Websites: One, Two, Three

Until a year ago, I only had only designed my own two websites. Then last year, there was a need to redesign the website for The Amish Descendant Scholarship Fund (ADSF). So Eythana Miller and I built that together over several months. We expanded our outreach through the website and blog, which led to us receiving more applications and awarding more scholarships than in any previous year since ADSF was founded in 2012. This year we’ve added an online donation option after we became a non-profit organization. We have published pretty amazing stories on the ADSF blog about those who have left the Amish and found their way to or through college. I’m very happy with the creation of the website, and all that means for ADSF.

Earlier this year, the Northeast Kingdom Quakers decided they would like to develop a website from scratch. Even though they have been meeting for worship for more than forty years, they had never had one before. So a fellow Quaker, Ned Andrews, and I took on the project. We met at my kitchen table each week and this truly became a joint creative project. It was great fun.

Not long after we finished the project, I was thinking I should redesign my original author website. That was the first site I ever created, and it was truly an amateur project, with things put together in a patchwork fashion. Then something happened that made me decide to get to it. I had my books for sale on the site. One day it became apparent that someone was sending me fraudulent orders, and I took down the payment system. A few weeks later, I took on the project of combining my author website with my blog About Amish and Beyond, and my blog archive, About Amish. That project was finished yesterday.

I didn’t do any of these projects without the help of my webmaster, Clay Showalter. I first heard of him through my friend, Shirley Showalter whose website he designed. Clay’s skills and expertise are well-developed, and I’m always grateful for his assistance.

So this past year has been a creative one. It seems creativity can happen at any age, in any place, and in many forms. I am grateful for inspirations, creativity, and the opportunity to work with other creative people.

What creative projects have you taken on lately? What inspired them?