Before I jump into this week’s giveaway, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what has happened in my sweet city since the weekend.

As many of you may be following, Columbia has been hit hard with historic levels of rain as a result of Hurricane Joaquin. The images floating around social media and being reported by the news are surreal. While my family has been very lucky (my house and immediate area were spared any real damage. My parents, grandparents and sister were also just as fortunate) – we are all safe and dry.

Many families and staff from the school where my sister teaches were not as fortunate. I received a panicked text from my sister on Monday to start praying because she just saw an apartment complex that many of her students live in underwater on the news. Shortly after she informed me that a fellow teacher and her 4-year-old son, a janitor from her school and hundreds of families (110+) lost their homes and had been displaced to a local park that was acting as a shelter for victims.

My heart is so broken. I can’t imagine what these families are going through.

While these families were going through probably the scariest moments of their lives, I was warm and dry in my sewing room – with power and running water…just a few miles away.

And so, I did what made most sense to me: I emptied my shrinking resliced stash and decided I’d use my craft to fundraise for these families. Currently, I have a few bags ready and I’ll be making more items (including jewelry!) over the coming days to add to the auction.

In addition, my sister recruited her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and husband’s aunt (who were all riding the storm out together) to arm knit scarves to add to the fundraiser.

We’ll be auctioning these items off on resliced’s Facebook page. We may post a few additional items on resliced’s Instagram account so follow along there too (@reslicedsc). If you see something you like, comment with your bid amount and your email address. We’re offering free local (Irmo & Columbia, SC) pick-up or we can ship in the US for $5. The auction will be open until Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at 8:00pm EST.

ALL proceeds from the auction will go directly to the Seven Oaks Elementary students, staff and families affected by the #SCFlood. I will post how these donations are used in the coming weeks on resliced’s Facebook page so you can follow along.

*Click here to see the full Auction album*

Now without further adieu, keep reading for this week’s birthday giveaway 🙂

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It’s no secret that I love snail mail. Since the Etsy Craft Party this summer, I have been upcycling all the beautiful magazines (and wrapping paper scraps…and paper grocery bags…) I come across. Because of that, I’ve gotten quite a collection of handmade envelopes. And I want to share them with you!

This week’s giveaway will be a set of 5 handmade envelopes with 5 blank hand-cut folding cards (from white cardstock). And the best part: I’ve got TWO sets so there will be TWO winners!

The first set is made from vintage National Geographic map scraps (courtesy of MaryAnn of Life is a Maker Faire) leftover from the Etsy Craft Party.

The second set was made from last month’s issue of Jasper magazine.

I love this set because it features local art – like this mural that can be found on Taylor Street:

It’s like sending a little piece of Columbia to an out-of-town friend!

And this one would be fun to send to a friend at Thanksgiving:

It’s super easy to make your own envelopes out of nearly anything {you can find instructions in this post}. I have several envelope templates left over from the Etsy Craft Party so each of the winners will also receive one of those so that they can use them later to make their own handmade envelopes.

In addition to the envelopes and blank cards, I’m also including a few strips of washi tape that can be used to seal the envelopes. Washi tape is my favorite for sealing handmade envelopes – it’s easy and always adds a fun pop of pattern or color.

If you’re making your own envelopes and don’t have washi on hand, you could follow The Postman’s Knock recipe for DIY envelope glue or just use regular tape or glue (though it may cause some tearing of your precious envelopes when they are opened). Washi tape is very similar to painter’s tape and masking tape so those are also options.

Enter this week’s giveaway:

**Click here to enter the giveaway**

Please read this post for more information about my birthday month giveaways. 

PS: I’ve decided to lengthen the entry window – now you’ll have until Sunday at midnight to enter the drawing!