Note: Sarah is Lifetime Creation's Production Manager - in a nutshell, she runs the show with our production and fulfillment of orders. We can always count on her excitement when it comes to trying out new products and techniques with our laser engraving machines.

That's her below operating a brake for sheet metal in the sculpture room at Purdue University.

When you think of a woodworker, you don’t typically think of a 25-year old female. But that is what I am - well, at least when I’m not working at Lifetime Creations.

After a lifetime of watching and helping my dad and grandpa fixing things around the house or building something on the weekends, I already had some experience in the woodworking department.

It wasn’t until college, however, when I had to take shop classes that I really fell in love with it. Being a broke college student, it was also a great way to create cheap, yet meaningful gifts. I considered it my “grown up” version of the handmade cards and crafts my mother would love to get when I was 5.

A rewarding process
In college, I was studying to be an Industrial Designer and hoped to focus on creating products using recycled materials. While my career path changed a bit, I still try to use reclaimed and recycled materials in my work, not only for the eco-friendly aspect, but also because of the history behind them.

There is something very rewarding about creating something by hand that is not only meaningful for your customer, but also in its components. I love being able to hand over a table, or whatever it may be, and getting to tell my customer the history behind it. To have pieces of barn wood from farms that have been in my area for hundreds of years and take that wood and give it new life for another family to enjoy as a table passed down for another hundred years is something pretty rewarding.

Combining my hobby and job
Now that I am working at Lifetime Creations, I get to help others create those meaningful gifts for their loved ones. It’s crazy how much just adding a personal touch such as a name or place to a simple item like a picture frame can have so much meaning. We like to focus on products that are “timeless” and I think that is one of the qualities that creates great gifts - those that can be passed down throughout the generations much like revived barnwood tables.

I even get to tie Lifetime Creations into my wood working. I recently had my brother's best friend's wedding, and as their shower gift created a wooden photo album on which I engraved the lyrics of their wedding song into the cover. It’s great being able to combine your hobby with your job and makes it all the more enjoyable when it’s time to go to work.

Lucky for me, I get to bring joy to people through gifts and custom creations whether I’m at my job or woodworking, and that’s pretty cool if you ask me.

Check out a few of Sarah's creations.