Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Happy Thoughts..... instead....

by MaryAnn Carroll

I was going to write a blog post with another one of my pet peeves, which happens to be pricing way too low just to get sales, along with what I think is a little dishonesty when selling. But since life has been exceptionally difficult for the past couple of months, I decided to keep it light and share the things that make me happy.  I'll save my pet peeves for another day...

So....  here is my happiness....  my family..... My sister lives about four hours away and we don't get together as often as we should, but when we do, it is always special.....  Here is a little tour of that week.... not quite in order.

Here is my first born granddaughter Lacey getting a ceramic bead making lesson......


That's right, sweety..... you roll it up in a ball.....


and now you are going to roll the ball into a snake.... she loves snakes!!!


see what I mean....


and then, we will cut the snake up in sections as evenly as possible.... or not so even if you are like Nonnie.....


and there you have it.....  She IS like Nonnie ;o)


I did manage to save a few before I noticed that she re-started the ball rolling process with the completed beads ....


My present and future bead makers..... my son Ben who helps me with my bead  making, his son Benny and my granddaughter Chole, Lacey's sister.....


We definitely were focusing on our creative side this week...   My nieces Juls and Izzy were getting their hair done by my daughter Theresa while they glazed bisqued molds.

We also took a trip to the bead store....


The girls decided that they would rather learn how to make charm bracelets rather than stringing beads...


Looking like professionals with the jewelry tools.....


Juls..... almost done....


and Izzy making sure she counts the correct number of links before adding the next charm....


My niece Nat had more fun browsing....


Then we all got together at the end of the week.....

After the photo shoot,  I decided it was probably a better idea to leave the picture taking to a professional..... As you can see we have some squirmers, some not putting their best faces on, etc.,.....
but what I do have is my family.... and I am thankful for the time that I have with them....
My sons, my daughters-in-law, my sister, my husband, my nieces and grandchildren.....


Before they left to head home, I gave Izzy a quick lesson on how to make a link from a bead so that she could create her own charms....  As soon as she arrived home, she did exactly that....  Colleen sent me this picture that evening with Izzy (age 9)  modeling the charm necklace that she created ENTIRELY by herself!

Impressed?  I was.....  I'm pretty sure her future holds a career in fashion.....


Hey, Maire!  I am wearing the necklace that you made :O)   ....  LOVE IT!!!!

If you are ever in the area of Cortland, NY.....check out a great little bead store called Beads and Beyond. 
Click HERE for the website.

7 comments:

stacilouise said...

Ahhh, pet peeves, they can really crawl their way into our lives, can't they? I just facebooked (is that a verb yet?) yesterday about people trying to haggle prices down. My husband is also self employed, he's a contractor, and that happens to him all the time, as well as to me at shows. *sigh*

I like that you just focused on happiness instead, bucause, in the end, that is what really matters. Thanks for sharing your family pics! It looks like it was a great weekend:)

Jenni said...

What a lovely family you have. It must be so nice to have them all inter ested in your beading world, and looking so talented at it to boot! Always good to focus on the positive, good on you!
jenni

Patty said...

What treasured moments! The photo of Lacey and the snake is precious. How wonderful, too that those girls will treasure the things they learned from you.

Terri said...

You got to share your interests with your grands! (I'm so jealous!) What precious memories. I watercolor painted with 2 of my 7 when they lived near enough. They were better at it than I was... more intuitive, freer and easier at the color mixing, and the brush work!!! I learned alot from them (then 2 and 5 years old). Thanks for bringing back the memories for me.

mairedodd said...

this is an absolutely wonderful post - you have such a special family... and i am glad you got a picture - wigglers and all... we have a picture from when em was little and my grandmother still alive... she was holding the gingerale em just wouldn't put down and still kept reaching for in the picture - so we have those kind of pics too... sounds like you are building a family business like barbara lewis!
glad you have on the necklace :0)

DArsie Manzella said...

your family is beautiful! I love to see these pictures of your life. such talent~

Kelli said...

What a beautiful family. I know they bring you a lot of joy. LOVE the pic with Lacey and the snake! WHat a cutie!!! Can't wait until Makenna is old enough to make jewelry with me. She LOVES playing in the beads now.

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