Meet Carter!

With Paper Clouds Apparel, your clothing matters. Each t-shirt not only provides financial support to an individual with special needs, but it also provides joy and this is what is truly important. By making an active choice to invest and wear the artwork of an individual with special needs, you are inspiring confidence and a sense of accomplishment. This is so important because individuals with special needs are constantly undervalued by society and this is what Paper Clouds Apparel is trying to change. 

Paper Clouds Apparel lives out its mission to "make your clothing matter" by having a business model that is people centered rather than profit centered.  Due to this, we feel that it is important to feature every artists and share with you a little of his/her life.

 Meet Carter -a proud supporter of Autism Speaks and artist of this awesome piece:

Here is a short bio that Carter's mom provided Paper Clouds Apparel when her son's artwork was picked to be featured:

"Carter is 7 years old. His smile will light up a room! His little brother is his best friend. He enjoys going golfing with his daddy. Carter's favorite things are; his I-pod,his trampoline, drawing, reading, and going to school. Another thing he sometimes likes to do, is help cook desserts. He has become such a sweet little boy. He still has his struggles, but he is an overcomer! I can not wait to see what God has planned for my son! Our motto is 'NO EXCUSES, UNTIL YOU TRY!"

Carter is not only an inspiration to his mother, but to us here at Paper Clouds Apparel. Hopefully we can all follow Carter's lead and live a "no excuses" lifestyle. 

New Campaign with Autism Speaks!

Paper Clouds Apparel is proud to mark today the beginning of a two-week campaign with Autism Speaks. Our goal is to not only help fund Autism Speaks, but to help empower individuals with autism by showcasing how awesome their art is.

What is Autism Speaks exactly? Autism Speaks is the world’s leading organization for autism research, advocacy and awareness. With each purchase of a PCA shirt, half the profit will go towards funding the discovery of better knowledge about the causes, prevention, treatments and cure for autism spectrum disorders.

Check back for the next two weeks to hear more about how amazing Autism Speaks is and about the artists that are all making this happen.

Meet Logan!

Our other artist for the current campaign with Windrush Farms is Logan. His mother, also a blogger, wrote a fantastic piece about Logan and Paper Clouds on her blog! Read on:

One of the first pages I recall reading and loving on Facebook is Paper Clouds Apparel. I checked out their website and thought 'wow...I would love my kid to be part of something like that'. Since that time, Logan has been asked to be part of their fundraising efforts by being invited to be a guest artist for June.  I will come back to them after I explain the drawings and the charity we are working so hard for.

Some of you may know the story of his horse drawing. Logan, having developmental delays, was never comfortable or confident in his drawing or writing abilities. He refused for years. One day while cleaning his room a few years ago, I found a drawing of a horse under his pillow and my heart soared. I fell deeply in love with this picture. So in love, in fact, I had it tattooed onto my arm, then added more of his artwork. 

 

Paper Clouds chose the horse, and the skull & crossbones to put onto shirts they create, and they give 50% of proceeds to our choice of charity- which is Windrush Farm. Windrush is an incredible therapeutic riding center that expands and enriches the personal, emotional and physical abilities of all those they serve by partnering with their horses and the environment. Logan has been riding at Windrush for many, many years and it has helped develop his love for horses, as well as confidence, balance, language and responsibility. If you have never heard of therapy horseback riding, you need to check out their site.

We were also asked if we would like a co-artist to join us for this campaign- and that awesome artist is Connor aka "Bug" at Rockin Autism Mom. He submitted some art too and you can see his on his mom's blog. ( I love the owl and I am soooo glad we are teamed up with them!) 

Okay- back to Paper Clouds. This company works with a different special needs school or organization every 2 weeks. ALL artwork used by Paper Clouds Apparel is created by individuals with special needs, like Logan and Connor. Paper Clouds takes that art and transfers it onto Earth friendly, super soft, bamboo shirts. (I have one, they are suuuuuuper soft). Paper Clouds Apparel hires individuals with special needs to package up all of their goods. 50% of the profits of these sales goes to the organization that created the art, or the artists choice of approved charity/organization. 

When you purchase a shirt from Paper Clouds Apparel on June 10th, you will: 1) Help raise funds that will help students with special needs continue to enjoy horseback riding. 2) Make jobs for individuals with special needs at the Paper Clouds Apparel facility 3) have a kickass super soft shirt that you will love- with Logan or Connor's artwork on it! This is a win/win!! 

**Bonus info**

2 more things! The first, when you get your shirt, send us a picture of you or your kids wearing it! The photos will go into a "Paper Clouds Apparel" folder on the crumb diaries page and the photo with the most "likes" will receive a gift from Logan and I. 

Second, every purchase will get you an entry into a raffle. If you buy one shirt, you are entered once. If you buy two shirts, your name goes in twice, and so on. We will select a winner in a random drawing and send them a special gift. Maybe a Slombie!

Don't worry- I will be sharing the heck out of this campaign once they go on sale. You will have all of the info you need, I will make sure! Thank you guys!! Love, Ally

To read Ally's original post, check out her awesome blog here!

Meet Connor!

Yesterday, Paper Clouds Apparel had the honor of launching a new campaign with Windrush Farms. Connor is one of our new artists, and his mother Ashley wrote an amazing, heartfelt introduction so that you could get to know her amazing son:

Inquisitive, caring, sensitive, sweet, energetic, intelligent, handsome, silly, clever, ornery, friendly, helpful, & just plain awesome. That is how I would describe my amazing baby boy.

“We raise the bar and he just leaps on over it!” That is something I have found myself saying over and over again throughout the years as our little ConnorBug grows, and it still holds true today. Connor was non-verbal until he was five but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have plenty to say! He is going to be eleven very soon (his birthday is during our paper clouds campaign!) and he has already achieved things that we never could have imagined. This has truly been his year and it has been such a beautiful thing to witness, he has blossomed so much! He actually volunteered for a speaking part in the school music program, he was ranked in the 97th percentile of fourth graders in the nation in math, and we were told his skill level is that of an average seventh grader! He also just ended his school year with 3 awards, one for making the honor roll all year so this will be the second year now that he didn’t have to do an extended school year! I can’t even put in to words how proud we are of this little man. He has come such a long way and he has worked extremely hard to get where he is today. I also credit a big part of Connor’s success to the fantastic people that have helped us along the way, this is why organizations like Windrush Farm and Paper Clouds Apparel are so very important to families like mine.

When Bug isn’t at school he loves to do what every other kid loves to do, play! His favorite hobby is definitely spending time on his video games, iPad, or anything else that’s “techie”. He adores animals, particularly our deaf puggle, Ollie, and he loves to chase him around the house.

We are beyond honored to be a part of this project and we hope it’s a HUGE, GIGANTIC success! Take this opportunity to do something great for two fantastic causes all while rockin’ a sweet, comfy t-shirt with some amazing heart-felt art on it!

To see more posts like this, check out Ashley's personal blog at: http://rockinautismmom.com/

Also, don't forget to head over the the Paper Clouds website NOW to see Connor's designs come to life on t-shirts that benefit Windrush Farms!

Meet Summer!

Summer Lily is a beautiful young lady with Down Syndrome who is turning 10 years old this week! 

She has an amazing sense of humor. She enjoys music, dancing, watching movies, and playing outside. Her best friends are her big sister, Jasmine, and her dog, Delilah. They love to be silly together, acting out Summer's favorite movie, High School Musical. 

They also collect and count dimes for their friend, Judy Adams. Together, the dimes they collect grant wishes for others with Down Syndrome. 

Summer's days will be off if she doesn't get enough time in the morning to snuggle and kiss her furry best friend, Delilah! 

Another of her favorite things to do is go swimming, and if she had her way, Summer would probably live at the water park! 

She is very stubborn and persistent. When she has her mind set on something being a certain way, she doesn't give up until it's done right... her way! She loves being goofy and making people laugh. She is happiest when everyone around her is happy, and this comes through in her silly attitude. She seems to have a knack for all things artistic, whether it be playing the drums or painting, things seem to come natural to her.

Summer is one of the artists for the current Paper Clouds Apparel line, supporting Gifts from the Heart for Downs!

Summer's art on PCA t-shirts!

A Message from Kim!

Gifts From the Heart For Downs is so very excited and pleased to be working with Paper Cloud Apparel to bring the talent of our special individuals with Down syndrome to light. Gifts From the Heart For Downs was started by Kimberley Adams after adopting two children with Down syndrome who had very different needs.  Matthew had a lot of medical needs, he needed a walker for some time, had lots of sensory and feeding issue's and has difficulty to this day communicating.  Judy on the other hand is very verbal, had many medical issues but was very strong.  Kim often found it difficult to give her children everything they needed as a single mom and still does.  As time went on she realized that there were other issue's beside the medical and it was social issue's and wanted to do something to help the families and individuals to know just how special they are.

Gifts From the Heart For Downs.....likes to show individuals with Down syndrome that they to are special.....either by helping with a need or wish depending on each individuals families need.  Jeanie, Ashley and Steven longed to meet their idol, it was a dream come true for them....and as you can see from the pictures, it truly was a dream come true.....

Steven got to do "the wave" with John Travolta....

Jeanie got to peek through her fingers in disbelief as Alan Jackson walked out of his trailer and called out her name, with him coming to her aid to help her get out of her wheelchair...

And Ashley got to sit in Nicki Ninaj's seat on the American Idol set as she judged the rehearsal of the contestants....with Keith Urban and Randy Jackson.....these wishes will be something they remember for the rest of their lives.

Other wishes include revolve around needs of a child with Down syndrome.  

Nicholas is now able to run in his yard freely because of a fence that was provided by Gifts From the Heart For Downs, so that he will be safe and the family can enjoy their time outside together.

Daniel and many others have received iPad's to help with their communication skill's giving them a voice.  

To date, Gifts From the Heart For Downs has completed 70 wishes or needs with 11 pending completion and many on the list to be granted.....

Angel is one example of a wish that will be granted in the future, she has never been to Disney, so at 53 Angel's wish to meet Mickey Mouse will be granted......

Alex, so wants to meet Justin Bieber, you too can help to make this happen with your support of the purchase of a t-shirt.

Please watch the video of a couple of wishes that were granted as the families were surprised with me showing up with my children to grant their child's wishes.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUid28KRKMQ 

With your support and purchase of a t-shirt you too can help grant a wish to a very special individual with Down syndrome.  All proceeds from this fund raiser will be going toward air fare, helping to grant wishes making dreams come true....but the really awesome thing is that not only will you be helping us, you will be helping Paper Clouds to employ individuals with Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities.....it is a win/win for everyone!!!!

Meet Judy!

Judy loves life... and strives to experience it to the fullest!

Judy love to draw, sing, interact with friends, is a cheerleader and help her mom with fund raising for their organization, Gifts From the Heart For Downs. Judy is 14 years old and attends New Paltz Central High School, where she is integrated with her typical peers for a few of her classes.  

Judy and her brother, Matthew, were adopted by their single mom, Kim, president and founder of Gifts From the Heart For Downs, and were the inspiration behind the organization, as Judy had a wish to meet the Jonas Brothers and Matthew had many needs that Kim couldn't always meet.  Judy has been helping her mom raise donations by doing a fund raiser that Judy came up with herself called Dimes for Downs. To date she has helped raised almost 130,000 dimes!

Judy is full of life and doesn't let anything stand in her way. She is so happy that her design can help to get more wishes granted for individuals like herself who have Down syndrome. She loves know that she is making a difference!

Judy's designs are available at papercloudsapparel.com on these two shirts:

Check them out now and help Judy continue to help others!