I'm so honored to be included in Tara Frey's brand new book Blogging for Bliss. It's a fabulous book full of useful information presented in such an engaging way.Let's celebrate this wonderful book that celebrates our community! Kari of Artsymama.com is hosting a blog party to do just that. Grab your party shoes and let's go!
I have always really loved show and tell. When I was in second grade, it was the highlight of my week. I can still remember things that I brought in, including a huge pencil that was about 18" long with a tiny 1" pencil tethered to it.
And if you come to my house, you'll see for yourself. I'll soon have a parade of things to show and tell. "Look at this thing I just got" or "Do you like this thing I just made?"
This blog is sort of like that. It's a way to share all of the things of my life. The good parts and the not so good parts. The happy and the not so happy. The triumphs and the mistakes.
My life is so happy now but when I go back just half a year or so, there's a rawness in my throat, near my heart, that burns.
And there you were. You were there for me, sharing tears, prayers, comfort. Thank you. So much.
And you are here with me today. Waiting for me to show up and post this little nugget or the other about this little life I'm living.
Blogging is a lesson about life, isn't it? We are all connected by these invisible threads. What I feel is what you feel or felt or will feel.
All joy is the same. All pain is the same. At the core of it is our soul. There's beauty in it all.
As a thank you for sharing in my life's adventures, I'd like to offer a giveaway. Leave a comment about how something I've written has inspired you and you'll be entered into the drawing for this little deer or this little wreath. (2 drawings)
It feels a little presumptuous to ask how I've inspired you but, truly, it's my favorite thing to read. That's the stuff that fuels my blogging fire, my friends. So humor me, won't you?
Drawing will be held tomorrow morning, picked from a real hat by the sweetest little chubby fingers.
45 comments:
oh, Amy! this post is sweet, especially since now we all get to see the BEAUTIFUL answer to the prayers from half a year ago! the Lord is good!!
i don't know if this counts as an inspiration, but i kinda think it does. i started reading your blog a long time ago, along with some other ones, until my life situation got so busy that i could barely check my email. i stop reading all of the blogs. then, a year or two later, i really missed YOU and your blog, so i searched and found it again and started reading. finding you again has made me happy in so many ways, and has helped me to find/read other blogs, and all of that adds up to inspire me to live an artful life. thank you for that, and more!!
hugs,
maryann
Amy, you don't know me, but you inspire me in more ways than one. I can't even remember when I first came across your blog, but I always love checking in on it. You inspire me with your happy, colorful crafts--how can you not be inspired when you see something so cute made just to make people happy. You, also, inspire me with the love you have for a very special little boy whom you have taken under your wing to love and care for. I can see by the wonderful pictures and posts that he is one happy, loved little boy.
I have loved reading about your journey with little Alfredo and how your mother's heart has just grown to bursting. I think that your love for him that allows you to be present for him in unconventional ways, ready for the love and pain that all brings, is such a gift and I love to read about it.
One of the things I find most inspiring is your choice of color and design - both in the things you make and in how you design your home. I love those same colors and feels - they remind me of toys and candy. But I had stayed away because I am after-all an "adult" - but your blog is beautiful and fun and whimisical and I've begun trying to incorporate more of that into my own home.
love the wreath girl!
I've been a blog "lurker" for over 2 years. you brighten my day with your cheerful posts, about the kiddos, crafts, and posts about your home (more of those please!!!)
Your blog is wonderful and so inspirational, I love the delicateness of your creations and colors are fabulous. Thank you for sharing your creations and yourself.
Christine
I love your blog Amy. I feel most inspired by it when you write about Alfredo because the words are written with palatable love. You can just feel how much you and Rich love Alfredo. I was never able to have children, I do so enjoy my nieces and nephews. So I love reading about Alfredo and seeing pictures!
Your beautiful creations are always inspirational, but more than that I am inspired by your life. I started reading when you and your husband had decided to start fostering and internet friends had showered you with gifts for the foster room. I have read through your ups and downs relating to fostering and experienced your joy when you were able to have Alfredo back in your lives.
You are an inspiration!
You were an inspiration to me before I ever read a word you wrote. Your friendship, and a certain little stuffed pig with long ears, accompanied by a sweet card, helped inspire me to push on when I found myself at one of the darkest, most hopeless times of my life. Thank you, my friend!
I've been following your blog for about 6 months. I've loved your creative stitchery, would love to try one of my own. I admire your positive attitude throughout all of life's ups and downs. Viewing your blog and others has been an escape from real life that helps me re-energize my mind, body and spirit!
I love to see all the little things you create. Gets my own creativity going!
I really liked your idea of freezing toys in ice and letting your children 'dig' for them! I've gotta try that one if it ever gets hot here again!
Jill
A month or so ago I was going through a difficult time and my days were filled with tears. Then one day I stumbled upon your blog. You were in the midst of making a sampler. I've always enjoyed crafting & it touched something within. I thought maybe it would be good for me to start stitching. So that very day I pulled my materials out & started my sampler. My days are thankfully now brighter & I've finished my stitchery. Thanks Amy for your positive & inspiring way. May God richly bless you. Brenda
Blogging has opened a whole new world for all of us. It is amazing to think of the distance between us all but then how close we all feel to each other.
kari's party to celebrate tara's book is such fun.
Alison
Oh, Amy, Where do I begin? You inspire me in so many ways. The small worlds you create inspire me to dream and remind me of the importance of family and their stories and of home. The embroidered sample you started last spring inspired me to make my own. I really let loose and tried new stiches and experimented with my own designs. I love it -- everyone loves it. You are a highlight of my day. I always look forward to hearing about your projects, ideas, faith and, of course, hearing about that precious Alfredo! Thank you!
Leigh (from Alexandria)
Hello,
I am a newbie to your blog and I think I am in love!!!!!!!! Your work is wonderful!
I Believe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you! Wendy
Amy....I found you at Silver Bella in 07 and bought one of your little worlds...I've been hooked ever since. You bring such creative joy to your own life and share it with the rest of us. Lately I am most inspired by your stitching...it's full of joy!
It is an honor to be in the book with YOU - you are so deserving!
You always inspire me!!
Congratulations!
xo,
Kim
Oh my word, I can't pick just one thing that you've inspired me with. Let's see...first, I saw you in the registration line for Silver Bella last year and you had the most beautiful pink coat and fluffy scarf, definitely inspiring. Your smile and pink beehive at SB were also very inspring. LOVE your inspired ideas features and most of all your courage to co-parent little Alfredo. Reading your blog is a (bright) happy, breath of fresh air! Thank you!
Your candy colored world inspires me in so many ways, here are just a few: I've found so many blogs because you have linked them to me...Saucy's Sprinkles, Red Shoes, The Cottage, just to name a few. I am making ice blocks with little animals inside for my 3year old's birthday this weekend. I am dreaming of someday staying in that quaint hotel in California.. I covet a pink boufant wig..all of these because I stumbled on your little corner of the world! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I am inspired by your entire story of the love and tender care you give Alfredo. It has opened my eyes to the prospect of having/adopting children, something I said for a long time would never work for us. It has been awe-inspiring and tear-jerking.
I found your blog through this blogging party, and I have to say, your layout is probably the most gorgeous blog layout I have ever, ever seen. So delicate and light, it reminds me of meringue. I love it. And I Love the combination of family and crafty-ness in blogs - I like seeing the beautiful things in a blogger's life tied into their family, friends, and daily events!
well, i can't think of a single thing you do that doesnt inspire me! but i guess the very favorite inspiration was decorating your campground!!!! now, alfredo, pick your aunt tootsie's name! xoxo
AMy- i check in every day. You share with us how you come to terms, try to see the bigger plan, and do things the best way you can. thank you for sharing!
Hello there! Congrats on being in blogging for bliss. Time to reveal myself as one of the lurkers over here. Nice to meet you! I think that your room with the houses on the wall is most inspiring to me. Or the small gardens, or you writing about Alfredo, tough choice, mmm I think that you writing of Alfredo wins.
Have a great day!
I ran across your blog way after so many others had already discovered it. Your magazine with its creative journal exercises inspired me to pull out a notebook and get creative!!! When I read about how you and your husband opened your heart to a very special little boy (and then discovered that the special little boy had a connection to the town I live in!!!), I was even more moved by your blog. I am an adopted child so I know all about how love is what makes a family...not blood. Now, I am lucky enough to have a little one of my own so your adventures with Alfredo inspire me in all kinds of new ways! Thank you for sharing your life.
-Amy from Petaluma
http://craftingbycandlelight.blogspot.com
The colors you choose for your pieces are so inspiring. I just feel cute and happy whenever I see your work. Its girly without being obnoxious and cute and I just die for tiny things. You work reminds me of when I was 6 and my grandmother took me to Chicago to see Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle. I have been so inspired by and obsessed with tiny things my whole life, and your blog fuels that! Thank you!
I've been reading your blog for about a year now and no, I don't leave comments. But I love your open integrity that is in every post. Inspired - yes. Affirmed - even more so. Because all your love for that little one is exactly how I've felt for my own 2 daughters and now a grandson. There is no doubt that you are the spark in that little one's life. Virginia Burrows
P.S. And I love your art!!
after i had my darling lucy, i was beside myself. she was surely the most beautiful newborn anyone had ever seen (i agreed with "anyone" on this) but she surely wasn't "easy" as lots of people argued to me. she wasn't "difficult" either, she was just herself, and that was challenging. when i was having a particularly trying time with my girl with a curl (when she was good...you know the rest), i often would visit your blog and here about your sweet and limited time with alfredo. i would feel like such a bad mom! (i'm not blaming you at all...you just seemed so SWEET all the time and so GRATEFUL) i'd tear up and then i'd think about how it's not so hard to love a baby/toddler... even a challenging one. then i'd look at pictures of my little girl on the computer while she slept and realize that she is really the sweetest baby/toddler alive. your posts would remind me that inspiration is always present in my house because of my lively, vivacious and precious lucy; i just need to calm down and take it ALL in!
Well in the crafty department right now I am so inspired by your little samplers that I am staying up way too late at night working on my own! On a non-crafty topic you inspire me to appreciate my motherhood more. I love seeing your happy "ending" with Alfredo!
I love reading your blog and seeing all that you create... I am always inspired. I have loved reading about Alfredo... even before he had a name... your love for him just shows and it is so heartfelt.
I know that it had to have been difficult to bond with him the first time and then have to give him up, but you handled it with grace and dignity. You were also authentic about your feelings and I think that is wonderful.
Amy,
I think you said it so well about the "invisible thread." Even though you don't "know" me, I felt acute pain when you lost Alfredo. I can't say that I felt YOUR pain but some of it traveled through that invisible thread and pierced my heart. I lost twin sons in pregnancy, a different kind of loss, but I had a good sense of what the loss of a child felt like. Watching you endure the pain when he had to leave and feeling your profound sadness and absence was also painful to me. Though I am not close enough to you to offer help, I had some sense that this was a deep wound that would take a long time to heal. When you were offered co-parenting, my heart just LEAPED with JOY! I have checked all the time and followed your reconnecting, followed by the lovely and cute little things Alfredo has said or done.
I have a chronic pain disorder and spend times alone or in bed so blogging offers me the chance to touch the humanity of another's life in a very real and healing way. I am so grateful that you and others present yourselves and your lives in a very real way. That's what inspires me about your blog...you are a "rock star" and yet you are just a normal human being with happiness and sadness, just like me.
Love,
Suz
I read your blog and love it. Congratulation on being part of the book!
You have inspired me over and over with your open heart. Your willingness to risk loving a foster child and giving that child your heart has shown me what is truly important. Love.
The story of Alfredo warms my heart.
Amy - you first of all inspired me to create my stichery sampler and for that I thank you, it gave me an outlet while I am here helping my Dad through his caridac arrest and subsequent bypass surgery. But other than that, you're an inspiration for what a wonderful real person you are, going through life just as we are, and doing it with a lot of class, compassion, and craftiness :) Thanks!
Rachel
PS, Alfredo's pics are gonna be on their way soon, I printed them off last night!
Amy, you are a pure inspiration in very you show us on your "little world of blOZ" you post are sooo bluebird of happiness type of post that you the blogger cannot help being happy too...even through your bad times, you still brought hope to us bloggers on how you pick yourself up and carry on with your life even though your heart was breaking, you still had the time to jot an entry for us out here in the land of blOZ...you are truly an INSPIRING person...thank you from the bottom of my heart! for brightening up some of my days that seem very dark at the time...you, rich & alfredo - pure magic! have a honey of a night - sweet dreams! grace peace & joy 2 U, Marlene
love your creations, but most of all you inspire me to be a better, more kind person. thanks amy for that sweetness you share with us all.
Thanks for joining in the fun today, Amy. So fun to be in the book with you.
Cheers to blogging!
Kari
I've been reading for a while. I still remember how I found you - through Charlotte's blog and the article about the presents for your kid's room. I have loved being part of your world in this strange blog world. I wish we lived closer - my 3 year old son and Alfredo would be best of friends and you and I could craft our little hearts out! You are sweet, fun, brave, strong, so many things. You inspire me from little things like a layered cake craft from Inspired Ideas to being more patient with my own son - to realize how blessed my life is too. Thank you!
Amy, you inspired me to start my very own blog! So enchanted by your little corner of the internet, I had to start my own. Hugs, xoxo
Oh man! So much inspires me about you, your palette, your lovely little things you make. But why I LOVE your blog is YOUR love. Your love of life just comes pouring out of this blog and it makes me happy. I have laughed and cried with you, but mostly I have laughed. You bring me joy and that is no small thing.
Julie Fillo
I realized what a truly beautiful person you are, when I met you a few years ago at Silver Bella.You are one of the most open and real people I have ever met, and I am so glad to see you happy again.
Janey
Amy,
I see joy in everything you create. What a gift. Thank you for sharing.
Kindly,
Twinkle
Beverages
Where do I start. I have been a big fan of your blog for ages. Your crafty flair and talent to create such wonderful little things inspire me . Your love for Alfredo pulls at my heartstrings.
I am new to your blog through the Blogging Party but have really enjoyed your thoughtful post. Congratulations on being in the book!
Honestly, I find inspiration in every one of your blog posts. Your entries are always a joy to read. The one thing that has always been the most touching for me is hearing about your journey with sweet Alfredo. I can't tell you how many times your words have left me teary eyed and very moved.
Dearest Amy! Oh the ways you have inspired, taught, and made me laugh! (I am all too aware that the drawing is looong over...and you know what? I don't care. I still want you to know that of all the blogs I read and have read, you truly are the best.) You are real. You are true. And you are awe inspiring to say the least. I have been sick the last 4 days, and the joy I have found in reading your blog, from begining to present for hours at a time, has healed me greatly. Your love for all those around you, near and far, is so easily felt at all times. Your imagination is a wonder. (And I wish mine was half as big as yours.) And just a few minutes ago I watched a youtube video of little man looking at costumes, and the excitment at the mere mention of a party was enough to make me cry. I just got so excited too and began to tear up with joy. The projects you create are unbelievable!!! Really. And your zeal for life is contagious! Oh how I wish I could meet you. To just for a moment be near you, that some of your personality would rub off on me! You are great Amy! And I am truly thankful I ran accross your blog! Many thanks for sharing! Love Bethanie with blond hair who likes to read (junker2204@netzero.net)
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