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I Did It!

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I took a leap of faith in 2015 around the time I turned 40.  Life was going along well.  I had a part-time job, a loving husband (and still do!), three great kiddos (and still do!), and my parents babysat my kids the eight hours I worked (and still do when I need them!). 

Eight hours, you say??  Yes, I only had to work two days from 9am to 1pm and got paid well.  I was an Optometrist for 13 years after having gone to undergrad school for four years and then to Optometry school for an additional four years. 

I started out working 20 hours a week at a private practice, then went down to 12 after my daughter was born, and then went down to 8 hours once my kids started sports and I wanted to be at their games instead of at work on Saturdays.  I loved the women I worked with and my bosses were great. 

Then last year, after a lot of soul searching, I decided I would walk away from my job and be a full-time stay at home mom.  I am very blessed to have a supportive husband who has a secure job that I was able to make the decision to leave my career.  Luckily, we didn’t need my income to pay bills but it was very nice to have!

Why leave a super part-time job that pays well?  It was a hard decision to explain to people.  For the people that know me well, it was probably not that big of a shock. 

I am one of those people that needs to be creative and have a passion for what I do.  After 13 years I was losing passion for my job, and when you’re dealing with people’s sight, I didn’t feel comfortable treating patients when I would rather be at home doing something creative. 

I read a lot of books about encore careers and starting over, which was a bit overwhelming but I felt like it was speaking to me.  We only have one life, so why waste it on something you don’t LOVE to do??? 

Again, I know I am very fortunate in that my income loss was not a big blow to my family.  We did have to make some changes, but we knew I would go back to work in a few years after I found my passion!

After reading more books and taking numerous online tests about what I should do with my life (at 40!), I wasn’t any closer to figuring it out.  Let me also tell you, I’m the type of person that needs to be busy and I always have a project going. 

I also like to decide things quickly and go.  I’m a big-time planner that starts my projects months in advance because I know new ones will come along and also because I’m so excited to see how my visions turn out!

During all this time, the one thing that stayed constant is my love for crafting, planning parties/events, volunteering at my kid’s school, learning how to do lots of DIY home improvement projects on a budget and pushing myself to learn new things.  So, I asked myself, why not try to make a job out of that? 

I thought about it and prayed about it and then one day I just decided to go for it and take another leap of faith!  So, this is one avenue of my new journey along with making homemade crafts to sell. 

Thanks for taking this journey with me and I’ll let you know how it goes after a few years!!

leap of faith crafting

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  1. Windy says:

    This is very exciting!

  2. Melissa says:

    I think you’re an inspiration!

  3. Thank you so much Melissa!

  4. Cheryl jones says:

    I would love to get one of these for my grandson

  5. Sheryl says:

    Very encouraging! I’m older than you but that’s where I am right now. Just recently got a Cricut as a gift and have bought everything I’ve seen on Yiutube and really haven’t done anything yet. I love all of your work and the name of your site. Be blessed!

  6. Hi Sheryl, thank you so much! That means so much to me! You will absolutely love your Cricut once you get going. It can be a little overwhelming at first but once you see what it does you’ll get addicted! What a great gift!
    Take care,
    Amy

  7. Carol says:

    My daughter is getting married soon. I was debating on making these. What do you estimate it costs to make one? I would do 4 the exact same so the supplies would be the same. Thank you.

  8. Hi Carol, which post and project are you talking about? Thanks!

  9. Wendy says:

    Hi Amy, and congratulations on your decision to be more creative! I would like to make the grinch face ornaments, so I bought the cricut explorer air 2. Set up my acct. And cannot find where that face is at, so I need help…please!!!
    How do I make it???

    Wendy
    Thank you!

  10. Hi Wendy, thanks so much! I actually have a Grinch face file on my blog now. Click here: https://www.leapoffaithcrafting.com/grinch-decorations/ or search Grinch. It’s the first post on my homepage. Hope that helps!

  11. Leanne says:

    Hi Amy, I have just recently bought my first Cricut Explore Air 2!! I’m so excited to use it but I think I would find it easier to use a laptop/PC. What laptop do you have or recommend? Thank you!x

  12. HI Leanne, congrats!! I use my laptop for everything. I prefer typing and using a mouse than my fingers on a screen, still old school I guess! I just have an Acer laptop that I’ve had for a few years. Enjoy your Cricut and let me know if you have any questions!

  13. Mary says:

    I just joined leap of faith and I did so by using my phone. I am new at all of this . I have a Cricut explorer air 2. Have made a couple of tee shirts. My question is how do I get your free svg’s from my phone to my pc? Not real computer savvy!! Help!!! Thanks

  14. You can either email them to yourself or I like to save the files to my Google drive on my phone and then I can open the google drive on my computer and download them. Or just go to my website on your computer and download them again! (probably easiest way!). Thanks for joining!!

  15. Hi Mary, you can always just download them again on your computer. Just open my website and enter the password again and download whatever you’d like!

  16. I just joined today, 10/4/2019! I fell in love with the possibilities of having access to a Cricut Machine in the Fall of 2018. I will be 60 next March (Lord willing!). I took the “Leap of Faith” last December and asked my husband for Cricut machine, After much research and decision-making, he took me to Wal~Mart on 12/19/18. I already had my first project in mind. I settled on a Mint color Cricut Air 2 machine. By mid-January, I wanted the Maker machine.
    I started a blogging website if February-March, 2019. My blog is a “work in progress”!

  17. Welcome! Cricuts are the best, aren’t they?? Congrats on your leap of faith, it’s amazing where God takes us if we just listen!!!

  18. Karen Woodard says:

    I’m a almost (in 9 more days) 70 yr old retired Law Enforcement who has had my Cricut Air Explore machine for about a year. Since the pandemic began I have been spending more time crafting using my machine. I am still a novice with lots to learn so I look forward to anything Leap of Faith Crafting can supply. I use an iPad exclusively with my Cricut and hope you offer insight on how to use one with the Cricut design space. If not, I’m still in for the ride. Thank you for the free svg’s.

  19. You are so welcome! I have an Ipad and try to use it for some of my projects but I always tend to go back to my laptop since I’m so used to it. So, unfortunately, I only have a few tutorials that talk about the Ipad. I need to try and use it more though!

  20. Roger Jones says:

    Hi Amy, I just joined Leap of Faith Crafting and I’m looking forward to learning more and more about my “Cricut Joy”. I was a Graphic Designer, Sr. at NASA from 1981-2011 so I see a need to get back into “Adobe CS”. My wife Ursula asked me what I wanted for my 61st Birthday last month and I told her I want a “Cricut Joy” so I can re do the older vinyl lettering on the glass doors at church! Without batting a pretty eye she agreed and said go get it! On 102820 we celebrated our 20th Anniversary and I made her 2 cards with my “Cricut Joy” card maker. I made 2 because I had to give her something from our 2 furr babies! I want to make quite a few projects in time for Thanksgiving and of course Christmas! Right now I need to make my friend Rick a card since he just lost his dad. Thanx and stay safe!

  21. Welcome to the Cricut Community! Such a great present, you will love it!

  22. Linda says:

    Awesome for you and the Lord will bless you for it!!!! Thank you for all the biblical art work … I love it. I just bought my first Cricut maker and so excited to get started. Blessings

  23. Linda Steele says:

    Funny, but I never really considered myself a crafty person. I started making wines like 13 yrs ago and really enjoyed and was proud of the wines that I made. When the pandemic hit, I started sewing masks nonstop. I sewed thousands. When that died down, I thought now what. I started hearing about these machines and all they could do and decided to buy one. I was so excited. But, when I went to dive in, I never felt more lost or frustrated in my life. I had no idea how to use it and started watching videos. Even watching videos at first, I had no clue what they were talking about. But, I was determined to learn. I am certainly still learning, but I am proud to say that I have almost mastered my machine!

  24. So glad to hear that!! The machines can be intimidating at first but having that determination to keep learning will release so much joy when you can make anything you want!!

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