I’m so thrilled to be able to share the newest venture from my talented Sister-in-Law Katie (her personal blog is here:BeKatelyn).

Katie has just opened a fantastic new Etsy shop called LuckyNo7 and it’s stocked with incredibly beautiful handmade quilts of all sizes. Not only are they beautiful and meticulously made, but Katie has come up with an ingenious way to give back. For every 6 quilts that she sells, Katie will make and donate one to charity! Isn’t that incredible?! Hence the clever name of her shop… Lucky No. 7!

I’d like to invite each of you to take a moment to check out her shop on Etsy and support her new venture. These quilts are beautiful and would make a cherished gift for someone you love. Congrats Katie XO Daria

October on the I AM blog is all about “standing a stand against cancer” – So why not in your favorite pair of shoes!?

Snap a photo and send it in to Megan! Each photo will help raise money for cancer research and will be donated to Stand Up 2 Cancer.org (remember – 1 only photo per person this month! You’ve got to encourage your friends to submit!). Let’s show off those shoes everyone!

Though we should be giving all year long, the holidays seem to be the time of the year for supporting worthy causes. What better way to support a worthy cause then stuff someone’s stocking with it?

Wear Your Music is line of super cool bracelets made using guitar strings. Wear Your Music actually has two lines of bracelets, the Artist line and the Fashion line. The Artist line features bracelets that are “handcrafted from recycled fine silver and guitar strings” actually used by well-known artists such as Avril Lavigne, Joan Jett and Tim McGraw. These bracelets sell for $100 and up (you can get Robert Trujillo’s from Metallica for $250 or John Mayer’s for $200) and proceeds go towards a charity of the artist’s choosing. The Fashion line is made using guitar strings in a variety of colors. These unisex bracelets are simple yet pretty dang hip and are perfect for music lovers of all ages. A percentage of the profits from the sale of these bracelets are donated to charities that support music.

Wear Your Music sent us a collection from their Fashion line and once they arrived I had to immediately divvy them up so the girls could wear them. I of course claimed my fave colors (black and red) and let the girls decide on the rest. They looked great doubled and tripled up and I found I loved wearing my black one mixed in with some of my favorite silver bracelets. The fit is universal so no worries about wrist size and they are extremely well made so they can hold up to whatever your music lover throws at them. And at about $9 a piece they make a wonderful stocking stuffer or gift for the holidays. I love finding unique gifts and a guitar-string bracelet from Wear Your Music is definitely one of them.

If you have a real guitar lover in the family you might want to consider a bracelet from Wear Your Music’s Artist line. Not only will you be giving a one-of-a-kind gift perfect for your musician but you’ll also be supporting a worthy cause. Now THAT rocks!—Emily

*** Giveaway! Wear Your Music is giving away an 8-piece collection (an $80 value) from their Fashion line to one lucky Daily Dish reader! Here’s how to enter. You can do as many of these as you’d like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway. Please leave a separate comment for each one you do:
•   Visit WearYourMusic.org and leave a comment telling us which artist’s bracelet you would absolutely LOVE to purchase (if money were no object!).
•   Become a fan of the Wear Your Music charity project on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you joined.
•   Follow Wear Your Music on Twitter and leave a comment telling is you’re their newest follower.
•   Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.
•   Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL to your blog post.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: December 1, 2009 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen.

• Congratulations to Lisa, the winner of the Wear Your Music giveaway! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the review and add a comment. Keep reading the Daily Dish for your chance to participate in more giveaways!

Boutique Cafe is a very proud sponsor this year of the Gal to Gal Virtual Walk! Join Emily and Daria as we virtually walk across the country (via the DesignHer Gals nifty website) raising money for the Gal to Gal Foundation. Bottom line, they do GREAT things such as provide funds to fulfill the dreams and wishes of women suffering with Stage IV Breast Cancer. Just read these incredible wishes they are hoping to fullfill during this year’s walk, and I guarantee you’ll want to be a part of this touching venture.

For as little as $5 you can design your very own virtual gal, and start her walking. Don’t forget to join TEAM Boutique Cafe!! (simply add Boutique Cafe in the team name field when you create your gal, come back here and let us know you joined our team). It’s easy and it’s fun! The joy you feel in knowing that your dollars are helping make dreams come true for cancer patients, well it’s magic.
Here’s Virtual Daria and Virtual Emily doing our thing

Designers in the eBay Boutique world have joined together this week to do a special heartfelt “Nie Nie Recovery Launch”. I asked Chelsea of Vintage Chic who organized this event to share her personal reasons, for reaching out to Stephanie Nielson and her family. Here is her amazing reply:

“The Nie Nie Recovery Launch is all about Love. Love for a women who has shown us all how to live life to the fullest, how to embrace each and every moment with the ones we love, and how to show gratitude to our Heavenly Father for all that he has done for us. Stephanie is a shining light in this world and an example to women everywhere. Please Bid and give back to someone who has given us so much. Every dollar spent will aid in her recovery and help her return to the life she loves so much.

Why this story has touched me: When I came across the blog cjanerun and read the news about Stephanie and Christian I was immediately touched and brought to tears. As I started reading the Nie Nie Dialogues I felt that I could really relate to her. Having 4 children myself and a husband that I adore I felt extreme sadness for her situation. As I have followed her recovery and read the posts that are being re-listed on her blog I have found myself striving to be a better wife, mother, and person in general. It is because of her example that I want to do this. I feel a need to show my children and husband how much I love them every day. I feel a need to cook more, to read more, to spend more time lounging on the couch with my babies in my arms. I never use to do that. It was always about “how much can I get done today!” I am so grateful to her for her example and her love for life. I wanted to do something for her in return and I felt like a benefit launch was a great way to raise awareness and offer support to her and her family. I hope one day she will know how much she means to me. Thank you Daria for helping us spread the word about this launch. You are an Angel:)” – Chelsea

Details: November 1-15th please join with these incredible designers and bid on the amazing launch items. Search NieRecovery on eBay! Sending our love and prayers to Stephanie, Christian and their beautiful family.

Boutique Cafe is honored to be one of many contributing sponsors to a new project started by Kim of You Can Make This. It’s called Twirls for Girls and it inspires a whole new way of giving this season. As crafters, we know how fun and satisfying it is to make and give a handmade present, especially when the recipient is a child. We invite you to share in the tradition of giving handcrafted doll clothes to girls at Christmastime. Twirls for Girls is providing a free, easy patterns so that you can make a beautiful “twirl” skirt and/or a simple top to donate to your local Toys For Tots campaign. In addition, a selection of eBooks will be specially priced, and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Toys for Tots.

Warm the heart of a child this holiday…You Can Make a Difference! For full details please visit Twirls for Girls

Welcome to a very special episode of Boutique Cafe this week. Daria speaks with Jeanne Fitzmaurice founder of DesignHer Gals, about the Gal to Gal Virtual Walk going on right now, to improve the lives of those diagnosed with Stage IV Breast Cancer.

YOU CAN JOIN THE VIRTUAL WALK HERE ».

When you join the walk, please come back and post a comment here so we can visit your gal on the site! Thank you Boutique Cafe for making a difference!