Oldbies

Okie dokie... I'm Helen, 22, one of the UK crowd. I live with my boyfriend Dug and have ME/CFS and Depression. I absolutely love frogs, I have 3 -

! I collect froggy things but *not* comical (e.g. frog-holding-umbrella) ones, I prefer realistic ones. I also love Art Nouveau, especially flourishes and floral designs. Other than beading I do cross stitch, card-making, and various other crafts as the mood takes me... I've been beading about 2 years, I think, I went from glueing cabs into settings as cheap and cool presents, and simple stringing, to complete bead addict, thanks to this group! I came here to ask about peyote beaded beads and ended up learning all sorts of beadweaving techniques, drooled over *real* lampwork, and even got my own lampworking setup. My current project is my mum's wedding jewellery - the wedding's 27th March 04 - I'm making necklace, earrings, bracelet and watch with liquid gold, mother of pearl, etc. The liquid gold arrived today so I can get to work on it - seemed like forever waiting for it to arrive! That's all I can think of at the mo, though I'm sure I'll remember something else as soon as I hit send... *runs off to play with beads*

H. x (sulking cos I pranged my finger dismantling a watch...)

Thought I'd fill in some blanks too..

Hi I'm Mavis. I am 35 (nearly 36). I have been married 15 years. I have

2 children.. a boy age 10 and a girl aged 9 years...

I live in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.. Never been out of the country..(not sure if that's good or bad)

My DH & I have been in business for 14 years as Mobile Shop Owners.. Before I had children, I worked for 5 years in an accountants office doing bookwork for taxes..

I love Diving, Fishing, The beach, Swimming, Cycling, Walking, Gardening, Sailing, Music/Dancing, Sewing, and more recently beading... but I especially love the outdoors.

I was raised on a dairy farm.. milking cows (which I hate - milking, that is!) but I love the country life and still live in the country after a few years in town which I hated.

I can turn my hand at almost anything - I can fix a car, change a tyre, do an engine/gearbox swap, paint the house, chainsaw anything, mow the lawns, sew an evening gown, etc, etc.. general jack of all trades - master of none!

My DH gets a little frustrated with me at times, because I'm a workaholic.. He lives on the computer - and when I can drag him away, he also enjoys Diving, fishing, sailing, Music and cars...

I'm sure there's heaps I've left out, but these are the main things I do.. On the weekend, I took the kids to their first triathlon and they loved it! I was exhausted at the end of it, and I didn't even participate!

Mavis

Oooops, I forgot to mention the moggie...

We have one cat - more like human!

Mavis

Well, I might as well chime in to. Helen C. Been a semi part of this NG for a few years now. Mainly lurk. Read everyone's msgs so try to keep track of what's going on. 32 yo. Overbuilt. Been married to my psychotic DH for 7 1/2 years. Have a bunch of kids (DD 6, DS 5, DD 4, DS 2, DD 10 months and another one EDD May?) Used to drive a truck long haul. Mainly do circular peyote (lighter cases and such) and brick earrings with a little bit of just about everything else thrown in for good measure. Only try to post when I absolutely must say something because of the mass amount of messages everyone generates (!!!) Gotten a lot of help and support from everyone here (you all know who you are and I thank you for it) Usually to busy to think straight and lately when I do have spare time I sleep instead of bead (but it's died down a little so I've gotten a few things made) (Yay!) Definately on the lower end of the economic scale. Try to stay as optomistic as possible considering what I have to deal with on a daily basis. Dealing with DH is a full time job plus all the kids and housework and everything else it's a wonder I have time to do anything. Love to read (sci-fi, horror, almost anything available) or listen to audio books while beading (anything goes there, library has a limited selection) or talk radio when there's nothing else. Like to whine about all my troubles (not expecting anyone to do anything more of just venting to get it off my chest) Lousy housekeeper but not the worst I've ever seen. Think that pretty much covers it. Oh, and I have a tendancy to go on and on (another reason I don't post much)

Later,

Helen C

I am Shirley Shone dubbed Madame Tassel by Sooz also called Madame Faberge.

I live in Derbyshire in England.

I am 68 and married to Steve and we celebrate our Golden wedding this year. We have two sons 46 and 48 who were born in Malta. Youngest son married and we have 3 grandchildren.

I may have been one of the first from UK to join this group.

My crafts are many but I like beadwork the best. I am especially proud of the beaded panel I did for the Enschede quilt. Also I did a Christmas tree ornament that was put on Her majesty's Christmas tree at Buckingham palace.

I am the founder of Shirley's Spoon Club.

The members of this group hold a special place in my heart. Shirley

Sounds good. I'm Celine (nickname) or Lee (legal name) in Houston. I'm ye-ghods-almost-48 years old, live with my partner, his 15-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, and 5 cats.

In my first life (up until 5 years ago) I was a computer programmer, doing the whole college/job/husband/house thing, but no kids. Then my job went away, my marriage fell apart, and eventually I wound up moving from TN to TX... where my second life began. I officially retired from the computer field and started a new career as a jewelry designer. It's taking off, albeit slowly.

When I'm not doing jewelry, I go to science fiction conventions and I'm a contradancer (American folk dance). I also help my partner with his business, selling screen-printed bumper stickers and T-shirts. I like to read, watch almost no TV, and hang out with a lot of aging hippies and other counterculture types. I used to be in the SCA, but don't do much of that any more. The one Big Thing I do every year is the annual Chocolate Decadence party, coming up on March 6th this year!

We travel quite a bit, going to SF cons and other events to sell stuff. I try to mention it here when we're headed someplace, because I enjoy meeting online friends. If anyone finds themselves spending some time in Houston, I'd be happy to play native guide!

Celine

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 17:03:17 -0500, Dr. Sooz wrote (in message ):

Haw yourself. Of course, everyone who saw my chiding post on Saturday already knows my cranky side. :-)

But there's more ---

I'm Kathy N-V, age 41, live near Boston, am married with a varying number of children. Seriously, we have one fourteen year old daughter, and any number of good kids in bad home situations living with us at any one time. We're lucky enough to have Grandpa, who lives in the downstairs apartment of our two family. He's 78, my husband's father, and the greatest guy in the world. Rounding out the group is Sophie the Wonder Dog, a blonde Cairn Terrier (same breed as Toto), who has few teeth, eats kleenex and is a genius at finding the most comfortable spot in any room.

I'm housebound these days with heart and lung failure, but I had a previous career as a Programmer and Internet Goddess. I was blessed enough to travel the world for work, and took my daughter with me everywhere. For a long time, she complained that I didn't want her to get her passport stamped. (It's a bad idea for security reasons) I had no such luck - I had to get extra pages added to my passport to accomodate the visa stamps.

I started beading almost four years ago as a creative outlet from writing code. My first weekend beading, I made 29 necklaces out of beads from Wal-mart and Michaels, all strung on waxed linen. My mom came over at the end of the weekend, and I foolishly offered her as many necklaces as she wanted. Mom took all 29 of them. This pattern has continued to this day.

My first big beading project was making bracelets to give away to perfect strangers. By the time I stopped making give away bracelets this year, I had made somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 bracelets, and don't even have one left in my house. It was the most wonderful experience, and when I am able to leave the house more frequently, I'll start making give away bracelets again.

Last year, I morphed into beading with semi-precious gems and precious metals, and lots of beadweaving incorporated into jewelry. I still give away pretty much everything I make.

Right now, I'm beginning a cultural project, with examples of beading done by women in different cultures throughout history. So far, I've made a kimono from 14,000 4mm crystals, and am finishing a period Russian beaded headpiece, called a Kokoshnik. I have an Egyptian broad collar a little more than half done, though I may have to re-start it (DD hates the faience scarabs). It's a great project, and I like doing the background research as much as making the actual project.

I write stories, feed people, send PFNR (Paypal for no reason), and my florist knows me by voice. Bob, my husband of 17 years, left his executive position at a clothing importer four years ago in order to sell meat. Really. He sells high end meats to restaurants and picky homeowners. Part of his job involves running a booth at trade shows all over New England, which he adores. Go figure.

I collect books, especially books on beading, world cultures, trivia and science. (Not Sci-fi). If my husband is to be believed, I also have a collection of a million dollars worth of beads in our dining room. I've given away most of the computers, so I'm not sure it qualifies as a collection anymore (each one of us has a desktop and a laptop.)

I have another sort-of collection: computer company/dot-com tee shirts. I worked for or consulted for all sorts of computer companies in the '80's and '90's and a couple of dot-coms before the crash in 2000, and I made sure I got an employee tee shirt from every last one of them. It's been observed that any company who gives me a tee shirt fails a brief time afterward. So, to keep the local economy intact, I won't accept more corporate promotional tee shirts. DD has scarfed all my 1970's and 1980's concert tee shirts, so that is no longer my collection.

Bob collects license plates, which are all washed, waxed and placed in special "archival" bags to preserve them. I have pointed out (repeatedly) that if he ditched the license plates, I could have more storage space for beads. Hasn't worked so far.

I also own a 1955 Buick Super hard top, with all the bells and whistles. Beulah the Buick is in showroom condition, and rides in all the local parades. Beulah was a gift from my husband to me on our first married Valentine's day together. Our DD mistakenly believes that Beulah will be her first car when she gets her license in two years. (Bwha ha ha ha)

As far as this group is concerned, I contribute to lots of beadweaving threads, write stories, and try to help other beaders when I can.

That's about it.

Kathy N-V

Kathy, I loved your life so far story... Keep on rocking girl!!

Love, Mavis

Okay here goes.

My name is Karen (last name temporary right now LOL). I grew up in central PA but moved to AZ 2-1/2 years ago. I have two kids, DD 14, DS 11. I'm 43, divorced and engaged (mostly in that order). My Mr. Wonderful (Mike) says we'll get married in October. I've quit arguing.

I've been in love with beads since I was a teenager. Started out stringing liquid silver and carved fetish necklaces, then branched out as I discovered more and more beads. I digressed for several years, becoming a fiberholic (spinning, weaving, dyeing and knitting). About 10 years ago my niece (who'd inherited my bead stash) introduced me to polymer clay. I never got very good at it, but it got me back into beads. Then I discovered lampwork, and I was back into beads full-time. I've been making my own glass beads for 7 years, and absolutely love it!

I'm also a freshwater pearl junkie, and very fond of Bali silver. A year ago I took a few silversmithing classes, and I'm gradually getting good enough to add silver findings and settings to my other work. And woohoo! Mike just signed up for an intro lapidary class, so I guess I have a partner in crime now.

Time to chase my kids to bed.

Good idea!

I am Kandice Seeber, 30 years old, married with no kids and two kitties - Pumpkin and Melody. My hubby and I live in Western Washington - we moved here a little over a year ago when he got a new job in the IS department of Costco Main Office. We used to live in Oregon. We met there - in high school - dated for 7 years, then got married in May of 1997. I have been beading in some form or another for about 10 years. I started making my own lampwork beads in August of 2002 and have been hooked ever since. I also love peyote stitch, bead stringing, freeform seed bead weaving and bead embroidery. I've been hanging out here for a few years or so, and have been known to bite a little. But I'm mostly nice. ;) >

Oh, yeah - I forgot to mention things unrelated to beading!! Both hubby and I love to read - mostly fantasy, although I have really been getting into religious studies of late as well. We are also moviegoers and try to see a movie at least twice a month when we have time. We both adore living up here in Washington, but travel to Portland frequently to visit family and friends. We're also both complete nerds and addicted to our computers. I am also addicted to coffee and chocolate. And PEEPS!!!!! Newbies will notice a weird little obsession or six here in RCB. Peeps, duckies, beads, chocolate, coffee, books, who needs anything else?

Well, do I want to do this?? LOL I'm Juanita. I'm 45 years old and have been married shall we say several times. This time it seems to be sticking. :)) I live in Virginia with my husband of

15 years, my dog Ladybug and no kids. I am a nurse by profession, but haven't worked in that field for many years. I have done stained glass professionally, worked as a medical receptionist, an orthopaedic physicians assistant, a word processor and I now I do part time seasonal work at a golf course. Come on Spring!

I have been interested in beads since I can't remember when. I do lampworking and have for 14 years in May. I also do pottery, ceramics, poly clay beads, jewelry, stained glass and Heaven knows what else. You name it, I've done it. Probably if I could focus on one thing I might actually get good at it. LOL. I mostly lurk these days, since I have a big mouth and it get me in trouble if I participate too much in the volatile subjects.

I've enjoyed reading about everyone here.

Juanita

May fate bless us all according to our deeds.

I don't know if I qualify as an oldbie, but I've been reading for a couple of years... don't post much....

Karin (mom just had to be different), age 44, dh (49) and I just celebrated our 17th on Valentine's Day, ds 6 and dd 10. (ok, we got kind of a late start... :-) Living in Wichita, KS which is not exactly a cultural hotbed, but is a nice place to raise a family. I work for a major aircraft manufacturer :-) as does most of the population in Wichita (you have your choice down here - Boeing, Airbus, Cessna, Learjet, Beechcraft) DH is an engineer, so our at-home phone and computer network rivals many company's. Two cats, geriatric but still getting along at 17 and 18. I'm a licensed commercial helicopter pilot, but after one crash and two kids, I haven't flown in quite a while. :-) I also used to speedskate (on ice), but the knees aren't what they used to be...

When I'm not working on computers to pay for my million obsessions, I'm running a Girl Scout troop, teaching Sunday School, or taking kids to karate, piano, basketball, or soccer. I knit so I can stay sane at all those practices, I rubberstamp (been doing that for about 15 years now), scrapbook, and paint (not very well.) I've always been fascinated by beads, but always swore with my obsessive personality that I was NOT going to get into that.... that lasted until 2 years ago, when I finally relented... and now the stamping is suffering as I spend all my time beading.

I'm mainly into stringing, although I'm starting into wirework (not very well so far) and am getting ready to set up my lampwork studio. I took a class in the fall and am just dying to get into it. (Which given that my only free time is now between 2 and 4 am, might just turn out to be true! :-) DD desperately wanted to have a booth at a craft show we went to, so we started K&E Creations in the fall of 2002, and have been selling custom made jewelry of sterling, semi-precious, gold-filled, and crystals since then. I've had two home shows since November, which have done pretty well, and custom work, but we still haven't made it to a craft show. :-)

The collections have kind of gone by the wayside in recent years, as the craft supplies have taken their place. But I still have a large number of teddy bears hanging around, mostly artist bears and ones I've made at this point, Beanie Baby bears, books, and tons and tons and tons of craft supplies. (Did I mention I was somewhat obsessive?)

I think that pretty much covers it, and then some!

Karin

=o( I can't find that thread. Stupid AOL!

May I introduce myself here?

My name is Beki Haley, I am 42, married for 21 years this July to Shawn. I have 4 kids, 20, 19, 17 (18 in 18 days) & 13. I also have any number of other kids in my house. We became the "hangout" house.

Both my husband and I run our business. Out On A Whim. I have been beading since I was a young child and spent summers with my Grandmother. It seems I was born with a love for beads. I cannot seem to recall a time in my life when they were not around me. I did not graduate from highschool. I dropped out in the 10th grade and went to modeling school for awhile. I did a few odd modeling jobs, (standing in a storefront window for 6 hours pretending to be a mannequin, newspaper ads for the local dept. stores and a few runway jobs) until my idiot BF of the time decided he would prefer I not model. =o\ I worked odd jobs here and there, bank teller, dog groomer, clerk in a liquor store. I made (damn good) chocolate cheesecakes and sold them to local restaurants. I bought closed auction lots and resold them at the flea market...whatever helped to put food on the table. I met my husband and became pregnant after I looked at him. ;o) I looked at him again a few more times too quickly and wound up breeding like a rabbit.

I started selling beads at the flea and some local craft shows to help supply my own addicition. In 1986 I opened an actual storefront with the help of Shawn's Mom. In 1993, I made Shawn quit his "real" job and come help me sell beads. He loves it! We now have 9 employees, run a mailorder business and an import/wholesale business in addition to the store. However, we prefer to keep the business personal with a "family owned" attitude.

I have been off work for several months now due to severe carpal tunnel. But have managed to come up with some new ideas for the business in the meantime. (this is what happens when I am left to think...lol)

Last year I had a close call with death, and am now much more conscientious about my life and the people in my life. I have been a non-smoker since April 13th at 6am. I have left a few choice body parts behind and I have also gained over 65lbs since that time...damn! I went from being rail thin to full figured in one lifetime. =o)

Beki

Well I'm not really an Oldbie, but I've been hanging around about a year now.

I am ally, I am 38, single and live with my parents in the south of England (look on the map almost at the bottom in the centre - thats me). At the moment I am trying to diet and go to the gym a bit more. I started last May and lost 3 stone by October, I'd like to do the same this year.

I have a really cool job with lots of cute guys in uniform who take me flying with them sometimes. They are really sweet and funny, its like having a load of naughty little brothers.

I dont have any kids, but I am surrogate mum to my sisters 3 (2 of which are toddler twins so she needs a hand). Dont really want my own, I just borrow hers when I feel broody, then she gets them back to deal with the mess My elder Neice likes to come round and bead with me, and anything she finds on the floor of my office is hers (so its a real insentive to pick up those beads when I drop them).

I have done loads of crafts over the years but the main one was quilting until I started beading. I started when I made a quilt for a friend that cried out to have beads put on it. I finished the quilt but I havent made any more. I started beading about 2 years ago and about a year ago I started selling my jewellery.

I am a bit of a trekkie and having been going to Sci Fi conventions for years (and years and years). At the moment though my favorite show is Stargate.

I love to bead, read, surf the internet and watch tv I just need to find a way to do all of them at once. :-)

conscientious

No worries. I was hit by a hit and run driver 5 years ago while rollerblading. After falling flat on my a**, ricocheting off of 3 parked and one moving car, I was unable to walk for nearly a year. I went from 142 to 265 pounds. Almost twice my weight. I always had to force myself to exercise to keep myself at weight...a year without it made it a HUGE difference...the motivation was gone, and as the weight came on, it got harder and harder. At 46, my only conditions are obesity and depression. No HBP, Cholesterol 119 (great good cholesterol) blood sugar okay. It motivated me to start walking again...stopping when the heel pain is too much, in order to keep those all okay. It is a literal pain to be overweight, and by this much. But I will keep walking in order to keep all of the other crap at bay. Almost 3 miles at a time. I remember Ellen Degeneres joking years ago "The doctor told my grandmother to walk two miles a day. She's in Cleveland now." On one hand, I think...I'm a survivor, I'm entitled. On the other hand, I think, I'm a survivor...let's grab this second chance by the horns and be the best you can be. So, for right now, I am the best that I can be at the moment. As are you. It's not the worst thing to be full figured... Full figured and alive (and I mean ALIVE) is better than thin and dead for me.

As I was reading all of this. I found a word that describeme in someone else's profile, Aging hippie. Hmmm ... talk about pointing a finger. My name is Rainbow, given to me by a head shop owner I worked for in the

60's. It stuck. I made one of a kind clothes there. I don't even respond to the one on my birth certificate. I have an identical twin ... I really don;t know why they call it that, because except for some physical similarities, we are not that. I have played with beads all my life. I am from New Orleans, originally and in the 50' when I was a child, beads as favors from Mardi Gras floats, were reall glass, not the trash they throw now. The best ones had a little paper tag, that said Made In Czechoslovakia ... these were treasure and we retrung them and collected them. I have been a craftsperson all my whole life, Always had that entreprenuerial spirit. Even when I was 9. I moved to Atlanta from Tennessee where I spent alot of time, moving there from Louisiana, and became involved in the craft thing really. But when I moved to Atlants, I discovered performing arts, and in a way it has spun itslef in to a whole thing with creative and needle arts. I design and lovingly handcraft all my theatrical props and costumes from scratch. I perform as several different comedy characters, clown and balloon artist. I returned to beading thru this, because i had gone to the local costume suply house looking for beads to adorn a at ... I rediscovered beading thru this. I moved to Las Vegas, and this is where I began to bead in earnest. I love it all , every technique, ones i invented, and i never see anthing with a holein it that I won't ty to string. My passion for anything involving beads is total. It;s harder nowadays, due to a bad opthalmologist screwing up what little visioin I have, but I still sit at my workbench daily. Never married, no kids, but have a cat, named Misu who loves nothing better than to sit with his head in a dish of beads as I try to work around him. Rainbow

Well, I haven't posted regularly here for a while, so I am not exactly an olbie, but I'm not really a newbie either.

I'm Dora, age 46. No DH, no kids, 2 cats: Max and Maggie.

I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in a housing cooperative, which I moved into last summer. I have about 3 jobs at present, none of which are full time. I do a mix of clerical and retail, and a bit of writing curriculum for a local college. I have a master's degree in urban planning, but that excursion into the bizarre never amounted to much financially.

I grew up in northern Saskatchewan, and went to school with a lot of Indians, so I have seen lovely beadwork (mostly embroidered on leather and loomwork) since I was a child. I also a Danish aunt who did a lot of beadwork. However, I didn't start doing beadwork myself until a couple of years ago, and mosty do seed bead work in peyote, brick, or RAW.

I also knit, crochet, and embroider. Lately, I have been trying to figure out how to make curtains, and have been doing some decorative painting as well. Gardening starts in a couple of months too! I gained a small back yard when I moved into my unit, and am looking forward to filling it with flowers. I was thinking of putting in a beaded spider web, but we'll see. Curtains first. I've been changing in the bathroom for the past 6 months. Dora