Isabel Designs

Isabel Designs festival booth

This past weekend, Isabel Designs found herself exhibiting in Marlbank, Ontario at the Red Roof Women’s Festival. Our booth was made of things old, new, borrowed and blue. Not that we were headed to the alter, but it was the first time we took Isabel on the road, and our little store actually did contain all of these things. We had old drawers for shelves, an old screen door, and a well loved trellis for flaunting our wares. We borrowed a table from Dad and covered it with a blue tablecloth. A fancy banner, made by Noella, hanging under the canopy constituted our something new. All in all, I think we looked like seasoned experts – even if I do say so myself!

Sue and I had been – not so secretly – working on a few new products to introduce at the festival. After about an hour of selling, we realized we should have produced more pieces, so thank goodness we brought our tools and supplies with us! We even made custom jewelry and gifts on the spot for a few customers! To say that we were surprised and delighted by the reception we received over the weekend would be an understatement. 

Thank you to all our new customers for supporting our work and Ovarian Cancer Research. And thank you to the Red Roof Festival organizers for putting on such a great event! (I was also a performer at the festival and had a blast sharing the stage with so many talented women. See my facebook for photos).

As soon as I catch my breath, I’ll be updating the website with new jewelry and gifts. For now, I’ll leave you with photos of our weekend and a peak at our new products: SunDrops TM, Heart Catchers TM, and Garden Whispers TM. 

SunDrops TM

Heart Catchers TM

Garden Whispers TM

Eileen, Nancy & Chris on stage

Great crowd & amazing sunshine all weekend

Garden Flowers in June

If my mother was alive, she’d be seventy-three years old. She’s been gone eight years, and I still miss her. The first few years after her death, I would visit her grave site often. Somehow it gave me comfort though I never understood why. I knew she wasn’t there. Perhaps seeing her name spelled out on the granite stone helped me believe it was real.

Though my stops at the cemetery are less frequent these days, the visits I have with my Mom still happen regularly. I hear her voice encouraging me when I’m feeling uncertain – especially when I’m trying to learn something new. Just as she had said in past, “don’t underestimate yourself”, and “you can do it” still help me to believe in my abilities. As I get older I realize just how special it was to hear those words from her. 

When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, it felt like our whole family got the disease too. The reality of her prognosis was devastating, but it also became an opportunity for all of us to savor the important things in life, like saying ‘thank you’ and ‘I love you’. Today I send out birthday wishes to the Universe, along with a song that I gave to my Mom years ago to try and say how I felt – and still feel. It’s a Natalie Merchant song called “Kind and Generous”. Listen Now on Grooveshark. Read the lyrics here.

I really didn’t know anything about ovarian cancer until my mother was diagnosed back in 1998. Her symptoms snuck up on her and by the time she realized there was a problem, she was already in stage three of the disease. Ovarian cancer is typically very difficult to diagnose, and can remain silent for quite some time before causing any symptoms. My sister and I are now quite vigilant about our ‘reproductive’ health, knowing that often this type of cancer is in the genes. Regular visits with our doctor now include additional screening – just in case.

There are a few things all women can do to reduce the risk. According to the Ovarian Cancer Research organization of Canada, taking the birth control pill for five years can reduce the risk by more than 50%. Another little pill we can take that will substantially reduce the risk is vitamin D. The American Journal of Public Health stated that, “The high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, combined with the discovery of increased risks of certain types of cancer in those who are deficient, suggest that vitamin D deficiency may account for several thousand premature deaths from colon, breast, ovarian and other cancers annually.” (link to article)

I’ve been taking vitamin D for a few years now, initially as a way to combat depression, but now I take it for cancer prevention too. I think we all need to be extremely proactive about our health, and this is just one little thing – that may turn out to be a big thing – that I can do for me. 

Now what I’d like you to do for ‘you’, is visit the Ovarian Cancer Research website and familiarize yourself with the information available there. There is a feature on their site that allows you to set out a postcard to family and friends to help spread the word about education and prevention of this disease. The photo below is one of their postcards.