My job as Mom

Something was said to me the other day and my gut reaction was "how does any person treat their child that way no matter how old they are". But then it got me thinking how I as the mom of adult children , view my role in their life. Here it is, When my kids became legally adults it was no longer my job to direct what they do or think, or decide how they will live. If I have done my job right while they were growing up, I have instilled values, morals and the common sense to make decisions about their life and now it is time for them to make those decisions on their own. It is not my place to voice my dislike or condemn them if I am not happy with those decision. I can have those thoughts but that is where it ends, biting my tongue if necessary. What is my job? My job is to love them, support them, cheer them on if they make a good decision, and be just as ready to help them pick up the pieces if they make a bad one. That's it , nothing more is up to me. Your thoughts?

Stress Relief

Yes, my answer to stress. I think I have probably stated more than once that the more I stress the harder I bead and this picture is proof positive. My mom had minor surgery on December 14th and I made arrangements to stay at her house for a while to make sure she followed Dr.s orders. I started making some basic bags to embellish at home later. Of course, typical to my life there has been the usual ton of stressers going on at my own house, lot's of things happening so I just keep beading away and here is the results of this month of stress relief. All new items. Course that gets me thinking, I still need to work harder on other types of items for my shop because amulet bags are just a small niche but I soooo love making them I find it difficult to stop even knowing I need to do more of other things. So yes I will try very hard to make necklaces and bracelets and maybe throw in a earring or two but I cannot fight the urge to continue to do what I have done best for 30 years. Amulet bags, wish bags, treasure bags, call them what you want, they have my heart and passion forever.

Optimism

I guess it's good to say Happy New Year even though we are a week into it. Hoping everyone's holiday's were good, I must admit mine were the most emotionally painful yet. Life has been more than just a bit rough these past month's but I am using the typical New Resolution to decide that no matter how tough things have been, I will choose to continue being Optimistic. Things will get better, I will continue to work towards my goals, one of them being restoring health for myself and my family, I will learn new beading techniques, or may be not, I am still having a great time with the beaded paintings , and lately I have been working hard on my amulet bag's and enjoying it. I hate the fact that I do not have my home internet and can't put up new pictures. Soon. Soon. I am optimistic I will find a way to get my tv and internet back soon.
So there you have it, my new years resolution is to continue to be completely 100% Optimistic about things to come. What's yours ;o)

Fun Stuff

I have been playing with the keychain idea for a few weeks now and I am having a good time using up my orphans. Yet I still have many more......Maybe I will just keep making keychains and find a few places to put them so that I can just keep making them til I run out of orphans.
What do you think?

Could not stop myself

Okay, I have a house full of animals, both 2 legged and 4 legged. The one that get's into the most trouble is my daughters cat Dunkin! My daughter want's the Christmas tree up so started hauling things from the attic on Thanksgiving night. Friday she got the tree together and what appears napping in the very middle branches? Yup there he is ....no wonder he answers to Dunkin no no no

Brainstorming

Each time I start a new piece of work I have a wonderful stash of the beads I want to use. Often , well alway's I have leftovers when I am done. Seedbeads go into my beaded paintings so they are never wasted. The problem lies with accent beads. There is never enough left for another project, often times I have just one or two or three of a particular bead. Over the course of years I have found I have box after box of these orphans. Sometimes I find a nice bead I can use as a focal point, some times I have 2 that can be turned into a pair of earrings but more often than not these orphans just sit in the box waiting. Yesterday I was brainstorming for some easy , quick items I could make up for my Etsy shop just so I can post something new frequently during the holiday's. I came up with this keyring and it's perfect for all the little odds and ends, as long as I can co-ordinate my colors, the accent beads do not have to be the same. Whether I have one or two or three different types, if the colors match, I can use them. Since last night I have made 5 keyrings on this little bit of experimentation and finding a way to make use of the orphans makes me so very happy!