Posted by Corvus on 2007-03-24 21:17:41
Post Subject: Fort Collins, CO: Calling All Crafters!
I want a craft group. I want local crafty friends I can get together and craft with and can go on field trips to all our cool stores and such with. I do not know many locals who actually craft, however. Ergo, internet! Anyone out there from lovely little Fort Collins, Colorado?
Posted by Cindy on 2007-03-14 15:18:57
Post Subject: New Recycled Bag Pattern ~ Free
I have a new recycled bag pattern out today. As usual I share it free with my crafty friends here! This one is a bit different as I used plastic grocery bags and old cassette tapes to crochet this little purse.
Link for the free pattern at my website - click on this link http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/03/14/recycled-cassette-tape-granny-square-bag/
I hope those of you who have tried some of my recycled projects and patterns have enjoyed crafting and recycling. I'd love to hear comments from you crafty boardies out there. Please post some of your projects.
Posted by Mucha Muchacha on 2008-02-14 16:57:45
Post Subject: L.A. Craft Mafia's February Craft Meet-Up!
Ok, mark your calendars for our next crafty meet-up!
It's going to be on Tuesday Feb 19th 7pm-10pm at Bigfoot Lodge. This meet-up is for crafties like yourself who'd like to learn about becoming a member or just wanna come out to have a good time with us! The fabulous Morgan Kessler of "I Wish I Had a Penguin Friend" will be doing this month's craft demo: "How to make a wire tree". So go grab your crafty friends, come out, grab a drink from the bar, giggle and talk crafty with everyone! Last months meet-up was a TON of fun;)
Here's the info:
Bigfoot Lodge
3172 Los Feliz Blvd
Los Angeles, Ca 90039
323-662-9227
www.bigfootlodge.com/LAhome.html
There is plenty of well lit metered parking on Los Feliz Blvd that's FREE after 6pm, YES! There is also loads of free parking on the neighboring residential streets.
Posted by Mucha Muchacha on 2008-05-14 14:48:04
Post Subject: L.A. Craft Mafia May Meetup w/guest Sonya Nimri 5/27/08
Hey everyone, the next L.A. Craft mafia meetup will be at 7pm on Tuesday May 27th at Saints and Sinners Lounge in West L.A. This month's meetup will feature author and all around crafty lady Sonya Nimri hosting a bead demo. Sonya is the author of "Just for the Frill of It" and the new "Beadalicious". You may also know her from her fun website www.sonyastyle.com
What is an L.A. Craft Mafia Meetup? It's a free monthly evening of fun with the goal of spreading crafty love throughout our community! You don't need to be a member, anyone with a crafty spirit is welcome. Come out, grab a drink from the bar and join us for fun and craft! Go to our site www.losangelescraftmafia.com and join our mailing list to receive a weekly email about our meetups, upcoming indie craft shows and MORE. Tell your crafty friends!
L.A. Craft Mafia Meetup!
Tues May 27th 2008 @ 7:00pm
Saints and Sinners Lounge (21+)
10899 Venice Blvd
W. Los Angeles, Ca 90034
www.SaintsAndSinnersLounge.net
There's plenty of parking on the neighboring residential streets
Ok I'm back with another free recycled project for all my crafty friends here. It's a 1 liter water bottle holder crocheted from plastic bags. This is a quick and easy project that would be perfect for kids to do. Here is the link http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2007/07/28/recycled-plastic-water-bottle-holder/
Posted by janesaintclair on 2008-09-22 11:26:38
Post Subject: Horse hair bracelet/key chain help
Hi everyone--
I'm looking for some guidance for a friend. Any direction would be helpful.
Her hubby is an avid horseman, and last year they had to have his horse put to sleep.
Before they delivered him to the rainbow bridge, by friend cut off some of the hair from his tail, with the hopes of making something (someday) for her hubby. She wanted to wait until enough time had past that he was somewhat recovered from the loss.
So, she'd like to make a bracelet or key chain (or maybe even both or something else-- she's very open to suggestions) using the horse hair and maybe some masculine beads. It would be OK to include other materials as well.
She doesn't really have any experience with this, and she's prepared to practice, buy a book, etc. but she really wants to make something herself.
So I turn to my crafty friends to offer any suggestions, point me to links or recommend resources that I can relay to her.
Posted by 80kay on 2007-10-03 22:05:37
Post Subject:
You can also spread the word to your non-crafty friends that you''ll take any squeakers from toys their dogs happen to destroy. I got about 10 this way!
Posted by quornflour on 2005-11-21 16:06:51
Post Subject: Crafty Party Idea: the Pajama Pants Party
With the holidays upon us I decided it would be nice to get all of my crafty friends together and craft up. Through this and a little inspiration from my friend Kelli and her "house shorts" and the episode of Craft Corner Deathmatch where they embellish jeans the: Make your Own Pajama Pants Party was born.
Step One: I sent out an evite asking everyone to bring embellishments to share and to let me know what size pants they wanted (S, M or L), what their favorite color was and to commit to coming or not.
Step Two: I went to the fabric store and bought 2 yards of different “quilters cotton” per person in different patterns and 2 yards of corresponding ribbon, and some “Ultrabond” to make everything an iron on and some of that iron on mesh.
Step Three: with a little help from a friend we washed, ironed and cut 24 yards of fabric into 12 pairs of pant (it was an even better idea than I had expected – guess that is what I get for having such crafty friends). *we used a pattern that was only 2 pieces instead of 4 which made it a little easier and cut 2 pairs at a time…
Day of the party: the party started at 4PM - I served hors d'ourves and wine and two of my friends brought their sewing machines so we had three total (for 10 people) and I had an ironing board and iron (2 would have been great but that was an oversight).
Everyone put the embellishments in a basket (along with oodles of ribbon I happen to have) and went to work on making their pants.
It was really cool to see how different everyone’s stuff was even though they were pretty much using the same embellishments, and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun eating and crafting. I have posted pictures to my blog under the photo album Pajїż˛£є™ for anyone interested.
If you decide to have one please let me know how it goes, or if you need any tips!
Posted by Abby powell on 2005-06-10 20:29:56
Post Subject: crafty in portland
Heh girl-
I also live in Portland and have a lack of crafty friends. You should email me sometime. Do you knit? I have found a halfway decent Stitch and Bitch in NE. Also, have you been to the most awesome thrift craft/fabric store-Knittn' Kitten?! good luck! abby
Posted by janaka on 2006-03-31 09:25:39
Post Subject:
one of my crafty friends told a story at knit night about her then 4 yr old nephew, and i make her repeat it to whomever has not heard it.
katey moved home, and at that time her brother's kids were 4 and 1. her sister in law wanted them to learn who was who - nana, aunt katey, etc.
so katey and her then boyfriend went over for dinner, and her sister in law asked the 4 yr old "who is that?" and pointed to katey. he squints, looking at her and then says "aunt katey!" katey's sis-in law then says "and who is that?" pointing to katey's boyfriend.
katey's nephew squints at him, thinks about it, screws up his little face and says "person?"
i dunno, i just think that is the cutest thing, because it is so real. katey called her (now ex) boyfriend 'person' for the next 6 months!
Posted by laurenbevin on 2005-02-18 18:29:13
Post Subject: Tacoma, WA ladies?
Any Tacoma girls out there who knit/bead/craft in general? I've lived here for a while and knit/bead, but don't have any crafty friends here right now. In addition, I'm writing my thesis on "knitting and feminism/New Domesticity" and have few real live people to talk to aobut it. Let me know if you're interested!!!
Posted by thriftstore_diva on 2005-02-24 12:46:48
Post Subject:
Yes, there are some crafty girls in Tacoma. There is a knitting group that meet every Tuesday at Cutter's Point Coffee on Pacific near the college there at 7:00 until 9:00. I have only gone once as I work Tuesday nights and well....I am not really a knitting gal....just a crafty sort with a obsessive love of vintage clothes and collecting weird crap! I'd also love to make more crafty friends!
Posted by heathertea on 2004-11-21 12:21:11
Post Subject: east bay crafters! (san francisco east bay that is)
I know you are out there! I just moved to the area at the end of the summer (from massachusetts) and I would love to find some crafty friends or a stitch and bitch (or even host one!) or something. I haven't met anyone crafty since moving here... but I remember seeing many more posts involving this area before I moved here. =)
Posted by keroleeen on 2006-08-06 13:43:45
Post Subject:
I just moved here and I don't know many people - I would looooove to meet people to do crafty things with! I went to school for graphic design & photography and haven't had time to learn a lot of things - I want to learn bookbinding, screenprinting & other misc things. I also want to start painting a munny but know nothing about painting.
we should organize something, & i'm game if anyone just wants to make artsy crafty friends. i definitely need to start doing things that are not work related!
Posted by cathybmoore on 2006-04-03 14:01:30
Post Subject:
I just got "Wild With a Glue Gun: Getting Together With Crafty Friends" and I really like it. It has ideas on forming craft groups and also project ideas.
I agree on SuperCrafty and 52 Projects... Even if I won't do half of the projects in a book, it just helps to get me inspired.
Also, I was reminded in "Wild With a Glue Gun" that often it is not the finished project but the process that is most important. I did a collage project this weekend that was not worthy of an art gallery but the process of gathering, cutting, arranging, pasting was therapeutic in and of itself.
Posted by CraftinFool on 2004-09-10 08:58:08
Post Subject:
Hi Mirz: here's my 2 cents
How did you find this online crafty group?
I joined getcrafty around 2001, I believe. I honestly can't remember how I found it but I think it was after reading an article about Jean in the Utne Reader.
Do you find its forum partition nice or does some else crafty forum have better partition? (I'll look Glitter, getcrafty and Crafster, and the partition is pretty different in these three.. I wonder which is the best.) I likethe getcrafty partition fine. I can't think of any other categories I would add, except maybe one to do with specific subjects like work or home life.
Are you part of several online groups? Yes, I am, but I'm most active in getcrafty. I tend to be a lurker on my yahoo groups and craftster.
Do you think these online groups are useful and meaningful to crafty culture? I think they can be, certainly they have been for me, but they're not for everyone. I think it does seem to be a younger culture that gravitates to the online crafty groups, like I couldn't see my mom, who is crafty and in her late 50's, into getcrafty like I am. Partly because she's less into being online a lot like I am.
Does it matter, that these online groups mainly effect visual?
(Offline groups tend to make you use not only your sense of sight, but your hearing, sense of feeling.. every sense. Please think about this one specially.) I have never thought about this. I guess I am mainly a visual person so it hasn't bothered me.
Have you had a meet up with your online crafty friends?
(Have you made friends? Are these friends offline friends nowadays too?) I haven't met up with any online crafty friends. Partly b/c not many have been in my area of the country, partly b/c I am pretty busy offline with work, school, husband and house. But time to time I have wanted to try to do a stitch and bitch or meet some of the online folks. Like, a big international getcrafty party once a year would rock.
What kind of entries are your favorites?
(Tutorials, rumours, politics, advicing.. you name it, I'll be happy about it.) I like almost all of the topics. My favorites, though, are ones where folks have shared a project idea they came up with, or are looking for advice on something that I feel I might be able to share some thoughts about, or the food ones. Also the bookworm thread!
Posted by Becky65301 on 2004-06-17 12:31:00
Post Subject:
Ah, I just love people like that.
I have had in the past, what seems two distinctly different kinds of "non-crafty" friends-- one kind thinks sewing is no big deal, easy, brainless, but they don't know how to do it and they don't want to learn, but of course expect me to whip up something for them in my brainless spare time-- the other kind is *helpful* as in telling all their friends about my sewing ability, all of whom call me and expect me to bail them out of their stupidity.
As in "hi, I got your name from so-and-so. I bought this pair of pants on clearance last week but they are too long. Can you hem them?" "Sure, bring em over, $7." "But I only *paid* $5 for them! They were on clearance!"
Well that must suck. I feel for ya, may I recommend staples.
I've also done some pageant-dress sewing for little girls, that oh my, there's some psycho moms, freakin over everything, horrid. I avoid little girls pageant stuff unless I am really broke, cause those moms sound alot like the mom you're dealing with. Plus the whole Jean-Benet factor.
Don't you just love it when people assume you want to share your skill? I mean, I don't mind teaching people, but for them to *assume* really burns my butt.
Posted by twilight on 2005-08-22 02:56:27
Post Subject:
I hear you too! Since I work odd hours and live out in the country it's hard to get to the places where cool people are. My hubby and I are childless which puts us in a weird space. We don't hang out at functions for families and younger singles don't really hang out with married people.
The whole reason I originally found glitter and now get crafty was because I was having trouble finding crafty friends. This place has helped me out a lot. But I know what you mean-it would be great if we could all be in one place together.
Hmmm.....do I see a craft convention in our futures?
Posted by sarabell on 2005-08-21 17:34:04
Post Subject: Re: making friends: frustration
curse the internet for I find a lot of facinating people to talk with and they ALL LIVE SO FAR AWAY!!!
I wish I could find the most interesting people in Toronto to hang out with in person...how does one find "their people" anyway?
i hear you there! i started a thread in 'craft up' to find crafty friends in within a one-hour radius of me but i didn't have any luck myself - everyone that replied *used* to live around here or said it was a nice place to live.... all my friends are internet friends and live 1,000 to 3,000 miles away. but perhaps you might have some luck trying starting a toronto craft up thread.
is there a craig's list for toronto? perhaps you might have some luck there. or maybe sign up for some class at a craft shop. i feel for you. i've been living in the boondocks with toddlers so i haven't gotten much of a chance to make any friends. plus i'm kind of shy and socially inept. but hopefully that will change soon with my imminent relocation! woo hoo!!!
Posted by beastbunny on 2005-01-10 23:08:19
Post Subject:
I am so excited to see this! I am in Champaign and would love to meet crafty friends! I mostly sew (clothing, home stuff, fun stuff) but also knit, paint, origami, do a little bit of everything. I have a couple of freinds would also love to form some sort of crafting group. I would be happy to help organize/host such a group, at least in the beginning stages, my house is only so big.
Posted by Selah on 2005-06-05 22:29:52
Post Subject:
I love homemade gifts or gifts that take some effort. I almost always give gifts like that but rarely recieve them.
I have to admit I'm kind of glad to hear that. It's what I was thinking when I started this thread. I kept seeing all these presents in the blogs that people were giving friends and thinking to myself, "Damn - I really don't have any crafty friends"!!!! I tried doing swaps but it's not the same as someone who knows you and tailors the gift just for you.
Don't mean to sound whiny but that tends to happen when I'm whining.
Posted by janesaintclair on 2006-02-08 12:05:48
Post Subject:
I absolutely love FreeCycle... it's helped me get rid of tons of stuff, even stuff I never thought anyone would want! And, you can also make some cool and crafty friends!
Posted by artgeek on 2006-02-20 11:01:09
Post Subject:
My personal take on things is that people have a deep desire to make something meaningful with their own two hands. Work these days is very service or administration oriented; very few people I know actually can point to an object that results from their 40-plus hours a week. They move paper around or provide information, not make cars or fix houses.
A couple of years ago, I was in grad school and my husband worked in luxury rentals. I would drive him to work every day and listen to him lament how his work didn't accomplish anything meaningful. As a result of a fellowship I was awarded, we picked up our lives and moved to Baltimore; now he's working for Habitat for Humanity and can walk anyone who cares up and down the streets of several neighborhoods and point to houses he's built. It's amazing to me how he was able to completely turn his career around to do something he's proud of, something he sees as meaningful. To me, crafting is part of that same urge. Not everyone is able to change tracks as he did or feels the same sense of despair about their work, but I do feel that my crafty friends have the same desire to actually make something, to have an object representing their work and skills.
I do also have a feminist slant on things, but I expect I'm not alone in that; if there's no feminist interpretation in a couple of days, I'll come back and add more. ;)
Posted by Christy Petterson on 2005-08-22 21:58:19
Post Subject:
oh lefteyelazy!!!! i soooooo know exactly what you are feeling right now! i got engaged 3 years ago and i hadn't yet discovered getcrafty and i didn't have any crafty friends either. i felt soooo alone and i totally was kicking myself for not being one of those girls that had been planning since i was six. the whole thing was overwhelming and frustrating and freaked me out. the first thing i found that was at all exciting to me was this website www.simpledress.com. i didn't even order anything from there i just thought the dresses were pretty. and at some point i figured out the previously mentioned "think of it as a party" philosophy and that helped a lot. and then i took myself to the drug store and stocked up on bride magazines-not because i thought they'd help but because i figured it was the one and only moment in my whole life that i could justify it!!! the one that did help was martha stewart wedding. it was fun to get an idea of styles that i liked and party favor projects i could work on. if i did it again now i think i would break even more "rules" and make it even more funky just because i feel even less obligated now to be traditional than i did then.
i won't bore you with all the details but just do what you want, what feels good and don't worry about impressing people. i think a lot of times people feel like they have to show off when they get married, like keeping up with the joneses. but seriously this is all about your love and commitment and sharing it with the other people you love. keep it simple overall but figure out a few really important things you want to make ellaborate because they are important to you. and pick and choose.. you know there might be a few things you want to do in a traditional way but then others you want to be totally punk! we did a pretty traditional ceremony but then we changed what we wanted (we were married by our fave bartender!) so for instance traditional ceremonies have 3 bible readings. we liked the one from corinthians "love is simple . love is kind...." all that, but didn't really like the other ones. so we looked for readings from literature but all of that sounds real pretty and then you realize it turns into tainted love a few sentences later! so we did our own kind of "reading" . for my reading we passed around a postcard of a marc chagall painting of two lovers flying in the air and my friend read a paragraph i had written about why i love chagall and what it means to me. and for davis' reading we played a recording of john coltranes' a love supreme. oh yah, we did! all seven or eight minutes of it right in the middle of the ceremony!!!! :)
Posted by mirz on 2004-09-06 12:31:04
Post Subject: Postmodern crafty sharing?
Also posted at Glitter.
This may be my final questionary, although I wont promise a thing. This is probably the most important one, so please put your heart into this. If there is something important to say about these lovely crafty messageboards etc. but not listed in my questions, feel free to say it.
Online crafty clubs:
How did you find this online crafty group?
Do you find its forum partition nice or does some else crafty forum have better partition?
(I'll look Glitter, getcrafty and Crafster, and the partition is pretty different in these three.. I wonder which is the best.)
Are you part of several online groups?
Do you think these online groups are useful and meaningful to crafty culture?
Does it matter, that these online groups mainly effect visual?
(Offline groups tend to make you use not only your sense of sight, but your hearing, sense of feeling.. every sense. Please think about this one specially.)
Have you had a meet up with your online crafty friends?
(Have you made friends? Are these friends offline friends nowadays too?)
What kind of entries are your favorites?
(Tutorials, rumours, politics, advicing.. you name it, I'll be happy about it.)
I found my way to getcrafty by accident, and I'm very glad I find it. This forum has changed my view of world, and it made me change my thesis thema.
Of these three examples Glitter does probably have the best partition IMHO. It doesn't mean that I don't love getcrafty :P I'm part of those three forums, and one Finnish crafty newsgroup. I'm about to start Finnish online crafty group together with my thesis. So these opinions of yours have big, important role while thinking usability etc.
I think that the concentration to visual isn't too bad thing. Of course people may put video or flash or something to net and teach crafts via those and effect to hearing too. It is better than nothing, yes?
Friends I don't yet have made, but you'll never know. I have plenty of friends made in Internet, so that isn't a problem to me.
And entries I love are definitely tutorials with pictures. Of course general ramblings are fantastic too, but I <3 tutorials!
Posted by baltica on 2004-09-13 13:14:42
Post Subject:
mirz, interesting questions. What's your thesis going to be about? What sort of program are you in?
How did you find this online crafty group?
A fellow knitter sent me a link here, as there was a good example of a project we wanted to do being discussed here.
Do you find its forum partition nice or does some else crafty forum have better partition?
(I'll look Glitter, getcrafty and Crafster, and the partition is pretty different in these three.. I wonder which is the best.)
I don't know Glitter at all. Craftster...I don't know, there's almost too much going on there. It's overwhelming. Plus I HATE those little pictures next to people's names, I feel like I'm on some teeny bopper website.
Are you part of several online groups?
Yes, a couple of non-craft related ones. They're becoming less and less interesting to me, though. Why? The same old topics always resurface, people are more interested in discussing Hollywood gossip and what they ate that day than things I actually care about, etc.
Do you think these online groups are useful and meaningful to crafty culture?
Absolutely! I often feel very isolated in my crafty pursuits, as I tend to work alone rather than try to work with my lovely but VERY flaky, unreliable friends. (Plus some things just tend toward isolation...I can't very well tote my 45" floor loom around!) It's just cool to have access to ideas, be able to bounce ideas off people, get questions answered, etc. Not that I've taken much advantage of these things yet, here...but give me time!
Does it matter, that these online groups mainly effect visual?
(Offline groups tend to make you use not only your sense of sight, but your hearing, sense of feeling.. every sense. Please think about this one specially.)
Sure it matters, but if it's all you have, it's better than nothing. I highly prefer someone live showing me how to do something, but web tutorials have been lifesavers in many circumstances. I don't know any very experienced knitters, so when I needed to know how to do a 3 needle bind off at 11pm one night, and my knitting instruction books came up short, I turned to the web and voila! I found a step by step photo tutorial as well as a video.
Have you had a meet up with your online crafty friends?
(Have you made friends? Are these friends offline friends nowadays too?)
Don't really know any yet. I have met people I've met online in the past, though.
What kind of entries are your favorites?
(Tutorials, rumours, politics, advicing.. you name it, I'll be happy about it.)
I pretty much dig it all. I don't really care about what you ate for breakfast today, though.
Posted by lizzymahoney on 2004-09-10 00:44:27
Post Subject:
I have been on the old glitter, the new glitter, getcrafty and a few yahoo groups related to specific crafts for a long time. I no longer remember where I learned of the original getcrafty's glitter, but I bet it was a site called hissyfit.
I prefer the format of getcrafty. I don't care for Craftster because it's too spread out: too many areas to look. And the new Glitter gets too much traffic and too little of interest to me. Getcrafty is what we make of it while Glitter has a force of its own. Does that make sense? We are a small enough community that each of us has some noticeable effect here. Not so on the other boards. The various yahoo groups get boring and political.
I don't need the visuals, don't actually want them. I have to admit a bit of snobbery. When someone writes in whining for a tutorial on how to hem a pair of pants or turn a scarf into a halter top I wonder at the complete lack of imagination. Some years back I was in brief snail mail contact with an OG expat. She left because she had a small zine with cute ideas, but got bombarded with idiot questions. "Yeah, but HOW do you glue that bead to the barrette?" So she just wanted to sever connections with things that only irritated her. I sort of do that. There are a few posters I rarely read. With getcrafty, I don't edit that way. Sure I can see the poster's name, but it's not as graphic as the same stupid avatar that reminds me that a particular poster is an idiot.
I'm way old, way older than music videos. When we heard music on the radio, we had to interpret the song or place it in a context we could understand. Then MTV came along and I attached someone else's vision to the music I heard. Sometimes it works well, but I think it deprives me of my own imagination unless I make an effort. That's how I feel about visuals in craft fora. Generally. Sometimes a description is not enough.
I have never met any online crafty friends. I do have crafty online people I consider more friends than others, and I don't know that that is reciprocated. That's okay though.
I dislike politics, sniping, spamming, general snarkiness. I hate the feel poppin fresh good threads.
While i may be interested in the personal lives of some folks here, my strongest reason for returning is the creative effort. I like to encourage it, I like to get inspiration, I like to learn of new views on things.
Even where I am accomplished, I can learn from someone who is very new at something. Did you ever go to a theme park with a small child? Suddenly everything looks different because of the child's perspective. That's what inexperienced crafters bring to the boards: that childlike innocence and the asking of "Why?" and an equally valid perspective.
Posted by felt on 2004-09-13 06:12:34
Post Subject:
I liked Craftinfool's format, so here goes..
How did you find this online crafty group?
Can't remember. But I'm very new to this kind of thing. I'm a graphic designer and when I started freelancing last year I manage to free up some time now and then. I spend it creating things, crafting. I guess I started to look to the internet for help on some things and somehow found my way here.
Do you find its forum partition nice or does some else crafty forum have better partition? (I'll look Glitter, getcrafty and Crafster, and the partition is pretty different in these three.. I wonder which is the best.)
I do like Craftster's partition better. Even though it's big in volume, it's pretty easy to weed stuff out within the categories. On a separate note, although I feel like Craftster has more active/productive crafters than Get Crafty, they seem to me a whole lot 'younger' which makes it not so much the place for me and why I'm not a member. What I mean by 'younger' isn't so much about age but more about maturity. Same for Glitter, it seems to lack the cozy feel that Get Crafty has. I also appreciate Jean's statement about the 'shoulds' factor in crafting (see 'What's Get Crafty All About' on the homepage).
Are you part of several online groups?
No.
Do you think these online groups are useful and meaningful to crafty culture?
For sure. I'm continually amazed at how much help and advice is given on Get Crafty alone. And not to mention the flow of ideas that pass through Glitter and Craftster. I wish graphic designers were as generous with their secrets/tips as this bunch.
Does it matter, that these online groups mainly effect visual?
(Offline groups tend to make you use not only your sense of sight, but your hearing, sense of feeling.. every sense. Please think about this one specially.)
I think it's equally important in all senses. Although pictures are not crucial in explaining something, it certainly helps no doubt. I personally prefer one or two visual guides.
Have you had a meet up with your online crafty friends?
(Have you made friends? Are these friends offline friends nowadays too?)
No. I live in Holland which makes it a bit difficult. There is a craft group that's available to me here but I never make an effort to go. Mainly because I have this dumb notion (on my part of course) that they're just a platform for gossip time and not much fruition. Plus the kind of craft I do isn't very portable either. I have a few crafty girlfriends and we talk about our crafts once in a while but it's never the focus of our relationships.
What kind of entries are your favorites?
(Tutorials, rumours, politics, advicing.. you name it, I'll be happy about it.)
I especially like the ones that ask for craft advice. I also very much enjoy posts with tutorials and tips. On the other hand I don't care much for posts that have topics like bikini waxing or corrective surgery. They don't bug me, I just don't read them.
Posted by quixotic on 2004-06-16 20:24:20
Post Subject:
some of my friends are crafty, some aren't. all of them know that i carry my knitting around with me everywhere and aren't surprised when i whip it out at the pub. some of them make fun of me about it, while others ask me what new stitch i'm using and how to do it.
i'd say that my crafty friends are in the majority, which is nice. but sometimes i have moments where i want to talk about everything but crafts, you know?
Posted by twilight on 2007-01-29 14:31:23
Post Subject:
Wow, that made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I think I joined Glitter around 2002 or 2003. When I joined I didn't have any other crafty friends so I'm so thankful for these forums. Much love to you all!
"I miss the old brown and pink coloring and the spinning skull. I remember when someone was going to create little get crafty pins with the scissors"
I remember that too! Ah, we should do something like that again.
Posted by Dawn on 2004-05-30 10:26:12
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I don't have very many friends, and only one of them is crafty. I used to belong to a great Stitch & Bitch group and was rapidly becoming friends with those cool ladies, but they have since all moved away. The one crafty friend I have is married and recently had a baby, so we don't really get to see each other much. When we do, though, it is nice to have someone to talk about art and crafts and new supplies with - someone who "gets" the whole idea of sewing your baby's crib set and making bibs versus buying them at the store. We also go thrifting, and she finds much better stuff than I do. I would definitely like to have more crafty friends, but not too many do stuff like that here, it seems. At least, not many people my age. People oooh and aaah when I stamp images onto colored index cards - they think it's a big deal and that it takes a lot of work and skill. This is how non-crafty the folks around me are.
Fortunately for me, I have great aunts who are super crafty, in addition to being the smartest people I know. I turn to them for crafty inspiration and help with my projects.
Posted by danielepea on 2004-05-27 15:00:14
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Some of my friends are very crafty and some of my friends are not crafty at all. Like me, the majority fall somewhere in the middle.
A few of my friends in high school were mildly crafty and one of them was an excellent sewer. She used to make her own clothes and everything! Another of my highschool friends (who I am still quite close with) is super artistic and made all kinds of crazy stuff for his room.
My roommates senior year of college were quite crafty and we would sit at our kitchen table gabbing and making stuff several times a week. It was so much fun!
Now I know quite a few people who are crafty (most of whom I met through get crafty!) here in the city. I hope that I can find more crafty people in my new city when I move in a few months.
One thing that I think is sweet is when my non-crafty friends have crafty moments. For example, the other day I was trying to decide what to do with the extra orange juice I had from a recent cookie recipe. My roommate suggested that we make ice pops and was quite proud of himself for having such an idea. Hee hee. I'm rubbing off on him.
Posted by Miss M on 2004-06-10 19:26:05
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oh there is nothing wrong with the registry, I just wanted to give something more personal; I suppose I can do both. I know, she wants the things on her list(and they are all needed & pratical), but I also wanted to give her a little something "extra special" just from me - something she might keep past babyhood. We're crafty friends, so maybe that's why!
Thanks for all the ideas! :) The collage one is esp. cool - wish I had one of those!
: miss m
Posted by KnittyMomma on 2004-11-30 19:44:04
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ok just shooting ideas out there...do we want to do this at someone's house or at a little sandwich shop? do we want to just make it us or do we want to invite other crafty friends?
Posted by teagrrl on 2005-04-07 05:35:21
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Congratulations!
I'm not getting married myself but my sister is (in June). I'm going to make her jewellery (not the wedding ring, but the tiara and her earrings) as a wedding gift, so that could be an idea if you have crafty friends and don't feel like making the dress/jewellery/whatever yourself... She also found a ring that she loves that's made by a jewellery artist, and because she wants to have a silver ring (she doesn't like gold) it's not that expensive even though it's handmade.
I'm not sure how they've arranged food, but I think it will be a buffet-style meal that we make ourselves (we don't really have any "posh" family or friends...). My aunt offered to pay for the cake (again, instead of a wedding gift - my sister and her fiance has lived together for years so they don't really need any household stuff etc).
You might want to check out http://www.indiebride.com.
Posted by Gluey on 2005-04-07 14:15:53
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Hi! I'm planning a vintage-type wedding, too! A rockabilly wedding will be so cute and there are so many things you can do to save money! First of all, if you already have rockabilly stuff, you can save by not having to by the crinolin! I recommend e-bay, e-bay, e-bay for getting vintage dresses on the cheap and also for vintage wedding cake toppers. But if you're having a hard time finding the dress of your dreams (and trust me, you'll probably become more obseesed about this than you think you will!) there are some really nice vintage patterns for only about $8 a pop on http://www.mccall.com in the mccalls and vogue sections. There are also a TON of great ideas to copy at http://www.porthalcyon.com/features/200406/vintagewedding01.shtml. It's a whole series with a lot of great links to explore. Also, a head is a head is a head. Unless you're decoratitng the church with a truckload of flowers, it probably won't cost much, so watch out for the reception because every person you invite is a person you'll have to feed. You can cut costs on this by just having a coctail reception and making the hors d'oeuvres and cake (or cupcakes or donut tower or whatever you think is cool) yourself and having a friend tend bar with a limited amount of drinks (soda, beer, red & white wine, and one really fun signature coctail with your name on it) and another friend play DJ with a mix you burned on CD or an iPod. Also, having less attendants will save you money because (maybe this sounds shallow, but...) you won't have to buy attendant gifts or worry about picking out an outfit that looks good on everyone. Also, if you don't need a registry for yourself, (you're probably not digging for gifts, but people will naturally want to give anyway) consider having your friends and family drop clues that you're registered at some site like The Big Day Honeymoon Registry where people can buy you "experiences" on your honeymoon (and help pay for it.) I'm sure that you could make the invites and decorations yourself, although if you have crafty friends you can enlist them to help or you might go crazy doing it all yourself. So congratulations! I hope this helps and let us know how it goes!
Posted by Louly on 2008-04-18 17:22:59
Post Subject: Third Time Lucky
Well I very stupidly posted in the wrong place twice, so here''s my third attempt at introducing myself.
My Name''s Louise, I''m from East Yorkshire in England. I''m a mum of two and work as a Teaching Assistant in a primary school.
I love crafting of all kinds, my favourite being card making. I''m a designer for a British craft magazine and also for an online craft store, for which I''ve also designed ranges of downloadable characters for use on crafting projects.
I''m keen to get to know what you crafters get up to on the other side of the pond and hope to make lots of new crafty friends.
