I’m sorry I haven’t been around to see and answer these posts. I’ve been having some medical issues that took me into and out of the hospital and I didn’t have much time or energy for posting.

Emma, that’s a very lovely purse! I haven’t tried crocheting with beads but I may one of these days. Maybe if I get stuck on something, you’ll be able to give me a helpful hint or two?

My next beading projects will be making barrettes. I love to make them and just give them as surprise gifts to neighbors or family members. I’ll be using both bead looms and free-hand styles.

My first barrettes will be for children though. I have great-grand-daughters so they’ll be first on my list. One of them is going to be two years old the middle of June. Her mom is a beautician but the little one took after me and was born without anything in the way of hair and even now, she’s really not got enough hair to hold a barrette but I’m going to work around that. I thought for awhile I might have to use suction cups on hers, (totally kidding) but she’s got enough hair now that I might be able to use velcro cut into tiny pieces. I’ve also got some tiny barrette blanks that I think if I use some of that stuff that keeps stuff from moving around (don’t know what that’s called) it will keep a barrette from just sliding out of what hair she does have, though. I didn’t have hair for quite awhile when I was a baby either so I guess she takes of me.

One of my neighbors has the most beautiful snow white curly hair. She brought me a box of chocolate covered cherries at Christmas and I was very pleased and surprised because I haven’t gotten to know her very well, but she’s going to get the first adult sized barrette I make.

Anyway, when I get some of them done, I’ll take photos to post.

My oldest daughter cleared out a lot of art supplies and gave them to me. I used to use oils years ago when I painted and I’m thrilled to have the ones she passed on to me. My youngest son’s wife died of melanoma in 2015 and she had a lot of art supplies that he gave my oldest daughter so she shared very generously with me.

Another thing she gave me was lots of yarn and some granny squares my first mother-in-law made but passed away before she made them into anything. I decided to make child sized afghans for the great-grandkids out of them. The project was kind of neat because my great-grandchildren are her great-great-grandchildren. I got the moms involved in the planning stage of the afghans and that makes the collaboration of three generations of grannies on each afghan.

I even took the granny squares into the hospital and kept working on them in the time that I was undergoing medical testing and such over the time I was in there. Since the first week of December, I’ve made 7 little afghans and two adult sized afghans. Then I made myself a bedspread. I’ve crocheted since I was five years old, and I’m 73 now, so I crochet really fast. I can almost do it blindfolded sometimes. lol The next crochet project will be for my little great-grandson who is due to make his appearance on April 16th or so. I’ll make his blanket from baby yarn, though.