New Year, New Blog

At the beginning of a new year, we all have resolutions, right? Lose 20 pounds, spend more time with family, eat better. I'm actually one of those people that doesn't really like resolutions because I don't have time for them. So I'm sure you're now asking, "Why are you starting a blog, Amanda? On the 1st of the year nonetheless!" Because I need to do something different and do something scared.

I'm not the type to take a lot of risks and step outside of my comfort zone but I really feel like God has been moving me to move toward something different and try something uncomfortable. God has given me a lot and I think he's been trying to get me to look outside of my stable job and stable life and find a way to reach out to people outside of my bubble. My husband is the eloquent writer who can make quick quips and such. I'm just the one who likes to work hard in the background and challenge him to push forward and reach for his goals for his handyman blog (plus, I get new furniture or things fixed in my house, which is a definite bonus!). But now....now It's time for me to push myself and use my talents in a different way.

I want to show kindness through my craftiness. I think God used the Secret Sister gift exchange at church this last year to push me in that direction. My Secret Sister for last year was someone I've known for 10 years and knew she loved not only making crafts but receiving crafty things. I felt this was a safe way to make things for someone without worrying that they might not like it. I mean, make something each month for someone who doesn't know who they're receiving a gift from? Perfect! So I challenged myself to make a portion or all of her monthly gift. In looking at my schedule (I had a 4 month old baby at the time, going back to work full time, working heavily in our church's music and children's ministries) I didn't know if I could do it for the whole year but I could at least try! She didn't know I had created that challenge for myself so she couldn't be disappointed by it at least if in the end I didn't complete a project and ended up buying something for her, right?

At times, it was a bit of a challenge but for the most part, I loved every minute of it. I made things like fairy lights for her yard, a painted canvas, a custom coffee mug, a shelve to hang her coffee mugs, painted canning jars with tea lights, a reversible snowman/scarecrow made from wood, and stamped logs (it sounds odd by it was by far my favorite gift!) What I didn't know was I totally gave myself away with the first gift I made for her - tree rounds with the family name and a picture of her family etched on it. I wondered if it would give me away since the rounds came from a mutual friend that just had her tree trimmed by our husbands but I knew she would like it (I had Pinterest stalked her to see what she liked and it was a post on one of her boards) so I just had to make it. Shortly after she received the gift, she posted on Facebook that she had the best secret sister ever. Right then, I knew I was going to have a hard time topping my first gift, but I didn't care. I had started something that I didn't want to stop!

Throughout this past year, I truly understood the Bible verse, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). I enjoyed creating the gifts and giving them more than receiving anything. As I would make the gifts, I'd spend time praying for my Secret Sister and her family and it sounds weird, but it was like zen crafting. Even though I never really saw her reaction to each of the gifts, it didn't matter because I was loving giving things I had made.

If you've read this far, you're probably saying, "Get to the point, Amanda." Well, I guess it would be this. I don't know how often I'll post here or what exactly I'll post about, but I know I want to share my love of crafting and hopefully brighten someone's day, how I think I did for my Secret Sister this past year. I'll post how I made cards or other crafty pieces and maybe inspire you to try the same but I'm going to step outside of my comfort zone and share my crazy crafty life with you and I hope you enjoy. If not....I probably won't know anyway! :)