As most of you know, my daughter is attending our family reunion in Germany for the occasion of my grandfather's 90th birthday. We've been emailing back and forth, since this is my daughter's first big trip without me (she's 13). As is my habit, I made special pieces for each female relative, and DD brought them along for gifts.
When DD passed out the little black velvet bags with the necklaces, one of my aunts laughed, and then told DD a story:
At Easter, the whole family got together for the usual celebration dinner. My Grandmother, who is always early to everything, arrived wearing the taupe sweater I sent her for Christmas, along with a multi-strand pearl necklace I had made. Then my six aunts arrived, each of them were wearing my necklaces. My favorite cousin was wearing her necklace, and her mother (also wearing a Kathy necklace) arrived with the large beaded bag I made. This Tante is a paraplegic, and I made her a 5"x 7" peyote stitch purse embellished with flower and lady bug beads with two offset straps to attach to the handles of the wheelchair.
None of them had known that the others would be wearing my creations, and they had a good laugh about it. They also admitted that they wore my stuff all the time, and when they heard DD was going to be at the reunion, they were hoping I'd send more. They also love the little velvet bags for some reason. (So I sent extra empty bags)
The best thing was that my grandmother was actually wearing things I had given her. She normally thanks me for the gifts, then hides them somewhere, never to be seen again. (An idiosyncracy left over from WWII, when each set of advancing troops looted her home.) That these pieces saw the light of day means she must really love them, and actually believed me when I said that I make pieces to be worn, not hidden away.
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On a tangental subject, I got a letter from a local handicapped children's center. This center provides services for children who have so many handicaps that they either go to this place or a hospital to live out their short lives.
Last year, I made sets of necklaces and matching bracelets for their annual fund raiser. They auctioned off my pieces and got a bit over a thousand dollars for them. The letter was to ask me if I could possibly make more sets than I had last year, since so many people had asked if my jewelry would be at this year's fund raiser.
I'm flattered and happy: I get to combine my love of making things with my love of children! How lucky can I get?
Once my houseguests leave and I once again have access to my beads, I think I'm going to be very busy!
Kathy N-V
P.S.: There's nothing new posted, but if you new folks want to see some examples of my work, it's at