Raindrops and roses and whiskers on kittens...
Not sure about the whiskers on kittens, though I do find it very amusing watching cats chase their own tails. Anyway, I wanted to spend a few minutes talking about Kickstarter, which is one of my current favorite things.
Kickstarter is "a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers..." It's much like a microloan program, like Kiva or Microplace (both of which I recommend highly), but for a completely different group. People join together to fund projects ranging from buying art supplies for kids in Africa to filming a movie, and in return you get some sort of reward ranging from the artist's gratitude to something physical (a photograph, a book, a CD, a puppet, etc). My current favorite projects, both of which I've invested in, are:
- Spread Organic Flower Love -- help an organic flower grower get eco-friendly packaging so they can ship flowers nation-wide. If you contribute enough, you get organic flowers in return (and I love organic flowers!). They have an incredible offer for brides who contribute, too -- SO worth looking at.
- Innovative Non-Boring History Camp In Small Southern Town -- help fund scholarships for kids to attend what sounds like an absolutely amazing summer camp. The physical rewards aren't necessarily as impressive as those for the organic flowers you see above, but what you're doing is amazing.
I'm betting if you check it out, you'll find something on Kickstarter worth considering for yourself or a loved one ... and it's a good feeling to be part of a microloan community for artists!