So what a better time to blog about my Spirit of Hope Fairy!

For the past few years, I have been a member of the American Institute of Philanthropy. This “watchdog” group carefully reviews & evaluates over 500 charities, grading them on their accountability & efficiency. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation receives their highest possible rating of A+.

After a 10 year battle that started out with breast cancer, I lost my mother in 1989. Nearly 20 years later, I still miss her dearly.

Over the past 20 years, much progress has been made in the fight against breast cancer and for the past 15 years or so, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (www.bcrfcure.org) has been a major player in this fight.

With his “diamond” studded outfit, I often say that my Spirit of Hope Fairy is a girl’s best friend. Please consider this Fairy for your own collection and/or as a gift. With your help, we will have donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation at least $15,000 in 2008 and nearly $50,000 over the past 3 years! Click on the Fairy to the right to learn more!

Have you checked out my new purse designs? The Halloween one is pretty outrageous with a witch head and bat gracing the side. There are 6 Christmas designs of purses also. All of them are pretty wonderful & festive in their own way. A few weeks back, I had told you I would share with you a funny story about my new purses.

The very first prototype was done just before my 2007 Signing Tour, so I decided to take it along with me to get some consumer reactions…and boy did I ever get some reactions! And not the ones I expected!

My first outing with a new purse design was to a Signing Event in Sacramento…I flew up in the morning and back in the evening. Well…with no luggage, I quickly realized that carrying a purse was pretty convenient…that is, until I was on the airplane getting a lot of funny looks & stares. Not a question or comment from anyone, but quite a few “looks”.

I got over my apprehension & unease of carrying a purse and made it to the Signing Event at William Glen in Sacramento, where I received quite a few positive comments. My friend and sales representative, Lynn Oakland carried the purse on her shoulder all afternoon there and could have sold at least half a dozen on them according to her “report” to me on the way back to the airport that evening.

I went through security…yes…there were a few glances then and also as I boarded the plane. When we landed in Orange County an hour later, I got my purse out of the overhead bin & held it as I would any other bag. I could hear some whispering this time behind me. Eventually, I got the nerve to turn around and as I did, the woman behind me gasped “Where did you get that!?” I actually stumbled for words, as now everyone around me was staring…all wanting to know the answer to the question. Well, I explained the whole story, the result of which was 2 ladies wrote down my website address & promised to look for my Fairies immediately & to look for my new purse designs this year. Boy was I ever relieved!

You can click on the purses to the right to see the details better, and when you click on the Christmas purses, you will see a better view of all 6 designs. These are most definitely limited, so don’t wait too long if you want to get one.