28th dozen Comfort Dolls sent to Arizona

Verde Valley Sanctuary in Cottonwood AZ has accepted the 28th dozen dolls which is ready to mail out today. The donors are---Becky Bunn, Linda Boudreau, Marjorie Holme, Charleen Pawlik, Maggie Robinson,Christina Crawford. Thank you ladies!!!!! Beautiful!

More cuties from Annie Bernstein

These sweet creatures arrived from Annie Bernstein. Annie gets creative with cross stitch and adds crochet,beads,sequins,and fabrics to create her unique comfort dolls. The sun face doll holds small cross stitched accessories.How fun!

Credits and info:
Tribute to sun-ready for tennis and the after party!
Baby Blossom
Sweet petite with her bouquet,heart purse and flip flops. Design by Vavi.
Marjannie the wild woman...shared venture.....free style hair and hat were made by Marja Visser, and body and collar by Annie!

Thank you Annie and Marja! Annie you are so kind to sponsor the 30th dozen shipment of Comfort Dolls.Thanks so much!!!!

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

More special Comfort Cats and a little knitted Comfort doll from Linda Boudreau

Linda Boudreau from Nova Scotia has worked her magic again to create two more of her unique Comfort Kitties and a darling knitted Comfort Doll. Linda adds silk ribbon embroidery to her little cats for even more cheer. Thank you Linda for your continued support. These will be mailed within two weeks as soon as a home is secured for them. I appreciate your time and work donated.

Comfort Doll arrived from Anne Sander from VA

Anne S from VA created this embroidered,embellished and beaded comfort doll which she has sewn inspiring gold charms around the body. A vintage piece of jewelry makes her face, a set of golden wings,a sincere message attached, and a golden filigree heart is sweetly tied to her chest ready to work her magic on her recipient very soon.
Thank you very much Anne.Is your last name Sander or Sarder? If you have a blog or site, could you please send it to me so I can link to it? Beautiful work.

Seven Comfort Dolls from Becky Bunn

A box full of soft,colorful,beautiful comfort dolls arrived from Becky Bunn of AZ. Thank you Becky for yet another load of your wonderful creations. Each unique doll is embellished to suit their personality. Sweet hand drawn faces ,metal tags,beads,and even lace wings adorn Becky's dolls. What a blissful assortment.

More dolls from Jan Bartlett of Nevada

These four beauties are from Jan Bartlett of NV.
Jan used beautiful doll and cat fabric to construct the bodies and cute wooden face buttons for the faces.They are so sweet. Thank you Jan for your continued support of the Comfort Doll project.

Dolls from

The next dolls were from Marjorie Holme of IL. Marjorie embellished them with sequins, beads, and embroidery. They are delightful. They each have a special message for their lucky recipient. Thanks so much Marjorie. Your dolls are sure to please.

New dolls from Charleen Pawlik

Last week several dolls arrived! The first dolls are from Charleen Pawlik of WY. Charleen said she was in a triangle phase right now so she hoped the dolls shape was ok. Ok??? Yes! They are wonderful. There is a lot of embellishing detail on these little women and each has an inspiring message of HOPE. Thank you Charlene, these are just wonderful.

Letter from Buffalo City Mission #18

Another letter arrived yesterday from the recipients from the 18th shipment of Comfort Dolls. I thought I would share it while I had a few moments. Click on letter for larger image.
The handwriting at the bottom reads:" Thanks, the ladies are enjoying them. We hear them throughout the building. God Bless." Doesn't that warm your heart?

Two more letters received from shelter recipients

I wanted to share these letters that arrived from our 23rd and24th shelter recipients. As you can see from The Shelter director, they loved the dolls and want more.

27th dozen COmfort Dolls going to Hawaii

The Shelter for Abused Women and Children in Honolulu Hawaii will receive our 27th dozen Comfort Dolls.
The donors are: Sandra Flores Cruz,Jan Bartlett, Christina Crawford, Linda Jaeger, Kerry Leslie, and Maggie Robinson. Thank you again ladies for your contributions to the Comfort Doll Project.

We are soon to reach our first anniversary and have gone much further than I had ever imagined. In no time we will have touched 400 lives. Women that never would have realized there was such warmth, giving, and support out there from someone they will never meet. You have been such angels this past year and I know you will be blessed. Heartfelt hugs and appreciation to each of you.

26th dozen Comfort Dolls headed to Colorado

Our 26th dozen Comfort Dolls will go to the Gateway Battered Women's Shelter in Aurora,Colorado.
The donors are~~~~Maggie Robinson of Canada,Kerry Leslie of Canada,CC Peyton of Hawaii,Linda Jaeger of Washington,Christina Crawford of Colorado, Jan Bartlett of Nevada, and Pat Winter of IN who donated a purchased doll made by Chrissange of France.

Thank you all for your wonderful donations. Blessings and hugs.

Six Comfort Dolls from Maggie Robinson

Maggie Robinson has been very busy stitching and beading. Six beautiful dolls arrived and are ready to spread comfort and smiles.

Maggie added beautiful painted faces to each doll and beaded around them. There are two unique styles, one with wings,and the other with beaded arms and legs that really make you smile.Each has details such as tiny stitching,lace bits, charms, and lots of lovely beading.

Thank you very much Maggie for this lovely group of Comfort Dolls. Rest assured, they will do their job!

Comfort Doll arrives from Venezuela by a thin hair....

Sandra Flores Cruz from Venezuela donated this sweet crocheted mermaid Comfort Doll named Melina. Sandra heard about this project through Annie Bernstein, who has donated several Comfort Dolls herself. Annie,thank you!

My mail lady came all the way back here this afternoon to drop her off. She must have been swimming around the floor???? It is a wonder that she arrived at all, in one piece that is. Sandra had her wrapped in a bubble wrap,sealed in a ziplock,and secured in an envelope, all safe and sound. However someone in customs decided they needed a peek so they ran a razor across the package to open it. When I saw the slash on the back of the envelope, my heart skipped a beat. Then I opened and saw the zip lock was slashed as well as the bubble wrap. I was expecting the worse. I know what it's like to have your work destroyed by customs. Not a pleasant feeling.

Thankfully, the doll was not touched. Whew! An angel must have been watching over her :-). Sandra clearly wrote the contents on her package and she did not fill the doll with any type of herbs such as lavender or anything customs would be curious about. Why they chose this package to sllice open is beyond me.
Anyway, she is unharmed and beautiful Sandra. Thank you very much for this Comfort Doll donation. It is greatly appreciated.

Christina Crawford sent 12 Comfort Dolls

Yesterday as I sat on my porch swing opening my mail, I could not believe my eyes. I am always touched by the support and love that comes with each and every Comfort Doll parcel, and when they come by the dozen, which happens pretty often, I can't help but get emotional. Telling you all "Thank You" just does not seem enough. I hope you can imagine how I feel toward each of you who donate or spread the word about the Comfort Doll Project.

Christina Crawford from Expression Studio sent a large box filled with 12 Comfort Dolls. As I carefully unwrapped each doll, I whispered,"Oh my goodness",as tears flowed. I was glad no one else was home to see me. I couldn't hold back the tears, and I tried.

Each doll is 4" or 5", jointed and dressed in different fabric prints. She sent floral bears and purple bears, a ballerina with a tutu,

ethnic dolls with caps or a purse and each had a special message that reflected the doll's appearance...........it was just unbelievable to see such a variety of dolls in one box. I know a huge amount of thought went in to creating these and attaching messages. Christina, I am speechless. Thank you doesn't seem enough. You are amazing and your dolls are simply unbelievable. I thank you, even if my eyes were red when my husband got home.:-)

Comfort Dolls from CC of HI and her cousin Linda of WA

CC donated another of her special designed Aloha Comfort Dolls . I love the free flowing shape of your dolls CC. Thank you so much for another donation. Also......................
Her cousin, Linda Jaeger of WA joined her by making two beautiful angels. Thank you for joining the Comfort Doll Project Linda. Your dolls will be welcomed and loved by their new owners.

More Comfort Dolls from Jan Bartlett

Jan Bartlett recently moved into a beautiful new home and yet she managed to create these two beautiful Comfort Dolls. I must share the beautiful embroidery on the back of one doll. A large sun with tiny stars and moons. Hopefully the recipients will follow the signs and shoot for the stars and moon as they start a new life.

Thank you so much Jan.I know you have your hands full unpacking and am thrilled you found time to create.

Comfort dolls from Kerry Leslie

Kerry Leslie sent two beautiful and unique Comfort dolls . The white and black doll was made using Ukrainian Embroidery. A lovely pattern.

The red dancing doll was to be named Rose, but she was feisty during assembly so she took on the name,"Strength", which seems to be a perfect message for the recipient of this wonderful doll. Thank you Kerry for your donations. I know your dolls will hold a special place in their new owner's hearts.

Special offer from Rhonda Kivett for Comfort Doll donors

For the month of July,Rhonda Kivett is generously offering anyone that buys a doll form from her etsy shop during the month of July a free (randomly chosen) small doll form, in hopes that they will embellish it and donate it to the Comfort Doll Project.
That is so sweet Rhonda, Thank you!