Helping Hands – Withjulespham

Update: Helping Hands-1st Edition

Wow.

What a wonderful and long journey it has been with my Helping Hands 1st Edition embroidery hoop fundraiser!

So many thoughts and emotions from start to end.

And even now as I’m updating y’all, it’s all coming back to me after finishing up 6 months ago.

I still remember my anxiety, nerves, and doubts before sharing the kickoff. I was so so scared it would not be well-received or people would somehow lash out and just hate Helping Hands, its message, and me.

But the feeling I remember most and what kept me going was the very first person who reached out to me about getting involved: Kristina.

She didn’t know it at the time, but I was so overwhelmed with gratitude and love that this basically stranger wanted to be part of something so dear to me.

I guess in a way it was like validation that okay this is as good as you think it is in your heart and people see it too.

And before I knew it, all 10 hoops were reserved!

Then came the real work.

I mean look at how precious they came out to be! La la loved each person’s

“1 letter change”.

It took a much longer than I intended and even longer to send these babies to their forever homes due to COVID-19.

But just as rewarding if not more to see and hear how much each person loved their custom embroidery hoop!

I sent each hoop with a personal letter but I want to publicly declare my love and utmost gratitude to the 9 beautiful human beings (you know who you are!) for believing in me, in my mission, your absolute patience, your donation, but most importantly your giving hearts because y’all were able to collectively raise nearly $1,000 for Global Dental Relief and its mission to provide free dental care to children all over the world!!

Like what?? We did that ^^^ guys! *Happy Dance*

And a little too for making this girl here just the happiest.

&& Big thank you to those who couldn’t contribute directly but still encouraged + supported me along the way and shared Helping Hands with their loved ones to get the word out!

I’m still taking reservations if you’d like to be part of this small but impactful circle of ahhhmazingness or know someone who does or would simply like one of these sweet embroidery hoops for themselves.

By the way, they make a lovely baby shower gift!

As always, thank you for reading and following along

with me,

Jules.

Helping Hands Kickoff!

Have you ever felt so passionate about something that you kept it away from others and held it close to your heart?

Some of you might know that I’ve had a blog for over 2.5 years now. You might also know if you searched around that at one point I had a separate page within the blog called “Helping Hands”, which was created 2 months after I started WithJules in November 2016, but I removed it from being public after sometime.

Well I’m ready to tell the truth and real purpose of my blog.

It was and has always been my dream to use my blog as a platform to showcase my crafting talents in order to raise proceeds for charities that I really care about.

For awhile, the goal was to raise enough funds to go on another mission trip. But it just hasn’t been the right time (many times). And well, I’m tired of waiting for the “right moment”.

So today, I’m announcing my first fundraiser for a non-profit organization that I’ve supported for a long time called Global Dental Relief. They provide free dental care to children all over the world. To be completely transparent, all donations will be made directly through their website.

I’m starting “Helping Hands” with this embroidery project that I truly fell in love with and is inspired by my childhood growing up in the MS Gulf Coast.

If you donate at least $85, then I will make you your very own embroidery hoop like the one pictured (frame not included)! Plus $15 directly sent to me for materials and shipping.

This would be a wonderful gift for a true Gulf Coaster, embroidery lover, nursery decor, or someone wanting that southern charm in their home or space. I seriously can’t help but smile when I look at it.

And because I love how custom it is, I’m allowing ONE LETTER CHANGE to make it more personal for the person receiving theirs.

If you are interested about being part of something special to not only me but others as well, please directly message me to get started or go straight here for more information!

I’m only making a limited amount of hoops since each one takes many hours of love to create. Secure yours today!

Happy FriYAY, y’all!

Flashback to my first dental mission trip to Belize in 2014, which sparked everything! Look at those sweet faces.

I also spy Khang in the background!

A dream come true

It started off as just an idea.

At first you think to yourself “this could be really good”…and then reality sinks in and you realize it’s a total looong shot.

So it turns into a dream.

And you tuck it in the back of your mind for “someday”.

But it’s so close to your heart that you slowly and secretly plan it out in your head, even with all the doubt in the world that it’s never going to happen.

Then suddenly, you find yourself checking off “Step One” of “The Plan”…and it just keeps rolling.

I’m so happy to finally share my dream come true.

Those closest to me know my love for service.

I went on my first mission trip to Belize in May 2014. And I’ve been thinking of ways to go back ever since. Of course, life sank in and I was faced with limitations and little funds to finance more mission trips.

Somewhere along the way, my idea to “start a blog” crossed paths with my other idea to “go on another mission”.

A lightbulb went off.

“I could use money I profited from the blog to fund more mission trips!”

It was brilliant!

And then reality sank in again and I realized no one would ever pay me for my crafts or want to advertise on my blog. Even if they did, then it would take a really really long time to get to that point.

Two months.

Two months was how long it took for a old high school friend to reach out to me earlier this January because she read about my recent blogging adventures on photography.

She asked if I would be interested in photographing her wedding.

Her wedding.

Y’all, my mind was blown. Like what?! I doubted my capabilities and told Khang there was no way I could do it!

But God works in wonderfully mysterious ways…

–Keep in mind during the time that little dream of mine started creeping back and I found myself praying about it a lot.

So I realized that this crazy, cool, and scary opportunity was God working and answering my prayers.–

I quickly informed her of how inexperience I was, but if she was still interested then I would love the opportunity.

She could not have replied in a better way by saying “I think you’re so talented and I have all the faith”.

Faith. In me.

Gosh okay, so I quickly accepted the invitation.

I still feel beyond honored to be given the important task of photographing Katie and Jory’s wedding.

Thanks to them, my dream is coming true and I’ll always remember it started with them. And because of their sweet love for each other.

So here begins my new adventure, which I named a long time ago as “Helping Hands”.

My long-term goal and hope for this blog was always to use any profitable opportunities and setting it aside to fund my next mission trips, wherever and whenever that may be.

You can bet, I’ve already started those plans.

This is my reality now.

Ahhh! This is truly near and dear to me and I cannot thank my lucky stars enough that it’s all really happening.

I hope to have an update with Helping Hands in the near future.

I’m excited to share a few sneak peeks of J+K’s engagement session too!

Katie made sure to include Jory’s two precious daughters in the shoot.

I’m not going to lie, it made me really nervous because not only was it my first time shooting an engagement, but technically, family portraits too.