Thoughts from God

 If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been stung by a bee, worn contact lenses, or seen a mother's face when her baby giggles. Little can be huge in the right circumstances. CHALLENGE: You may soon forget the "little" charites that you perform but the benefactor of those charities will not. To them it may be a major blessing that positively impacts their life. Make an extra effort today to do something nice for someone for no reason. Repeat tomorrow. REFERENCE: Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
James 3:13

My sweet and amazing cousin sent me this yesterday.  Heartfelt Couture's mission is to make a child's stay in the hospital a little more FABULOUS and the above article sums us up perfectly!  I love that God has entrusted me, a LOWLY servant of Jesus, with a small, but AMAZING task.  To plant seeds and lift up little hearts.  I thank God everyday for all he has blessed me with. 
Blessings,
Keri Abshier

First Baptist Church Grapevine

On Wednesday, March 21st some very special ladies of First Baptist Church Grapevine cut out 55 gowns for Heartfelt Couture.  We had so much fun that night, cutting, chatting, and eating desserts!  These ladies were the hands and feet of Jesus that night.  They also, brought their own fabric to donate to Heartfelt Couture!  Their generosity and sweet spirit overwhelmed me and  I love that others believe in Heartfelt Couture just as much as I do.  Thank you ladies!  I had an AMAZING night!  If you would like to do a cutting event at your church. Please contact keri@heartfeltcouture.com

Children of Angel Home, India

Thank you to EVERYONE who donated items,to the children of Angel Home.  The adored their Christmas gifts, and were overwhelmed by your generousity this 2011 Christmas season.  We are planning on sending a box in April for Easter so if you are interested in donation toys and such please contact me by March , 15.  You can email me keri@heartfeltcouture.com.
We also wanted to add a disclaimer to these pictures...in some of the pictures the kids aren't smiling, it's definitely not because they don't like the gifts. They absolutely loved them! Sometimes, especially with the past that they all have, smiling without being told isn't a natural thing.

Christmas/New Year break

Heartfelt Couture will be on vacation from December 15 thru January 3, so I can spend time with my family this holiday season.  Any requests for gowns will be made the first week of the New Year.  Thank you all for your support in 2011.  I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Blessings,
Keri

email down

If you have emailed keri@heartfeltcouture in the last week or so, my email is down.  Trying to correct the problem now.  If you have a question you can go on Heartfelt's facebook page and send me a message.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!!

Keri Abshier

Poppylane raised $1000 for Heartfelt Couture in October!!!!!

Poppylane Photography raised $1000 in the month of October for Heartfelt Couture.  This money will be put to special use.  Prayer pillows are VERY time consuming and this money will help to cut that time in half!  Thank you to Megan with Poppylane and the families that participated.  The session was only $100 and you got some AMAZING pictures and are helping some FABULOUS kids!!

Angel Home gift requests

This Christmas Heartfelt Couture will be sending the 5 kids at Angel Home, in India, prayer pillows and other small gifts.  We are looking for stationary type items; notebooks, pens, erasers, etc.  Also, small toys and games that can be easily put in the box of prayer pillows.  If you are interested in sending some of these items please contact Keri, keri@heartfeltcouture.com or you can mail them to Heartfelt Couture 3101 Mossy Oak Ln, Bedford, TX 76021. I will not be mailing the box until Dec 1st.

Blessings,
Keri Abshier 

Angel Home

Heartfelt Couture is partnering with Angel Home, in India by providing prayer pillows to 5 VERY special children.  Here is a little more about Angel Home:

Since September 2009, Angel Home, in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India has been the home to 5 beautiful children; Nitesh Kumar, Savithra, Yesu Mathi, Suganthi & Santhia. Some of these children came from dysfunctional families while others have been orphaned.

The future hope and vision of Angel Home is to be a safe haven for more orphaned/abandoned children & widows, especially those affected by HIV-AIDS and other communicable diseases, where they will be provided for physically, spiritually and emotionally.

We are also, going to have a list of things we would like to send to the kids, in the box with the pillows.  So stay tuned for more information on how you can help Angel Home.

These precious children need to feel the love of God, and the hope there is in Jesus Christ.

Blessings,
Keri Abshier

Party with a Purpose

Angie Arena, a Mary Kay consultant, is generously donating $1 for every new face she does in the month of September and 10% of her sales in September come to Heartfelt Couture.  Contact Angie today   email Angie at angela.arena@sbcglobal.net or call her (817) 729-8818.  I have my appointment scheduled and will post pictures of my makeover!  This is an amazing way to have a little fun and give to some AMAZING kids!  Visit her website www.marykay.com/AngelaArena

Blessings,
Keri Abshier

October Fundraiser 2011

Poppylane Photography is GENEROUSLY donating every cent from her photo sessions in October to Heartfelt Couture.  Megan is an AMAZING photographer and has a heart of GOLD!  You will fall in love with her photography and her sweet personality.  Over the last 2 years, Poppylane Photography has donated over $800.  In 2011 she wants to make $1000 to make a child's stay in the hospital a little more FABULOUS!!

Blessings,

Keri

Cutting Party at White's Chapel United Methodist Church

12 amazing ladies from White's Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas cut out around 60 gowns on May 3, 2011. They were fabulous and really fast at cutting out fabric. They had a great time and I was so thankful for their giving and kind spirits. If your church is interested in having a cutting party at your church please contact keri@heartfeltcouture.com. This is a great way to spread the word about Heartfelt Couture to different churches in the area. This ministry is such a blessing to many families and the more people that know that Heartfelt Couture exists the better!

Blessings,

Keri Abshier

Prayer requests 4/19/2011

This week was boys week at Heartfelt Couture

Please pray for the following:

Trevor-age 4, has a congenital heart defect, Double Inlet Left Ventricle/Hypoplastic Right Heart. He will be having his 3rd open heart surgery in May

Brady-age 10, will be have a 17 hr surgery in May for his scoliosis.

We at Heartfelt Couture hope everyone has a blessed Easter!

"Jesus said to her,"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
John 11:25-26

Prayer requests week of 4/4/2011

Heartfelt Couture shipped these 4 gowns out to these precious little girls. Please pray for each below: Charlotte-is 3 years old and having 3rd open heart surgery. Lilly-is 21 months and has Tetraology of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia she will be having her pre-op cath. Addison-is a CHD patient and is getting ready for her 2nd heart operation. Janelle-will be having her heart cath and Fontan. Please pray for all these amazing kids! Blessings, Keri

Kids of Heartfelt Couture-April 2011

This is from sweet Chase's mom.

"1 in 100 children in the United States are born with a Congenital Heart Defect each year. Of those children, approximately 8% will be born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome(HLHS). My 17-month-old son Chase is one of them. Chase was born in October 2009 with, essentially, half a heart. In children with HLHS, the left side of the heart doesn't develop in-utero and the child must undergo three life-saving, palliative heart surgeries. Chase underwent his first heart surgery at 7 days old. He then had a second heart operation when he was 4 1/2 months old and will have one further scheduled surgery when he is approximately 2 to 3 years old. Chase is so incredibly strong and is one of the happiest children I've ever known! He's been through more in his almost year and a half of life than most people experience in a lifetime. The odds have always been stacked against him, yet with his strong determination and our faith and trust in God, he has continued to thrive and exceed expectations! We are so very blessed to have Chase in our lives and we witness a living, breathing miracle every time we look at him. During a recent heart catheterization procedure, Chase had the joy of wearing an adorable Toy Story hospital gown, provided by Heartfelt Couture. Although he was NOT happy to be in the a hospital environment, surrounded by people in scrubs(he's not a fan of people in scrubs, for good reason!), his face lit up when he saw Buzz and Woody on his "shirt". Thank you so much for everything you do to bring a smile to little ones like my son, and for making a difficult experience a little bit easier on him. And of course all of the hospital staff thought his gown was adorable, too! Thank you, Heartfelt Couture!

You can follow Chase's journey with his special heart at http://www.mom2lo.com/

I want to thank Chase's mom for his story. This story is such an amazing testimony for Heartfelt Couture.

Cutting night March 2011

Heartfelt Couture had another cutting night this past Friday. We got a TON done and had a great time doing it! Thank you to all the ladies that came and helped. All 4 of you! Special thanks to Megan with Poppylane Photography for taking some great pictures of our work.

Blessings,
Keri

Short hiatus

Heartfelt Couture will be on a short hiatus between Monday March 21-April 4. I will not have email access, or sewing machine access. Any requests emailed in between those dates will be made the week of April 4th and shipped that Saturday April 9th. Sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

Blessings,
Keri

Prayer Requests March 13-19

Here are this weeks prayer requests. Word of our amazing ministry is spreading!

Dakota-diagnosed with Craniosynostosis. This is a birth defect/disorder where the sutures in a baby's skull fuse and harden prematurely. She will be having surgery in the Spring. It will be a long surgery.

Lucy-please visit their blog http://www.erikandkatekrull.blogspot.com/

Guiliana-has HLHS and is having her Fontan surgery soon.

Josie-has a very rare congenital heart defect called double outlet right ventricle(DORV). Please go to www.giveforward.com/heartheroesforjosie to learn more about this sweet little girl!


Hannah-is having her 3rd heart surgery.

Jordan-had surgery a week and half ago.

Please pray for all these sweet girls! Seems like this week was GIRLS WEEK! I love Heartfelt Couture and know that all these gown and/or pillows will make a difference to the child and families.

Blessings,
Keri Abshier

Kids of Heartfelt Couture

We are wanting to do profiles each month of children that have received a gown and/or pillow from Heartfelt Couture. If you have received a gown and/or pillow and would like to be featured as Kid of Heartfelt Couture please email me keri@heartfeltcouture.com We(or you) would love to write a little something about your child, their illness, their strength, and how Heartfelt Couture made them smile. This will be a great way to spread the word of Heartfelt Couture and how it really does make a difference!

Blessings,
Keri Abshier

Prayer Requests

In the last week and a half I have made 8 hospital gowns and pillows for some precious boys and girls. I would love to list them on the blog so you can pray for these AMAZING kids! Most of them have up coming surgeries.

Mary Clare is 3 years old and has HLHS. Read more about her here
http://www.babypennington.com/ and about her upcoming surgery.

Aly Lincoln is 21 months and also has HLHS. Read more about Aly here
http://www.alyjeansspecialheart.com/ and about her upcoming surgery.

Merritt is 6 weeks old and has RSV. She has been in the NICU and is starting to recover.

Chloe is 3 years old and has a medulloblastoma. Her treatment will be 4 months of chemo and a bone marrow transplant in July or August. She has a 50% chance of survival.

Ethan is 2 years old and has a congenital heart defect. They find out in April when his next surgery is scheduled.

Chase has HLHS. He will get his procedure this spring.
http://www.mom2lo.com/


Daylen is 4 months old and is having hemi-fontan surgery in March.

Kylan is 21 months and has HLHS. He will be having his 3rd open heart surgery this spring.

Blessings,
Keri

Heartfelt girls

Pictured above is my little girl "A". Her bear "Gabrielle" is sick and she made a prayer pillow for the bear using fabric letters I had dropped that day.

My other little girl "L" was looking at a blog with me about a little girl named Lucy yesterday. I asked her what should we do for Lucy since she is very sick. "L" said, "Make her a hospital gown and pillow."

My girls at 5 years old are "getting" that Heartfelt Couture helps sick children feel better.

I am not saying this because I am "The World's Greatest Mom". I am really an average at best mom. My house is a mess, I can get frustrated very easily, we don't eat 100% organic. I never intended to be a stay at home mom, and sometimes I go into my room, shut the door and scream into my pillow. Why am I tell you this? Because I am not perfect. I am normal.

The one thing I want my girls to learn from me is giving. I want it to be second nature to them. We live in a selfish, me driven world, and I struggle with this daily. I want them to rise up and be an example of kindness and a giving heart.

On my fridge we have our family verse,
"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35

I truly believe if we can teach our children to be givers then God's kingdom will grow faster than we ever thought possible. This is only 1/3 of the reason I do Heartfelt Couture. Maybe I will blog more about the other two reasons later!

Blessings,
Keri Abshier