Hello Foxy: Shop for a Cure

Hello Foxy is a new online shop featuring vintage-inspired designs for foxy men & ladies.  In honor of the store's launch, Hello Foxy is donating 20% of all profits to Love Harder through the end of March.

The first two designs in the shop's Foxy 50 series (a celebration of the 50 states through vintage-inspired designs) have been released: California, Wisconsin, and Florida.  Pick up yours HERE.

New products will be added every week, so check back often.

This Valentine's Day: Shop for a Cure

LoveHarder.org is teaming up with a few extra special online shops to give you another opportunity to Love Harder this Valentine's Day. These stores are donating a portion of sales from their gorgeous handmade jewelry February 1-14.

Spread the word, support the cause, and show the world how to Love Harder.

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Who: Tabitha of Wearable Joy
What: 20% on any piece labeled "Love Harder" (+ free shipping!)

Hi there! I'm Tabitha of Probably Tabitha. I'm a newlywed, a book nerd, a bit of a grammar freak, and a jewelry designer.

I couldn't be more excited to be a part of the awesomeness that is the Love Harder Project. When I heard that they were looking for Etsy sellers to support Brandy and her H.A.D. by donating a portion of the proceeds on some Valentine's Day products to the MMRF, I pretty much threw myself at the opportunity.

I have created some pieces of jewelry -- all red or pink, because hi! It's the season of love! -- specifically for this very project. I hope you find something you like, but if you have a different design or idea in mind, please let me know!

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Who:  Chrissy of Yippie Designs
What: 10% on all items (+ 20% on crystal Swarovski bracelet in red!)

I started making jewelry maybe 12 years ago. My sister has been telling me from the beginning that I need to turn it into a business. I put that off for a long time until I was fund raising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (they also do Multiple Myeloma research!). The response was so great I thought I might actually have a viable business. I have pieces up on Etsy but I especially love to create new pieces (I participate in Alchemy on Etsy).

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Who: Kari of Charm Boutique
What: 10% from online shop + St. Louis store (entire month of Feb!)

Opened in October 2007, Charm Boutique is the creation of retail entrepreneur Kari Kraichely. Charm was founded for the woman who prefers chic, fashion-forward jewelry made by small artists and designers. Charm fills the store with timeless jewelry that is from only hand-picked designers from around the country. In 2008, Charm moved locations to double the space because of the long list of designers who wanted to be a part of the store. In 2009, Charm was named “Best Jewelry Store” by the Riverfront Times, a weekly publication in St. Louis.

Charm is located in the up and coming downtown of St. Louis, Missouri. The energy and enthusiasm of other small boutiques makes downtown the perfect place for Charm Boutique.

Charm is excited to offer great pieces of jewelry online as well as in our flagship store.

New Website by Sinter Design

Can we all just take a moment and discuss how ABSOLUTELY FREAKING BEAUTIFUL the new Love Harder website is?

Countless thankyou's are in order for Elly of Sinter Design for the beautiful site she threw together with approximately fifteen seconds' notice.  Please hire her for everything.  And send her cookies.

Love Harder this Valentine's Day with Customized Cards & Postage!

Love harder this Valentine's Day with customized valentines and postage in the Love Harder online store! Priced at less than $2.00 per card when you buy 20 or more.

This Valentine's Day: Love Harder

Are you a community-minded retailer with a Valentine's market?  Show your customers you care: partner with Love Harder and donate a portion of your sales from February 1-14 to finding a cure.

Benefits

• Earn trust. Show customers you care by supporting a cause they believe in.
  
• Make sales. A new study from Columbia University says that on average, an item advertised with a 10% donation is 20% more likely to sell, and for a price that’s on average 2% higher.
  
• Get noticed. Get noticed with links and features on the Love Harder blog, Twitter, and Facebook.
  
• Do good. Every dollar donated brings us a dollar closer to a cure. Spread the word, support the cause, and show the world how to Love Harder.

Contact us for more info.

Love Harder is Looking for a Web Designer!

UPDATE: Love Harder has a new web designer!  Welcome Elly of Sinter Design!  You're going to love what she's working on.

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Do you know what kerning is? Do you speak CSS in your sleep? Love Harder is seeking a volunteer web / graphic designer to create a clean, simple landing page for loveharder dot org.

We want a clean, minimalist site (something like THIS or THIS or THIS) that will direct visitors to our donation page, blog, Twitter, Facebook, and online store.  In exchange, you'll get a link from our blog, and the knowledge that you did a darn good thing.

If you're interested, email us some samples of your work!

p.s. BONUS POINTS if you can pretty up this blog!

Shop to Give

Our online store is now OPEN.

Every penny earned will go to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. That means $5-10 on every item purchased!

Spread the word, support the cause, and show the world how to Love Harder.


Much thanks to Jaxie Fantastic for inspiring the slogan 'Live Hard. Love Harder.'

What Inspires You to Love Harder?

Be Part of Something Epic

With over 3000 views on Youtube, LiLu's video has inspired nearly $3,000 in donations to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.  We want YOU to be part of our next project!

For our next video, LoveHarder.org asks:

What Inspires You to Love Harder?

Whether it's your dog, your grandma, or Season 17 of The Real World, we want to know what you love that inspires you to step up to the plate, step out of your comfort zone, and make a difference.

How You Can Help

LIGHTS. Try to record in a quiet, well-lit place, using the best camera you have (webcam, digital camera, etc.).

CAMERA.  Record a video of yourself completing the following statement: "_________ inspires me to love harder!"

ACTION.  Email us your video by Sunday, January 31 at 11:59pm EST. If the file's too big for email, you can send larger files for free through YouSendIt.

Bloggers Love Harder

From LiLu...

The Quandry

We feel terrible. Just horrible. And oh so helpless.

... if only there was something we could DO for them.

The Answer

 Ummmm. Did you forget that WE ARE THE INTERNET?!?!!??!
And also, Yes We Can!!!

The Result

Brandy and your Hot Awesome Dude… this one’s for you.

Love, The Internet.

{Editing & Idea: LiLu | "Singers": ~50 bloggers worldwide | For: Brandy}

A very special thanks to everyone who helped me make this possible: LiLu, Maxie, Ben, Tia, Alexa, Kyla Roma, Sizzle, Rachel, Jessica, Rachael, Katie, EP, Courtney, Tipp, Nicole, Jamie Varon, Laurie, L G, Ashley Marie, Wishcake, Matt, Doniree, Chelsea, Lisa, that short chick, Princess Pointful, Derek, Jess, Marie, Jamie, Jenn, Ashley, Erin, Jessica, Renee, Allie,  Grace, Rachel, Restaurant Refugee, Titania, Brad, Jolee, DC Princess, Patrick, and Deutlich.

Love Harder

Our friend Brandy is a brilliant writer, a wonderful teacher, and a generous friend. She shares my guilty love of cheetos, Mandy Moore, and hitting 'pause, rewind, replay' on any scene of The West Wing containing Josh Lyman. She is courageous and kind and hilarious and she has singlehandedly renewed my faith in the men and women who teach children grades K-5.

And she is in love with a man who has just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

We raising money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in his name. For the price of a cinnamon dolce latte, half-caf, hold the whip, you can be part of an effort to cure a disease that affects approximately 750,000 people worldwide.

http://www.loveharder.org

Every dollar brings us a dollar closer to a cure. And every donation brings a sliver of hope to a girl who needs all the hope she can get.

Love Harder,
Laurie


What You Can Do

• Give. Be part of an effort to cure a disease that affects approximately 750,000 people worldwide. Every dollar helps.
  
  
• Pass it on. Forward this story to five people. Share this blog post. Follow us on Twitter. Become our fan on Facebook.
  
  
• Shop. Show your support and buy Love Harder swag.  All proceeds from our online store go to benefit the MMRF.
   
• Learn more. Visit the MMRF's website to learn more about multiple myeloma-- what it means, what's being done, and what you can do to help.
  
  
• Love harder. Life is short, love is unbending, and no one knows what could happen next. Tell someone you love them today.
  

Brandy's Story

My name is Brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach, and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds.

Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog-- as personal as the dude that I adore. But I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He's a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He's the guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job.

He's the guy who sent flowers to me at school-- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He's a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred.

He's made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He's listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making-- but this is life. Right now. And I'm throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you.

This isn't a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It's just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next.

Thank you for reading this, and if you haven't already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.


Where Your Money Goes

• The American Institute of Philanthropy recently named The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation one of the best organizations to give to in terms of their accountability and use of resources.
  
  
• By working closely with researchers, clinicians and partners in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, the MMRF has helped bring multiple myeloma patients four new treatments that are extending lives around the globe.
  
  
• The MMRF has advanced twenty Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. They need your support to advance these clinical research programs and accelerate the development of better, more effective treatments.
  
  
• The MMRF's Multiple Myeloma Genomics Initiative recently became the first to sequence the multiple myeloma whole genome in its entirety.
  
  
• A whopping 98% of your donation to the MMRF will be used immediately to support high-priority multiple myeloma research.
  
  
• With diminishing funding for early stage drug development and the next myeloma treatments not expected to be approved until 2011, the MMRF desperately needs your help.
  

DONATE: http://www.loveharder.org
SHOP: http://shop.loveharder.org
TWITTER: http://twitter.loveharder.org
FACEBOOK: http://facebook.loveharder.org
MORE INFO: http://www.themmrf.org
CONTACT: theloveharderfund@gmail.com