Feeling disconnected

I am now so disconnected from the etsy community. I would like to get back in so to speak, but I just don't have the time to commit to it like I used to. Blogging about my jewelry when I do have the time would seem to be a good way to get back in, but as you can see I only have seven followers, and I don't know how many of you are not followers in name only. I used to be on a few etsy teams, and that was fun but so time consuming. I did rejoin etsy for charity, mainly because I would like to eventually give a big portion of my sales to charity, as I did when I had my store up and running the first time. It really is a great team. Another way that I connected with other sellers was through the promotions forums, but I recently discovered that they did away with this, which many etsy sellers seem to be unhappy about. It just means that I will have to get creative in connecting with other sellers. I do hope to find a way because it is partly what makes this craft so much fun.
Anyway, if anyone would like to share some social networking sites for beaders, I'd love to take a look. Thanks in advance for leading me in the right direction.
But now, I want to share some pictures from my daughter's first experience making a necklace. She was a pro! She actually made a necklace and bracelet set. She is three and will be four in May. This got me thinking about possibly sharing some free make your own necklace sets, with little girls in mind. I would only charge a little for shipping, maybe $2. Would anyone be interested? I figure this is something I can afford to do with just a small group of subscribers, and it would be fun. I'd love to send out the sets and see photos of your own child's creations. Just let me know if you're interested. See how much fun my daughter and I had, and it's great for honing fine motor control.

She's following in my footsteps

So my daughter made her first beaded creation today. It was a bracelet. She actually went on to make a second as well. I wanted her to string a bracelet so that she could get some good practice with a fine motor tuning skill. She did wonderfully, if I do say so myself. Ok, I realize I'm bragging about my kid, but she's only three, and she was a natural. I'm adding the pictures of her bracelets here, even though they aren't great photos. I took them at night, so I'll try to update later. I gave her a limited variety of beads to choose from. At the time, I was mostly focused on how large the holes were, but she created her design and strung them herself. Who knows, maybe I'll end up showing off her creations again, if she persists.
I always imagined that she would share my love of beading one day. I just didn't know that day would be today.
Anyway, there are many more important things I would like to pass down to here, and I realize that in the scheme of things, this is pretty trivial, but there is satisfaction in seeing yourself in your child. I am proud of who she is, and seeing myself in her reminds me that this wonderful little person is a part of me. That is what is satisfying. In fact, I know that even my daughter knew how grateful I was. After I gave it to her, she kept saying, "you're welcome mommy," even when I wasn't saying thank you. Thanks for looking.

On a separate note, I just reopened my etsy shop for the first time after a two year break. You can see my new items in my etsy mini. There aren't very many yet, but I will keep at it. Today I'm sharing my beachy spring tone beach glass, turquiose and coral necklace. I guess I was ready for spring when I made this one, and I made this back in December. Oh well, it reminds me that there are sunnier days ahead.