Introductions! OT

Yes, I remember -- and thank you again. :-) ~~ Sooz

------- "Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance ~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links

I have lots and lots of nieces and nephews, the oldest is 34 and the youngest is 6. I also have a great niece with another on the way! Children have always played a role in my life and it looks like it will remain that way for a long time to come.

When you say "share", do mean jewelry? If so, then I was definitely talking about my teenage nephews.

Unfortunately, now it looks like Starlia may not be able to make it for personal reasons. But there's a good chance my partner and I will be there on Friday. Look for a largish woman with long dark-red hair and a tall guy; we may both be wearing tie-dye, or I might be in a long burgundy dress.

Celine

I am so bummed I can't get there. However, we now need funds for DH's very soon upcoming surgery. He was told that he is going to need it and to quit therapy. Our co-pay for surgery is more than we expected and we didn't budget two for the year. Mine was for the shots in the head. Hopefully I will get more before the year ends so I don't have another co-pay at the beginning of the year. Yikes!

snipped-for-privacy@NOSPAMyahoo.com

Carlinda here, hope I'm not too late. I'm 56, for a few more weeks, birthdate is 5/9/47; an aging flower child (and yes, I've gone to seed...flower, get it???). In the late 60's and early 70's I had about

40,000 jobs (I'm not a very stable person) then I went on the craft show circuit as a silversmith. I got burned out, moved to Virginia and joined regular people with a regular job, moved back to near Columbus, OH, and had another 40,000 jobs until the middle 90's. I decided I didn't care to live in reality, and started teaching piano and beginning band instruments. I also started jewelry making, again, this time with mostly beads. I'm continuing to teach music and am trying my hand at making some kind of income with my beadwork. I play bass clarinet in a local community band. And I follow my nephew around, who's a budding clarinet virtuoso at 17. I live with my mom, who will soon be 85 and is in great health, and the arrangement is so far working out just fine. We've been living in this condo together (along with Daisy, the cockapoo, who really runs the place, and Maria, the parakeet) for a year.

I have lots of "itises"--arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, and am diabetic. The worst affliction I have, though, is procrastination. I do work well under pressure, however, so I get it done.

I've learned lots from this group and resources, and hope to continue learning new stuff. My biggest challenge right now is to perfect my finishing techniques, and to be able to afford better materials for my jewelry.

That's it...

Carlinda

(still under construction, soon to be finished!)

Not at all. Anyone else? Come on now, step right up.

I'll add mine when I get a second. The file is looking nice and fat, and has lots of info in it for anyone who's curious (and passes muster -- I'm not giving this out to just anyone from anywhere). ~~ Sooz

------- "Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance ~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links

Huh! I lived in Sucks-a-ton, Far North, NZ for 7 yrs but moved out 10 yrs ago - thankfully! ;)

Get this! Someone who lives 5 mins from me won nearly $15 million in the lotto last weekend!!!! The media has been camped outside ever since!!!!!!

All the best winning the lotto, Candace.

Mavis

That was on purpose Sooz! I don't like sharing my B'Day, which even I don't celebrate! Born 1968.... That's about as close as you're gonna get... LOL

Mavis

My name is Marissa Undercofler. I have a loving husband of almost 3 years, named Michael and a cute, smart, loving 2 year old son, named Kyle. I have a sister named Karen who will be 23 on the 17 of April, who is currently living and working in Texas, in a Civilian Position as a Chemical Safety Specialist for the Army, while they pay for her to receive her masters degree in Chemical Engineering. My birthday is October 14. I will be 25 this year.

I live in Pennsylvania. I have been doing artsy fartsy stuff, as my hubby calls it, for about the last 10 years or so, but just recently started focusing more on the beads, and more recently the sewing.

I am currently working on 2 major projects. Both still in the planning/design stages. I will be beaded 2 sword sheathes. One is just on one side, the other is all the way around. The one sider is approx. 27 inches long and approx. 20 or so beads across at it's widest point, while the other is 31 inches long from metal top to metal tip, and approx. 66 beads around at it's widest point, but it tapers down to probably about 10 beads around or so at the bottom.

I think that's pretty much it.

--------------------------- Marissa Undercofler -- Marissa's Creations To see finished pieces:

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from snipped-for-privacy@aol.compuppies (Dr. Sooz) :

]Not at all. Anyone else? Come on now, step right up.

if little sis can do it, recovering from surgery, i guess i don't have an excuse . . .

i'm vicki [with an "i"] or vickijean or vj. birth date: 11-16-1948 i also answer to "MOM!" to three children [ages 30, 22, and 20] and "grandma" to two adorable boys, thanks to the oldest.

i was born in Missouri and lived for a couple of years in Indiana, but i've been in California since i was eleven [with one time out in Maine and one in Buffalo, NY].

my grandmother [bless her soul] started me out on handcrafts when i was relatively young. [sewing, crocheting, tatting, quilting, and embroidery] i spent many years with a sewing machine, and have done my time making Barbie clothes, school outfits, etc. that ended with the birth of my second daughter - i don't even have a sewing machine any more. instead, i expanded the embroidery to needlepoint and counted cross stitch, because they were more "geometrical" and "less messy" and satisfied my "organizational mind" more. it was also easier to keep smaller projects out of little hands then i made beaded Christmas ornaments on styrofoam balls - that only lasted through one Christmas with a houseful of cats. then, i found cross-stitch that included seed beads.

when i went to work for a union back in 1993, a woman there was selling jewelry in her office. my first thought was "_i_ can do that! and i wouldn't wear them for a couple of weeks and then put them up for sale, either!" i called a dear friend from another job, and she showed me how to get started. and she taught me how to make dreamcatchers - except where she made large ones for hanging on the wall with traditional materials, i made small ones for earrings and adapted them with my own imagination. they were a huge hit at the company craft fair, and i've been making jewelry ever since.

i didn't discover lampwork until i arrived here, and have been hooked on it ever since. and i only buy lampwork from the people here that i've gotten to know and trust. i generally only work with glass, stones and silver, but i keep experimenting

i'm currently in the middle of what i am trying to keep an "amicable" divorce - david moving out day is supposed to be May 1.

i suffer severely from chronic depression and anxiety attacks and probably am bipolar, OCD, and one of those "triple-A" types that needs everything organized to be able to function. not a great combination to pass on, genetically, but i didn't know that back then.

i do medical transcription to earn a living and have been actively selling jewelry from my website for over a year now. i don't do auctions well [see previous paragraph] - i prefer to buy directly from peoples' websites or use BIN. right now, i only have an account at JustBeads, but i'm broke anyway, so it doesn't matter.

i belong to my local "rock & gem" club and am constantly in "grasshopper" mode - about all kinds of things. i'm taking a wire-working class on the 24th.

i think that about covers it - if i missed anything, someone holler at me.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

newest creations: ----------- I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all.

Well, we've just proved (once again) the statistical assertion that you only need about 30 people to have a 90% or better chance of 2 of them sharing a birthday!

88888888888 (peanuts being flung at the punster)

We're close to being contemporary; you were old enough to actually *be* a flower child, I just missed. The funny thing is, I was actually very straight (in the 60s sense) as an adolescent. As I've gotten older, I've shifted more and more toward the aging-hippie role, until now it would be hard to tell me from the genuine article!

I like the way you phrase this. Are you sure we're not long-lost sisters? (It could be, y'know -- I'm adopted!)

Celine

On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 8:07:59 -0400, Candace wrote (in message ):

Five!?! You're worrying about a fve year old? I just got my daughter's high school schedule! Most days, I feel like I'm barely out of high school, and there's no way I'm old enough to have a high school aged daughter! Even worse, she'll be driving in a year and a half! eeep

OTOH, my daughter was in first grade with a little girl whose mother became a grandmother before the age of 30. (ulp) Yep, she was fifteen when she had her first, and that child had a baby when she was either thirteen or fourteen. I'm quite sure I wouldn't handle that situation very well.

Kathy N-V

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Kathy N-V :

]Yep, she was fifteen when she had ]her first, and that child had a baby when she was either thirteen or ]fourteen. I'm quite sure I wouldn't handle that situation very well.

Kathy, i picked up some of Jamie's friends one day, with the "oldies" station playing on the radio. Jamie apologized to her friend about the music, and the sweet child said, much to my chagrin, "oh, that's okay

- my grandma listens to that, too." which immediately broke up everyone else in the car. same kind of situation. her grandmother had her mother at 16 and her mother had her at 16.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

newest creations: ----------- I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all.

Well, Celine, I actually became "aware and alive" at the end of the Beatnik era, and no one has even mentioned that group! When I was 17, I sang in a trio, another girl and a guy, and we wore white shirts and black tights (honestly), the guy wore black slacks. Ironed our hair straight. (And I just recently got a permanent that I paid $56 for...) We sang in coffee houses, after the poetry readings, and actually got PAID to do that. Now I get paid NOT to sing. Ah, well...

Carlinda

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Carlinda" :

]Well, Celine, I actually became "aware and alive" at the end of the Beatnik ]era, and no one has even mentioned that group! When I was 17, I sang in a ]trio, another girl and a guy, and we wore white shirts and black tights ](honestly), the guy wore black slacks. Ironed our hair straight. (And I just ]recently got a permanent that I paid $56 for...) We sang in coffee houses, ]after the poetry readings, and actually got PAID to do that. Now I get paid ]NOT to sing. Ah, well...

i loved that era! i didn't "iron" my hair, but i did set it on orange juice cans!

Maynard rules!!!!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

newest creations: ----------- I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all.

Mavis...we are the same age.

I did forget my birthday. We celebrate the entire week of the birthday in our family. Mines is September 16, 1968.

And yes I feel like I was a true flower child. I was 9 m>

My children were born in 67 and 69.

Tina

They may be my age, but Alaskan women are immortal.

This is a great thread - it's good to refresh my memory on everyone....not that I will remember it all! And it's good to see intros for people I don't know yet. :) I'll do one for those who don't know me yet.

I'm Kandice (duh) and I have been posting here for a few years. I'm 30, a Virgo, born in the year of the Ox, (Sept 6th), married to Ken who is 31 and Scorpio. Ken is a software developer and all around computer geek. We live in Western Washington, but moved here only a year and a half ago after Ken was laid off and then got his new job. We love it up here, it's gorgeous - but we do miss our family and friends back in Portland, OR, where we used to live. Ken and I have been together since high school, and married in 1997. Our 7th anniversary is coming up!

We have two kitties (Pumpkin and Melody), who are like our children. Ken and I cannot have children biologically, but we may adopt later on in life. I don't normally like to talk about my own health issues in public, but like many here, I have a few health things that sometimes effect my daily life online and offline.

Other than beads and beading, I really love to read - mostly science fiction and fantasy. So does my husband. We are both movie-goers as well. I also have a secret love of documentaries on Discovery Channel, Sci-Fi, etc. Anything that has to do with ancient history, archaeology, astronomy, space, weather, myths and legends, UFOs and the paranormal, etc. I love to watch and read about. I'm also pagan and enjoy learning about all kinds of religions and spirituality. I love to learn in general.

I've been beading for about 10 years, and have been making lampwork beads since July of 2002. I started out making hair jewelry and doing seed bead work. Off loom weaving and bead sewing and embroidery. I love the peyote stitch - mostly freeform - and the ndebele stitch. When I first came to this group, I mostly made jewelry for fun and to sell. It was the people here who introduced me to the whole world of Swarovski, sterling silver and lampwork beads. I learned more by reading this group than anything else. After beginning to post here, there was no turning back for me. I was hooked big time to finding out everything I could about beads. Lampwork in particular.

I owe this group a whole lot - they got together and purchased my first ever lampwork beadmaking class and surprised me with it in the summer of 2002. I was astounded that people I only knew online would do such a wonderful thing for me. The class was just the confirmation I needed to know that I had found something I wanted to do forever.

After taking that class, I apprenticed with another group member (Paulette, who rarely posts anymore because she is kept happily busy with her new son Aiden!). Paulette is a very talented beadmaker, and she took me on as her apprentice, where I learned everything I could in exchange for doing studio work for her. It was an invaluable experience that I will treasure forever. My only regret is that we had to move that fall to Washington, so I could only work for Paulette for a short time.

Ever since then I have been exploring my deep love for glass beadmaking, and for color and light in general.

Wooooo that was long! :)