Toronto Raptors and Mardi-Bras!

More exciting news from Mardi-Bras Headquarters. We have recieved an official Jose Calderon #8 autographed plaque for Mardi-Bras courtesy of the Toronto Raptors!


Thank you so much Toronto Raptors!

Lola By Design

This very exciting gift has just been donated to the silent auction by Lola, one of our glamorous models, a Mammy Gram's girl, half of team Cola and brilliant mind behind Lola By Design!

A private four-hour workshop (value: $150) - Introduction To Flameworking

This individual one-on-one workshop will serve as an introduction to the art of glass bead making.

The weekend class is four hours long with a one-hour lunch break. All tools, glass, safety glasses, and equipment are included. Students are asked to tie back long hair and wear natural cotton fabric clothing with long, tight-fitting sleeves. Old jeans are suggested as the workshop can sometimes get a little messy.

The workshop will start out with a overview of the equipment and tools, as well as basic safety information.

Bead making topics will include pulling stringer and twisted cane, how to make spacer and round beads, adding dots, stringer and twisted cane decoration to your bead, floral beads, and tabular beads. You may expect to finish 5 - 10 beads during the four-hour workshop.

All beads that are made in this workshop will be kiln-annealed and available for pick-up the following day.

Lola is an award-winning animation director who enjoys the meditative practice of working within the medium of glass. Fascinated by the process of rearranging a substance at the molecular level by the application of the primal element of fire, she suspends these moments in time allowing her to create unique developments in the colour, form and texture that is ultimately present in the finished pieces.

Thank you so much Lola By Design!

The First 2 Mardi Bras!

It's been a big week for Mardi-Bras!

We have received our first two bras for the show! Just like last year it was Jenn of Paper People Clothing who was first to enter and first to hand in! In case you missed out last year, Jenn did a fabulous pair of designs using all recycled materials! She even hand punched her own sequins from pop-cans! Talk about attention to detail!

Just like last year, we're not going to post photos of the Bras. We're saving the big reveal for the show. In the meantime, here's a bit about the artist herself:

Jennifer Fukushima grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where the only clothing options were cookie cutter fashions from the local mall and second hand findings from the Salvation Army Thrift Store. In search of something different, she began surfing the internet, perusing crafty DIY sites like Sparkle Craft and Epitome Girl. At the age of seventeen, Fukushima decided to launch her own line, Paper People.

Fukushima moved to Toronto to study fashion at Ryerson University and soon her line was carried at local downtown boutiques. She sourced second hand t-shirts and turned them into funky, eclectic tank tops. Paper People has since evolved to include eco-friendly options, such as bamboo, hemp and organic cotton garments. The line blends colour, texture and pattern for a DIY, handmade appeal.

Today Paper People is carried at many independent boutiques in Toronto and across Canada. Check out: www.paperpeopleclothing.com for more information and shop listings.












Thank you so much Paper People Clothing!

www.mardi-bras.com

We made it "official" and bought www.mardi-bras.com. It's still under some construction, but go check it out. We've got photos up from last year, links, and the standard 411.

More to come!

The Princess Margaret Changes The Face Of Breast Cancer Diagnosis In Canada!

These are the kind of headlines that keep us stoked about continuing support of the amazing team at Princess Margaret Hospital!

This is so thrilling! As you probably know by now, Mardi-Bras is a fund raiser in support of Princess Margaret Hospital. In the past 6 years that they have been doing the Weekend To End Breast Cancer, millions of dollars have been raised to support research, treatment, and survivorship services to one of the top 5 cancer hospitals in the world! One of the programs the WEBC has been seeding is the rapid diagnosis program. (One of the biggest weapons in fighting any kind of cancer is early diagnosis and treatment.) Thanks to an incredibly generous $12.5-million donation provided by Emmanuelle Gattuso and Allan Slaight, the Princess Margaret has announced same-day diagnosis, effectively eradicating a 37-day wait and all the anxiety that goes with it!

How phenomenal is that?! We're so excited about it, I'm pasting the full WEBC newsletter and corresponding links below, it's really worth checking out. As terrific as this news is, the fight isn't over yet. Although we'd all love to have $12.5 million to donate, every little bit helps. So come on out and have a great time for a great cause at Mardi-Bras, and if you can't make it, you can still pledge the hospital directly through the WEBC for a tax receipt, or just to feel great about being part of the team who is going to beat cancer!!

Congratulations to PMH!

Dear Friend,

You are making a difference! Don’t stop fundraising. Every dollar counts. Today, The Princess Margaret Hospital announced the creation of The Gattuso Rapid Diagnostic Centre named after the generous gift of $12.5 million from Emmanuelle Gattuso and Allan Slaight. This centre was seed-funded by the dollars you raised during The Weekend to End Breast Cancer^® benefiting The Campbell Family Institute at The Princess Margaret.

As there are often long wait times for breast cancer screening and diagnosis, patients of The Princess Margaret will be able to avoid the anxiety of waiting and receive same-day diagnosis.

The program and its capacity will grow over time. In the next few months the program will be able to accommodate 15 patients per week (or 750 per year) and will increase exponentially with a vision of diagnosing 3,000 patients per year by the time the program is running at full capacity in 2013. We hope The Rapid Diagnostic Centre will help transform patient care not just at The Princess Margaret but elsewhere.

Using a new pathology processor funded by The Weekend to End Breast Cancer participants and donors, the vision for the program is for women and men suspected of having breast cancer to receive all their tests, diagnosis, and treatment plan in one day at Princess Margaret Hospital.

The Globe and Mail has reported on this exciting news. To read more, view the article here.

Know that you are helping those like Karen Louie, who took part in a pilot project at the hospital, to fight a daunting disease. Ms. Louie was given her breast cancer diagnosis and a treatment plan within three hours of her biopsy in May 2008.

"When we left, we were shell-shocked, but felt reassured that at least we now knew what we were dealing with," Karen Louie, vice-president, general counsel and secretary at Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., said of the three-hour wait with her husband for a diagnosis. "We had a plan of action we could focus on."

Paul Alofs, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, said he hopes other centres can replicate the service and that it can be expanded to other kinds of cancer.

Sincerely,

The Weekend to End Breast Cancer
Benefiting The Campbell Family Institute at The Princess Margaret

The Bigger, Bolder Weekend. Fighting all women’s cancers, step by step.