Bless the Work of My Hands!

One of the first ideas I had to sell to tourists was this flip flop key chain with the Star of David. The hotel liked the idea, but wanted their logo on the sandal. I worked up a sample which came out well, so got an order for 30, than another order for 25...

I was still trying to figure out how to fit my Fimo work into my already full days. I ended up working into the night to complete orders. Of course I had a disaster. I burned a full tray of 25 flip flops because I forgot to set the timer and was busy doing other things. I was so sick at the loss of time and material I almost called it quits right then - Shimon said, "If this is what working does to you, I don't want you to continue!" I asked the Lord if I was doing the right thing, or working in my own strength. He gave me confirmation that I was in the right way, but needed to rest my heart in His provision for me. I believe that when I obey Him and walk in His way, He will bless the work of my hands. So, I started to pray before, during, and after each project or order, "Lord bless the work of my hands. Receive glory from my labor. Guide me in this endeavor..." It wasn't that I hadn't prayed for the work before, but it wasn't with the same heart of submission and reliance.

I looked up the phrase "bless the work of my hands" and found Deuteronomy 16:15 which in context is during the Feast of Tabernacles - when the Children of Israel were to gather their harvest and celebrate 7 days "because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice."

Thus the name of my blog and "compay"

Heather's Hands

I'm still working on some sort of logo and not even sure if it'll ever be a real company - but the Lord will show and until then I'm enjoying the way.

Finding Fimo

Fruits of the Spirit magnets (7 Species minus wheat, plus Apples, lemons and flowers

Fruits of the Spirit

Seven Species

In the summer of 2008 I decided to learn a new craft.
Together with my friend Kyoung-Im I took 6 lessons from a wonderful woman on how to make things with Fimo.
For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a polymere clay that you mold and then bake to make it hard.
I enjoyed the experience very much - and made some flowers and beads to start out with.
In July I decided to make a Seven Species of Israel wall hanging for my friend who was having her 50th birthday. She loves the 7 Species and for the occasion I wanted to make something special. I was inspired by some worksheets my son brought home from school of very simple line drawings of each of the 7 Species. I thought "I can make something like that from Fimo!" and spent many hours mixing colors and coming up with a design I was happy with. I finished early - her birthday's not till the beginning of August - and put my work on the wall to enjoy before sending it off in the mail.
One afternoon another friend was visiting and commented on the nice wall hanging. I mentioned that I'd made it and she said, "my mom's always looking for things like that to sell in our hotel." I didn't think much of that comment until just a few days later when my husband called and said "I'm out of work!"
Thus started my "business" with Fimo crafts.
I enjoy it very much and after nearly a year I still have many things I want to try and ideas to explore.
In the following posts I will introduce my past projects, and hopefully some new ones as the inspiration comes :)