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OK, Night Owls. You know who you are. You're all those undead vampires and zombies out there blogging in the wee hours. You're also the ones with orange hearts. I am asking for your help. It's for a very special Kossack, emeraldmaiden. When you hear the word "community" at Daily Kos, you can't help but think of em. She joined the Great Orange Satan back in October 2005 and has been building community here ever since.
Just take a look at emeraldmaiden's diaries. She has written 279 diaries and 241 of them carry the "community" tag. We Top Commenteers know that many of those community diaries have been produced right here in the Top Comments series--183 of them in fact. And I know a lot of you Night Owls check out the comments. Well, here's a chance to give a little something back to emeraldmaiden and win a really kool Kossack prize. But before I show you the goodies, a little background.
For some time, emeraldmaiden and her husband Rick have been fighting and clawing to keep their heads above water. Rick takes any work he can get--temp jobs, contract jobs, anything. But the money's not steady and the benefits are nil. em pinches pennies, makes as many things as she can herself, and helps however she can. They have a small ebay business, selling refurbished vacuum cleaners and parts, and they also sell crafts. But it's not enough. (Read em's diary I'm Scared.)
Image courtesy the-english-spot.blogspot.com
See, em has serious health problems and lives with constant pain. Things are going badly for them. The bills are mounting. Like many families, em and Rick are in danger of losing everything. It's true, we can't save everyone--until we get more and better Democrats elected--but we can save one of our own.
JekyllnHyde got this ball rolling, and, helped by diaries by Sara R and KelleyRN2 (Nurse Kelley), the original two prizes offered for supporting emeraldmaiden have multiplied into eight nine prizes donated by karing Kossacks (asimbagirl just added one in the comments). We have a goal of raising a minimum of $5,000 for emeraldmaiden and Rick.
As of the latest tally, we have collected $3,120.03 $3,155.54 $3,185.54. Night Owls, I am asking you to step up. Let's get that total over $3,500 before daybreak! Donate if you possibly can. No amount is too small. If you have already donated, like me, maybe today is your payday, like me. So I donated again. I hope you'll join me. If you can't donate, please rec this diary to keep it visible and rec the next diary for emeraldmaiden which will be published by indiemcemopants Saturday at noon ET. And if you are a group administrator, consider publishing these diaries to your group so we can reach more streams. With the help of the Night Owls, I know we can reach our goal.
Read the box below, which mostly comes from JekyllnHyde's diary last Wednesday to find out all about these krafty Kossack prizes!
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
I am urging all of you to donate generously, if at all possible. If you make a donation, you will have a chance to win one of two eight nine prizes -- a beautiful quilt by Sara R, an original painting by boran2, and lots more (details below).
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A Beautiful Handmade Quilt By Sara R
"Cornucopia" is a charm quilt of "tumbler" blocks, all of photorealistic fruits and vegetables. It is meant to represent plenty, abundance.
The quilt is 58" x 62" and is sleeved for hanging on a wall. The backing fabric looks like Indian corn. The fabric and the batting are all cotton – and the quilt is entirely quilted by hand by Sara R.
It was designed and pieced by her, as well!
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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An Original Painting by boran2
A longtime community member, boran2 is also one of the "Top Comments" diarists and has posted hundreds of diaries on painting.
This is a 4x5 inch acrylic on canvas painting. It depicts a Hudson River overpass at dusk. It is painted on thick gallery wrapped canvas and can stand on its own. It was painted in April of 2010.
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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200 Yards of Homespun Yarn by emeraldmaiden
These 200 yards of homespun yarn are available in any color the winner wants (especially if it's Daily Kos orange)! This is absolutely beautiful stuff.
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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Two Hand-Embroidered Bookmarks by Chacounne
These two hand-embroidered (blackwork) bookmarks will be made in the winner's choice of pattern from a selection Chacounne will provide.
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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A Handmade Batik Pillow by Chun Yang
Next is a gorgeous batik pillow. Here's a description from Chun Yang:
"It is 14 by 14 inches, a removable cotton cover that I batiked with soy wax, hand dyed in a low-immersion way (minimum water). I then added some deColorant to it (thanks for the tip, Sara R!) which took out some color in the design and added a bit of color. The pillow inside is foam and nice and firm."
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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Handmade Necklace and Earrings by Purple Priestess
This beautiful necklace and earring set is made of amazonite with silver and crystal accent beads!
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(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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One Handmade Bobbin Lace Bookmark by gloriana
OK, so the picture shows three. But don't be greedy. Even one of these splendid lace bookmarks is a treasure, especially when you count the love.
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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Three Abstract Paintings by triciawyse
These "very modernistic" 12"x16" canvas panels are painted with acrylics. triciawyse says, "They look like something the cat painted." If so, she has one very talented pootie!
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(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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Hand-Knitted Wine Carrier by asimbagirl
asimbagirl says,
"I love knitting these wine carriers as gifts - and I happen to have a lovely shade of DKos Orange 100% wool to use (okay, it's not really called that ), if anyone's interested. They can choose either the one in the photo or a brand new one out of the orange yarn - with the understanding that I have to knit and felt it first (add about 3 days to the ship time). (These also work great to carry 1 liter bottles of water.)"
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(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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Here are the rules for the drawing, to be conducted after we have reached our targeted goal of raising a minimum amount of $5,000.00 (hopefully more). Even this amount will provide emeraldmaiden and her family relief for only a few weeks. To be sure, your donations will alleviate some of her many difficulties.
HOW TO WIN ONE OF THE TWO EIGHT NINE PRIZES
1. Anyone can make a donation of $5.00, $10.00, $20.00, $50.00, $100.00, or higher. Each donation of $10.00 or higher counts as one entry to win one of the two eight nine prizes.
2. So as to give more chances to everyone, the same person can only win one of the two eight nine prizes.
3. You can make a donation by clicking this link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account and paying by PayPal or credit card.
4. If you prefer to mail your donation through the U.S. Mail, email emeraldmaiden at emeraldmaiden@gmail.com and she will provide you with her mailing address. You can also message her through the DK4 messaging system.
5. If for some reason you are unable to make a donation, you can also enter the drawing by writing a brief diary (a couple of pages would suffice) on this topic: "What Should the Obama Administration and the U.S. Congress Do to Alleviate the Plight of the Unemployed and Underemployed?" Once you have written the diary, do inform emeraldmaiden by emailing her and providing a link to your diary so she can enter you in the drawing.
6. Once the fundraiser is closed, emeraldmaiden will send all the entries to Sara R, who will conduct the drawings, notify the winners, and ship the quilt. [The other Kossacks donating prizes will ship their prizes to the winners.]
7. If You have any other questions about the fundraiser, email me at jekyllnhyde2@gmail.com or message me through DK4. If you have never used this feature before, enter my Daily Kos ID JekyllnHyde in the "To" section, subject heading, your message, preview, and send. It's that easy!
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
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For those of us who have jobs or own businesses or, even, are privileged enough to have some inherited money, we should consider ourselves lucky. Millions of our fellow citizens have absolutely nothing. Many without health insurance are one major illness away from economic catastrophe or bankruptcy. A bit of bad luck here and there, many of us could as easily be in that abysmal situation.
I hope that you will consider donating as much as possible. I am appealing to the better angels of your nature to do so.
PLEASE DONATE GENEROUSLY. Thank you.
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Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account
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TOP COMMENTS
Thanks to tonight's Top Comments contributors! Let us hear from YOU when you find that emerald sparkling in the grass. |
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Color boxes courtesy bronte17 |