Safe Sparkle Rally a shining success!

 

My wedding day.

Giving birth to my kids.

Waving a glitter sign in front in front of Ellen DeGeneres’ NBC studio today with 20+ other devoted crafty peeps.

My life is complete!

I was so nervous this morning about this event. I woke up at 4 a.m. and met Lindy, my co-worker and friend from Duncan Enterprises at 5 a.m. at Starbucks. Our journey took three hours, and the entire time I had visions of no one showing up. Or of me getting kicked off the street. Thank goodness Lindy drove, I couldn’t concentrate on anything!

We picked up my sister from the Burbank airport (she flew in just for the cause!), ate breakfast, and then gulped and made our way to the studio. Just when I was about to second guess everything, my boss, Alyson called to give me a much-needed pep talk.

“There was Martin Luther King, Ghandi, and Cesar Chavez. They all stood up for what they believed in. At first only a few listened, but soon, the masses followed…”

That made me giggle, and duh, in no way am I’m comparing myself to those leaders, but I knew Alyson was trying to get me to lighten up and have fun. It worked!

As soon as we parked, Cathie Filian pulled up right behind us. She gave me a big hug – assurance that we’d be in this together. Between the four of us, I knew everything would be OK. Four is enough not to look silly!

Within minutes more people came, and then more – and more! We had about 22 people all together. Lindy made sure everything was super organized! Many of us had not even met eachother. Glitter united us! Thank you Ellen! We waved our signs at the traffic, people honked for us. We screamed, cheered and chanted crazy sayings. Check out the pictures here!

Right where we rallied, a hundred or so folks waited in line for audience seats for Ellen’s show. We provided nice entertainment! At one point, I turned to the crowd, pumped my fists in the air, and shouted: “If you love glitter, go YEAHHHH!” – and they all looked back with frightened stares.

A little bit into our groove, one of Ellen’s team members came over and asked us questions. And then some people came out of the studio and took pictures with their cameraphones. Even the security guards snapped pics!

Next a guy came out with a videocamera. He said “I’m here to tape you for The Ellen DeGeneres Show – let’s see you ham it up!”

We cheered “GLITTER IS NOT LITTER!” – the next second, someone’s sign handle snapped and the glittered posterboard blew away into the street. She ran and grabbed it, and the rest of us broke out in a gigglefest.

We continued to chant and sing, and wave our signs. The cameraguy stayed for a good 10 minutes, and finally our voices gave out. After he left, we all sighed and hugged. Our safe sparkle rally was a hit! Honestly, that was the side effect. The true gem of the day was all of us coming together, celebrating art, and making new freindships. Muy corny, I know, but I swear that is how I felt! Two moms even brought their babies. At one point, we ran out of things to chant for the cameraman so one of the moms held up her baby and sang out “BABIES LOVE GLITTER!” and we all followed her lead. Can you say hot crafty mess? That was us today!

My sister, me, Jenny, and Cathie have guaranteed tickets for Ellen’s show tomorrow!!! The audience director lady came over and wrote our names down, and asked all kinds of other questions about our rally, what inspired it and the Etsy sale.

Tonight I’m making a gift for Ellen bbecause we are allowed to give her something (to her handlers). I am so relieved that the rally rocked, so much pressure has been lifted. But now I still won’t sleep because I’m so excited about the show tomorrow. So hopefully they will air it tomorrow, or the day after.

I am so pumped! Between the Idol Gives Back glitter charity Etsy sale, and the rally, I feel so empowered to make a difference in this world!

Hey… heard any complaints about fabric or glue?

NOTE: The Etsy sale is still going strong until tomorrow night after American Idol! All proceeds go to Idol Gives Back, inspired by Ellen’s annoyance of glitter! We’re turning a negative into a postive!

I hope this post is coherent, I am so sleepy, my eyes sting. But American Idol is on, and I. Must. Stay. Awake. To. Watch.

Thanks to everyone who supported us in the rally – whether it was coming out, sending happy vibes or donating glitter art to the charity sale. Thank you the marketing team at Duncan too! Good karma to everyone all around!

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* All content/photos copyright, © Kathy Cano-Murillo, 2008.