Crafts & Hobbies #61: Craftspiration!

I have been a crafter of all sorts for as long as I can remember. It started with coloring books, construction paper and Elmer's glue but since then I've done many things including; cross stitch, (even went as far as to cross stitch a monopoly board) hooked rugs, embroidery, crochet, quilting, scrapbooking, stamping, and sewing. I've taught myself how to do all these things though my grandmother, great aunt, aunt, mother, and mother-in-law were all crafters and definitely helped me with things like putting in my first zipper, making my first french knot and holding the yarn and hook just right so you could control the tension. I did take a quilting class once, in which I made my first quilt, as a way to keep busy while we lived in an apartment which I found a lot less work than owning a home. I have always wanted to learn how to weld/solder because I thought that had huge crafting possibilities but I have yet to do that. I discovered Etsy almost a year ago and love the ideas there but it is time mainly that keeps me from visiting the site as often as I'd like and completing any projects I see there. The only thing I'm tempted to do is spend money because that's quick. However, if I were ever looking for a project to undertake, I'd certainly turn to Etsy for ideas. One craft I have spent time doing lately is scrapbooking. I was trying to get my daughter's scrapbook all caught up by the time she graduated. That did not happen as she graduated in June but in her scrapbook she's only almost 4 years old. But I am still plugging away at it. I love to go on scrapbook retreats where you arrive Friday night and stay until Sunday afternoon and all you do is scrapbook. Your meals are prepared for you, there are no family obligations to run someone to the movies, work, etc.., no phone calls (unless of course you choose to answer your cell phone), nothing but scrapbooking. I've been to 4 now in the last several years and they are great. Some of the sites I use for ideas are Split Coast Stampers and Creative Memories.

I did check out some of the craft sites as suggested in this module and loved some of the crafts I found particularly, the Snowman Ornament Pattern from Roxycraft

I thought the idea of Repurposeful was pretty neat. When my kids were little we used to get ice cream from Schwan's and it came in these plastic tubs which we always saved and reused to store their little toys in. Schwan buckets are how we organized many things even my craft supplies. To make them look nice in the closet I even sometimes covered the lid with fabric. They were white and we could easily mark the container with a sharpie marker noting the contents. At one point they even gave out handles that could be attached to the sides making the containers even more useful.

I can see how learning a craft technique or hobby by watching a video could be helpful especially if you didn't have someone to show you how. You may also want written instructions but sometimes written instructions aren't as helpful as watching someone show you how.