Hair Today, Gone tomorrow. Going bald (in a more creative way) for charity.

Hi folks,

I finally got the invoice from KMG printing and so was able to finalise the finances. This is where it went (the amounts with no words beside them are subtotals):

So we got in $1335 total through Pledgeme, from 39 pledgers (you beauties!) and from that was deducted $41.63 for credit card fees and $66.75 for Pledgeme's admin fees.  I sold 3 more calendars at $20 each and spent $62.90 on prepaid envelopes and courier bags to distribute the calendars sold.  

The printing totalled $618.70 and the amount earned 9 cents from sitting in the bank (wow).  This left $605.11.  I have transferred $305.11 to Eleanor - which has gone into her Give-a-Little bank account and she is using this money just for things that contribute to her recovery from cancer.  $300 has been transferred to the Cancer Society of NZ Auckland branch and they say a huge thank you to all of you and wanted me to thank the amazing artists who decorated my dome too.

I have sent a calendar, with a friend of a friend who has not long finished chemotherapy in Wellington, back with him and he is going to gift it to the chemo ward to put on the wall and add a bit of colour and maybe inspiration.  He was very moved with the calendar and had nothing but praise for everyone who added to it.

I will also be sending a calendar to the Auckland branch of Cancer Society for them to put in their waiting room.  We still have a few CD-case desk calendars available to purchase, and a few A4-size wall calendars too.  These are currently at Bodyfx if anyone is keen to buy another one.  The Cancer Society also asked if there were any more to buy.  Whoever ends up buying these, the proceeds from them will go straight to the Cancer Society, as they are sold.  I have also suggested to the Cancer Society that if they wish to do another print run for a 2018 calendar they are welcome to use the images, and can save themselves some money by using the same printers as there won't be set-up costs if they use the same format.  I'll update you if that happens.  :)  But for now - over and out!

Hi folks,

all bar a couple of people should have their calendars by now - thank you for your patience!

Those of you who received your CD desk calendar in their letterbox and are wondering how to turn it into a desk calendar... just detach the base from the lid, turn the base over and reattach it.  It will then stand up to dispay the calendar.

cheers,

Ngaire.

Hi folks, sorry for the radio-silence lately.  There has been much to-ing and fro-ing with the printers to get it just right (and they had holidays too) and I'm glad I made the call to have the calendars start from February or we'd have had an entirely useless page already.  They are either being printed or have been printed and I'm expecting them to arrive any day now.  Most of you will receive your calendars in the first week of Feb, so please accept my apologies for the delay and for not having been able to deliver them prior to the fist date on the calendar, but I hope you'll forgive me when you see how great they are!

Hi folks, I just wanted to update you about where we are at with the calendars.  Due to things taking a bit longer than anticipated to get finished photos back and everyone's workloads, and the final set-up of the calendars still being fine-tuned at the printers, I've made the call to start the calendar from February so there's not a wasted month, by the time I get the calendars back from the printers and get them to you.  So it will start on Feb 1st 2017 and finish on January 31st 2018.

Once this has been done I'll load another update to account for all the costs and advise how much has been donated to the end causes.  Have a safe and merry Christmas and New Year, and I'll get your calendars to you next month.

It's been a whirlwind lately - so many photoshoots of amazing painted designs by generous artists who gave up their time and materials and I haven't been able to keep up with updates for them all.

There are only a few hours left of the Pledgeme fundraiser, and I'm so stoked and relieved that we met our target and then some.  I want to thank everyone who pledged - I think your credit cards will be charged for it in a day or two - and everyone who contributed to this project.  The artists, the photographers, the ideas people, the families who gave up their people for a while to allow them time to do this, including my very patient daughter who has been just incredible through this whole journey.  Thank goodness she hasn't been embarrassed at any stage to be seen with me - in fact she's been more likely to drag someone I don't know over and say "Mum, show so-and-so your bald head!"

If you wanted to buy a calendar, but procrastinated too long to get one through this page, you might have a chance of squeezing in an order if you contact me through the Colour Kids Face Painting Facebook page, but no promises.  hard work is currently being done on the images in preparation and I hope to have the calendar designed and being printed by the end of the first week of next month.

A big shout out to the artists and photographers (in no particular order): Anita Millar, Monica Cunningham, Alicia Sim, Carole TeBay, Yolanda Bartrum, Peter Wimmer, Julian Bartrum, Paul Adriaanse, Michael Tevaga, Sonya Graham-Cooper, Melissa Duffy, Samantha Fernandes, Pamela Moore, Emily Walker, Vanessa Lacassie, Kerry Howard, Christine Nieuwoudt and Jess Drummond.  God help me if I left anyone off...

Here are some of the "sneak peeks"

My birthday was busy, tiring, weird, great and very memorable!  Yesterday afternoon I had my remaining hair shaved off by clippers then cut-throat razor by Paul Adriaanse, who did a great job of not cutting me (thank you) yet gave me a super-close shave.  I'm not sure I was even this bald when born.

Then Yolanda Bartrum (Bodyfx) did an amazingly elaborate paint design on me and lined me up with a backdrop painted to complement the design - it's all very clever and you really ought to either buy a calendar or a print of it to see the full majesty of her art.  Here's a teaser peak...

I've been geting to know my own head in the last 24 hours and am pleased with the shape (phew), mystified by a straight dent (what did I hit my head on and when?) and surprised by how much heat my head puts out, which was somehow masked with hair.

Sadly, as much as I liked the look of my eyelash extensions, I've had nothing but trouble with them and I had to remove them tonight.  I won't be going back to the same place, but will try somewhere else for a fresh set - hopefully with better glue I don't react to and won't crumble in my eyes!

Thanks so much to all the artists, friends and family (including my awesome daughter who has been just SO cool about all this) who have supported me thus far.  I really appreciate all the birthday wishes, compliments on my dome and messages of support - you guys ROCK.

Hi folks, yesterday I went back to Michael at Hairmasters for the next shaved design in the plan.  I had a vague idea of either korus or a silver fern shape and asked for "something organic and pretty rather than chunky".  He studied the side of my head and decided a cuple of designs wouldn't work, and then came up with THIS design that I simply love.  He's truly an artist.

I'm using hardly any shampoo now, no conditioner and no longer need a separate towel for my hair!  LOL

We are past the halfway mark for meeting the target of $1000 and have just 19 days left.  PLEASE share this project with others and encourage them to pledge ANY amount - it all goes towards getting us over the finish line.  It's important to know that if we don't make the $1000 threshhold then NO money comes in from the credit cards.  And we don't want that.

Next stage is the rest of my hair is coming off on Sunday!  Tee hee!

So it kicked off in ernest today!  I must admit to feeling a bit apprehensive yesterday... the day came up really fast!  As I sat in the barber chair and the first buzz of the clippers took my hair off I did think "oh my God, what am I doing?" but I'm super-pleased with the end result that Michael Tevaga from Hair Masters created.  

I whipped out the heavy duty makeup and headed off to Titirangi to be photographed by Melissa from Flutterby Photography and she took so many great pics in such a short time - she really knows her craft!  Here is a pic of the final result... but we were mucking about a bit here - this is NOT the final pic to be used in the calendar.

So my daughter and I went, with student photographer Jess Drummond, to Ollie's Icecream Bar in Royal Oak yesterday and took some snaps, including the cover photo for the calendar.  I've long loved the vintage look and decided on this for the cover as I won't have enough hair for victory rolls again for quite some time!