Hambo Hoedown is doing a Card Drive for SAS4Kids!

 We are thrilled to announce that today is a new challenge at Hambo Hoedown and they are doing a card drive for Send a Smile 4 Kids! Everyone who enters a card in their Everything Goes challenge this week is encouraged to send it in to SAS4Kids to cheer a child who is inpatient in one the seven children's hospitals we are now servicing. Thank you Hambo for teaming up with us and helping us get the word out about SAS4Kids!

Say hello to Bailey. Isn't he cute? He is the digital stamp that Hambo has given for free to last week's participants in their challenge, and also to our design team to make cards with this week. Two of us joined Hambo today as guest design team members and our cards are below. But be sure to come back to the challenge blog side on Saturday to see the rest of the TEAM S.A.S. cards using Bailey and also three more cards from members of the Hambo design team who are joining us that day!

Hambo Hoedown does require you use a Hambo stamp to enter their challenges, but if you don't have any yet, you can go here and use one of their freebies to join in the challenge.  Then next week you will get a free digital stamp via email to continue to play in their challenges. So come join us at the Hambo Hoedown and then please consider sending in your card(s) to one of our addresses under the tab above.

Here are the cards Hilde and I created as guest dt members:

Thank you again to Hambo and their design team for joining up with SAS4Kids for this card drive. We really appreciate everything they have done and every card we receive!

Stamping smiles 4 Kids, Karen 

CardMaker Magazine is Featuring Send a Smile 4 Kids!!

We are so thrilled to be the featured charitable organization in the Readers Reach Out section of CardMaker Magazine January 2012 issue on stands NOW! I have my copy in my hands right now and SAS4Kids is on page 26!! You can see it on line here but I suggest picking up a paper copy so you can see all the neat cards and other features in the magazine too.

Thank you soooo much to CardMaker for selecting us. We sure look forward to getting some cards from their readers to help cheer our kids in the seven children's hospitals we are now servicing. We also have two new addresses to mail your cards to since the article came out, so be sure to check under the tabs above for our guidelines and current addresses.

We are currently looking for Valentines and spring holiday cards and of course everyday cheer cards for the kids. We are also going to be collecting Mother's Day and Father's Day cards for the kids to use to give to their Mom or Dad or grandparent if they are in the hospital on one of those days. The joy of giving is one of the best ways I know to cheer someone up. So keep these ideas in mind as you make and send in your cards for our kids.

Stamping smiles 4 our kids, Karen

SAS4Kids is Growing Again!!

Send a Smile 4 Kids is thrilled to announce today that we have added  four more Children's Hospitals where your donated cards can help cheer the kids who are inpatient, AND two more addresses you can choose to send your cards to! Sarah Taylor, who is a member of our design team, has graciously volunteered to accept packages of donated cards and will be delivering them to the children at the following hospitals:

University of Iowa Children's Hospital, Iowa City, Iowa

Blank Children's Hospital, Des Moines, Iowa

Sandford Children's Hospital, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Next time you have any cards appropriate for children, please send them to this address:

SAS4Kids C/O Sarah Taylor

3419 7th Ave.

Sioux City, Iowa 51106

Send a Smile 4 Kids (Canada) is also growing! They have added another address to mail your cards to and one more hospital as well. Lynette Pinno will be collecting your donated cards and giving them to the children at Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta.

If you are in Canada or overseas, please send them to either of our Canadian addresses:

SAS4Kids (Canada) c/o Shelley Dureau

2525 Cable Court

Coquitlam, BC

V3H 3G1

Canada  OR

SAS4K (Canada) c/o Lynnette Pinno
Box 1256
Camrose, Alberta
T4V 1X2

Holiday cards can still be sent to the original Wisconsin address. Of course, any of the addresses are fine to send your donated cards to at any time, but we would like to encourage you to help our new hospitals the most right now.

A NOTE TO READERS FROM CARDMAKER MAGAZINE:  SAS4Kids is going to be the featured charitable organization in the Readers Reach Out section of Cardmaker Magazine on stands in December 2011 and we are thrilled to be chosen and to receive your cards! The new addresses and hospitals added here were announced after the deadline for this issue. Your Valentines and other cards can be sent to any of our addresses, but we encourage you to support our newest locations and hospitals.

Right now, we are asking for your winter and holiday cards so that every child in all these hospitals over the holiday season will receive a handmade card to help cheer them and their family. Thank you to all who have donated so far, and we look forward to receiving and distributing your cards to our kids! 

Stamping smiles 4 our kids, Karen 

Welcoming Send a Smile 4 Kids (Canada)!!

We are thrilled today to welcome our Canadian partner SEND A SMILE 4 KIDS (CANADA) to our cause!  SAS4Kids is joining up with Cards for Kids and together we are going to help cheer even more children who are inpatient in Children’s Hospitals!

I found out about Cards for Kids when I asked Feline Playful (the best challenge blog list ever!!) to list SAS4Kids in their RAK section. I noticed how similar it was to SAS4Kids and emailed Shelley Dureau about that. We want to cheer as many kids as possible, so when the time was right, I asked if she wanted to team up. Here is what Shelley has to say about that:

“As a crafter, I am frequently inspired by the projects I see out in blogland and I must admit to being an avid scrap-lifter of ideas and designs. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada) started because of someone else’s idea. When I first saw SAS4Kids, my initial thought was "what a great idea, I'll send some of my cards". My next thought was "Why spend money on postage to the U.S. when there's a Children's Hospital right here in Vancouver that would appreciate cards". I suggested setting up a Canadian branch of SAS4Kids but the timing wasn’t right; so a quick email to B.C. Children's Hospital and a follow-up telephone conversation and Cards for Kids was born. I kept in touch with SAS4Kids though in hopes that one day we could partner together. And, yay, that day has arrived! Effective today, Cards for Kids has officially become Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada)!!! I’m so excited to be part of this wonderful charity and look forward to sending a lot smiles to kids in the U.S. and Canada!”

Now when you get a package of cards ready to send in, you have two addresses to choose from. If you are from Canada or overseas, or anywhere, you can send to my Wisconsin address OR our Canadian partner, Send a Smile 4 Kids (Canada) at:

SAS4Kids (Canada) c/o Shelley Dureau

2525 Cable Court

Coquitlam, BC

V3H 3G1

Canada

You can email Shelley at: cardsforkidscanada@yahoo.ca   and her blog is here: http://sendasmile4kidscanada.blogspot.com/

We have their blog badge on the side of this page and on the challenge page that you can click on anytime to visit Send a Smile 4 Kids (Canada).  Please take a look at the great job Shelley did re-branding her blog to match ours and leave a welcoming comment for her when you are there.

Welcome Canadian friends and thanks to all who help to put smiles on our kids faces!

Stamping smiles 4 Kids, Karen