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Swarovski Crystal Buttons |
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Written by Jan Parker
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Wednesday, 05 September 2007 |
 Did you read Dara’s blog about making her bead challenge doll? I mean, who couldn’t do that? She thinks she’s soooo great! I sit here on my sofa every night and finish off something just like that. Right!
I raised two little girls, stayed at home with them for about 6 years and then worked part time until they were grown up. I did cross stitch, needlework, quilting, rug braiding. I even reupholstered a chair (then the cat tore it apart). I made the girls frilly bonnets, plaid pants with lace (it was the 70’s, what can I say?) and curtains for their rooms. I stenciled the walls, decorated birthday cakes (badly, it was a family joke!), made baskets and all kinds of fabric dolls. Then came beading. By then, I had decided that I loved stenciled walls, baskets and quilts but if I had to make them at this point in my life, I’d do without. I gave away my sewing machine, cross stitch magazines and my fabric stash. Today my crafting consists pretty much of making necklaces a few times a year when I get the urge: usually a one strander. Something quick and easy. I also tend to stick silk flower arrangements that I have made everywhere around the house but those are fast and easy. I’m not sure what happened that took me from a crafting maniac to someone that loves to support the art of crafting by buying what I want, but I think it had to do with instant gratification. I can’t wait 6 months to finish a complicated cross stitch picture then another month to get it framed or at least I don’t want to. That is one of the great things about beading. You can make a pair of earrings in minutes; a simple necklace takes just minutes more. Deciding what beads to use takes more time than the actual making of the item.
Then there are the bead artists like Dara and her sister Deb. Deb is one of our very talented beading instructors and our mail order manager. She also arranges and manages the “round robin” challenges. The way it works is they pick a theme and everyone starts their own project. Then it gets passed on to the next person for the next step. Kind of like a progressive dinner! I’ve seen the finished  projects they send in for us to photograph and they are just beautiful! These round robin people are the kind of “crazy” people that have been around for centuries. If it weren’t for people like them who want to put time and talent into crafting beautiful objects of art, think of all the vintage quilts we wouldn’t have. All the crocheted Afghans from our great grandmothers that wouldn’t be warming our toes by the fire. The braided rugs made by hand that wouldn’t be making the floor a nice place to curl up on. (My own grandmother spent hours making these! I remember her sitting in her living room braiding huge rugs by hand. We used those rugs long after she was gone and they are now in my barn waiting for someone to stitch them back together where we wore them out. Oh, and I’m also waiting for black, bright red and bright green to come back into style).
As for my crafting past, I am left with a few things made by me that I can pass down. Some things that will probably outlive me and make someone in the future think about the person that took the time and had the talent and patience to make something by hand. Something beautiful.
Here are this week's auction links!
eBay Auction
Rare Vintage German
Crackle Glass Ruby Red Nugget Beads
eBay Auction
Vintage Swarovski Crystal
Flash & Fire Buttons
eBay Auction
Vintage German Aquamarine
Fluted Teardrop Glass Beads |
