Beading project raffle to help Neighborhood Watch
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ST. IGNATIUS – Doris Snyder spent dozens of hours joining 20,000 tiny 1.6 millimeter-sized glass beads, which are smaller than a grain of rice, in various colors to create a wildlife-themed picture that she is giving away.
The St. Ignatius Neighborhood Watch received the framed picture on Friday with plans to sell tickets at $1 each to raise money for the program.
“They need things like literature and signs to help develop the program,” she said. “It’s a good program. We need the watch to help out around here.”
The Neighborhood Watch purchased $300 in beading materials for Snyder to put the project together. She has a track record of making beautiful beadwork to help organizations raise funding.
“I donated another picture to the Fireman’s Picnic to help them,” she said. “I’ve made four of these beading pictures, and I’ve never kept one for myself.”
The picture features an eagle, a mountain lion and a wolf against a blue background. Wayne Billing made the wood frame used to display the bead work.
“I call it ‘Brave Hearts,’” she said.
Snyder used the peyote stitch and a magnifying glass to create the picture. She used a special thin needle to string one bead on at a time and stitch it into place.
“It’s like laying bricks, one at a time,” she said.
She picked up the skill on her own and doesn’t have tribal ancestry, although her children do. She just thought beading looked like a fun way to pass the time now that she is in her 70s and can’t leave her home very often due to a dependency on an oxygen tank.
“My mom said that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, so I try and keep busy,” she said.
Making craft projects keeps her busy. She donates different projects made with various materials to those at the Lake County Area Agency on Aging.
“People often donate craft items to me and I make something out of them,” she said. “I want to thank all the people that have donated their leftover threads.”
Snyder has a book full of photographs of the many craft projects she has done over the years. She even won a few fair ribbons for some of her projects.
She finished the wildlife beading project in February and started making a smaller picture of a buffalo head with beads.
The “Brave Hearts” picture can be seen at Valley Bank in St. Ignatius (the big bank). Tickets to win the beaded image can be purchased at various businesses around the community. The drawing will be held during the Good Old Days event in July.
