For example, there's Tim. In the last week, he has used his magical computing skills to get me back in the saddle. First he tried to revive Hamilton, but it didn't work out so well. But he didn't give up! He tuned into his inner MacGyver & cobbled together a working PC for me. He took some parts that we had lying around the house as well as a few pieces from his own PC (which we replaced with upgrades) and he built a computer for me. It didn't cost us much, either, which is always an enormous plus in my book. FrankenPuter still has a few glitches (I can't get the memory card reader to work), but all in all I am thrilled and impressed and quite happy.
The other talented person in my life who has impressed me lately is my mother. I believe I've mentioned that my mom is a nurse in an ER, but she's more than just that. She is a song writer and a musician and a painter and a designer and seamstress and - more than anything else - a student. Mom loves to learn things. That's one of the reasons why she went back to school and earned her associates degree in Spanish this spring (yay mom!).
About 6 years or so ago, Mom decided she wanted to learn how to make things with stained glass, so she took some lessons. She has made a number of items over the years including a stained glass window that is in my home. The things she likes to make most, though, are kaleidoscopes. She especially enjoys customizing her kaleidoscopes to reflect the personality of a person or to capture the memories of a special day. That brings us to the next label that identifies my mom: entrepreneur. My mother has started a company to sell her bespoke creations. The company is called Keepsake Kaleidoscopes. Recently she has been in the process of getting the details of the business off the ground. She has already filled a few orders & has others in line, so to keep the word spreading she is building a website and designing a brochure. That means she had to have photos made of her kaleidoscopes. Luckily for all of you out there, I can share some of those photos with you now. Enjoy!
By the by, talented person #3 is my brother Mike who, with the help of one of his friends, took these great photos for Mom.
These first 2 photos are of a kaleidoscope Mom made to honor a young man who passed away unexpectedly. The young man loved the beach and the boy scouts, so she used a shell and one of his scouting pins. The pressed flowers are from his memorial service.
I like the way Mom incorporates flowers in her work. She made a similar kaleidoscope to these for my Aunt Fay featuring flowers from her own garden.
Last but not least, the wedding kaleidoscope. I wish you could see the details of this one a little better. Mom made a similar kaleidoscope for me and Tim for our wedding. It has pieces of glass featuring the colors of our day - the blue of the sky, the pink and purple of the flowers - and a red piece of glass in the shape of a heart. There's also a piece of our wedding invitation, a bit of ribbon from our gift bags, and some pressed rose petals from my bouquet. It's a really special keepsake of the day ... hence, the name of Mom's company.
I'll be sure to add the Keepsake Kaleidoscope website to my list of links when it's finally operational. Can't wait to see it!
Update (9/29/08): Mom's website is up & running & it is beautiful! Check it out here: keepsakekaleidoscopes.com
2 comments:
Those are GORGEOUS. Way to go, Mom!
I KNOW you have to be speaking of none other than my favorite neighbor of all time, Bev. Your mother gave me her Keepsake Kaleidoscopes business card a while back but I was unable to get on the website. So, just now I tried again but by using Google instead of the WWW address and just glancing through the results of my search this one caught my eye. Just for the record, your father's a pretty nifty guy, too! He's the one who called the fire department the day our house burned last winter so if it weren't for him we most likely would have lost everything we own, including pictures of my children while they were growing up, which would have been the biggest loss of all for me. Tell your mother to email me because I would love to order up a kaleidoscope or two. Have a blessed day!!!
Kathryn
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