The Season of Kindness

I am sure that all our readers remember our Etsy friend Sandra, who lost her husband almost a year ago.

Sandra has a hellish year behind her. Besides her grief she has encountered lots of ill will from the people that were supposed to stand by her.

Sandra and her little boy lived in an old farm house and used an other space as a workshop that both belonged to her husband and his siblings. It was accorded that she could stay there and pay the taxes and the upkeep.

A few weeks after her husband's death, they told her to vacate the workshop. She didn't protest and converted  the stable of the farm in a new workshop. She did most of the work herself, but still, she had to make expenses to do it that she could hardly afford.

And, of course, when that was done, they wanted her out of the house. They started a pestering campaign , cutting her phone, her electricity, when she had work in the kiln, etc.
She has resisted as much as she could, but the stress was too great and finally she caved in and has moved to a rented apartment.

Sandra is a very brave young woman, and in the middle of all those unsavory maneuvers, she never stopped working, making products to sell locally and on Etsy.

Despite her best efforts, she is really struggling financially.

Kindness should not be limited to this season. But it is the season of celebration, family warmth and joy, and the season to remember those who lack all that.

Sandra has a bunch of great new items in her shop. She has the most lovely Christmas ornaments for a price that most people can easily afford. And we all need Christmas ornaments, don't we? And presents for a bunch of relatives, right?

If every one that reads this would buy at least a small item from her shop, Sandra and her little boy would have a Christmas, maybe not happier, but at least a bit more carefree.

To thank you for your kindness, we will send one of our Christmas trees (in the color of the winner's choice) to one or more of the people who buys from her. We will lot a Christmas tree  for every fifty entries.
Leave the transaction nr. in your comment here (or contact us through Etsy if you like to keep it private) to enter the raffle to win a Sea Urchin Tree.

Please, spread the word among your friends and let's share the kindness.  It is the Season of Kindness.


P.S. We had written and planned this post for the weekend, but are posting it earlier because Sandra is in hospital since last Wednesday.
She has pleurisy, and they have put a chest tube in her back to expel air from the pleural space.
She will be home probably on Monday, but as you can imagine, the situation is even more dire now.
Please help if you can.

The Kindness of Strangers

A few days before Christmas, our Etsy friend Sandra lost her husband to cancer. It was discovered in an advanced state and he was gone in a matter of months, forty years old.

Sandra and her husband were self employed as restorers of historical tiles, where their country, Portugal, is famous for. When a town has a project, restorers make offertes and the cheapest get the job.

An uncertain living in the best of times, seven or eight months before his death they weren't able to work. He, too ill, she, taking care of him. They have a five years old boy.

In those hard months they depended on the income of Sandra's Etsy shop, Azulado, where she sells lovely ceramic pieces. With all the extra costs related to the illness and burial, we know that  Sandra is in big financial trouble, although she hasn't complained once. When this adds to the pain of loosing a loved one, is too much for a person to go on.

She is now trying to get an allowance from the government for her small child, but Portugal is a country in bankrupcy, so thus far she has only met a wall of bureaucracy.

Life is so fragile, and so is the web of dreams that we depend on. Everything can be taken from us in a moment. It can happen to any of us, and then we badly need the kindness of strangers.

Sandra's Etsy team, EST spirit wants to help her, and so we are organizing a raffle to collect money. There are more than FIFTY prizes to be won, all of them donated by her team members. We will run this raffle for ten days, and at the end of these ten days, more than FIFTY WINNERS will get a prize.
There are items for women, men and children, for every taste. To win, you can buy here tickets for 5$.
Buy as many as you can, the more tickets the more Sandra will get help and you the opportunity to win one of the amazing prizes. You can get an additional extra ticket if you blog about this raffle, tweet or share it on your Facebook page, just leave the link here at the comments.

If you don't feel like participating in this raffle, please do buy something from her shop. We all know how every sale counts and gives courage.

Here you can see the first five of the items that you can win, and every day we will post pictures of all the prizes that can be won. Winners will be announced after the ticket sales are closed.
All procceeds of the tickets will be going to Sandra and her son.

 Art print donated by BarbaraSzepesiSzucs

 Ceramic cup donated by BiscuitCuit

 Silk Brooch donated by Attractive1

 Crystal earrings donated by ArxRosarum

Statement ring donated by MARIAELA