OT A favor

Its just as important to know ones strengths as ones weaknesses, and no one
has to be able to do everything. Im glad you found your forte. Im with you,
leave the flame to our beadmoths here and stick with what is fun, like
looking at the prettys they make!
Thanks for sharing,
Diana

--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44
"Beadseeker" wrote in message
...
I started looking at the newsgroup, I think, on the suggestion of
Suzanne Hye
of Hye on Beads. I also used to go on the rec.crafts.professional n/g, but
that
was hacked by trolls so it is not as good as it used to be.
I use semiprecious beads, charms, and dichroic glass in my work. The
dichroic glass I fuse in my own kiln. I admire lampworkers, but I found
out I'm
afraid of torches when I took silversmithing (don't ask), so I buy
lampwork,
but don't do it myself.
I do craft fairs and Suzanne sells my dichroic pendants in her bead
shop.
Patti

I hope there comes a time in your life (soon) when beads can play a bigger
part again, without sacrificing time here.
The lampwork part... I can totally relate to that. Its so amazing to see
the infinate variations of beautiful that come out of this group.
Thanks for sharing,
Diana

--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44
"vj" wrote in message
...
vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Diana Curtis"
:

]Could I ask you, oldtimers and newcomers alike, to
]amuse me with the story of how you came to RCB and why you stay, what
]brought you to beads and what keeps you enthralled with this lovely
medium?

i think it was Celine that pushed me over here. and now, between RCB
and RAM [that's rec.arts.mystery], i don't have time or energy enough
for alt.callahan's anymore, even though i download it every day
anyway. and i try to stay out of the political threads here as much
as i can, since i have enough problems keeping up in RAM.

why do i stay?
1 - because someone ALWAYS has an answer when i have a question - even
if it's just to refer me somewhere else.
2 - because i really ENJOY Kathy NV's stories, and Tina, and Sooz,
Nicole, Mary. and Tink and . . .just mostly everyone.
3 - because i like being able to tell my customers "i 'know' the lady
who made these beads, she's an artist from fitb. i have more and i'm
excited about what s/he is doing now."

i started making jewelry and dreamcatchers about 10 years ago - mostly
trying to raise money so i could buy Christmas presents for Jamie and
Johnny. my brother loaned me the money to get started, and i did
pretty well the first couple of years in various craft fairs - enough
so that i paid my brother back and did make enough for the kid's
Christmas. then my life went REALLY haywire, and it all had to be set
aside.

when we moved up here, DH was curious about all the different kinds of
craft "stuff" i was hauling around . . . embroidery, quilting,
crocheting, and what was left of my christmas ornament projects. [more
on those later]. when the ornaments came out that first Christmas,
here, the kids started urging me to get back into it. my biggest
problem is that i have to spend so much time "earning a living to pay
bills" that i don't have nearly enough hours to devote to beads. i
spent most of my 'inheritance' from my father on beads and supplies,
and now i have a really hard time finding time to do it. of course,
i'd have more time if i wasn't HERE, but i'm so isolated most of the
time i need the "human" connection this place and RAM give me. and
the 'inspiration' that comes from other people's work.

it's been absolute hell on my wallet since i discovered lampwork, but
that's a different part of the story. i have no desire to try to make
it - my hands cramp too much to be able to hold the mandrels and the
rods long enough - but i love buying it and just LOOKING at it.

and i guess it's the lampwork, in all its variations, that keeps me
enthralled, which is the last part of your question!


-----------
@vicki [SnuggleWench]
(Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com
(Jewelry) http://www.vickijean.com
-----------
It's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you;
it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis

Its easier when you dont put up a fight, just go with the flow, let them
take you under.
But.. LOL about the peyote!
Thank you so much for such an entertaining and brutally frank look into your
journey into obsession!
Diana

--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44
"Rachel T." wrote in message
...
Well, it's 4:30 a.m. EDT, I can't sleep, and I don't want to watch a movie
about piranhas, so I'll tell my story....

I have been an artistic "fidgeter" since I can remember. Art can be a good
thing to help you forget all the crap going on in your life. But I won't
go
there.

Anyhoo...I'm lucky enough to have at leats one person in my life who would
"feed" my obsessions. I was always drawing, doodling, whatever. I used to
spend
summers with my grandma, and one day she bought some of those plastic tri-
beads and some string. Youngin' that I was, I just strung them. I did
about a
gazillion of them and promptly took two strands and hung them from the
name
sign on the porch. There they dangled in the wind, and she left them up
until
they finally fell off. That was the beginning.

In high school, I remember this guy (yes, guy) who brought in necklaces of
simple seed beads strung on fishing line. He sold them for $2 a piece. I
thought, I can do that. Not long after that day, I headed out to the local
store and bought a little of this, and a little of that.

So here I am, for quite awhile, with this really dinky "stash" of beads.
My mom
got me a little beading loom for Christmas once. I've made a total of 1
thing
on it. I don't have the patience to thread it. LOL.

Every now and then, I'd get bored and make something. Usually just seeds
strung on sewing thread (multiple times of course) with barrel clasps for
closures. A few years ago, a couple of people asked me to make some
necklaces
for them. I was stringing them bead by bead. I forgot about the little
beading
needle that came with the loom!

I've even gone so far as to separate about 5,000 seeds by hand, by color.
I was
really bored and don't plan on doing that ever again.

Ok, fast forward to present day. Well, about a year ago, give or take. B/f
was
surfing on the 'puter, when I walked in and noticed he was surfing
newsgroups.
I had to see what the deal was. One day I popped in the word 'beads' and
voila!
RCB.

I swear, the first couple of conversations I read I thought "these people
are
on crack!" I had stumbled into the "close-knit" conversations the happen
quite
frequently. And then somebody mentioned peyote. I kept thinking they were
talking about the drug. Something about a peyote purse. I think my thought
was
along the line of "dang, they sure are brave to post about peyote online!"
LOLOL!!

THEN I found out in was the *stitch*! I think I must've been on crack!

Somebody would mention something they did, and I had to try it. So, in the
short time I've been here, I have tried it all except actually *creating*
the
beads myself. I'm not any good at a lot of things, but there is plenty I
can
do. And now the kitchen table has "mysteriously" disappeared....

Now I can't seem to get enough of the little buggers. There are days I
just sit
at the table and stare at them, take some out and fiddle, then put them
back. I
like to run my fingers through them. I stay here because I'm always
wanting to
do something new, or get some inspiration.

I can't help it, I'm addicted. I didn't even try to resist....






Rachel T.
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons
For you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

I got my beading start a few years ago when I bought a book / bead kit
in Orr Books (specializing in consciousness/spirituality themes) for
creating your own mala ... Buddhist prayer beads.

I made one for myself, several for friends, and although I did find
that the beads aided my meditation practice, I found that for me,
*putting the malas together* induced and even more meditative state
than using the finished article did.

It is a theme that Tink and I share. Process, or product? For me,
process is where I get my big source of satisfaction, and the product
is more a side-effect of the process :-)

I found RCB about a year ago, in the course of using Google Groups to
research a source for some kind of beads or another. I forget the
details.

What I found I'd stumbled into was not only a compendium of useful
knowledge, but a very wise and generous group of mutually supportive
friends.

Near the point when I delurked, the group ended up being forced to
rally together to deal with a very disruptive influence -- a troll who
had been something of a 'sleeper' in the group for a long time -- and
in that rather painful process I learned a lot about the individuals
who hang out here, and about how best to weather the downside of
Usenet's wide-open quality. It was my first experience with a totally
unregulated online environment, and an eye-opening one at that. A
serious attempt to wreck the group failed ... due to solidarity among
its members, and a willingness to practice restraint when goaded by
someone who knew where all the individual and collective 'buttons'
were.

I've stuck with beading because it still induces a positive altered
state ;-), whether you are doing peyote or ndebele or RAW or designing
fringe.

I've stuck with RCB because it is full of interesting, tuned-in people
lots of whom are addressing Everyday Life as an art form, as well as
crafty people with lots of practical knowledge and experience -- who
enjoy doing the kinds of things I like to do. Folks who are willing to
help each other solve problems -- both the artistic sort and the
Everyday Life sort.

Deirdre

There is no good place to snip this. You write the way I think. I think it
sums up what a lot of what everyone else is saying, this is home. These are
the people who feel safe to share with. This is the art that fires my
passions.
I do like the way you cut to the heart of matters.
Thank you
Diana, going off to think about process vs product as relates to this human
being.

--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44
"Deirdre S." wrote in message
news
I got my beading start a few years ago when I bought a book / bead kit
in Orr Books (specializing in consciousness/spirituality themes) for
creating your own mala ... Buddhist prayer beads.

I made one for myself, several for friends, and although I did find
that the beads aided my meditation practice, I found that for me,
*putting the malas together* induced and even more meditative state
than using the finished article did.

It is a theme that Tink and I share. Process, or product? For me,
process is where I get my big source of satisfaction, and the product
is more a side-effect of the process :-)

I found RCB about a year ago, in the course of using Google Groups to
research a source for some kind of beads or another. I forget the
details.

What I found I'd stumbled into was not only a compendium of useful
knowledge, but a very wise and generous group of mutually supportive
friends.

Near the point when I delurked, the group ended up being forced to
rally together to deal with a very disruptive influence -- a troll who
had been something of a 'sleeper' in the group for a long time -- and
in that rather painful process I learned a lot about the individuals
who hang out here, and about how best to weather the downside of
Usenet's wide-open quality. It was my first experience with a totally
unregulated online environment, and an eye-opening one at that. A
serious attempt to wreck the group failed ... due to solidarity among
its members, and a willingness to practice restraint when goaded by
someone who knew where all the individual and collective 'buttons'
were.

I've stuck with beading because it still induces a positive altered
state ;-), whether you are doing peyote or ndebele or RAW or designing
fringe.

I've stuck with RCB because it is full of interesting, tuned-in people
lots of whom are addressing Everyday Life as an art form, as well as
crafty people with lots of practical knowledge and experience -- who
enjoy doing the kinds of things I like to do. Folks who are willing to
help each other solve problems -- both the artistic sort and the
Everyday Life sort.

Deirdre

There is one who sells from a shop thats in the next town over, amongst
other places, and I havent made it in to see what his work is all about. He
started making lampwork as a way to support his marble making habit. Go
figure, eh?
Diana

--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44

"vj" wrote in message
...
vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Diana Curtis"
:

]the infinate variations of beautiful that come out of this group.

that always amazes me, too. and i know there are a lot more
lampworkers than the ones here, that i've never seen. there are
several near me that i've never had the chance to check out, either.

have to do something about that soon.


-----------
@vicki [SnuggleWench]
(Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com
(Jewelry) http://www.vickijean.com
-----------
It's not what you take, when you leave this world behind you;
it's what you leave behind you when you go. -- Randy Travis

and I will have a spare bed (well, not a room, it's ken's study, that will
be the spare bedroom), anytime you wanna come out!!! I can show you the
scene out here!!!

Mary


--
Joy multiplies when it is shared among friends, but grief diminishes with
every division. That is life.
Drizzt Do'Urden (Exile - R.A. Salvatore)
================
MeijhanaDesigns - Unique Earrings and More!
http://www.meijhanadesigns.com
"Diana Curtis" wrote in message
...
I'm in Wisconsin, Tink. I have a room waiting for you. :-)
Diana

--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44

"Tink" wrote in message
news
I figure before too long I will have met EVERYONE here. LOL!

Celine wrote:

right now I'm looking forward to the opportunity to meet up with
Tink
and
Jeanne IRL, on the way back from Canada!

Then Kathy N-V said:

I can't wait for January, when I'm going to Florida to meet Tink and
Co.
DH
keeps telling me - "go! take as long as you need, your friends will
watch
out for you."

My start with beading is pretty typical of my age group -- I started making and
selling love beads in the late Sixties. I can't remember why I started doing
that -- just that I did it, and really enjoyed it. I've beaded off and on --
mostly off -- until 1999. I've concentrated on beading (even when I wasn't up
to actually beading something real) since then. I've learned much, much more
in those 4 years than I have in my entire life before then!

I started reading RCB weeks before I posted -- I'd already spent a little time
on rec.crafts.rubberstamps, just to read a bit (I don't do rubber stamps
anymore, and I didn't then). I also tried a Siberian husky NG, but those
people were awful! Sheesh! I got flamed so much I got out of there.

I'd had a nice little "home" on a message board on AOL a couple of years
earlier, til it was discontinued by the Powers That Be, and I missed that sense
of online community. (That message board, BTW, is where I met Kevin -- my
husband.)

RCB was kind of messed up when I first got here -- not as friendly a place at
*all*. Then the WTC disaster happened shortly after I started posting.
Upheaval, fights -- yecch. I'm not sure why I stuck around. It's a much
different place today.

I stay because I have friends here, and the common interest (beading of all
kinds) is thoroughly and continuously fascinating and enlightening. The OT
posting is always really, really interesting. I'm not in great health, and
it's hard for me to make regular connections with people IRL because my
physical energies are always unreliable. So wisely or unwisely, I do rely on
this NG much of the time for my human contact -- though I do have friends and
contacts in my real life too.

What keeps me enthralled with the beading medium? I could write a long
paragraph about that, but I really am not sure. I could give you a bunch of
Reasons, but they're not the whole story. I often think, when I'm bead
shopping, of our ancestors and their obvious fascination with beads -- how they
used them for money, how they adorned themselves with them, how they held them
in such esteem and gave them so much value. Why? I dunno. There's just
something about them.

I love beads, and so do you guys, and that binds us to each other. The OT
stuff deepens our bond (though it sends some people away). I've met some
people here IRL, and some I haven't met in person are among my closest friends.
RCB is a thing that's really good for me, even though sometimes things get
difficult here. But that's life. RCB is a bit more open to anyone, worldwide,
than my real life is, so sometimes things occur here that would never happen
IRL, and some of those make me less than happy.......But I've learned to deal
with that, and this is good for me too.

I check in with RCB at breakfast every day.
~~
Sooz
-------
Let the beauty we love be what we do. --Rumi
I'm not a hamster, and life's not a wheel. --Sooz
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html

This is such a fun thread to see all the different stories.

I don't know when I came to RCB. My hubby pointed it out to me, probably
3-4 years ago? I didn't do bead work, and was just starting to make a
little jewelry since I made lampwork beads and wanted to be able to put
stuff together. I asked a few questions, but then didn't hang around. Then,
a while back, I was fed up with the service I received from FMG, and wanted
to ask a question here. I found that there's a lot of experience and great
advice here, and it's a great place to go when I'm looking for something. I
wanted to make some bracelets, but had no idea what the beads were that I'd
used, and someone pointed out that they were atlas or satina beads and
pointed me to Shipwreck (Now, that was a dangerous move!)

I still don't do seed bead work, but love it and especially love looking at
photos of other people's work. I just love seeing all the colors and
designs that people come up with. AND because of this group, I got in on
the pen swap and got a wonderful seed bead pen from Kandice, and I also
traded some lampwork with Arondelle and got a beautiful amulet bag! I keep
saying I don't need to take up one more thing, but I do love seed bead work!
I'd rather swap though

Keep up that good recovery Diana!

--
Jerri
www.beadbimbo.com

To subscribe to the Beadbimbo mailing list, send a blank email to:


"Diana Curtis" wrote in message
...
This recovery thing is boring to the utmost. Im reading most of the posts
and catching up slowly, but havent energy to post much. Im taking this
getting better job seriously.
Reading posts is fun. Could I ask you, oldtimers and newcomers alike, to
amuse me with the story of how you came to RCB and why you stay, what
brought you to beads and what keeps you enthralled with this lovely
medium?
It would mean countless minutes of diversion for me. Make them as long as
you want. We can just use up the bandwidth from one of the less populated
groups. :-)
Thanks in Advance,
Diana, not feeling bad, just feeling tired. :-)

--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44

a while back, I was fed up with the service I received from FMG, and wanted
to ask a question here.

Jerri,
This is certainly the place to ask about FMG - lol.
Patti