You may have seen that I’m partnering with a group of creators for a charity auction this week! Kansas from @gethammereddesigns brought together 10 small shops to raise money for No Kid Hungry. Each shop created 4 pieces that would each pair with something from Kansas, creating a super awesome nerdy set. Each set will then be put up for auction on the @gethammereddesigns Instagram page and 20% of every purchase will be donated to No Kid Hungry.
No Kid Hungry
“I was actually inspired by someone else in the handmade community here on Instagram,” Kansas said. “My friend Joanna of @hctnerd hosted a charity sale a couple of months ago and donated to a cause that was dear to her. After participating in her collab charity sale, I was so moved by her giving heart that I wanted to spread the kindness by hosting one of my own.”
Kansas chose this charity for the same reason. She felt connected to the children No Kid Hungry strives to help.
“I have always had a passon for kids from low income families because I was one of those kids growing up,” she said. “Thankfully, I had grandparents who took me in and made sure that all of my needs were met, but many kids aren’t that fortunate. No Kid Hungry provides meals for a lot of kids who would otherwise do without.”
When it comes to the summer months, organizations like No Kid Hungry are even more crucial. When a child is out of school (where they receive meals), this group steps in and provides support.
“This idea came from a place of love and thanksgiving,” Kansas said. “We are donating 20% of all sales directly to No Kid Hungry because we are all thankful for the blessings we have been given and want to share it with others.”
The auction
“[This collaboration] again, was thanks to Joanna’s brainchild,” she said. “She actually chose 20 small shops to collaborate with for her Charity Sale, but that was just too ambitious for me with all of the balls I currently have in the air. I am hoping this will become an annual event and grow in size, but for my first sale, I felt like ten shops was a good stopping point for me.”
For the auction sets, Kansas chose fandom themes. For mine, we decided to do Marvel, Doctor Who, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Harry Potter. She was inspired by my Hogwarts House dragons that were cuddling with little plushies, so I created little sleeping dragons for the auction. I particularly enjoy minimalist design, so I made the plushies recognizable but simple.
Marvel
For Marvel, we thought it would be fun to play off of Thor and Rocket Racoon’s broship (my affectionate term for bro relationships). They are so much fun in the Marvel movies, so Thor became a dragon, and Rocket became the plush.
I’ve only made animals like this a few times now, and Rocket is my first racoon, so it was fun being able to try that out.
If you’re interested in reading more about how I made Thordragon, you can visit my blog post about him.
Doctor Who
When @pureartcollab did a Doctor Who theme last year, I unfortunately had to miss it completely. I hadn’t visited the fandom since then, so this was my first time creating a Doctor Who dragon. Kansas though a sleeping TARDIS-inspired dragon snuggling a doctor would be cute, and it had to be the 10th, right??
The color palette was driven by the TARDIS colors blue, black, and white. The 10th doctor is sporting his classic brown suit and 3D glasses.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
This is the first time I’ve created a Sally-inspired design in tones more closely matched to the movie. In the past, I’ve stuck to the brighter rendition of her color palette.
Since I wasn’t making her dress this time, I found a different way to incorporate the patches. I thought it would be really cute to create patchy wings, but I wasn’t sure how they would turn out. They turned out to be my favorite part about this little dragon, and I’ll be sharing a tutorial soon for how I made them.
Harry Potter
The last fandom I was given to create from is Harry Potter. Again, we were looking at dynamics we could work with for the dragon-plushy aspect, and we thought a Ron-inspired dragon and Hermione plushy would be adorable!
Since Ron is a Gryffindor, I started with a base palette of maroon and gold. I added a bright orange accent for his hair (unrealistic orange hair was always how I pictured Ron’s hair when I was reading the books growing up). And we couldn’t forget the freckles! So I painted some dark brown ones across his nose after the dragon was baked.
I think both he and Hermione turned out absolutely adorable!
Overall, this series was a wonderful one to work on. I got an excuse to dabble with something I normally don’t, and I think the nondragon characters turned out really nice! It’s also nice to do something I love and contribute to a cause.
“I’d of course love for every item to sell out and make a sizable donation to No Kid Hungry, but if we pay for just one meal, we will still be making a difference,” Kansas said.
I hope you can join us on July 18 to help raise awareness and donate to fight child hunger! There will be more information shared on @gethammereddesigns Instagram page and stories, and the auction itself will happen on her page. If you’re interested in donating separately to this charity, you can do so at www.nokidhungry.org.
“I’d just like to thank you, Jessica, for allowing me this platform to tell more people about this charity event,” Kansas said. “I’m extremely grateful for your support and encouragement. The handmade community on IG is full of so many supportive women and I’ve been truly blessed to be able to have formed lasting friendships with so many creative, kindhearted people from all over the globe!”