Hello from the Puget Sound area
I joined this and then forgot I'd joined until I just got an email from the one thread I participated in having gotten another post. I'm sorry I forgot. I just moved here in August from Oregon and in getting settled, I forgot all about this wonderful forum.
A little about me:
I just turned 70 years old on Thanksgiving day. I've raised six children---4 of my own and two grandchildren. I'm now a great-grandmother. I'm a recovering alcoholic with 30 1/2 years' sobriety. I edit the newsletter for the large senior apartment complex I live in. I learned to crochet when I was 5. My mom taught me to keep me still while my baby sister slept. I've crocheted tons in 65 years, believe me. I'm going to be teaching my daughter-in-law to crochet starting on Sunday.
I oil paint, make crone and ancient Native American style dolls using Fimo and Sculpey and fur, bones, etc. and I also do beadwork with size 15 seed beads. I also use other sizes but I love the teeny tiny beads for the detail it allow when making beaded designs. I was given some size 22 seed beads in several colors by an internet friend. They haven't been made for over 115 years, so I'm saving those to use for some very special bead projects. When you think size to imagine what the size 22s are like, think grains of sand or salt. Very, very tiny. I wouldn't dare use them with a breeze blowing. I make all kinds of things, both with my several sizes of bead looms and using the little size 15s to make brooches, barrettes, etc.
I have a tiny long-haired chihuahua named Gypsy. I got her when she was 7 weeks old and I could hold her in the palm of one hand. My hands are small, but so is she! People say she's a teacup size. She might weigh 2 pounds or so. The people I got her from said the parents had never had a black chihuahua before and they and all previous puppies are bigger, but Gypsy just never grew very big. She threw back to some other dog in her ancestry somewhere. She'll be 2 on June 28, 2016. I've had many dogs over the years because I was a one-woman rescue back in the 60's but I've never had a chihuahua before. They weren't my favorite breed. Gypsy is my heart, though. I'd miss her so much if she weren't part of my life. She thinks she's 10 feet tall. I have a little dog stroller for her that I wheel her around in when we go somewhere.
Well, I tend to run on, so I'll spare you all. I'll be here often and I just texted my daughter-in-law to tell her about this forum, so maybe she'll turn up here soon, too.
I came back to add that I forgot something else I've done. I used to make those "fake babies" that look so real. I haven't made any in awhile but I'm going to make at least one more one of these days. I want to make one to put into a beaded cradleboard that can be a family heirloom. I have Native American blood but don't know how much or which tribes exactly. I know Cherokee on my father's side. One of my grand-daughters I raised is engaged to a man who is Cherokee and Blackfoot and she found out recently that her father had that same blood. I can't wait to see their babies and you can bet that I'll be making cradleboards for great-grandkids in years to come. :)
