Happy Valentine's My Little Peacock.....

Finley is Peacock obsessed.  I work as an art dealer as well as SLD and every time I show her a painting she tells me "My personal connection to it is it reminds me of a Peacock."  She's too funny. :) 

So I knew I had to create a peacock silkscreen.  It's the perfect animal that really shows off what  individuality is all about. 

I was planning for my two-year SLD anniversary (coming up Feb 24th!) and I knew I wanted to continue the "Big Collection."  Last year I created the Dream Big image to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Soren Lorensen Design.

A huge portion of proceeds of each Dream Big sale for two weeks went to fund micro loans around the world for seamstresses needing small loans to help grow their businesses.  We raised nearly $1,000 that was lent out to multiple women around the world, including  Lucy, in Kenya and Gilda, in The Philippines.  They've been repaying their loans, and I've been able to re-invest the repayments so now we've sent nearly $2,000 in loans!  Can you just imagine, after a lifetime of reinvesting the loans (which is what I plan to do!) how many women around the world, and their families, that we have helped affect!  It's really so powerful!!!

So, back to the story!  I decided to create the "Love Big" image for the two year Soren Lorensen Design anniversary and once again, donate a portion of proceeds to another non-profit organization.  This year I decided to focus on the kids, rather than the grown-ups, just to spread the love :)

This year, a large portion proceeds during the Two Year Anniversary Big Collection event (more about that later) will go to a donation to Pajama Program.  This is such an amazing program.  It's been around for ten years, started by a woman who saw this great need to give underserved children, many in the foster system, a semblance of the comfort most other children have at bedtime.

I can't tell you how special bedtime is for me and Finley.  It's our bonding time, our giggling time, our deep conversation time, our reading time, our rub her back time.  It's some of the absolute best times of my life.  To think that we can help some kids at least get a glimpse of hope for better times, is pretty nice.

The founder learned that some children, like the nine-year old boy who sent her a Thank You note, has never ever owned a pair of pajamas.  The organization donates pajamas and books all around the country.  You can watch a very powerful video, including an Oprah moment, on YouTube.

Next, the search for the perfect image was on to make this fundraiser a hit!  One day, I stumbled upon the intricate and masterful Folk Art Paper Cuts by British artist Suzy Taylor.  You have got to check out her shop! 

Hello! (or should I say, "Hallo," she's British after all ;) She cut these designs out by hand!

And then...I spied her artful hearts-y peacock!  But it was sold out!  Instant Etsy convo later, and we decided to work on getting the image ready for this silk screen (also with the help of another wonderful artist and SLD collaborator, Rachel Birch of Rachel Ink.)  I added the caption, and Love Big was born.

You have to see how talented Suzy is!  She was just commissioned by Pottery Barn Teen to design two quilts (eek, can you imagine!!?)  And look at her process.....

I love it :)  You can find her on Facebook too.  :)

I'll be releasing a few "Love Big" Made to Order items (dresses and tees) this week in time for Valentine's day :)  It's a perfect little Valentine dress :)

Then, for the two year February 24th SLD anniversary, I'll be releasing more Made to Order's in both Dream Big and Love Big to help raise money once again, this time for the Pajama Program!

Thanks for joining me on this two year ride! It's so totally fun :)

xo,
Shari