What a weekend! Our first official art market turned out better than expected, although admittedly our expectations were rather low. A big shout-out goes to my hubby who stuck it out with me in a super cramped space all day, and to the awesome friends who showed up to offer moral support (and sustenance). It was fun to be able to interact and chat with people in person about my work and to get direct feedback on what I had to offer. And hey, I even made a few sales. As I mentioned last week, a portion of the sales will be going to charity.

“Sharing the beans” is very much part of the blue bean studio creative endeavor. 5% of the profit from blue bean studio is destined to be given away. You can read a bit more about it here in this previous post.

To kick things off, the first organization we will be sharing with is charity: water. I think what they’re doing is great and I first found out about their work through my brother and sister-in-law, who generously donated their wedding gifts to the building of wells in the developing world.

The following text comes straight off the charity: water website:

charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries. We use 100% of public donations to directly fund sustainable water solutions in areas of greatest need.

Right now, 800 million people on the planet don’t have access to clean and safe drinking water. That’s one in nine of us.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses.

Just $20 can give one person access to clean water.

Since we’re just getting started, this run will go for six months (I’m hoping to switch things up quarterly as we go along). How cool would it be if, at the end of half a year, with the help of others like yourselves, we are able to contribute to the building of a new well where people need it the most?

CATEGORY: Insider
POSTED by blue bean	December 10, 2013