The urge to purge struck after surveying my office/craft room. Unused supplies cluttered the counters and floors. I’d joined the nearest Buy Nothing Facebook group. Seattle’s holiday snow provided perfect timing to let a few things go…
An art teacher friend works in a before/after school program. Many of her grade school children are on site from 6:30 AM to 6 PM. This fact provided inspiration to donate supplies for creative projects without cost. Wide ribbon, buttons, beads, and extra rubber stamps and paper formed a pile. She is thrilled, knowing that I assisted in art programs when my kids were school age. I’ve given her drift wood and other popular items in the past.
I removed enough excess stuff to garner new counter space. The biggest bonus came when I realized I could remove a narrow folding table and a small, white crafting desk. That’s when I posted on Buy Nothing.
A young woman responded quickly to my ‘gifting’ ad on the site, placed on New Years day. She and her sister are both medical students. (insert Sally doing a happy dance) She does embroidery to relieve stress after working in local clinics. Her mom emigrated from Punjab, India. Her Indian father was raised in England and immigrated to America when he was sixteen. He’s a retired police officer. In texting back and forth, I learned that she also collaborated to publish a picture book at the onset of Covid, featuring a young boy who needs to learn proper hand washing. (Another happy dance – I raised two sons) I offered her a copy of the book I wrote telling the story of my friend, Iris, whose beginning nursing training turned into life saving skills during WWII. She jumped on that offer, and will put to use the box of embroidery floss I squirreled away ten years ago. I hope to see her, her mother and sister, unmasked, in the near future. I’d like to hear more of their stories.
And now my gift to you…The first book in my series, The Hitman’s Mistake, will be free on Amazon from January 12 – 14th. If you or a friend enjoy slow-burning, sweet romance, determined villains, and smart animals, give it a read!
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Always good to do a bit of cleaning.
And the purging continues throughout the house…
Happy new year. What a wonderful gift. I read the hitman’s mistake when it came out. And it’s a really lovely read. What a great story about giving away craft supplies.
Thank you, Sue. I’m trying to encourage new readers to try it, and then of course, the others. I took a great class on garnering readers from Pub-Craft, Laurie Cooper, and she has great suggestions and advice. I will keep you posted as to my success!