Making smiles one card at a time

Hello LISS friends!

These past 2 years have been quite a journey.  Two years ago in April, my life slowed down because of COVID.  My doctors thought it was a good idea that I stop working because of my vulnerabilities to COVID, so I quit my beloved job of helping people.  Since then, I have come to realize that a big part of who I am is to be a helper.  Every day I try to help others find their smile.  I do this by sharing one of my smiles, sending a smile in the mail, or just being there to listen and helping them find their smile on their own.  Sadly, helping others find their smiles did not help pay my bills.  I needed to find a job where I could work without having to wear a mask all day long and still be relatively safe, despite recently completing my degree after 6 years of school.

I finally found a job in October of last year in a completely different industry.  That was an adjustment, but I have student loans to pay off. This new job has been a blessing and I work with the most awesome team!  However, something has been missing from my life.  I haven’t been able to help people find their smiles and it wears on me. 

After losing my father in 2021, I did not think I would ever find my smile again.  Yet, working on the LISS blog helped my smile resurface a bit.  My blog made me happy and I felt like I had accomplished something after each post.  I was able to teach others how to make the cards I loved creating, and I was able to make people smile by sending them in the mail.  If you notice, the motto for LISS is “Making Smiles One Card at a Time”.  I firmly believe that I was put on this earth to help people find their smiles.  Little by little, I am finding my way back to my smile.  With it, I am finding my creativity as well.  This past week, I have completed a few past Paper Pumpkin kits to get the creative juices flowing again.  I did not make any alternative cards, because frankly I am not at that point yet. 

Today, I made 10 quick cards, based on a design by MackenzieMakes.  I think that is the most I have made using my supplies in a long time.  Well, at least since last October when I started working.  Thanks MackenzieMakes! 

I have been going over my stamp and die sets and have been really struggling on how to proceed with my blog.  Do I separate and use only the current Stampin’ Up! product, or do I just let the creative juices take over for a bit and use what I can find on a whim?  Then, the next question is how long do I take to create each blog post?  As you can see today, the picture is not the best, but I wanted to get it posted before I ran out of energy and just gave up posting at all.  For now, I think I will just use whatever I can and hope for the best.  At this moment, it is more about getting those creative juices flowing again and less about using current product. But most of all, it is about finding my smile, so I can share it with others.

Let’s see where I go from here, and I hope you enjoy going on the journey with me!