Steph's Adventures in Crafting

Been a Long Time and My Friends Want to Pound Me

2009-07-14T23:41:00.002-05:00

Yep. I know. It's been months since I updated. My friends have been nagging me to post more on here, and I'm really going to try.

I lost a lot of confidence for a while with going through my divorce and I haven't been doing much as far as crafting is concerned. I've been doing a little bit of locker hooking, making friendship bracelets and making mission rosaries, but that's about it. Another thing, and this is really stupid, is I have a lot of anxiety about taking pictures and then posting them. I don't know why, but I feel like a Luddite about it.

I did finally start writing in my journal and tentatively have been writing a bit from prompts. That's kinda huge for me. I've always enjoyed writing, but lost it for a long time due to a certain ex-person and his disparagement of anything I did. But, I've started with baby steps again, and that helps. I'm also honoring the process of journaling and writing by using a fountain pen. I even got some very nice ink and a converter. In my head, writing with a fountain pen turns it into something special and meaningful, even if I'm just bitching in my journal. And nothing beats the feel of a fountain pen gliding over paper. My penmanship has vastly improved too, partly because of the fountain pen and partly because I've really been practicing with a book.

Oh, I signed up for Twitter. Have no real idea what I'm going to do with it, but hey, I've signed up for it anyway. My ID there is CroneMage.

Sweaters for Pets?

2009-01-13T02:20:00.002-06:00

I think knitting sweaters for pets is a nifty idea. It dawns on me, though, that I don't have any pets for which I can do that.

I have a Samoyed dog. She's got a wonderful coat already which does a spectacular job of looking good and keeping her warm. I suppose I could knit her a decorative collar, but I'm afraid that would look goofy.

I have two dwarf hamsters. While I do have size 0000 double-pointed needles, I don't think they'd be too keen on wearing little sweaters. They'd probably just pull them apart for nesting material anyway.

I have two hermit crabs. The only thing I could think of to knit for them would be shell cozies. Hmm......

Well, I'm either going to have to wait until I adopt a greyhound or a chihuahua or make dog sweaters to donate to animal shelters. I think I may have to add that possibility to the list of crafts I'd like to do.

Past Craft Highlight: Iris Folding

2009-01-11T19:40:00.007-06:00

I thought I'd show some of the things I've done in the past. This particular project shows how my mind sometimes works when I'm planning out a craft. This is the cover from my Anatomy and Physiology II class from last summer. The first section of that class concentrated on the heart and circulatory system. The heart is my total favorite organ in the body.

What I did for this is I traced an outline of the human heart from my anatomy book and cut it out using heavy card stock. I then used various red origami paper strips that I had on hand to do the actual iris folding. After that I mounted it on a larger piece of red card stock. For my classes I use a basic Circa notebook with a translucent cover from Levenger (great place that I'm totally addicted to, BTW), so that gave me a way of protecting the iris folding while the notebook was in use, plus I can switch out to different decorative covers as the mood takes me. I'm actually currently using the heart for my journal.

I'm a bit of a collector of junk, so I've got quite a pile of papers I can use to do iris folding. I have all kinds of origami paper as I do origami, too, but I also hit clearance wrapping paper or wrapping paper at the dollar store, look for stores with interesting paper bags, things like that. I'm all for cheap when I can get it. I've got a couple of accordion files that I keep paper in, sorted by color. That really helps.

Speaking of cheap, I'm a huge fan of free pattern sites for all kinds of crafts. As I discuss things I'll try to add my favorite free sources to my links area. I'll forget sometimes I'm sure, but I'll try I promise. I love to hear about them too, so anyone reading this, please pass them on. I also like general instruction sites, too, and good solid supply sources as well, so have at it. I'd love to hear about it.

Here's How it Starts

2009-01-11T19:18:00.003-06:00

I started this blog to track what I'm doing as far as crafts go. I have a variety of interests, so I'll be making notes on all kinds of stuff as I go. I do tend to like small projects, especially when it comes to knitting and crocheting, because I really like almost instant gratification. So, you'll see me much more likely to talk about hats, scarves and dishcloths than about afghans and clothes. Currently I've been concentrating the most on knitting and improving my handwriting, but I also like crocheting, iris folding, origami, calligraphy, soap making and more stuff that I can't seem to remember right now. I promise I'll even post pictures of things I'm doing. I'll try to be interesting, really. I'll even try to post regularly between work and school. Heh