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ABOUT LORI
I’m Lori and I’m an aspiring DIY and craft blogger. I love to make “all the things.” I have been crafting as long as I can remember and have tried my hand at many different types of crafting. I’m passionate about my faith, my family, crafting and repurposing. I’m obsessed with Pinterest, Joanna Gaines, coffee and the Iowa State University Cyclones. I love to watch sports of all kinds but especially college football and basketball, the Chicago Cubs, NASCAR and the Minnesota Vikings–not necessarily in that order.
In the late 90’s I opened my own candle business. I learned how to make candles from various resource sites on the Internet–which was a new arrival at our home back in 1995. I had a website created. And before you knew it, I was shipping candles all over the US. I was an early adopter of soy wax and made lots of soy candles back in the day. I dabbled in cold process soap and toiletries. Eventually, I started selling the supplies so crafters could make their own candles and bath products. I had that business for about seven years before the economy took a turn and I had to close shop.
For a couple of years after that, I stayed home with the last of my three children before he headed off to school. While I was home, I took an interest in creating graphics and websites. I built mostly Zen-cart sites exclusively for graphic designers who created clip art, digital embroidery designs, and digital scrapbook graphics. I received a lot of help from my friend Leah at Classroom Doodle Diva who showed me the ins and the outs of creating graphics. But for the most part, I’m pretty much self-taught. The internet is a beautiful thing!
I took a job working at a local school district where I help support the IT department. Providing tech support has taught me patience and has helped me fine tune my technology skills. I support the students (and their parents) and the staff, work with lots of data, manage the school information system and the school website. The absolute best part of my day is when I get to open Photoshop or Illustrator to make graphics for the website I enjoy my job at the school because it allows me to be on the same schedule as my kids.
Speaking of my kids, I have three of them. They’re beautiful, wonderful and amazing kids. They are a total gift from God. I’m also the wife to my husband of 20 years who is waiting for us in heaven.
{Why do I feel like there should be that record scratch sound effect like you hear in the movies?}
Yes, it’s every bit as devastating as it sounds, but the world is full of people who have experienced great loss. I know I am not unique in that respect, but a loss like that can certainly knock you right on your rear end. You can read a little about losing my husband and why I blog here.
ABOUT THE BLOG
When you look around, you can probably see this is a very new blog. I originally started this blog as a way to document our BIG and NEVER-ENDING home renovation project. That project has become such a part of who I am, I feel as if it’s my fourth child. I’ve called the project “Re-crafting A Farmhouse” to tie in with the name of my blog, “Craft Your Happy.” Yeah, I know….clever.
I originally started the blog for ME. It was supposed to be about our renovation story. It was going to be the story of how we salvaged what was left of our lives after losing our father and husband. I found those posts to be so emotionally draining. It got to the point where I would rather write about creating things. Then I got to thinking…IF crafting and creating could get me through the sad times, maybe it could do the same for others.
I’m happiest when I’m creating. For me, creating can mean actually making something tangible with my hands or creating something on my computer. I know that creating and crafting something gives me purpose and it makes me happy.
Maybe you aren’t sad and maybe you haven’t experienced a major loss. You’re welcome here, too! I just want to inspire others to be their best creative self even if you don’t think of yourself as creative!
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM MY BLOG
- Lots of repurposing! “I’m cheap, therefore I craft,” is one of my favorite sayings. I love to find something old and worn and give it a new life and a new purpose. I love to go junking, thrifting and garage sale-ing to find those items I can use in my repurposing. Nothing makes my soul sing more than a good junk sale, a gem of a garage sale or finding one of the items on my “must have” list at a thrift shop!
- Expect lots of projects that use my favorite crafting tool, the Silhouette Cameo. Seriously, THEE best crafting tool I have ever purchased! I mostly use it make wooden farmhouse-style signs. I’m just beginning to explore all of the other things you can do with it! When I learn about those things, you will, too!
- I love to create graphics–especially cutting files! I have an Etsy shop, called Crafts You Cut. Once I start creating those files, I find it hard to stop! Look for lots of tutorials and freebies here on this site. But in order to have access to those freebies, you have to sign up for my Resource Library.
- I enjoy cooking. I’m in love with my Instant Pot and I don’t know how I ever lived without it! I’ll explain to you why you need one, too!
- I like to find ways to save money. I’m now a single parent earning a very modest income. I’ve had to find ways to save! When I come up with some great tools and ideas, I’ll be sure to pass them along.
- And of course, I’m still working on that house renovation project! I joke that Jesus will return before I see the end of the project and I’m more than okay with that. But until He returns or the project is completed, expect to see lots of posts about the progress.
Many of you think you’re not creative enough to be “crafty.” Let me encourage you by saying that I’m not the most creative or original person in the blogosphere, but I love to find inspiration for crafting projects and put my own spin on them! You can do that, too! I want to give you the courage to create!
Look, I’m completely self-taught in almost everything I do. I’m a hands-on learner. I wasn’t an “art” kid when I was in school. I know what I like and when I like something, I look at it and think, “I can make that cheaper than I can buy it.” Sometimes I make things just for the challenge of doing so and being able to say I did. I research the heck out of it and figure out how to do it by reading all of the wonderful tutorials and watching the many YouTube videos on a particular subject. This is a great time to be alive with so much information at our fingertips!
If I can do it, so can you. Let’s find joy through creativity one DIY at a time…together!
How will you craft your happy today?
When I originally started blogging, I blogged under the name Salvaging A Life. As a reader, I love to read someone’s backstory. Here is mine and why I am Salvaging A Life.