC in Melbourne, he has asked if we could possibly help supply these amazing pages and books for their Camp, for the Kids that will attend Melbourne's camp in early April.

Now I have to admit, Trina, Nic and myself have talked of future plans, maybe do an annual drive between us to in the hope that ALL the camps in Australia and NZ are supplied with these awesome scrapped pages. We have all been so overwhelmed & thrilled by the response from you wonderful scrappers and feel that it this may be an achievable outcome, for next year and beyond. Well it seems our combined wish to make a difference with as many kids as possible, has become more part of the now plan than the next years plan.

We have so many gorgeous LO's already here or on their way or emails with offers of help and we decided that it would be possible, to help all three camps out with their Memory book needs......with maybe just a few more scrappers (We are still receiving offers of help daily!) commitment to this project we think we can make it......

HOW AMAZING WOULD THAT BE!!!

So please if your still making Pages or considering helping, do so, as the need is great and we will stockpile any from this wonderful response, for next years NZ camp firstly then move onto keeping a pile growing for the camps scheduled to be held through this year here in Australia!!

Many of you have emailed that you would love to help again and we are thrilled & in awe of your continued commitment to this project and truly hope you understand even just a little the wonderful impact you are having on these deserving children's lives!!

I have created  a new friend for  Froggy , yep that's him over to the left, Toby, the turtle is his name and we are fairly certain he will be working as hard as the frog, keeping track of the LO's we are receiving on behalf of these kids!

Take Care and the hugest Hugs to you all

Jules