Hudson and his KidWalk

Hi!

There are so many people out there who supported us in our Helping Hudson fundraiser and I wanted to show you Hudson in his KidWalk.

But first I want to tell you about how much of a difference it has made to Hudson's life. For starters, he is much happier in the KidWalk than he has ever been in any of the other walkers we trialled or borrowed. Just the fact that he is happy and not frustrated means that he wants to try to walk rather than fight to get out of the walker.

He has a new perspective on life - literally! I took him to a park in the KidWalk and he was able to get right up close to some bushes and see and touch the flowers on them. He hasn't been able to do that previously.

There have even been benefits when he hasn't been in his KidWalk. He is starting to cruise around the furniture, which he wasn't able to do before the KidWalk.

Hudson received his KidWalk at the end of November. At first he was only able to go backwards, but that is normal for kids as it is much easier form them. We took the walker with us on our Christmas holiday so that Hudson could still have time in it. Within about 6 weeks of getting his KidWalk he has started to walk forwards and has even worked out how to move the wheels to get himself unstuck if he backs himself into an obstacle.

Hudson's movement trauma doctor is confident that given time, Hudson will eventually walk on his own. Every step he takes on the way forward I am reminded of the Helping Hudson fundraiser.

I never could have imagined that he would benefit so much, and I can never thank everyone enough for all the love and support you have shown me and my family over the past 6 months. Thank you to everyone who purchased the tutorials or entered the challenges. Thanks to everyone who donated money to the fundraiser, or who sold cards and scraps, or collected donations from their craft ladies. Thank you to the very talented ladies who donated their time and tutorials to the fundraiser.

And finally, a very big thank you to the Helping Hudson team. Christine, Gardenia, Genna, Jo, Nikki and Sue - I am so grateful to everything you have done to help Hudson get his KidWalk. I am still amazed at how much we were able to achieve. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Thank you all so very much,


Tina, Rob, Alex, Ada and Hudson Gillespie.

Last Days For Tutorials!

Hello Everyone,
Just a little reminder that our wonderful tutorial bundles will only be available for sale until 30th September, 2010. We'd hate for you to miss out - they are great value.

You can find all the details here: Purchase Your Tutorials

Helping Hudson: The Wrap Up!

Well here we are at the end of the 3rd and final week
of the Helping Hudson project.

And what fun it has been.  

We thank you so much for getting behind this project and helping to create the heartwarming spirit that has surrounded it.  A huge thank you once again to our generous tutorial contributors and to everyone else that has helped behind the scenes, taken part in challenges, purchased tutorials or made a donation. 

We are so very grateful to you all.

The Helping Hudson team would also like to thank our wonderful families for their support, patience and understanding while we've been working on this project.

When the Helping Hudson team got together and decided to plan this fundraising event we knew that Tina and Rob would need at least $5,000 to buy Hudson’s KidWalk.

We hoped, if we were lucky, that we might be able to raise a couple of thousand dollars to put towards it.

We knew we wanted to help but didn’t dare to dream that it would be more than a helping hand towards their goal.

Once the event was underway, we learnt that with maintenance and upkeep the full cost of the KidWalk over its six-year life span will be closer to $12,000.

And that this is just the beginning of the aids, therapies and assistance that this little boy will need.



Well ladies we are beyond thrilled to make our announcement this evening….but first, let’s rattle off a few stats that might interest you.

Most Popular Bundle And Other Stats!

We’ve had 302 sales to date plus some very kind donations.

144 of the sales were for the full set of tutorials

1213 Bundles sold all together

Plus 186 Bonus Bundles given away

So which was the most popular Tutorial Bundle???

219 of 1 - Christmas

193 of 2 - Masculine

197 of 3 - Punch Art

179 of 4 - Kids' Birthdays

185 of 5 - Scrapbooking

240 of 6 - Bags, Boxes & Gifts

That makes Bags, Boxes & Gifts the clear winner, followed by Christmas.

We all love our 3D items by the sounds of it, and festive inspiration always comes in handy.

49 people paid for challenge entry across the 3 weeks (with a few more overnight to add to that tally.)

Genna Gifford’s free sample tutorial has been downloaded 299 times

Prize Goodies

With the last few prize winners announced today, over this 3 weeks we will have sent out

*  21 giveaway prizes,

* and 11 major prizes!!

We hope our lucky winners are having lots of fun with their papercrafting goodies. 

We thank Stampin’ Up! Australia very much for their generous donated box of wonderful products.

AND NOW THE NEWS YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR …

We were hoping to give you progress reports along the way of the funds raised but we hit a few hiccups with the Paypal system that made that tricky.

We thank you for your patience.

We are now thrilled to announce that to date the lovely members of the world wide crafting community, and the wider community, have donated ….

……………..drum roll please …………

A whopping $16,000

Yes it really is an unbelievable amount.

This is enough to pay for that wonderful KidWalk to get Hudson on the move, and with funds left over to go towards other equipment and aids that will help with Hudson’s development and day to day care.

For example, Hudson is getting too big now for his cot but cannot go into a regular bed.

He needs a special bed with rails and this fundraising project can help make that a possibility too.

How exciting to know that we’ll be ‘Helping Hudson’ and his family in such a range of ways.
And for so many years to come!

Before we sign off ..... where to from here? 

This brings us to the end of the main events of our fundraising project.  It is not quite over yet though. 

We have a wonderful wonderful resource here in the exceptional tutorial bundles.  We will be keeping this blog here until the end of September and you are able to purchase tutorials until that time.

So if you are just discovering us, or if you've decided you'd like some extra bundles, you have until September 30th to make your selection. 

You can find details about the bundles and how to make your payment on this page:   Tutorial Bundles

If you've made a project that is inspired by one of the tutorials we'd love to see it. 
We'll have a post just below this one tomorrow for you to link to your creation if you'd like to share it with the Helping Hudson community. 

And of course we'll be back at the end of September with an updated total. 
As well, we'll post that photo we're all so looking forward to of Hudson with his new KidWalk once it arrives.

In Closing ......

We’ve been simply overwhelmed by your support and generosity.

We know that together we’ve made a huge difference to Hudson’s life.

Thank you.

ONE LAST *** GIVEAWAY*** !!

Well, folks, even though we are at the end of our 'official' three weeks of activity on the blog, we hope you still find value in visiting the website, and perhaps purchasing the tutorials, if you haven't previously. Remember, they are available until the end of September.

At the end of our 21 days of giveaways, we were left with one prize that remained unclaimed. We thought it fitting to draw the second-chance winner of this giveaway, at random, from the comments left on our final wrap-up post.

Now that the tears have been wiped away (thank you for your beautiful comments!), we can announce that the winner is ...... comment number 22, who is .....


** ADELE **


Adele, please email us at helpinghudson@josi.com.au, with your full name and address, so we can post a little something out to you.

Inspired By Our Tutorials??

If you've purchased one of the wonderful tutorial bundles on offer here, and have been inspired to make a papercraft project - here's a space if you'd like to share.

(Remember our tutorials are only available for purchase until September 30th, 2010.)

Just link your post right here.   Thanks!

StampAMemory Hudson Challenge Winner

Ooh one more winner to announce. 

Thank you to everyone who entered the StampAMemory scrapbooking challenge. 

The challenge was to use 'wheels' in your layout. 

Time to announce the winner as judged by the lovely ladies over at StampAMemory ......

*** Maj Roppenon ***

Here is Maj's gorgeous layout

The SAM team loved the photos and the brilliant wheel embellishment ... great use of brads too Maj.

Maj - please email your postal address to helpinghudson@josi.com.au

before noon on Wednesday 25th August to claim your prize.  

Maj will also get this badge to display on her blog, designed by Simon Sherry.

Remember to visit StampAMemory if you are after some scrapbooking inspiration and challenges.

Week 3 Challenge 9 Colour Winner

And now for our final Helping Hudson challenge - the colour challenge.  What a lovely array of monochromatic cards and creations we had for this one.  Just beautiful.

Once again the Helping Hudson team had a tough time choosing a winner but after tallying the votes we can declare that the Challenge 9 winner is ...

*** Nicole Derendorf ***

Here's Nicole's terrific creation ...

You can visit Nicole at her blog: Stamping Down Under

Nicole - please email your postal address to helpinghudson@josi.com.au

before noon on Wednesday 25th August to claim your prize. 

Nicole will also get this badge to display on her blog, designed by Simon Sherry.

Thank you so much to everyone who took part in the challenges here at Helping Hudson over the past 3 weeks.  It has been such fun seeing all your inspiring creations.

We'll be back this evening with a wrap up and exciting news to share about the Helping Hudson project.   Stay tuned!!

Week 3 Challenge 8 Technique Winner

Wow what wonderful embossing and sponging we saw from everyone this week with our technique challenge.  Those heat tools, embossing folders and daubers really got a good work out!

The Helping Hudson team had such a hard time choosing just one winner from the fabulous entries.

The winner of Challenge 8 is ....

*** Amy Waters ***

Here is her gorgeous card.  We loved the painstaking detail of the shadow effect and sponged colour.

You can visit Amy at her blog: Be Creative With Amy

Amy - please email your postal address to helpinghudson@josi.com.au

before noon on Wednesday 25th August to claim your prize. 

Amy will also get this badge to display on her blog, designed by Simon Sherry

Thanks so much to everyone for their creative entries.  Very inspiring. 

Week 3 Challenge 7 Sketch Winner

Time to announce some more prize winners!!
Thank you to everyone who entered this challenge and made such creative use of the sketch by Genna Gifford.  We loved all your entries.

It was so so hard to pick a winner but we've judged the winning entry to be .....

*** Danielle Daws ***

Here's is Danielle's interpretation of the sketch (which also fits the colour and technique challenges too!)

Isn't it stunning.

You can visit Danielle at her blog:  Danielle Daws

   Danielle - please email your postal address to helpinghudson@josi.com.au

before noon on Wednesday 25th August to claim your prize.  

Danielle will also get this badge to display on her blog, designed by Simon Sherry

Thank you to everyone who took part in our challenges and made them such fun.

Day Twenty One Giveaway *WINNER*

We had 31 beautiful comments, telling us your favourite part of the "Helping Hudson" experience.  Thank you, everyone, for sharing how you feel - we've used more than a few tissues reading the answers to this question!!

We have drawn, at random, comment number 8 as the winner for the day .......


** ANN G. **

Congratulations, Ann, on your win, and thank you for your enthusiastic support over the past few weeks!  Please email your full name and address to us at helpinghudson@josi.com.au, so we can send out your prize.


Although our structured daily giveaways have now come to an end, there will be an unclaimed prize up for grabs on 25th August, so make sure you come back to check if you're a winner!


Thank you so much, everyone, for joining in the daily fun, and helping to make our fundraiser the enjoyable and successful experience it has been!

Happy Birthday Tina!

We'd like to all join together to wish Tina (Hudson's mum) a very happy happy birthday today.  :-)

It has been our pleasure, and a privilege, to work alongside you for the duration of Helping Hudson. We are so pleased that we, and the wider papercraft community, have been able to help your family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY from us all. 

Day Twenty One Giveaway Question

Well, we've finally reached the last giveaway question.  We hope you've enjoyed answering the questions - we've certainly enjoyed reading them.  The best part would have to have been giving the prizes away.  We've loved reading the excited emails from the daily winners - we hope you all enjoy your prizes.  Thank you to Stampin' Up! Australia for their generosity in donating the products for us to give away.

So, the final question is:

What has been your favourite part of the Helping Hudson experience?

Because it's the last daily question, the Helping Hudson team have given an answer too.

Gardenia:

My favourite part was seeing the paper crafting community get behind this great cause! It really showed off how fabulously talented and generous so many people are! It was great to spend the last three weeks being excited about Helping Hudson with you all!

Johanna:
My favourite part of the whole experience is seeing how much kindness there is in people. To see everyday how much people want to help, not just financially but all the good wishes of people too. It has helped me see how much positivity there is in this world.

Christine:

When we first banded together, to get this fundraiser happening, we thought our goal was rather lofty, but I personally hoped we'd raise at least $1000! Little did I know, what extraordinary things can be achieved by 'ordinary' people!

I have two "favourite" parts about my involvement with "Helping Hudson". The first is the unbreakable bond that we, a group of 7 mothers, have forged, all in the name of helping a friend. The mind-blowing, overwhelming, part has been the collective generosity of the stamping, scrapbooking, and wider, community. It is incredibly heartwarming to bear witness to so much inherent GOOD in people. Thank you, every one of you, for the "warm fuzzies" and tears (of joy) that you've caused me to experience over the past 3 weeks!

 

Sue:

My favourite part of the Helping Hudson experience .... Ooh hard to pick just one. I guess it is just the fabulous feeling of helping to put together a project that brought so many wonderful talented warm crafty people together to help little Hudson. I think my favourite part will be seeing a photo of him with his new KidWalk. And I know the bonds I've developed with the planning team, and the warm feelings that have been generated here by all the people who've supported the project with tutorials, challenge entries, the daily giveaway questions and more - those will last well beyond today

 

Nikki:

I have loved the outpouring of love and kindness from around the globe – one little smiling lad in South Australia has touched the hearts of so many people and together we have achieved the most amazing result – freedom for Hudson - something every child should have the pleasure of. Thank you for reaffirming for me that there really are beautiful and generous people in the world.

And I’d also like to say thank you for an opportunity to work with a team of the most amazing Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators – the HH team have all grown very close and I will miss our 100+ emails every day as we have worked very hard to make this a success – we’ve had gasps of surprise as the tutorials flooded in from so many lovely people; whoops of delight as the funds flowed in, tears of frustration and angst as we hit the odd hurdle or two ... And through it all we have become a fabulous group of friends .....

So thanks to everyone from the bottom of my heart – I’d do it again in a heartbeat ...... GO HUDSON!

 

Genna:

Being involved in the Helping Hudson project has been an amazingly uplifting experience. I started out just wanting to help a little boy and his family and was satisfied that this would be more than enough reward on its own. I just wasn’t prepared for the impact that being involved would have on me. I’ve been overwhelmed by how caring and generous some people can be and I’ve been so impressed by the sense of community that has enveloped the event with so much willingness to donate tutorials, enter challenges and giveaways, and of course buy tutorials. I’ve cemented some amazing friendships and established new ones. I’ve learnt a lot. I’ve realised hard work doesn’t seem so hard when the right motivation and support is there. But most of all, I’ve been astounded by how wonderful it feels to be able to say I was a part of it! I’m just so humbled and proud and can’t wait to meet the little guy himself!

 

Tina:

I can't even begin to narrow it down to one favouite part.  I've loved every moment, but mostly:

 - the strong friendships I've built within the HH team - what an amazing bunch of women I am eternally grateful to call friends

 - the generosity of the wider papercrafting community.  The people who donated tutorials, who helped behind the scenes, the people who purchased our tutorials or entered our challenges and those who made donations.  You're all amazing!  I wish I could thank each and every one of you personally.

 - those of you, and there are a lot out there, who have shared with me how disability has affected their lives in many different ways.  Thank you for sharing with me and helping me to know that I'm not alone.  It can be very lonely to be a parent of a child with a disability, but I don't feel so lonely anymore.

 

But, if I have to pick one best part, it is that Hudson will get his KidWalk!

Thank you a million times over!

 

You must include your name in the comment to be eligible for the prize.

Entries will close at midnight and the winner will be announced at noon tomorrow.

Entry is free, but the winner will only have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Unclaimed prizes will be given away in a random draw of all entrants on the 25th.

As per Stampin' Up! Australia rules, only Australian residents are eligible for prizes.

While we cannot ship prizes overseas, any daily giveaway winners outside Australia have the option of nominating an Australian resident to donate their prize to. :-)