Incorporating Change Into Crafts
When my kids were teens, the only craft I did was needlepoint. Later, after my sister introduced me to scrapbooking, working with photos was my obsession. Nowadays, my craft of choice is graphic design.
I’ve enjoyed three completely different crafts over the last 10 years, two of which I rarely work on now. What has happened to all those years of knowlege and experience? Are they now worthless?
The answer is a definite NO. While it’s true I might never go back to enjoying needlepoint or scrapbooking, the remnants of my past interest show up on frequent occasions.
How?
There may be several subtle answers to that question, like influence on style (scrapbooking) or willingness to progress slowly on a project (needlepoint). But I like a less subtle answer. More often than not, when I work on graphic designs, they are usually printable for scrapbooks or patterns for needlepoint project. Those old hobbies haven’t disappeared from my life, they just manifest themselves differently now.
Another example. When I was younger I used to eat only margarine or butter. Later, for health reasons I switched to olive oil. Now I use a mix of olive oil and yogurt as a fat on potatoes, pasta, rice and vegetables. It’s delicious, but I would never have started this new practice, if I didn’t already have a love of creamy (from the butter) and olive oil (from my low-fat days).
Here are my questions to you:
How have your interests changed over the years? And, how have you current interests been improved by the remnants of your past?
To merge your new interests with your old, consider the following questions…
…Can you use the skills learned from a previous hobby in a new endeavor? A lover of sewing and cross-stitching can combine previously mastered skills to create handsewn baby outfits with cross-stitched collars.
…Can you use the subject matter from an old interest as the motif for a new? A sewing and golfing enthusiast can use golf themed fabric to make sofa pillows and awning for a porch swing.
…Can you combine two or more interests to make a third completely new interest? A hardcore fabric dyer and rubber stamper can experiment with using fabric dyes to stamp on cotton.
I’d love to hear your answers to these questions. Please write a comment to let me know what new and exciting projects you came up with!
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These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things
Each morning I check the hundreds of sites on my Google Reader, looking for new and innovative posts to use for Craft Stew.
What do I love to find on my feed?
These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things….
Tutorials that help me to design my own project
Clothes Patterns that can be adjusted for all sizes
Instructions for creating my own tools
Design ideas with clean, fresh lines
DIY’s that teach me completely new skills
Delicious recipes with gorgeous photos
Tutorials that make something fabulous from throwaways
Completely new concepts in crafting
Think pieces that really have something important to say
Fabulous book reviews featuring tons of photos
Posts that teach skills that can be applied again and again
Projects that can be personalized to my needs
Quick and easy crafts that look like they were hard to do
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Crafts: What’s Hot And What’s Not
I look at a LOT of blogs each day in order to find posts for Craft Stew. As a result, I feel I have a good sense of what’s newest and brightest and what’s yesterday’s news. Here’s my list of What’s Hot And What’s Not….
What’s Hot: Sewing, Knitting, Crocheting and Embroidery
What’s Not: Decorative painting, retail craft kits and collage
What’s Hot: Vintage style crafts
What’s Not: Traditional style crafts
What’s Hot: Unique, hand carved or small run rubber stamps
What’s Not: Mass produced rubber stamps
What’s Hot: Free sewing patterns
What’s Not: Overpriced commercial patterns
What’s Hot: Elaborate cupcakes, paper holders and toppers
What’s Not: Elaborate chocolates from purchased plastic molds
What’s Hot: A few fresh blossoms arranged in a simple container
What’s Not: Overblown floral arrangements
What’s Hot: Recycled Projects
What’s Not: Projects utilizing expensive store-bought craft supplies
What’s Hot: Projects with simple, yet clever design
What’s Not: Projects using embellishments to disguise poor design
What’s Hot: Unique jewelry made from found or crafted components
What’s Not: Jewelry created by stringing together craft store beads
What’s Hot: Sewing stuffies and crocheting amigurumi toys
What’s Not: Sewing dolls and crocheting baby blankets
What’s Hot: Paper crafts as home decor
What’s Not: Paper crafts for scrapbooking
What’s Hot: Finding supplies in dollar stores and thrift shops
What’s Not: Purchasing supplies from craft stores
What’s Hot: Woodworking with used or alternative materials
What’s Not: Woodworking with new and expensive sheets of wood
What’s Hot: Projects that build on prewritten tutorials
What’s Not: Projects that are duplicates of prewritten tutorials
What’s Hot: Collaboration with other crafters; sharing resources
What’s Not: Witholding information, techniques and processes
What was out, but now is back:
Macrame
Plastic Canvas
Stenciling
Loom Crafting
Tie Dying
I’m sure this list will offend plenty of loyal readers. If you disagree, please let me know. I’m always open to other opinions.
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Free Creativity Ebook
Description : This Free Creativity Ebook is 18 pages long and requires you to fill in your name and email address. However, the content is quite nice.
Craft Link : Free Creativity Ebook
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Ways To Boost Creativity
source: dolmansaxlil
Most creative types have an abundance of ideas…but what happens when they suddenly desert you?
The need to create is a shared desire among artists, writers, musicians and even bloggers. But, sometimes we creatives hit a mental block and often find ourselves stressed, overwhelmed and unable to produce original ideas.
This happens to me from time to time, so I compiled a list of my proven ways to overcome mental blocks & boost creativity.
Go to 10 Ways To Overcome Mental Blocks & Boost Creativity to read more.
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Favorite Blogs And Sites
Several years ago, I wrote a post listing my favorite online reads. I love to hear about what my favorite bloggers read online, so I assumed such an article would be of interest to my readers, also.
Since that time, my choices for reading have changed a lot. In general, my reading has been pruned down, but there are a couple of additions. So, here is my new, updated list. Hope you enjoy!
Crafts
- Crafty Pod - Why? Wonderful podcasts on a wide variety of crafty topics.
- How About Orange - Why? Super classy blog with lots of very doable projects and great resources.
- Little Grey Bungalow - Why? Lots of posts on retro living, vintage sewing patterns and forgotten crafting styles.
Homemaking
- Unclutterer – Why? Lots of good advise and links on living a simple life in a small space. Not just a rehash of the same old advise.
Frugality
- The Simple Dollar - Why? Because he doesn’t just recycle the usual trite money saving suggestions. He actually thinks things through before writing about them.
Board Games
- Print And Play Podcast Blog - Why? Reviews of print and play games. (Only updates a few times a month)
- Board Game Geek - Why? Anything and everything you could possibly want to know about buying, making and playing board games.
Cooking
- Cheap Healthy Good - Why? I read this blog primarily for the constant stream of great links.
- Jewish Food List - Why? Simple, down-to-earth recipes for folks short on time.
Blogging
- ProBlogger - Why? Darren is the cream of online blogging resources.
Other
- TED - Why? Hundreds of stimulating lectures and videos on a wide range of topics.
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10 Tips To Avoid A Creative Block
Almost every project I do has some creative part of myself in it. Even on a needlepoint from a kit, I change the colors, the stitches and sometimes the size. On a scrapbook or cardmaking project, I make sure every aspect of the project is unique.
But what happens when creativity just won’t come?
In 10 Tips To Avoid A Creative Block, Jacques van Heerden deals with this problem. Though the methods written about in the article are for graphic designers, anyway can benefit from the ideas. For instance…..
Looking through designs that were created by other people is usually a great inspiration too. People around the world has gone about setting up Inspirational Galleries for us to visit and view masses of art on the same website, saving us time and effort. I recommend visiting Inspirational Design Galleries as a hobby day to day too, keeping you up to date with the design trends.
Take a look at this interesting article. It’s a quick read, and it may come in handy one day.
Read More : Good Reads or Home
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