My sister-in-law, the mad daylily collector, was among 2000 who rocked our local Run for the Cure this past weekend, to help to raise funds for breast cancer research. She’s one good reason why DomestikGoddess.com goes Pink for October — well, even more pink than usual. She also comes from a long line of photographers, and that’s where this next bit comes in:

Yesterday, my friend Gui mentioned that Flickr’s gone over to the pink this month, too. Yahoo! will donate 1 euro for each pink photo added to the Pink 2008 Flickr group, up to 30,000 EUR for five charities in Europe that support breast cancer research and treatment. You can add up to 5 photographs each day until the end of October.

How cool is that? An easy way to support a good cause — easy as pinning on the pink ribbon, but way more creative — with the added benefit of getting much-needed funds to fight breast cancer. If you can’t manage the cash to donate to the cause right now, yourself, why not upload a couple of pics and let Yahoo! make a donation for you?

These are my favourite dwarf daylilies, by the way. Don’t ask the name, it’s Strawberry something-or-other, but I never can remember: to me, they’re just “those pretty bright pink ones”! I’m a lousy photographer, as we know, but couldn’t resist grabbing a shot of these daylilies just as their blooming season came to an end.

p.s. If you post a pink pic to Flickr’s Pink 2008, feel free to drop a link in the comments so we can all come over to your place and go ooh and ahh!

If you’re at all into the game of Bunco, here’s a little something:

Proctor & Gamble’s Prilosec OTC has teamed up with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation® to raise money for breast cancer through a Charity Challenge.

Players can register online at Buncocentral.com and the group that raises the most cash will win a trip to Vegas to compete in the 3rd Annual Prilosec OTC and meet Naomi Judd, the country singer.

About Bunco
While it is a new and growing trend in the United States, Bunco is almost 200 years old. It’s gaining in popularity – in fact, more than 17 million women in the United States have played Bunco and more than 7 million play regularly. Per rules, players take turns trying to make three dice turn up as the “key number,” or ones in the first round of play, twos in the second and so on. Rolling three of a kind is a “Bunco.”

(Sounds like good clean fun, actually… and the history of Bunco, as given by the World Bunco Association, is nothing short of fascinating!)

P&G will donate 100% of donations from the Bunco Charity Challenge, and 100% of the proceeds of the Championship t-shirt sales to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® to support the nonprofit’s goal of preventing breast cancer and finding a cure in our lifetime by funding clinical and genetic research worldwide.

There’s something about the comfort of a handmade quilt that’s a natural match for a good cause. And since October is Breast Cancer Awareness (Pink Ribbon) month, it’s a perfect time for making a quilt in pink.

Rosie’s Calico Cupboard gives us a free pattern for her Ribbon of Concern Quilt, with pieced blocks that look like pink fabric ribbons, to signify support for those with breast cancer.

(You could easily adapt this quilt pattern for other causes that are associated with different coloured ribbons, of course — yellow ribbons to support the troops, for example, or the white ribbon campaign to end violence against women.)

If you’re looking for something a little more traditional, Quilt Pink offers a nice selection of free quilt block patterns (PDF file) to suit any quilter’s skill level.

Or you might simply adapt a favourite quilt pattern to use fabrics in the colour of the cause.

Don’t forget the possibilities of embroidery and embellishment, too — what about incorportating a fabric-printed photograph or pieces of clothing with a special personal meaning into a memory quilt?

For more inspiration, see the Quilt Pink gallery for photographs of a gorgeous variety of Breast Cancer Quilts pieced by more than 1,000 quilt shops across the United States. American Patchwork & Quilting magazine is selling them off in an online quilt auction to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure is running now on eBay.

Technorati Tags: pink ribbon, quilts, free patterns, charity

When jewellery-crafter and artist Tracy found out that she had breast cancer, she felt like she had “fallen in a hole, and couldn’t get out — couldn’t get happy again”… 100% understandable, with such life-changing news.

It was her husband who had the idea for a representation of a ladder, an image that helped Tracy to climb out of that hole of unhappiness while she created a stunning piece of beaded art.

Mostly done improvisationally, this is my first completed bead embroidery piece. Miscellaneous seedy-beads, some Swarovski crystals, and one special (to me -– thank you Sander!) faceted hessonite garnet.

As we move toward October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I think of my sister-in-law who just got that diagnosis that every woman dreads to hear… and I think of Jane, my friend lost to breast cancer, of whom I’ve written before… and Tracy’s brave beautiful beading declaration of hope and strength — the glittering ladder reaching up to the stars — is just tremendously moving.