Turning Tragedy into Healing: New and unique craft kit helps parents memorialize their child’s short life

Every year more than 26,000 American women and 4.5 million women worldwide will deliver a stillborn baby. Miscarriage statistics are even more dramatic reportedly occurring in 20 percent of all pregnancies. Diana Gardner-Williams, a landscape designer from Liberty, North Carolina is a mother who has experienced this significant loss and knows the pain is immeasurable and very real.  After experiencing both prenatal loss and a stillborn birth of her son, Tanner, Gardner-Williams found solace through creative activities, such as scrapbooking and journaling that allowed her to express her grief. However, she realized there were no craft making art supplies available to help mothers memorialize infant loss.  To fill this void, Gardner-Williams created Just a Cloud Away Remembrance Kits, a new, unique, and creative craft making kit for parents and families to acknowledge prenatal and infant loss. They provide a healing and therapeutic outlet for parents to express grief and loss, while also creating a lasting keepsake of their children. Just a Cloud Away Remembrance Kits can be used for a variety of creative crafts, including scrapbooking, journaling and creating keepsakes such as shadow boxes and framed pictures. Each kit contains exclusive designs of angels, clouds, butterflies and Heaven symbolizing hope for parents that may not have a picture of their baby. These kits contain a variety of stickers, die-cuts and inspiring scrapbook pages to create a memorial.  “The kits are a wonderful idea for a sympathy gift during a difficult time when friends and family are uncertain on how to acknowledge the loss beyond the traditional flowers and cards” says Gardner-Williams. “Losing a child is the worst experience for a parent to endure. However, my children changed my life for the better and I wanted to document that fact.” says Gardner-Williams. Creating a tribute for a child that left too soon can aid families in their healing journey and provide a “place” to put their grief. Her company was founded on the belief that our loved ones will always be a part of our lives and our reunions with them are “just a cloud away”. Gardner-Williams also created the Web site, www.justacloudaway.com, as an online resource for grieving parents. The Web site has “Love Notes”, a blog about her experiences, suggestions on creating different memorials such as memory gardens and links to other Web sites helpful in the bereavement process.  Just a Cloud Away Remembrance Kits are sold directly to the public at www.justacloudaway.com, and are available wholesale to all retailers. Just a Cloud Away will donate a percentage of sales to non-profit organizations interested in buying or selling product.  Affiliate Marketing programs will be available in 2007 through the Web site. The Classic Baby style is the initial launch design with Modern Baby and Vintage Baby launching later next year.  The Modern and Vintage Baby kits will include other ethnicities and all retail for $15.

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