blessing from the nienie auction

You all remember the Nielson story? I had mentioned that I bid on a couple of items on other blogs.

One was personalized stationery from Susann at Simplesong and I just received the second from Bethany, who also writes a fun blog.

From Bethany, I bid on a personalized quilt. I sent her about 20 old baby items {actually, a couple current ones were in there too} and she put together this amazing quilt. Could it be any more awesome?

I cried when she sent me a teaser photo. Each square holds a special memory or moment. There are a couple items from my 13 year old {she wore as a baby}. They were my favorites, so I saved them and all 3 other girls wore them. Then there's the hospital gown baby Hunter wore when she had her ear tube surgery. Some personalized t-shirts they got from daycare with their photos. Monogrammed sweaters, hooded towels, a pair of training 'undiEwears' {as my 'baby' calls them}. Big sigh ...

And what I love the most is the attention to detail. Bethany kept buttons & snaps visible, and cut out just the right detail of the clothing piece. Thank you, thank you, thank you Bethany.

The best part is that we were able to participate and help out the Nielson family in their time of need.

Just a reminder you can stay updated on the Nielson's here.

do good things, get good things

Remember the online auctions for the Nielson family?  I did some perusing of the auctions myself and bid on an item that Susann from Simplesong was auctioning ... personalized stationery!  She creates the yummiest letterpress stationery, not to mention she was an absolute pleasure to work with!

My box {literally} of goodies came yesterday ... my husband thought I was crazy for grabbing the stationery, my camera and running outside to take photos.  I was way to excited to wait.  "WHAT are you doing??" he asked.  "Stationery ... photography, what's the problem?" I answered.

I love how my cards turned out, now I need to get over the lusciousness of them and make sure I use them!

Susann also sent some extra treasures for me.  A letterpress camera? {sigh}  The list pad is pretty great too.  If you have a moment, stop by Susann's inspiring blog.

You can stay updated on Stephanie & Christian Nielson here.  And to see the amazing events still being planned in honor of them, visit here.

winner, winner!

I have been completely overwhelmed at the generosity and sense of community surrounding the Nielson family!  There were over 300 auctions set up to benefit this family in need ... some of which are still live.  So there's still time to head over and check it out!

I bid on a couple of items myself and am super excited that I 'won' the bids!  I'll update you on what I've won when I receive the items.  Both are personalized and handmade, so it may be a while ... but totally worth waiting for.

And thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who bid here!!  Unbelievable ...

Debbie, looks like you are the proud recipient of a box overflowing with finest paper has to offer!  I promise you won't be disappointed!

The top of this post includes a couple of buttons ... one to make donations directly to the NieNie Fund, and the second, a link to stay updated on the Nielson's recovery.

God bless you all for caring ...

silent auction for nienie

{photo courtesy of blue lily photography}

This is NieNie ... Stephanie & Christian Nielson.  They need our help.  I recently mentioned Design Mom's idea for a silent auction to help raise money for the NieNie Fund.  The photo below is what bwp is offering for our silent auction, hosted right here.  {find rules at the bottom of this post}.

This is a gift case filled to the brim with yummy goodies from the likes of susyjack*, Linda & Harriett, Dutch Door Press, Pink Loves Brown, Linea Carta, Jack & Lulu, Kate Spade ... just to name a few.  And the approximate value is $150.00.

And WOW! the outpouring of love for NieNie has been overwhelming!  I've read somewhere there are over 130 different auctions!  Here are some I've found {please check out design mom for a full listing, including what everyone is auctioning}:

KC Masterpiece

Design Mom

Bird On The Lawn

30 Handmade Days

Blue Lily Photography

Persimmon & Pink

Swanky Paper

A Daily Scoop

Sarah Jane

Ponytail Challenge

Choose to Write

The Sweet Line

Tangled and True

Lindsey Zufelt

A Room Somewhere

Tollipop

I Never Grew Up

Bloom

Caitlyn & Todd

Baby Anne Quilts

Patrick Lane

Heather Hales Design

The Dill Spiel

Knuckle Headers

Modern Myrtle

Get Up and Play

XO, Miss L2

Butternut Sage Designs

Make Mine A Quad

Claire B Cotts

A Daisy Original

Live Simply Live

Katie Timothy

Life Kunst

Sweet Treats 1

My Neck Candy

Noodle and Lou

The Biggie Blog

Beckstrom Family

Piece of Rager Mind

Mallory Robin

Olivia in Provo

Kayta Family

Summer Projection

Darling Darleen

Word Candy Vinyl

Vintage Fern

Lindsey Loo Designs

Sells Tidbits

C Jane

I had mentioned that if anyone wanted to host an auction, but needed something to auction, to contact me and I would send it to them.  Katie contacted me and I've sent her these Snow & Graham goodies to auction on her site.  {just an fyi, in case you're interested in some other bwp goodies!}

Okay, and now for the rules to start bidding on {and hopefully win!} the bwp gift case:

1. Silent auction will start Thursday, August 28 at 6:00am {ct}

2. Auction will end Sunday, August 31st at 10pm {ct}

3. Opening bid must start at $10.00

4. Bids must be placed in whole increments of $1.00

5. You will leave your bids in the comment section

6. You must leave an email address.  For security purposes, I suggest using this format; tracie{at}broadwaypaper{dot}com

7. I will confirm the winning bid {although it may be quite obvious!} on Monday, September 1 at 8:00am {ct}

8. The winning bidder must donate the amount bid to the NieNie Fund via a PayPal account already set up.  I will forward you a link to their account ... once you've paid, please forward me the confirmation and I will send you your lovely package.

Whew!  I think that does it ... sure hope I'm not missing anything here.

Let's all band together for a great purpose!  And be sure to stop by some of the other auctions ... great fun for a great cause!

support for nienie ...

{photo courtesy of design mom}

As is my usual MO, I can't remember where I first read about this ... but when I did, it touched me deeply.  I've been seeing the news pop up on a few more blogs here and there and am amazed {though I probably shouldn't be} at how the blog community is reacting with love, support and most importantly prayers.

Stephanie {Nie} and her husband, Christian were in a private plane crash and remain in critical {burn} condition.  Christian's flight instructor was killed in the crash.  The engine in the plane stalled shortly after takeoff and landed in a wood pile.  c jane has a link on her blog to the news story ... it shows a very vivid picture of the crash site that gives me chills.

I have my private pilot's license.  My husband is a private pilot and to impress him during our days of dating, I decided to get mine too.  I think a short skirt would've done the trick ... but no, that's ambitious me ...

The last flight I ever took {as pilot} was July 12, 2001.  I took off from a small Wisconsin airport with the intention of flying to Madison.  My mom, aunt and cousin were all on board.  It was a super windy day, but the wind was right down the runway {no cross wind} so I thought I'd be fine.  I radioed the tower with my intended destination and requested permission to takeoff.  Once I received clearance, I headed down the runway ... just before takeoff speed {and before I was ready}, our little plane took off.  The wind had gotten me at just the wrong time and put my plane in the air.  I was freaked out ... big time!  The stall horn came on, my heart was racing and I was freaking out.  My instincts must have kicked in {or maybe is was the Big Guy holding me}, but I somehow knew enough to keep the plane level and stop climbing and fortunately, the horn stopped and I gained control of the plane and my airspeed.

My hands are honestly sweating as I'm typing this ...

Anyway.

Once I gained control of my breathing, I circled back toward the landing pattern and called the tower for permission to land.  "That was the fastest trip to Madison I've ever seen," he said.  I landed safely, parked the plane, thanked God, and walked away from that little hobby.

So that was pretty rambly of me ... it just scares me sometimes to think of the 'what-if' scenario.  And to hear Stephanie's story ... it just makes me pretty sad, and I guess thankful all at the same time.  Stephanie and Christian have four small children.  They have months of recovery ahead of them.  Their children are going to a different state to be with relatives while their parents heal ... please, won't you join me in praying for them?

I was excited to see this post today and decided for next week's weekend greeting, I'm going to do a silent auction too.  I think it'll be an awesome way we can all show our support.

I also want to spread the word for any of you that have blogs that would want to host an auction too.  {please email me if you would like me to donate a prize to your auction}.  If you don't have a blog, or don't want to host an auction, please see Design Mom's post for some other ways you can help.

I don't know what I'm going to give yet for a prize, but I promise it will be greater than great!  And instead of posting next Friday {for the weekend greeting}, I'm going to start the silent auction on Thursday.  I'll let you know what the prize is and what the rules are at that time.

I urge, urge, urge you to get involved and help ... it's the least we can do.