Hello!

I must admit it is quite surreal to see my name and face attached to a real website. So many emotions flood over me as I look through this site and see the work that my very own hands and heart have made. There’s no way I would have ever believed you if you had told me when I was a kid that I would ever make or create anything I could sell. I believed I had no artistic ability whatsoever. My sister was the artist. She could draw and make things, she was never afraid. She helped me with all my school projects. In fourth grade she helped me make a vest out of a paper bag for a contest and I overheard my teacher tell another that she knew I had not made it. I will never forget her tone or words.

I started playing with Crayola watercolor pencils in college. I copied lines from other pictures and learned how to add just enough water to paint a giraffe. Somewhere in my house is that giraffe, I should find it. Once I had kids, I would draw and paint valentine cards to send to their friends. I learned to play and practice on canvases and the walls in my kids’ room. It was fun to watch animals and flowers come to life knowing that I actually did it, I actually painted something and i didn’t hate it. I cannot tell this story without mentioning God. I would sit before the canvas or card and ask Him what to do, ask Him to teach me. I’m just gonna say this, I know that sounds weird. It’s not weird because I’m admitting that I talk to God, I cannot survive a minute without Him. I just know it sounds weird, and I’m okay with that. But I do know that He guides me through all of my art, not so I produce a great piece of art, but because He likes to hang out with me and enjoys talking to me and teaching me. This is part of our dance together.

In 2006, my husband and I started a business together. It was hard. We had two separate businesses running out of the same building. We also home schooled our three kids there and cooked so much soup and meals on two hotplates and in a toaster oven. It was in that office when I began to crochet again. My momma taught me as a young teen and I knew how to chain, single crochet, and double crochet in a straight (most of the time) line. Again, my sis enters this story and teaches me a new pattern that she had learned. Let the scarf making begin because I had no money to buy gifts, but I could crochet scarves and blankets. But what I really wanted to do was knit. I liked to crochet but I wanted to knit hats and scarves and blankets and mittens. One day, a lovely woman entered our office and the topic came up. She exclaimed, “I will teach you to knit.” And she did. She would check on me every time she came in and help me with all of my knitting problems. I practiced every single day determined to knit all the things. When she was not available I found videos to teach me. It was during this time that I began to pray for the people I was knitting for. With each stitch I began to know my fabric and could feel what it was becoming. It reminded me of how God knits each of us together stitching our dna into who we are. He knows every detail intimately. And He calls it good. This knitting began prompting conversations between me and God not to mention the countless people who would see me knitting in the office or out in public. It was always a gift to share what I was making or to hear somebody tell me about their mom or grandmother who taught them to knit or who made them all the things. Knitting connected people in a unique way. And now I was able to teach people how to knit and help them with their knitting problems. I was happy and excited to share knitting with anybody who would listen.

The crochet hook had been set aside other than for a few stitches here and there for a washcloth or quick blanket. I had seen lovely toys and such made from single crochet stitches and wondered how it was all done round and round. I had been knitting in the round for years now and had made many toys. My Grace has the ugliest elephant ever that she loved like only a 6 year old can do. Most were successful, but that elephant, not so much. In late 2017 I became a maker for Knot Forgotten, an organization that made and distributed toys for refugee children to remind them that they had not been forgotten. I learned that amigurumi meant to crochet animals or objects in the round. I had been reading knitting patterns for 10 years at this point and was told that I could figure this out. I signed up for the pattern and made my first lion and shipped it to Australia in early November. That lion started a whole new world of making for me. A dear friend asked if I could do zebras for a retreat she was hosting in early 2018 after seeing the lion that I posted on Instagram. I began to search for patterns and have not stopped making amigurumi animals & objects since.

The most difficult part of all of this is allocating time to each craft. I have not figured it out yet, but somehow the painting and the knitting and the crocheting happens. I attempt to schedule and budget my time between all the things, but it’s always the project with the closest deadline that gets most of my attention. My yarn is stashed everywhere throughout the house, an art studio has been made in our front room which houses my writing desk and bookshelves, and it all manages to flow. I recently have started embroidering, a craft my grandmother passed down to me. I had not done it since I was a teenager, and it’s another creative outlet that has connected me with beautiful people who share their work publicly.

I still want to play with macrame and add it to my list of things. Oddly enough, I learned how to make a macrame hanging plant holder in that same fourth grade classroom. It was the one happy memory from that school year. That was 41 years ago, I wonder what that teacher would say under her breath today? I cannot remember her name, but I remember how she treated me. Even more, I remember the truth God whispered over my soul that He would teach me. He knew my dna and planned me to be exactly who I was. He has never stopped teaching me nor has He ever stopped whispering His truth over the lies that have been spoken over me.

My hope is to share my art and my skills and spill out beauty and sweetness into this world. I want others to know that they can be artists or writers or photographers or whatever it is that makes their hearts dance. If you want to learn to knit or crochet or paint or garden, I would love to help you. I like to bake too, baking is the best. Thanks for stopping by here, I hope it made you smile.