My very first "craft" project was sewing buttons onto my grandfather's handkerchiefs when I was 4. (He was a very patient man). When I was 6, my father informed me one day, "You're just like a magpie, anything that glitters attracts you!" And while I did a lot of things in those years between (earned a teaching degree, learned to speak fluent German, raised a family of two girls and a foster daughter) I've finally ended up with a job where I get to use small, glittery things to my heart's content. My specialty is bead-weaving, and I feel that the time I've spent living in Europe has given me a slightly different design sense, which I then use in my work. My very favorite thing, though, is teaching someone and seeing that lightbulb turn on over their head--and then seeing what they do with the skills I've helped them acquire.
