Bead Embroidery class

I am absolutely blown away by a couple of my students where I work. They have been learning basic bead embroidery stitches for just three weeks now. The class is once a week for an hour. One of my young men completed his first project yesterday. He beaded a Dallas Cowboy star for his grandmother. It wasn't perfect, but it was awesome. This young man who cannot sit still for more that a few minutes sat for 3 hours during a thunder and lightning storm beading. When he wasn't quite finished with it, he brought it to our Center yesterday to finish it.

One of the young women is working on a Raiders emblem. Again, she brought it in to work on it at the Center. The simple fact that they enjoy it doesn't surprise me as much as they don't want to quit working on it. These are the same young people who cannot concentrate long enough to take care of themselves properly.

The joy I receive from seeing this makes every minute of preparation and every cent spent so worthwhile. No, they don't catch on as quickly as some might, but to see their faces when they finally "get it" is to know what it is to be a teacher. As they finish their projects I will be taking pictures and posting them here for you all to see. Hope you all enjoy them as much as I do.

Indian Summer

October is done! Thought I would never finish it. I haven't been able to bead much the past three weeks. I loved adding the fiber to this one. I've learned so many new things since starting this project. I rarely want to do anything but bead embroidery anymore.

My class at work is going slowly, but most of my students have learning disabilities so I expected that. The important thing is that they are really enjoying themselves.

I taught a class this week that brought what beading means to me right to the fore. My students were mental health patients. Age range was 20-50. I've taught a lot of classes, but to see their faces while they were concentrating so hard was enlightening. I explained to them what beading does for me. Both of the young men in my class commented on how relaxing it was for them. All I taught were basic bead embroidery stitches, but you would have thought I'd given them a gold mine. If just one of my ten students gets the enjoyment out of beading that I do, it will be well worth the time and effort.

These are people who have very little in their lives. Minimal family contact, if any and no one who really cares about them other than our staff. To us they are family. A couple of them even call me Grandma. That's okay with me. If it helps them to have an extra Grandma, who am I to complain?

To be able to share with them the joy of beading is phenomenal. As soon as they learn the basic stitches, I will set them free on their first project. I want to photograph them and show them how proud I am of them. There are some things in this world that are so right.