Arizona delivery, Take 2!

I really love that Candice is handing these scarves out one at a time AND getting to know the person receiving it.

She says she 'loves the opportunity it gives her to meet other women going through cancer.' She also say's, 'There is something about going up to a perfect stranger and having something to give them that opens up a conversation versus me just randomly walking up to someone and trying to start a conversation. Honestly I feel so blessed to be just a simple messenger in this amazing project you started.' -Candice

'This is Kelly, single mom of 2 kids. She has stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. Her cancer has spread to her brain, blood, and bones. Her mom died of the same disease nine months before she was diagnosed. She is very sick and in a lot of pain, but the entire time we visited, which was about an hour and a half, she smiled the entire way and was so uplifting and encouraging. Such a positive attitude and amazing story! She told me how her neighbors who were LDS did so much service and so many wonderful things for her and her family. That led them to find out about the church and getting baptized. She is so grateful for her new faith and for the direction it gives her and her family. '

'Giving her the scarf and finding her gives me a blessed friend for life!'

- Candice

Rhode Island! 12 done, 38 to go!

This package is headed to Emily in Rhode Island!

I had a special someone with me today as I delivered this package to the post office, MY DAD! My dad is one of my favorite people!

This package was the last of the 4 I had ready to ship! It's time to get busy and sew a bunch more, but before I do I have a home improvement project to complete- painting my deck.

Nevada! Michigan! Washington! Shipped.

This past week has been pretty productive. I was able to sew 40 scarves and I gave 20 scarves to a friend to sew for me. Not bad! So with 40 scarves complete, it's time to do some more shipping!

Nevada! This one's for you!

It'll be delivered TOMORROW!

I feel pretty lucky to have such pretty AND talented daughters. Check out this video to see my daughters awesome dance moves! Ha ha! Those dance lessons when she was 5 paid off!!

 Michigan and Washington, these are your scarves!

Now for a fun story. 

Last week when I did my big mailing of 7 states I was a little unorganized and there was some confusion with the postal worker. After she had scanned each package into her system and put the postage on them I asked her if I could have the packages back so I could take video of me putting them in the mail slot. She looked at me like I was crazy. She thought it was funny that I wanted to take video of packages being put in the mail. I was told she could not give them to me as it was against there protocol. Her supervisor came out and overheard our conversation and he teased me about what I was asking for. He eventually told the lady SHE could carry 2 of the packages with me to the mail slot, but I was only to pretend to put them in the mail slot. After the video was taken she took the packages back and began asking me questions about what where in these packages and why was I doing what I was doing. She seemed impressed, wished me luck with my project and quickly went back to work.

Today when I went to the post office my daughters and I were smart and took our video BEFORE paying for postage so we didn't have to go through that fiasco with the postal workers again. When it was our turn to pay for postage the lady from last week recognized me and asked how my project was going and how many states had I mailed. She asked if the next time I came if I would bring a picture of my scarves so she could see them. I told her I had some pictures on my phone and when she was done helping another customer she came and took a look at my pictures. 

She then told me this story:

When she was 15 her Mom died from cancer. She remembers vividly her Mom being bald. She remembers her Mom wearing bandanna's to cover her head. She was quite touched by my project and thanked me for what I was doing. She said that what I was doing would be a big deal for women who were bald. 

I agree!

I love hearing peoples stories, don't you? And today I was pleasantly surprised to hear that story from the worker at the post office.

Arizona delivery, take 1!

Do you remember that my breast cancer friend Candice in Arizona? Well, she is hand delivering each of her 10 scarves?

This morning I received this picture from her.

'First one delivered! I love doing this! 

This is Jane, I met her a few months ago when we were getting chemo together. 

She has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Greatest lady ever! She was so appreciative and loved 

all your beautiful colors!' -Candice

Nebraska!

This is the face of Nebraska!

Meet Justine and her kids.

Justine grew up in Utah and was my neighbor. Now she's married and lives in Nebraska. A big thanks to Justine for delivering hope through these scarves in Nebraska!

Maine delivery!

A big thank you to Heather in Maine! Look at all those scarves nestled in with the knit hats!

Here's what she had to say about her delivery:

'It was a successful drop off to New England cancer specialists this morning. They were so grateful and very warm and kind. She said that these types of head coverings are all the patients very favorite, nice and light, and also so cute. The receptionist was sure they would be gone before the end of the day and joked that there might be a riot over who got what! She made me laugh. It was also very touching to me to be in a cancer clinic and to see those fighting the disease and also their loved ones there supporting them. I left feeling so thankful for my health but also so moved by the people who flight cancer each and every day, how strong they are!! I cannot imagine going through what you have and thank you again so much for letting me be a part of your pay it forward!' -Heather

Today was a cut above the rest!

Some days are just 'sew, sew', but today was a cut above the rest! Today was a big cutting fabric day!
I love cutting out the fabric just as much as sewing! There is something very gratifying about cutting out a bunch of fabric and counting it at the end of the day to see what you got!

 Yesterday I spent the day with my friend Amy. We spent it buying fabric and going to lunch, and I won't mention that we also spent it buying a new car battery.  

This is the fabric Amy donated. It ended up making 6 chemo scarves and 17 drain bags!

30 scarves from these cute fabrics!

16 scarves from this rayon fabric.

There's pretty good chance that you are a serious sewer if you own one of these:

I just took it to the next level. I'm now classifying myself as a serious sewer.

Arizona!

This is the face for Arizona.

Say hello to Candice and her two cute kids! 

Candice is a breast cancer survivor like myself. This past spring she flew to Utah to attend a breast cancer retreat; that's where I met her. The instant we met I knew she was the long lost friend that cancer helped me find! She is a one-of-a-kind woman and I love that she is willing to participate in this project!

Candice is still receiving Herceptin chemo and this upcoming week when she goes in for her treatment she plans on hand delivering scarves to women in the infusion room. How fun is that?! I can't wait to see her fun delivery pictures!

Hope is on its way in Kentucky! And Colorado!

Ok, so I thought I was going to burst with happiness when I heard these ladies had their shipments, but today I actually cried when I heard this two states had been delivered!

Remember Kathy in Kentucky? Today she hand delivered her scarves to the Norton Cancer Center. It will be exciting to see if any of the women who receive these scarves contacts me. Stay tuned, I'll share stories with you as I receive them.

Check out the cute little helpers Stacy had in Colorado! I think it's safe to say they're Bronco's fans.

Their scarves were delivered to Rocky Mountain Cancer Center.

Today my last few states should be receiving their packages. We should be hearing soon from Pennsylvania, Vermont, Nebraska and Arizona! The excitement continues to build...

Special delivery! Times 4!!

Got an email around noon (MST) that Kentucky had received their package of scarves! I thought I knew how excited I'd feel, but really I didn't! I was happier beyond what I expected. 

I think it'll be like this for every state. 

 This is Kathy. She is the momma of a very dear friend! Interesting fact about this lady: 2 of her daughters are also helping me with the project! You'll read more about them in a minute.

A couple hours later I got an email from Colorado! They too had just received their package!

This is the face for Colorado!

Meet Stacy. She was a friend and a neighbor years ago, but then she moved away.

Within a couple of minutes from hearing from Stacy I got another email from Maine! Their package had also arrived!

 Meet Heather, daughter of Kathy. She has been anxiously awaiting this day!

My last contact of the day was from Ohio. I loved all the pictures she sent of each of her kids holding all the scarves!

This is Megan, sister of Heather and daughter of Kathy!

But this is only part of the process. Now for the next step, the DELIVERY!

Arizona! 42 states to go!

Arizona! This ones for you!

I sent this Arizona package to work with my hubby yesterday to see if his work paid a cheaper fare for their shipping. Turns out they pay the same rate as a business as I would as your average 'joe'.

So today, the day after my BIG drop off, I sent this package on its way... Good bye little package! Go make me proud! You have a very important job to do, and that is to give HOPE and LOVE to women in Arizona!

7 down, 43 to go!

This morning when I woke up I knew I had some things to finish up so I could get my shipments of scarves out, but I also knew that if I started working on my scarf project I wouldn't stop long enough to take care of my household chores and mowing the lawn. So I made this deal with myself (I do that quite often, and it works) that if I could get the lawn mowed then I could sit and sew my little heart out! I think I got the mowing done in record time.

One of the things I've spent the most time on over the weekend was ironing the labels on the scarves. Apparently there is a learning curve to this. I'm still trying to figure out how long to hold the iron on the label. Each fabric is a little different and it isn't the same length of time for each scarf. I've re-ironed so many of the labels because the labels weren't sticking on good enough. Unfortunately, I spent so much time on the labels issue that I didn't get all my scarves sewn that I wanted done for shipping today. This morning I finished up the remaining 15 scarves I needed for today's shipments and got everything all packaged up!

10 scarves per package!

7 packages going for a ride to the Post Office!

Watch this video clip to see which states packages were shipped!

Vermont, Maine, Ohio, Nebraska, Kentucky, Colorado...and Pennsylvania.

Tomorrow I'll be mailing a package to Arizona and then I'll be all out of completed scarves, so it'll be time to start this process over again. Cut out, iron, sew, iron, sew, iron, sew. Have I told you lately how much I love this project?

A big thank you to all those who believe in my dream and are helping me fulfill it! Do you want to do something to help? I am always excepting donations; just click on the 'Donate Now' tab on my blog page or Facebook page. I am also interested in having people sew for me. Please send me an email if you are interested. ckscarves@gmail.com

My labels are here!! Oh happy day!

It's like Christmas morning at my house right now! 

My labels just arrived! Yay!

 

Before I get started with ironing them on I need to find the instructions for application.

My goal is to have 80 scarves ready for shipping next Monday.       *Fingers crossed*