Petra Baye Zimmerman

I crochet, draw, paint, sew, write, Garden and more!

As far back as I can remember I have created everyday. As a child I learned to sew and would enjoy repurposing as many items as I could find into new fun items. In Middle/High school I wrote a ton, drew, sketched, and was in chorus and drama. When I was 18 I learned to crochet. I now write patterns and I really love to make one of a kind items! The Magazine is my most recent big project. I made it in order to promote artists of ALL KINDS, talk and share tips about gardening and to share crochet patterns. Thank you all who are apart of support all that I do. From the charity work to this filthy magazine!🖤

The more you help and support me, the more I can help and support others!

becauseicare/dressing up for charity

So dressing up as the mean one idea actually came from another idea, so I will have to give you some history. Well, I guess I don’t have to, but I’m going to!

I grew up in a family with a lot of siblings and a single mom who basically chose drugs and alcohol over family. So needless to say it was a rough life for us kids. I remembered being around preteen age when something clicked in my head that I should write down and truly remember people and places that have helped my siblings and I. I kept that thought with me even through adulthood. As I got older and started the life I wanted to live things got a lot easier for me slowing. Working every day, being grateful for what I have, saying thank you, saying sorry, remembering good and bad everything, removing any negative thoughts and persons when needed and having such a great family and friends system has been the absolute key.

The first chance I got, when I felt like the world wasn’t on my shoulders, I reached out to help others. Naturally, I started with children. I don’t think there’s anything more helpless than a poor child. They have no control over where they might be next, who they might be around, a situation they may be in, and they tend to be at risk for awful things such as hunger and mental and physical health issues.

Continue to that first chance I had! I started a little charity I called beCAUSEicare at the beginning of 2020. What I did was I planned on writing a story about my childhood every season or so. I did that in order to help people see what kids go through. A lot of what they go through goes unseen. To this day, there’s still details of my life absolutely nobody knows but me, and I know that the same can be said about many other child. And Adults. In particular, it bothers me that children are forced to to keep the truth from those who just want to help them. In my siblings and I’s case our mom threatened a lot. I felt like I was constantly having to lie to people who only wanted to help us because she told us that it would get us taken away from her. Looking back and knowing what I know now, I’m sure those involved in trying to help knew something awful was going on and that there was nothing for them to do about it either. It’s a very sad cycle that I fear will be never ending. That is why I good and bad memories both have to stay in my head.

The very first story I wrote had to do with head lice. My family had it for a very long time. I being a girl with long hair, who never had it properly cut, treated or comb through except by a friends, mother when I was real little. My mother never maintained it, called me disgusting and resorted to bleaching my hair (and having me do it myself as a young child) and having my siblings and I use raid spray to get rid of it. I had it as far back as I can remember to when I moved in with my godmother at 13. This is 100% the perfect example of how awful children can be treated behind closed doors. For that season’s story, through selling some Art and T-shirts I raised $350. I used those funds to buy lice treatment kits and distributed it to a couple local schools. I had told the school that they can give it to any child who they found with head lice so they can be just sent home with it. After giving that much, I felt so excited. The thrill, a rush, a relief for those children and SO much more.

The second story was about how my siblings and I would waited in a free coat line each year to get Winter coats. I reached out to friends, family and was able to collect bags of coats that I eventually handed out. For whatever reason dressing up to hand out the coats struck my brain and life around Christmas time has never been the same! The second after I thought that, I thought it would be cool to crochet the outfit. (Sooo... that happened!) following that idea came yet another idea. HA! A neighbor of mine was asking me if I was going to the tree light ceremony downtown in the city I was living in. (Broken Arrow) I had at that point already made the suit, so I was so happy when she had mentioned that because I thought that, that would be a perfect way to bring more attention to the cause. It certainly worked! As soon as the tree got lit up, I jumped in front of it and proclaimed it as mine very loudly and dramatically in front of the couple thousand people that were probably out that night. The video is on YouTube, and I thank my neighbor at the time Latisha for taking that video. I wouldn’t of had it if it wasn’t for her! I was just going to run up there like a fool myself if nobody wanted to go. So thank you so so so so much for that!

The Santa featured in this magazine, Jon, saw me that night, and gave my information to the city of Broken Arrow. From there, I have reoccurring gigs each year. I dress up and take photos. I have a donation box that I take out there with me to raise money for the beCAUSEicare. (Each year the money goes towards outwear and gifts to those in need.) I also tag along on some of jon’s charity events as well as ones that find there way to me. Each year I also LOVE dressing up and calling number out at Canna Bingo night at The Red Bison here in Oklahoma. It is a good time with amazing people!

The third story I ever wrote up for beCAUSEicare was one about my little brother. He is four years younger than me. When he was in elementary school, he was badly burned on his back when a candle caught his shirt on fire. I won’t get into any details about that but you can imagine how awful that was. We lived in South Carolina at the time and he ended up having to go to the Augusta Burn Center in Georgia for aid. They took such great care of him. Thank you ALL who have or still do work there. You all are heroes. His first name is Ivan if anyone remembers. It must’ve been almost 20 years ago now, which just sounds crazy. They had a Fire Fighter Burn Camp that they let him attend. You’ll have to look into seeing if you have one locally. They do lots of wonderful stuff together for those who have been hurt AND the family members as well. GET INVOLVED. Anyhow, they have one big event each year that is a summer camp program. I ended up seeing a Facebook post about a burn camp here in Oklahoma trying to raise money for camp. I knew that, that was going to be the next place I try to help. I raised over $600 that time.

I did another for Hunger and raised a couple hundred to feed those on the street. After writing those few stories it got really hard for me. I couldn’t write any of them without constantly having to stop to cry so I had to take a break. This was at the end of 2020.

Back in 2018 I had started to look into surrogacy. It wasn’t until I took that “break” that I looked back into it. Wasn’t much of a break, I guess! At the beginning of 2021 I started a whole another journey in my life. But that’s a story for another day.

This is all of the children I gave birth to and myself. The four biggest girls are mine and the two littlest are surrogates babies!!