Hollie wrote to say that she ordered Chill & Spill because of the great referrals she had gotten from other Child Life Specialists and because she saw that her long-term patients really needed to be able to have a way to express their emotions and release them. She wrote that she likes the journals because they give her teen patients the ability to be able to do that privately and on their own time, but that the direct result of that is that it then helps them open up to others. She writes, “I had a 14 year old patient who would not open up and communicate with either staff or even her mom. Once provided with Chill & Spill, this patient was able to appropriately express her emotions and immediately became more open with her mom, Child Life Specialists and nursing staff!”

Hollie’s co-worker, Shay, also wrote to tell us that all the patients that she gave the journal to were grateful to receive them and enjoyed filling them out. She writes about her 17 year old patient, “Even though no one had told her, she knew she was dying. She filled the journal with day to day activities, visitors, pictures, magazine cut outs and even had staff sign it. She completely filled it up (and then some). She even [was inspired to] research dream interpretations. I think that, after the patient died, it was helpful to her mother. I know it was helpful for my patient.”

Lisa, our wonderful Development Assistant, recently took a trip to Guatemala and brought copies of Oodles de Doodles (our Spanish version of Art with Heart’s therapeutic activity book for hospitalized children) for the children she’d be working with in the local cancer ward there. An art therapist named Dulce had been trying for over a year to get books to this hospital and was thrilled to welcome Lisa and the books to the ward.

Lisa was surprised to find out that because the children don’t go to school, none of them knew how to color or draw. Despite that, they took to it enthusiastically and were proud of their new skills inspired by Oodles de Doodles. The other fact that Lisa was surprised to find was that because the hospital had very little in the way of resources and rooms, children with cancer are given treatments in the waiting room and then sent home. Lisa will post more about her trip and how she saw the books making a difference in an upcoming blog entry.

The workshop was based on an activity from Chill & Spill: we asked the artists to think about words that described who they really were. They chose one, or a few, to illustrate, through the printing process. We had many choices for them: including collagraph, foam relief or linoleum block printing. Everyone chose whichever medium suited them best and some tried all three!

The staff really enjoyed the hands-on teaching and sharing experience with everyone, especially Doris, our self-proclaimed “non-artist” (we keep telling her that everyone is an artist, but she just refuses to believe us!).

As you can see, the results spoke for themselves! You can see more photos posted in our gallery section.

The Tickled Pink Brigade stopped by today to deliver the donations they gathered from their lemonade stand. They were so adorable!

It’s exciting to see parents encouraging their kids towards philanthropy. It’s so important to encourage them to use their blessings and talent for others, starting at a young age. That way they will know early-on the immeasurable joy that comes from giving and will continue it as normal, everyday part of their lives.

There was great interest in “Art with Heart” throughout the day and the kids handed out information. They wore Oodles of Doodles tee shirts and showed off our collection of books.

The kids will be hand-delivering the proceeds in person this week…we can’t wait to thank them for their marvelous contribution!

We had a wonderful trip to Arizona – a combined vacation and book signing / reading events for our new book, “Such a Silly Baby.” Since we are donating a portion of our proceeds to Art with Heart, we also had the opportunity to talk with parents about the organization during the event. The Barnes & Noble in the Foothills Mall got so excited about the AwH books, that they are trying to figure out a way to help on a more permanent basis.

During the book signing at Changing Hands in Tempe, we got to meet Jim Paillot, one of the illustrators of “Magnificent Marvelous Me!” It was such a treat for me, especially since much of my communication with the illustrators is through email and phone calls. A few weeks back, he wrote, “I received my book today… it is so incredibly COOL! The design, the art direction and most importantly- the idea- is so fantastic! We have a tradition in out house that if someone does something remarkable or heroic or outstanding then they get to eat off the red plate at dinner. You would be eating off the red plate at out house if you were here.” Such an honor!

We brought up each group of people who contributed in some way, to introduce them to the rest and to thank them for being absolutely marvelous. We would not have been able to put this book together if it hadn’t been for them.

Hallie Holton (pictured with her family) was the inspiration for the Oodles book was happy to chat with the other guests about her “star status”, but her younger sister Katie was all smiles since she now has a book dedicated and inspired by her. She has reason to be proud…this book will be able to help 5,000 siblings just like her – in the first printing alone!

It was especially enjoyable to watch the therapists talk to the artists and the printers talk to the Holton family. It’s such a joy to bring people together for such a good cause. And what’s wonderful is that they get to experience that amazing joy that comes only from knowing you made a difference.

Click on the photo gallery to see more pictures from the event (they are posted under “Event”)!

As we spoke to over 150 Child Life Specialists, we shared with them an overview of the needs and profiles of siblings of children with a serious illness or disability, as well as the therapeutic reasons we created “Magnificent Marvelous Me!”

Sales were brisk at our booth, especially for the new book (dubbed MMMe for ease of typing). Each time someone came up to the booth who had not heard of us before, someone else would walk up saying “Oh! I love your books! We use them all the time! Is this a new one?!” It was so encouraging to meet the folks who are bringing Oodles and Chill & Spill to the kids and working with them in the hospital setting.

SEATTLE, WA: Nonprofit publisher, Art with Heart, creator of innovative children’s therapeutic activity books, announces its latest creation: a line of greeting cards designed to complement their Oodles of Doodles and Chill & Spill books for kids. Twenty-four popular contemporary artists – such as Mary Grand Pré, known for her captivating work on the Harry Potter books – illustrated the cards. This bright and lively collection will debut at the National Stationery Show, running May 20-23, 2007 at the Javits Convention Center in New York, showcased at Booth #1755 in the “Of Note” section. The cards retail for $2.25 each. Steffanie Lorig, author of both the Oodles and Chill & Spill books will be present to help celebrate the launch.

Among the variety of traditional greetings appropriate both for the young and the young at heart, are several designs in the Oodles line created just for hospitalized children. One such card features doctor and nurse paper dolls; another features a checklist of silly things the child will need to make their stay more pleasant, such as beef jerky and a whoopee cushion. Also of note are the Chill & Spill inspirational cards designed especially for teens and ‘tweens and illustrated by “hip and hot” artists who are known for their work in Rolling Stone, MTV, Pepsi-Co, etc.

The project is a result of a collaboration of many hearts and hands: Emerald City Graphics donated both the paper and printing, Courtney Routh of optimistlab.com donated copywriting services and Vivtiv designed the cards pro bono. Each of the artists that originally donated their work to Art with Heart’s books allowed reprinting in this form in order to benefit more children. As a result, 100% of the proceeds are able to go back to Art with Heart, whose mission is to empower youth in crisis through creativity. Each set of cards sold helps underwrite the distribution of free therapeutic books to hospitalized children or youth facing crisis.

Art with Heart is a growing nonprofit organization who has unleashed their creativity to make a difference in young lives across North America. Founded in 1996, Art with Heart has helped over 25,000 children affected by cancer and other serious illnesses.

These cards, as well as Art with Heart’s books, are available directly from Art with Heart at our online shop.