Hello, my name is Emy. I'm a mum of three young children, a Christian and a keen crafter. Crafting has become a job for me and I've worked as a freelance crafter since 1998 mostly writing articles for craft magazines and doing product demonstrations . Most of my work involves scrapbooking, card making and Fimo, but I also enjoy patchwork and quilting, painting, mosaic, stained glass and jewellery making.
This blog is about a personal exploration of using the creative arts in church. It wasn't something I saw myself doing but I feel as though lots of bits and pieces from my past have been pointing me this way, such as an Art A-level study in stained glass. drape painting at church camp and youth group, running craft workshops in a church setting for adults and children.
A couple of years ago our vicar spoke about some verses in Exodus about a man called Bezalel.
"Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts." (Exodus 31 v 1-5)
This is the first time someone is mentioned in the Bible as being filled with the Spirit of God and this really excited me to think that crafting skills are important in the church.
In 2000 I worked in a large art shop and it was my job to produce artwork from lots of different products to inspire the customers. I frequently found myself thinking "Why am I good at all these different things?". I'm hoping this blog will help me start to work this out and maybe inspire a few other people along the way.
Thanks for reading
Emy
