Hi there! I’m April and I’m the girl with a hammer, thrifted belts, some old jewelry, and a keyboard. From stamping your words to sharing mine, and everything in between, I hope you find something you love here. If you came for the jewelry, thank you so much and I pray you leave with much more. God’s always teaching me something and I love sharing that with you. So whether you’re passing through to head to the shop or you want to read more in the blog, Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here.

The Heart Behind the TSL Stamp Kit

“I’m stamping with my Stamped Lily Kit” Faith said these words to her mom, my friend, about a recent metal stamping craft kit she received as a gift. She was having fun creating metal jewelry and since she was doing what I do, she said it was her “Stamped Lily” Kit. Well, as you can imagine, I LOVED this story and after I heard it I couldn’t think of anything else, wondering if this was something I should try to put together. So many ideas were swirling around and I teetered back and forth between “This is gonna be awesome” and “There’s no way I can pull this ...

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Tell me how you did it!

I clicked “Buy Now” in the Amazon cart before pondering the implications.  It’s not that I hadn’t done my research or that it was outside my budget. That wasn’t it at all! I had inspected the inside and lamented over the color options. When I had finally decided on one, I was delighted to see that it was even on sale!  Yet, as I walked to pull the now “old one” out of my purse-the one I had just replaced-I pondered the question: How do you transition to a new bible? I flipped through the worn pages of my pink, imitation leather bound, NIV bible thinking about the nine years of life ...

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Maybe that’s why God doesn’t tell us his plans

Is anyone looking around at their life right now saying “I’m exactly where I planned to be.” I know I’m certainly not. If you would have told me ten years ago that I would be a stay at home, homeschooling mom I’m sure I would have laughed. Maybe that’s why God doesn’t tell us His plans! We started homeschooling this month and the break from social media was the best thing I did for us during these last three weeks. I needed to dive in with my kids to establish some normalcy, a new routine, and to get settled in our homeschool journey. I have a tendency to allow myself to be sucked into the ...

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Surprising Lessons from TikTok

I recently downloaded TikTok, I know, I know, but hear me out. This post is not about TikTok though I may write one eventually…I’m still learning and figuring it out. BUT, I created a TikTok account and I have been making some pretty cool process videos, letting others in behind the scenes, and showing them how already special, purposed treasures can be given an entirely new purpose becoming that much more sacred.   The first video I made that received any amount of “substantial” views, I showed the process of turning a zippo lighter into a leather cuff. Now this lighter wasn’t just an ...

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My chat with Grandma Sandridge

When I was a little girl, I would play dress up with all my grandma’s jewelry.  She has the most beautiful pieces, kept together so nicely, and often in their original packaging.  We would spend hours going through those old jewelry boxes and I would try everything on.  She would explain where it all came from and where she wore it.  I thought it would be fun if I shared a little bit of her with you, so I interviewed her!  Here’s what happened:  April: I know how much you love jewelry…my love for jewelry started way back in that trunk we used to dive through when I was a kid...when did your ...

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Remembering with a smile

When my sister in law turned 30, I surprised her with a birthday cake. I was just getting into the cake decorating thing and hers was the first I'd made with fondant flowers.  I remember finishing it and sending a picture to my brother.  He said he was speechless and “elegant” was the only word he could think of. He was excited for her to see it and he was proud of me.  John never saw The Stamped Lily. He never saw me play around with leather and metal. He never saw me stamp a shell casing or stamp some of Joe’s scrap sheet metal pieces from the garage.  Sometimes I dream of what he ...

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This is scary

This is scary. New seasons tend to be that way don’t they? While I was thinking and planning for this new season it was exciting and the anticipation made me a little giddy.  But now it’s here. And the parts I was once excited about, now feel more like fear. It’s uncomfortable for me to embrace the title “writer”.  It implies that I’m not just “playing around” behind the keyboard. It implies that I have something to say and the vulnerability that’s required is almost more than I can handle. But, I’m doing it anyway.   I’m moving slowly in the direction I feel God calling me and ...

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Kitchen Cabinets

You should know a couple things about me and DIY projects: 1 – We have a love hate relationship 2 – They take twice as long as I think they will 3 – My ideas and my motivation don’t always line up 4 – I don’t have enough patience 5 – I want the quickest way to the end result All this being said, I have re-finished a dresser, a desk, our kitchen island, and the cabinets in our half bath before tackling this project.  I realize this isn’t the most glamorous way to introduce a blog on how I re-finished my kitchen cabinets but I want you to know the TRUTH! I’m not a ...

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