Confessions: A Jack of All Trades

The Merriam Websters Dictionary defines a jack of all trades as: a person who has many skills, can do many different jobs, can do passable work at various tasks, and is a handy versatile person! The Cooped Up Cowboys Wives define Amy Fellini as just this! Let me introduce you to Amy, a warrior for Christ, a wife, mother, aunt, and dear friend of our! This beautiful woman definitely goes into a categoroty of one of the toughest, most hardworking woman we know!

Photographed by: Liz & Nate Hergert

http://lizandnatephotography.com

Amy grew up west of Fort Collins on a ranch with her parents and siblings. She is married to a wonderful husband/Pastor named Mark in which this September 10, they will have been married for 9 years. She first met her husband Mark at Old West Leather which Mark owned and had started in 1988. Together they have ran the store and worked as a team selling, beads, jewelry, leather tools, accessories and being all around leather shop to the Greeley and surrounding area communities! Recently they have closed down the store and began a new journey in life! Amy has such a creative mind not only in jewelry making, but also in recreating different pieces from old ranch things! Personally knowing Amy, she also is an AMAZING cook, baker, Jerry-rigger, decorater, friend, woman's leader at church and Pastors wife. Here is some of our questions we got to ask Amy, take a look!!!

Photographed by Liz & Nate Hergert

Http://lizandnatephotography.com

Q & A

Cooped Up: In one word how would you explain yourself?

Amy: Simple! I am not an extravagent person by any means.

Cooped Up: What lifestyle did you grow up in and what things have driven you in the lifestyle you have now?

Amy: I grew up on a ranch and we didn't have a lot of animals but my grandparents did, so we would have to help before school doing chores and we each had responsibilities that had to be taken care of. We didn't come from money so we learned how to do everything. We worked for everything that we had and we taught not to just expect things. Today, I am the same way in the sense that we work for the things we have and we know how to do everything so we just do it ourselves.

Cooped Up: How do you keep balance doing what you do and being a Pastors wife?

Amy: A Pastors wife is never what I thought I would be! (laughs) Sometimes I feel like there is unspoken pressure for a Pastors wife, but what I have to remember is that I just have to be who I am. I support my husband in his ministry and we both have realized that we each have a place and a purpose. This means we are each others help mates and encourages and for every wife it's going to look different and that's okay!

Cooped Up: What is one thing people may not know about you?

Amy: I love making lotions and scrubs for fun and for gifts. One of my favorite oils to put in them is peppermint. I like buying my oils from natural groceries or you can get them at sprouts but they are a little more expensive.

Cooped Up: Fact is that your an amazing jewelry creator, how did that process first begin?

Amy: Honestly, it never dawned on me to do beads, until I met my husband Mark in which then it kind of went crazy! It started out as loom work and Native American work at first in the store, and then Mark let me take control to buy stuff. At this point, the beading and jewelry making really blossomed. I loved looking at all the different kinds of jewelry other people made, but knew I personally would never spend $600 a piece. I knew I could be creative in making jewelry, and still make it affordable.

Check out her store @ www.etsy.com/shop/CowGirlGemz

Cooped Up: Looking back on the whole year until now, what is one of the biggest struggles/accomplishments you've dealt with?

Amy: Together we made a decision to close our store. It had been open for 26 years so this as you can imagine was a huge decision on our part. It was nerve-wrecking at first, but God kept opening doors for this opportunity and new season in life. We talk about it now and have absolute peace and no regrets!

Cooped Up: What is your hope and vision now for being at home?

Amy: There is actually a lot of opportunity for us to work from home. I love not having to go to town everyday, and it's been nice taking a break from doing all the jewelry, but I am ready to start creating again. I have ideas in my head for pieces of jewelry I want to make and I would also like to get into leather stuff. I would love to do wild rags and play with some of my own ideas for them. I also have all my projects I like to do, and household projects!

Cooped Up: Speaking of projects do you have recently done or are currently working on?

Amy: Yes! I have a few to show you...

#1. Wagon wheel light project $60

We had this old wagon wheel here and just went to buy solar lights to put on it, then hung it.

#2. Dry sink (w/plumbing) project $0

We had old horse feeders lying around that we're busted, all the screws, plumbing, we had all that too!

#3. Wheel barrel bathroom hanger$10

Outside we had an old wheel barrel so I just took out the front wood and cut it,Nthem added hooks from Hobby Lobby!

#4. Bull skull $5

Had the skull, and the turquoise beads. This is what I am currently working on. It's taken a little while because it's like putting puzzle pieces together. You have to find the match of the different shapes of beads and where to place them.

#5. Headboard $ thinking in progress

At the store in the basement we had this old door. I want to make it into a headboard and inset leather on the door panels and then put metal button pins around it.