Updated website and something awesome to share

I am happy to announce my website now shows every doll donated to date. We are about to ship out dozen #28 and 29 next week. I need to confirm homes for them and off they go. Thank you all so much for giving so much of your heart, time and talent to this project. You are wonderful!

A few weeks ago I received a delightful email from a student from Maryland,and I asked her permission to post her email~
Dear Ms. Winter, My name is Laura, and I'm a senior at Old Mill High School in Millersville, Maryland. I found your page last night about comfort dolls while surfing art-e-zine, and I absolutely fell in love with the project. I took it to the head of our National Art Honor Society this morning, and she says that this is the perfect service project for us to do this year. I'm SO excited about the comfort dolls...I know that it's going to be a great success! I can't wait to let you know how it's going! ~Laura
You can imagine how thrilled I was that such a young woman would take this project to heart and get involved. My heart is fluttering with joy. This afternoon I received the following letter from Laura. I just had to share it with you. I am so proud of her and her class mates. Laura, you are one awesome young lady. Big hugs to you. Here is her wonderful letter. What an organizer!

Hi, I've just started the comfort doll project in my school this week and I thought I'd send you the emails so you can see how it's going...also, thanks for the charm! Are you ready for the coolest service project weʼve ever done? Comfort Dolls is a project that was started in July 2007 by Pat Winter. Each doll is about 6 inches or less in size and is made from fabric, string, sequins, and countless other materials. Theyʼre hard to explain, so go here and see them for yourself: http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/patdoll.html O nce Ms. Winter has a dozen or so dolls, she packages them and sends them to womenʼs shelters across the US. If you go to http://www.comfortdolls.blogspot.com/ you can see examples of hundreds of different dolls that have been sent to Ms. Winter by other women participating in the project. As you can see, the possibilities are absolutely endless when it comes to comfort dolls. You can use organic shapes like Ms. Winter does, or create patterns for angels, hearts, and even animals. If you check out the links on the right side of Ms. Winterʼs blogspot page, youʼll see that sheʼs included sites that provide patterns and can give you more ideas. Petrin and I are in the process of buying a variety of fabric and ordering some supplies. They wonʼt be in by Wednesdayʼs meeting, but Iʼd like to meet for about ten or fifteen minutes to start planning. To make sure this really gets going, start thinking about how you want to make your dolls. Be creative! Think of different textures, designs, and faces. Some supplies to consider: -fabric -felt -thread and embroidery floss -sequins -buttons -fabric pain and markers -textured yarn and fibers -beads Plus anything else you can think of! If you can bring any of these items in to share, thatʼd be great. Ask your moms and grandmas for fabric scraps and thread. You might even find beads and sequins around your house. So on Wednesday, donʼt come to the meeting empty-handed! Either bring in some supplies, or come with a design or pattern that we can photocopy and use for the dolls. Also, there are a couple of other things that need to be done for the project. There are cards that are attached to each doll, and Ms. Winter has sent me a template. I need someone whoʼs good with computers that can create them. Also, I need someone whoʼs outgoing and wouldnʼt mind doing a bit of research to find womenʼs shelters in the area. We need to contact these shelters and get permission to send the dolls. E-mail me back if youʼre interested in either. Alright, Iʼll see you guys at the meeting! Please bring some ideas to the table! -Laura