Stepping on your toes, or following in your shoes?

My first memory of creating art is with my mom, I couldn't have been much older than 4. We were sitting at the dinning room table with red construction paper, lace patterned paper doilies, scissors,  markers, glue and sparkles - come to think of it all her art project had something shiny or sparkly in it, but that would come as no surprise to anyone who knows her. We were making Valentine's Day cards, a simple but lovely design of a red paper heart covered by a doily decorated with sparkles and a VDay message.

My mom got me hooked on crafts of all kinds, sewing both by hand and machine, and beading.  She inspired me to try new things and always seemed so impressed with the creations I made. Always ahead of the newest trend, she even suggested I set up a henna tattoo stand in the market before it was the craze of 1998. As I so often think - I wish I'd listened to her. 

Do you remember FIMO? This moulding clay became popular in the mid 80's for sculpting figurines but my mom had a brilliant idea to use it to create jewellery. I'd help her roll it out, keep it warm (or it was terrible to work with), shape it and add sequins or rhinestones when needed. I made some of my own and happen to still have a pin we gave my Nan. Notice the use of silver rhinestones.

Stargazing created some beautiful pieces of jewellery. Hours were spent in bead shops combing every aisle, box, bottle, and tray for the ultimate combination of unique beads. She collected enough to fill two large tackle boxes full. One of her pieces was an experiment in green with a large glass disk as the focus point.