Introduction on you: My name is Lora, and I am a happy wife and mother of five children. I truly believe that creativity is one of God's greatest gifts in life! I always feel closer to Him when I am making something with my hands. And it is my prayer that His love will be expressed through the little things that I have made. I pray over each piece of jewelry as I make it. I also love to pray for each person while I am making their custom orders. If the Lord gives me a specific verse or word of encouragement for them, I make sure to let them know. This little shop is truly a ministry for me! God has given me so many wonderful opportunities to minister to His daughters through these little works of my hands. It's been awesome!
How did you get your start on Etsy?: I opened up my etsy shop in December of 2005. It started out as mainly consisting of about ten crocheted scarves, but over the years, has grown quite a bit! Now, I have an average of 125 listings up in the shop, mostly consisting of vintage fabric/decor and faith-based jewelry (such as hand stamped necklaces and jewelry that incorporates vintage elements, such as antique keys). I pray over all of the jewelry that I make while I am making it, and the Lord leads me to certain scriptures for each piece.
How did you choose your shop name? eager hands comes from Proverbs 31:13: "She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands." When I started eager hands, I was predominately working with yarn and fabric, so I was very excited to discover this scripture! And I also strive to be a Proverbs 31 woman. I believe that there is so much joy and fulfillment to be found as we work with our hands, as unto the Lord. He can bless the smallest of things, if we dedicate them to Him!
What does a typical day look like for you? I have five children, all under the age of seven, so I am very busy caring for them! My oldest two are in school, and my third is in preschool in the mornings, so I usually spend my mornings working on packing orders with my two littlest ones running around me! :) I work on my jewelry throughout the day, and don't really have a set schedule. Since making the hand-stamped jewelry can be quite loud (each letter is stamped by hand with a hammer on a steel bench block), I try to do the actual hammering while the children are awake. They like to be involved and often give great suggestions as to what words/phrases to stamp, as well as colors of beads to choose, etc. At night, after the children have gone to bed, I take that time to finish up the details on my custom orders. Life is definitely busy, but God has given me a lot of grace for this season in my life. I haveloved having my etsy shop - it has provided such a wonderful outlet for me to share the love of God with my customers, as well as meet women from all over the world! It has truly been a blessing!
If you could be anywhere in the world for one day, where would it be? I have always wanted to go to Israel!
What is your favorite Bible verse: Right now, the scripture that has been speaking to me a lot lately would have to be:
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I Thessalonians 5:16-18:
What is your favorite Etsy item listing to feature? My most popular listing in the shop is my EUCHARISTEO necklace. I am reading the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, and this necklace goes along with the overall theme of the book. It also features my favorite verse right now!
URLs to where else we can find you on the internet:
blog: http://eagerhands.blogspot.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/eagerhands
Thank you Lora for agreeing to be featured. Everyone please check out her shop (using the many links throughout this post lol) and enter her giveaway!
The winner of last weeks featured artist Julia of Cards by Jeweleighab is Lorrie. Congrats! Someone will be in touch with both of you soon!
Comments (22)
Welcome Lora! What beautiful items you have in your shop. I love this one: http://www.etsy.com/listing/74631326/custom-ask-seek-knock-hand-stamped
niki@thevintageartist.com
Lora, your things are so beautiful! I might need to do some shopping after my next sale! Welcome!
you sound like super-woman to me........
All of your items are certainly beautiful! I love this one: http://www.etsy.com/listing/77212161/chosenholyloved-hand-stamped-sterling, because that is exactly who we are! Be blessed!
OH MY! 5 CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 7!! You are a very
busy mommy! Love your shop. This is one of my favorites.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/71523027/let-go-let-god-custom-hand-stamped
♥♥♥
Sue
milagros0114@gmail.com
I love your hand stamped jewelry, beautiful! It is really hard to pick one...I think Chosen Holy Loved. :)
Congrats to Lorrie for winning the last giveaway!
Lora you have so many lovely things it is hard to choose, but this one is my fave:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/71536753/ticking-inspired-striped-vintage
I could do some great things with this stripey seersucker! Now I am off to follow you on twitter etc.
Hannahjb123@yahoo.com.au
What a fun shop to explore. I love that your work is God inspired and that your pray as your create. Awesomeness! I loved this piece because it is a great reminder that all we have to do "ask" and our Lord will hear our needs.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74631326/custom-ask-seek-knock-hand-stamped
the love and faithfulness is totally my favorite. It's very inspiring. All your items are great. http://www.etsy.com/listing/86324752/love-and-faithfulness-personalized-hand
http://www.etsy.com/listing/88896672/personalized-hand-stamped-teardrop
This is my favorite--loved with a pearl--very nice. You do lovely work.
Cindy cswriter@yahoo.com
I love the Ask-Seek-Knock with the key. But I really love it all!
You surely are a busy woman. Sounds like the kidddos are blessed to have a mother like you. I know you must be passing on creativity to your children which is so great! I did not do that when mine were growing up and wished I had.
I really like this (LOVE pendant) because I've been reading and listening a lot to Pastor Tullian Tchividjian and author Elyse Fitzpatrick and have been understanding the love God has for me (and actually LIKES me - seems weird that a holy, righteous God would "like" to be with me). Well, that's the one I would pick; here is the link:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/88896672/personalized-hand-stamped-teardrop
Blessed beyond measure,
Tamara Slack
YarnDesigns@gmail.com
Beautiful shop! I just love the Mother Goose Baby Blanket! And I really really like the Faith necklace. Such beautiful work!
Hugs,
Elfie
Very beautiful and delicate. I like it.
My favorite is the Seasons of God necklace BUT it was VERY hard choosing a favorite. Your work is beautiful and so inspirational. Thank you CAST for introducing me to this inspiring person and her work. Hugs, Carolyn
dejadull AT yahoo.com
Your 'loved' stamped item is beautiful. Your shop has been very successful and I love the meaning behind your shop name.
All the best!
Lovely!
Beautiful items Lora!
Wow! Five children! I would love that!
All your pieces are very nice and also your pillows and fabrics, but I am sticking with this lovely necklace. I love the colour combo.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/89699059/hope-hand-stamped-copper-and-sterling
Great to meet you, Lora.
Very nice! I won one of these recently, so I will let someone else win this one.
These are beautiful. I love simple things that reflect strong faith - exactly what your work does!