Hope, Make, Heal - by Maya Pagan Donenfeld (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A welcome companion to anyone suffering a great loss--20 inspiring craft projects to help work through grief, from the author of Reinvention.

For anyone seeking renewal and restoration during life's transitions and after deep loss, Hope, Make, Heal offers a unique approach to healing: using one's hands to mend the heart. The twenty craft projects provide ways to make tangible objects that signify the qualities one seeks on a healing path: strength, calm, release, and hope. Full of gentle encouragement, each project is easy to make and suitable for those times when our minds are preoccupied and our spirits are low.

Grief and pain are universal experiences that touch everyone at one time or another. When we grieve, most of us reach for the steady hand of loved ones. But even if we're blessed with an understanding community, a deep sense of isolation comes with tragedy. No one else stands in our shoes. Rarely is there another person who can understand just what it means to be you.

For maker and artist Maya Donenfeld, when faced with the trauma of a sudden and unexpected ending to her marriage of sixteen years, she yearned to find something that would allow her to focus and channel her powerful flood of emotions into something she could see and touch. Knowing that busy hands can profoundly nurture the heart and quiet the mind, she began making things to wear, carry, touch, and gaze upon--beautiful and expressive objects that were simple, intentional, and most of all, meaningful. The result is the collection of projects here. This book offers a unique approach to mending wounds with inspiring projects that integrate hand, heart, and mind with thread, ink, and more. The projects encourage renewal and restoration during life's transitions and after deep loss. Each one offers comfort and support and is designed to have a personal impact on the maker and those around them. It's a resource for personal healing and a gift for your friend in need.

Review Quotes

"What a delight of a book, a gorgeous invitation to use the power of creating to heal. I so appreciate that the crafts are both meaningful and doable. This is a book I will turn to not only when I need comfort during hard times but also when I want to create with my daughter and friends."--Jennifer Louden, author of The Life Organizer and The Woman's Comfort Book

"Hope, Make, Heal is like a tender hug, wrapping you in understanding and inspiration at a time when you need it most. Having traversed the bleak landscape of bereavement myself, this book would have been most welcome as I began piecing myself back together. Creativity brought so much healing into my life and I love how Maya weaves the practical with the mindful. When your days resound with the emptiness of loss, these simple projects will help to bring you back to yourself, one stitch, one brushstroke at a time."--Susannah Conway, author of This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart

About the Author

MAYA PAGÁN DONENFELD is passionate about encouraging others to find their unique creative voice and gain confidence in their own capable hands, which she does through her workshops and lifestyle blog, maya*made. She is the author of Reinvention: Sewing with Rescued Materials. She lives with her two children in the Finger Lakes region of New York State.