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Hi, friends! I’m Jessica, a pink-haired and giggly lady who realllllllly loves her fiber yumminess. I’m married to my tattoo artist (I know I’m biased, but he’s pretty amazing), Aaron Carey, and we have two amazing kiddos. We live in Oregon and LOVE it here. Yes, it may rain and, yes, most Oregonians don’t actually own umbrellas, but hey.. if everyone has frizzy hair, it’s not too much to actually worry about. ;)

I began crocheting just so I could make our daughter some items she could keep as she got older. It meant a lot to me to be able to give her such meaningful gifts that I hoped she would appreciate. As things progressed, I found myself selling my makes to friends and family and soon after that, opened my Etsy shop in 2012. After a rollercoaster of successes and failures and feeling burnt out, I chose to cease selling finished items in January of 2016 and began dabbling in the world of pattern design. After many successful (and not-so-successful) designs, I chose to switch things up a bit..

In 2017, after feeling a bit burnt out from the pressures of others waiting (im)patiently for designs to be finished, I chose to spend this year working privately with yarn brands for commissioned designs and I had a BLAST. Being able to create new relationships with these people, try new yarns, challenge myself, and learn new skills really showed me that I am capable of doing anything I wanted. All I needed to do was to be kind, work hard and EARN those opportunities. In addition to commissioned designs, I was also able to embark on a new path I had never done before: blogging.

Let me tell you, the moment you receive an email inviting you to be a blog contributor to the Creative Spark blog on the JOANN Stores website will require you to change your pants. This moment was SO huge for me and truly an instrumental moment in my career. Not only did this huge company SEE me and wanted to work with me, but they also trusted me enough to do this job despite the fact that I had never really blogged before.. Gulp. The first post I did for them was a MESS. But I did it. And each month was better than the last. Just because you don’t know how to do something, doesn’t mean you are incapable. If you tell yourself you can’t do something, that’s YOU limiting yourself. Don’t do that. Dream big and work hard until they aren’t dreams anymore. Your dreams CAN become a reality, believe me. It’s ok to fail a few times because it allows the successes to be even more sweet and even more appreciated. I was fortunate to blog for JOANN for the entirety of 2017.

Today I am so fortunate and grateful to be able to enter a new season of my career - one where I am able to do bigger, more intentional, things. I was able to work with the amazing talents behind Talewind Visuals (do you see these graphics?! Holla at Carly!) to create this amazing website where I can share more of my work as well as share the amazing work and stories contributed by others. I am so proud to be here today, to have been supported by all of you for all of this time, and to finally be able to give back to not only the Makers that encouraged me, but I’m also excited to announce that a portion of the website proceeds are also being given to local charities (such as the Liberty House located in Salem, OR) to benefit children who are facing dark times and deserve to be shown that there ARE good people in this world and they ARE deserving to experience love, compassion and care.

As a child, I dealt with many dark moments and had to overcome lies, self-made limitations, and many traumas. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been able to see these moments in a new light and can recognize that I am worthy. I am a gift. I am NOT a mistake or any other lie that was told to me. I deserve happiness and even though I have enough skeletons in my closet to fill an entire cemetery, I am not defined by them. Many in this world have not been told of their worth, yet. Many do not believe in themselves or understand how deserving they are of anything good. It KILLS me and it’s one of my most important goals in this life to encourage others and allow them to feel what I feel today.

Many of us have stories to tell. Many of us have dealt with trauma and pain. However, many of us have also discovered the sweet comforts of healing from these experiences. By sharing our stories with anyone willing to listen, we can initiate healing processes for those that needed to hear that they aren’t alone, or that there is light after darkness. By being vulnerable and transparent allows for not only a relatable truth for the audience, it also can institute internal healing for the Maker as well. Expressing our human emotions and granting others the truths that we all are in this together and are all figuring life out through our personal successes and failures, encourages a sense of community more so than just the mere fact that we all enjoy yarn. Many people enjoy being a Maker for reasons that run so deep and so profoundly, that being able to express these feelings with the world around us can lead to rewards we never knew we were capable to gifting.

Your past does not define you. Your actions or the actions of others towards you does not define what you are worthy of or deserving of. It is never too late to take on a new perspective, one that lifts you up, encourages you and makes you a better person. Turn the dark moments into opportunities for growth and to know how NOT to treat those around you. Live this life for others, away from selfishness, and for the glory of God for He is the one who has changed my life and is fully capable of changing yours. You are good. You are beautiful. You are loved. Never, ever forget that.

Ever.

xo, Jessica