Update December 2011: Gingerbread..Gifts…Glitz is over for another year. It was amazing. 24 artists donated a total of $10,856.22, up from the previous high of about $7,500. That means $54,281.10 was spent with 24 local/handcrafted artists/artisans the weekend of December 1-4. Can you believe it!?!? Thank you to everyone who came and shopped. Gilda’s Club is SO worth it. There was some Gilda’s magic going on, for sure.
More trivia: As part of Bliss and Bejewelled, artists have donated 34,681.20 to Gilda’s Club WNY in the past 6 years and we have given 53,166.71 to various charities since 2003. Does that ever make me happy! Artists Rule!
Bliss Designs on TV
Tami Parks, the owner of September’s Bride in Holland MI is being interviewed.
The necklace that she is wearing and the triple strand white pearl necklace
on the table are Bliss Designs.
Artists pack the house for Gilda’s Club
By Paula Voell NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Published:December 3, 2008
A little more than four years ago, Anne Bliss and her fellow jeweler and neighbor, Mary Czajkowski, decided they needed a better way to continue supporting local charities.
They were often asked to donate items to be raffled or auctioned as a way to raise funds. “You might give them something that would sell for $100 or $150,” said Bliss, of Bliss Designs. “We were trying to think of a model that would be a bit more beneficial.”
They decided to band together and donate 20 percent of the proceeds of certain
shows to a chosen charity.
Thus was born Bliss & Bejewelled Benefits, a combination of their business names, and a network of fellow artists who also want to give back to the community.
They started small, doing in-home sales, but as others were attracted to the venture, their numbers have grown, and so have the donations. Since that initial conversation,
they’ve given $18,700 to local charities.
“It’s been a really positive experience,” said Bliss. “In my day-to-day life, it wouldn’t occur to me to write a big check to a particular cause, but I get to make money out of my craft and then write a check, a bigger check than I normally could.”
The current cause is Gilda’s Club, where they will participate in Gingerbread Gifts Glitz from 11 a. m. to 6 p. m. Saturday and Sunday.
Of course, the house will be filled with the imaginative gingerbread creations that have become a treasured tradition. These are the McMansions of the gingerbread
world — “definitely not your grandmother’s gingerbread house” — some with lights,
waterwheels and landscaping.
Besides that, these creative folk, 24 in all, will fill each nook and cranny of this
Delaware Avenue mansion with jewelry, decorated boxes, housewares, scarves, soaps, gourmet cut-out cookies, pottery, furniture, greeting cards, wreaths and other
out-of-the-ordinary items.
“It’s one of those win, win, win events,” said Bliss.
This is what she means. Shoppers can find items they aren’t likely to find elsewhere.
The artists get to interact with a new crop of buyers.
And the final win: Gilda’s Club, a support community for people with cancer and their families, gets some money to run their varied programs.
“It’s not just about the money,” Bliss said, adding that it’s also important for the community to be exposed to Gilda’s Club. “People who haven’t been here before find out what goes on and tell a friend or relative who might benefit from visiting.”
Participating in the show resonates on both a professional and personal level for photographer Ann Peterson of Mundo Images, who pairs her photographs with
inspiring quotes that she calls “Quotographs.”
After her mother died of cancer, during the October storm two years ago, Peterson wasn’t sure she wanted to participate in the Gilda’s Club show but signed on when she learned that a portion of the money would go to support the endeavor.
Once she began meeting people who were attracted to the comforting messages and images in her work, she also was comforted.
“I seem to attract people who had experienced cancer in their family,” said Peterson.
“I ended up having wonderful conversations and getting all weepy.”
Visit www.gildasclubwny.org . This weekend, Gilda’s Club will be one of 27 stops in the Holiday Open Studios and Galleries, where more than 100 artists will open galleries, studios and homes, some not typically open to the public.
Sponsored by Artists in Buffalo, most sites are in the Elmwood-Delaware District. Among stops are Artspace, Hauptman- Woodward, the Eclectic Collective and the Grant Street Gallery. Hours are from 5 p. m. to 9 p. m. Friday and 11 a. m. to 6 p. m. Saturday and Sunday. Visit www.artistsinbuffalo.org .
September’s Bride Blog
Benefit for Literacy Volunteers
Benefit for Shea’s Performing Arts Center
The Jewelry Show benefiting Gilda’s Club WNY Spring 2010
