Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian brethren!

Our Thursday prize previews have been so much fun that we thought we would spend the last month(!) leading up to Desert Bus offering you a sneak peek on both Mondays AND Thursdays. We have so much great stuff, we just can’t pick which ones we want to share with you – so we’re giving you a whole bunch!

Princess Peach Framed Cut Paper Art

Crafted & Donated by Schala-Kitty

Dedicated to one of video game’s beloved leading ladies, this piece is a unique and beautiful take on Princess Peach’s famed stained glass window. Over 100 precision cut vellum and pearl cardstock pieces recreate the look of stained glass from paper. The artwork is adhered directly to the frame’s multiple panes of glass to create the illusion of floating and can be displayed with either side of the box facing forward: the princess framed by delicate peach blossoms, or with the flowers at her back. Details such as the power-up symbols on the arches, the stylized ribbons, and the sparkling gems add to the artwork’s charm. In addition, the piece itself comes in a shipping box beautifully decorated with Princess Peach marker illustrations.

About the Crafter:
Schala-Kitty is a life-long gamer and crafter who enjoys making fan merchandise for her fellow geeks. She has been a Craft-Along participant since Desert Bus 6, has sold at several Artists Alleys in the past, and currently runs a shop on Etsy. While she sells stationery, notebooks, and bookmarks everyday, Schala-Kitty and her trusty Silhouette Cameo relish the challenge of creating cut paper art made up of many intricate, precisely cut pieces carefully assembled by hand. Everything she makes is full of the fun, joy, and inspiration that comes with being a fan.

Planeswalker Boxed Set (2014 SDCC Exclusive)

Donated by Lady Planeswalker Society

This little black box packs a huge Planeswalker punch, containing limited edition versions of Ajani, Jace, Liliana, Chandra, Nissa and Garruk, in their Magic 2015 Core Set incarnations. Each of these six premium cards is presented in a sleek black-on-black format unique to this release. We’re talking a “never before and never again” scenario here – not something you can just nip over and pick up at your local game store. But we’ll have one at Desert Bus, and it could be yours!

About the Sponsor:
This awesome item is donated by the great folks from Lady Planeswalker Society. LPS is a group of devoted Magic fans, who come together to create a fun, welcoming community for women of all skill levels to play (guys welcome too – LPS are a friendly & inclusive bunch)!

All of our crafters are amazing. But this one slew a dragon. I know it’s not a competition, but she wins.

Head of Drogon

Crafted & Donated by CultureShock007

Drogon, notorious problem child of the Mother of Dragons, has oft been described as the biggest and fiercest of the Targaryen dragons. He’s now the most low maintenance and docile, requiring only the occasional dusting! It was only a matter of time before this fellow met a terrible fate, we just beat George R.R. Martin to the punch! Professionally stuffed by the most talented taxidermist of House Bolton, this one of a kind specimen can now decorate the wall of your own great hall or personal chamber! The Head of Drogon is easily hung from walls by a single nail or screw and is lightweight for its bulk. Specially crafted resin eyes are designed to follow you as you go about your daily plotting to secure the Iron Throne.

Special thanks to the Windblown Mercenaries, many of whom were slain in the process of procuring the specimen. Nobody really liked them much anyway.

About the Crafter:
Cultureshock007 is a space warlord who does crafting on the side to relieve the stresses of the Space War. Being a space warlord doesn’t exactly pay the bills, so she works as Production Assistant (entry level film wage slave) to fund her campaign of terror from her base in New Vancouver, Space Canada. Her interests include time travel, needle felting, sculpting, casting, video gaming and toturing rebel spies… sometimes by needle felting them.

This year we’re starting a little feature that will provide you with a sneak peak of one of our awesome prizes every Thursday until Desert Bus 8. We want you to be as excited as we are about all the awesomeness we have in store for you! For example:

Adventure Time’s Finn and Jake Dolls

Crafted & Donated by Melissa

What time is it?

Fresh from the Land of Ooo, Adventure Time’s Finn and Jake are ready for swords fights and heroic rescues, with plenty of supplies in tow! This adventurous duo have brought along Finn’s trusty backpack, his golden sword, and most importantly, the like-like sweater given to him by Princess Bubblegum! Wherever their path lies, whether as a child’s new favorite toy or a treasured possession for the kid at heart, Finn and Jake are armed, protected, and ready for action!

The dolls and backpack were adapted from a pattern by Lucyravenscar on Etsy.

Melissa has been crocheting for a very long time and knitting for even longer. That’s what she does whenever she’s not working on a degree in art history and anthropology at California State Long Beach or going to every museum she can find in Los Angeles. She has contributed crafts for Desert Bus in the past, and says she will happily do it again for every Craft-Along in the future.

To all you beautiful people who were hoping to volunteer for Desert Bus 8,

We’re sorry, but all our volunteer positions for this year have been filled. We know that during Desert Bus 7 we promised that we would put out an open call for volunteers for Desert Bus 8. What we didn’t account for was that all our previous volunteers would want to come back. Really guys? You want to do it AGAIN?!?!

We had less than 10% turnover in volunteers this year, and now that we know exactly which volunteer positions we will have available, we know that we can fill those positions with the volunteers that we already have.

We really want to give as many people as possible the chance to volunteer, but we don’t want to push out existing volunteers who have worked so hard and done a great job for us in the past.

That being said… Any of you who would be interested in volunteering in 2015 please feel free to send an email to [email protected] and we will make note of your interest in volunteering for future Desert Buses.

Again, we apologize for not being able to take more of you, but the Moonbase is only so big, and there is only so much Poo-pourri. *ha, poop joke*

Stay classy,
The Desert Bus Crew

Mark your calendars, request your time off of work, and start stocking up on sleep now, the 8th annual Desert Bus for Hope leaves the station at

and we want you aboard.

(There are always so many vacant seats!)

Each person’s preparation for Desert Bus is different. Ashton learns to sleep with his eyes open in front of his computer. Tally works like a madwoman and then gets a manicure. Every crew member gets a haircut, except Alex, who herps the maximum number of derps allowed by law.

So do what you have to do to prepare. Some suggestions include:

• Tell your boss you are going in for invasive surgery on November 14th and you will need at least 1 week to recover. (People don’t like the word ‘invasive’ he/she won’t ask you any more questions.)*
• Begin brain calisthenics. We recommend theoretical physics. You will need all your synapses firing at full speed to come up with the most ridiculous and innovative challenges.*
• Rob a bank. We have some really good prizes this year. And if you get caught, tell them you are making an involuntary charitable donation on behalf of the bank. I’m sure they will thank you and let you go. Maybe you’ll even get a hug.*
• Ensure you have an internet connection. If you don’t, you’re probably not reading this so… yeah, I don’t know what to do about that.
• Tell your friends! Help us make DB8 the best DB yet. The more people, the further our reach, the more opportunities we have to raise money for the sick chillin’s.**

*If you actually do this, we are not responsible for the consequences.
**Actually do this!

THANK YOU.

You guys are amazing.

Once again, your generosity is unbelievable.

We thank you all from the bottoms of our hearts. Desert Bus for Hope is truly a community effort and none of this would be possible without every single one of you. You are the best community anyone could ask for.

If you want to help us make Desert Bus 8 even better, please consider taking a moment to complete our survey. (It’s short, I promise.)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2BBDFP7

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

For the children!

LAST CHANCE TO GET
A DESERT BUS 7 POSTER!

Why not pick up one of our fantastic Desert Bus 7 posters? As every year, it is stupendously illustrated entirely by Michael Lunsford of Supernormal Step.

HURRY because the poster is ONLY AVAILABLE until Sunday, November 24 at 8pm PST!

Still pining for more Desert Bus?

As we wrap up, our Gallic friends at Desert Bus de l’Espoir are livestreaming their Desert Bus odyssey from the heart of France … get them on Twitter at #desertbusfr, check out their stream, and donate some Euros for the children! Bonne courage, camarades!

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Remember the Seven Dollar Superheroes we collected from our special guests over the course of Desert Bus 7? Did you know that some of the talent and volunteers added their own too?

Here’s the full list we came up with. Have a favorite? Let us know in the comments! And if you feel inspired to draw one, send it in to [email protected]! We’d love to see your creativity

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We’re within sight of the finish line, folks.

As I write this, we are at 154-and-one-half hours into about 155+1 of our Desert Bus marathon. It’s been a real privilege to be able to share this journey with you all week, and I am especially lucky to be able to blog you through the home stretch.

It’s been quite a week, with loads of unforgettable moments, and I have a feeling we might still have something special on tap for our grand finale.

What were some of your favorite memories — happy, funny, sad, or anything — from this year’s Desert Bus? Let us know in the comments!