Total Purchases over the last couple of weeks:

Entry 8 - various purchases at SBG totalling -         $67.86
Entry 9 NSD - SBG                                               $12.56
Entry 9 NSD - Digital Artisan Guild                         $29.00
Entry 9 NSD - Sophia Sarducci                               $10.50
Entry 9 NSD - The Lilypad                                      $14.63
Entry 9 NSD - KB and Friends                                 $ 8.00
Entry 9 NSD - Digital Artist Magazine                       $ 4.50
Entry 9 NSD - Sweet Shoppe Designs                      $10.12
Entry 9 NSD - Scrapbook Graphics                          $ 7.99
Entry 9 NSD - Divine Digital                                    $ 8.00
Entry 9 NSD - Blue Flombingo                                 $22.89
Entry 9 NSD - Designer Digitals                               $29.00

                       Total USD                =                   $225.05

Entry 10 Pickleberry Pop                               AUD    $37.00

Converted.

USD 225.05 = GBP£112.77
AUD   37.00 = GPB£ 15.30

Total GBP £ 128.07

My Charity Sponsorships and Donations

The full £130 has gone as a paypal donation to Arthur Rank House. This is the East Anglian hospice for terminally ill adults, and has currently hit the news due to the risk of losing it’s Hospice at Home service. There is now an effort locally through this county to raise £175,000 towards this service. As I had a neighbour last year die of lung cancer at home, this particular charity sits close to my heart, and deserves my thoughts and better yet - cash. Read more about it here.
 

I bought from Pickleberry Pop today - whilst thinking about DebF. AUS $37. Now it’s time to exchange this all, and tie it in with some charities.

May 5th  - (inter)National Scrapbooking Day. Just about all the stores have sales, or at least many designers. My afternoon of purchases is summarised below.

Before the Day -

Scrapbook Graphics (well - I am in a contest there) £12.56

Digital Artisan Guild - lots of altered kits there this month - a whopping $29

NSD 5th May - 

Sophia Sarducci has a 50% off sale, and also two grab bags. I bought from there a day or so ago, but today is the last day to get those bags. Total spend - $10.50 

The Lilypad - absolute disaster initially - but sorted out within 15 minutes by Amy. Now that’s service!. Lilypad has a new store, and for NSD was offering 20% off. And with a big collobaration kit available too - except my $14 of purchases did not go through sucessfully into the store account - paypal did it fine. I ended up with two paid for orders as a duplicate and no actual downloads. Amy sorted the teething issues out within 15 minutes of my cry for help. Total paid - $14.63.

KB and Friends - Kathryn Balint  for one day only, offered three of her older kits, for $1 each. I bought two of these, good ones for boys - and a few other altered stuff from the store. Total spent - $8

Digital Artist Magazine - the downloadable monthly ezine, had 25% off, taking the latest edition for May down to $4.50. I was going to purchase this one anyway - normally via one of the digital stores. Instead, I went directly to the site for this purchase, plus the chance to win a subscription.  

Sweet Shoppe Designs - 30% off for NSD, plus a new megakit - which I got for free because I spent over $10 at the store. Total spend - $10.12.  

Scrapbook Graphics - actually, this was something personal - my first contest layout is up today, and I had to go and vote for myself (and grab the grab bag which comes with the vote. I also bought a new kit, non-discounted, in an attempt to come up with an idea for my next layout. Total spend - $7.99

Divine Digital has another grab bag weekend, and I selected 4 of these, for a total spend of $8 

Blue Flombingo Designs was offering discounts, so I not only bought an element pack, but finally treated myself to have my own handwriting created as an exclusive font for me. Total spend - $22.89

And Finally, DesignerDigitals had an ebook I wanted - plus many other things, and despite having a coupon for 25% off, I still managed to spend $29.

Four hours later (download, download, download) and I’ve spent enough for May, basically.  

Digital Stash Purchases

 I haven’t bought anywhere other than Scrapbook Graphics lately. Because I’m entered into their big charity contest, I went to create the first layout, and realised I have very few alphas from SBG. As a contest enterer, I have a discount of 25% off purchases for the course of the contest, and I have had to make use of it - both for the first, and this weekend - second layout.

Here’s the grief, over the last couple of weeks -

27.33
19.48
 8.50
12.55

Total :  $ 67.86

 I think I will save this up to spend in poundage on a charity once we hit next weekend. I’ve just had a much-awaited payday, so am feeling more comfortable around the wallet - and next weekend is a long weekend here in the UK, which co-incides with International Scrapbooking Day on our Saturday. Hopefully there will be lots of sales on in the digi-world which will see me spending some quick cash on that day, and more on the charity front.

Well, here they are - what I’ve managed to do so far. It’s difficult to explain to my daughter that these two cute doggies aren’t ours to keep - or even to own - but that I’m helping these pups to help other people in the future.

Dougal

 

This must be the cutest pup I’ve seen for a while. Dougal is a labrador / golden retriever cross, this photo is him at 6 weeks old, and he was born in October 2006. At 6 months of age, he is now moved in with his volunteer puppy walker, so that he gets used to the sights, sounds and smells of everyday life. In 6 more months time, he will be sent to his nearest guide dog centre for some serious training, and in another 6 months - he’ll graduate, and go to live with his matched owner.  

 

Dougal cost me £90 to sponsor - but it is worth every penny.

 

Saffron

 

 

Saffron, my Hearing Dog for the Deaf, has a very interesting background. She was rescued from the streets of the Republic of Ireland, and from the rescue centre she was tested and assessed by the Hearing Dogs co-ordinator. Eventually she was moved across to the Hearing Dogs’ centre in Buckinghamshire, England - where it was suddenly found she was going to be a mother! The pups are now being looked after by the Hearing Dogs people, and now Saffron is staying at her initial foster family, where she is undergoing training.

This Stash4Charity thing really has me smiling - or perhaps it’s all the animals I have managed to sponsor.