This is a bag chock full of old beads I sent back to camp with E. I made most (if not all) of these beads between 2001 and 2005. The majority probably date around 2004 or so as that was a time I was really focused on bead making. And to be completely honest, I didn’t let my daughter rummage around in the really old beginner bead pile. They were a bit too cringe worthy.
E is working at a summer sleep away camp and she was home for a day and a night off. She told me that she had run a couple of small beading clinics. ( I’m hoping this is an early sign that she’s inherited some of my bead fascination. E is not the jewelry wearing daughter.) She casually asked me if I had any extra beads I’d be willing to donate to camp. I managed to restrain myself from leaping across the table and hugging her. LOL So, right before we had to leave to drive her back to camp, I let her dig through my boxes of old beads while I sat at my bench drilling out the holes on some of them so they’d fit onto 1 mm elastic cord.
She even got really excited about some of the beads! It was all I could do not to jump for joy.
It’s great that these old beads that were just languishing in my bead boxes will have a new life with the kids at camp.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Amelia 07.18.08 at 11:45 am
—oooh! Can I go to your daughter’s camp for the summer? Those are lovely beads! Lucky kids!!! *envious* =P
Martha Aleo 07.18.08 at 12:43 pm
I should have such “rejects.” My early PC beads looked like they came out of an animal. Still, even beads you think are ugly (definately not yours) can find new life and make people happy. A few years ago, I got a ton of donated beads I would take to womens’ shelters and teach the residents how to make memory wire bracelets. When I no longer had the time to do this, the leftovers got donated to Say Yes to Education” an after school program. Some people in my bead society even collected beads to send to Masai girls in Africa who make beautiful items out of them to fun their educations. There is always a new life waiting for old beads.
Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor 07.18.08 at 10:12 pm
I’m guessing a lot of beginners would love to be able to make beads as great as your so-called ‘cringe worthy’ ones!
Libby 07.19.08 at 7:43 am
Martha & Cindy, Just to clarify things, the beads my daughter had to choose from weren’t reject beads. They were just beads I made a few years ago (or longer) that I had sitting around in boxes doing nothing. Some of them had already been out at the guild bead sale a couple of times and not sold. Some were just singles or experiments. There were some really fun beads in her bag. It was fun to revisit them with my daughter.
The real early duds, most of which are quite large, are a whole different species. LOL Maybe I’ll show them one day.
Lisa Clarke 07.20.08 at 1:19 pm
Isn’t it exciting when the kids show interest in something we are passionate about?
It’s great that you had some extras to share.