Showing posts with label helen orombi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label helen orombi. Show all posts

Featured Artist: Helen Orombi from elegantcrochets
by Cindy Knight of cksilver

Introducing: Helen Orombi
(aka elegantcrochets) and a GIVEAWAY!


Please take a moment and visit Helen's shop, and give her some love!

Helen is hosting a giveaway!
This beautiful Promise of Spring lacy skinny scarf goes to the lucky winner of Helen's giveaway. To be entered to win, please comment on this blog posting with your favorite item in her shop. The winner will be announced on next Wednesday's Featured Artist post.


Introduction
My name is Helen Orombi, I live in Wynnewood, PA very close to Philly, PA. I am originally from Uganda, Africa.

I have been crocheting for 26 years I was taught by my mom back in Uganda and its something that I absolutely love to do! I create most of my own designs and very rarely use patterns.

I am currently studying to become a marriage and family therapist, and crocheting is one of my creative outlets that I find very restorative.

How did you get your start on Etsy?
Well I have always loved to crochet, my mother taught me when I was 10 years old. I would make stuff to sell to people I knew or give away to friends. In the summer of July 07 I got serious about my stuff, started making and going to boutiques to see if they would carry my stuff. That wasn't successful, but one of the owners of the shop told me about Etsy. I checked it out and signed up Oct 2007, but was still self- conscious about my work so I didn’t post anything up until valentine’s day of 2008.

Ever since, I have been creating like crazy. Didn’t do much last year because I was working on my doctoral dissertation I would crochet once in a while to take a break. This year I feel like all this creativity just burst out of me… when I'm done I think wow, did I make that. I think every piece I make is the best, then I amaze myself with the next piece ☺

What does a typical day look like for you?
I typically wake up around 5-6AM, do my devotional for about an hour or so depending on what kind of bone I have to pick with God or whatever He needs to say to me for the day. During my devotional I get ideas and insight about my next design… my journal is full of sketches of what I want to create. My spiritual director suggested that maybe when I crochet I am responding to God through creating... I think its true because I feel like I have said some beautiful things through my crochet.

I crochet for about an hour or so depending on when I need to leave for work. You see I have another life, I'm also a therapist in the inner city of Philadelphia for kids with emotional and behavioral problems. I typically see kids and some adults between 6-9 hours a day 4days a week. I'm typically home by 6 or 7 then I crochet until about 10 or 11PM, or at the latest 11:30. This helps replenish my soul after a day of hearing a lot of horror stories.

Crocheting is that time when I feel most connected to God and where my pieces typically come out the way I envision them.. Not so with the kids I work with. Right now crochet is more of an outlet because I haven’t made a lot of sales on etsy. I really hope that it can become an additional and consistent source of income to fill in the gaps of when clients do not show... which happens a lot!

Weekends, especially Saturdays I crochet for 12-15 hours straight... watching tons of Murder She Wrote, Matlock, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.

If you could be anywhere in the world for one day, where would it be?
TUSCANY ITALY!!!!!!

What is your favorite Bible verse?
Psalm 121

What is your favorite Etsy item listing to feature?
Right now it’s a piece called exquisite

URLs to where else we can find you on the internet:

Congratulations to Jenni Alasimi, winner of Adriana's giveaway! Please work with Adriana to redeem your prize!



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