Which Craft Magazine to Choose?

Since getting interested in craft, I have become a regular reader of various craft magazines. I have tried a whole range of magazines varying from quick cards to simply homemade.

I have read on a number of blogs that people haven’t always found craft magazines useful and that often they feel it is the same material and projects being re written in various different ways. I however feel that as a newbie to a craft world reading a variety of magazines has been invariably useful its fun to look at what other people are doing and is interesting to read reviews of new products.

I have got inspiration on various card designs from different paper craft magazines and learnt how to use different techniques such as quiling and decoupage. I also have marked a number of knitting and needle craft projects to try in the coming months.

The most useful magazines I have found are the more general ones which cover a huge variety of crafts ranging from gardening to crochet. Although I am not particularly interested in the gardening or baking sections I like the breadth of projects included in these types of magazines I also like the more varied articles on things such as setting up a craft business and upcycling. Of these more general magazines I have been a big fan of simply homemade and making magazine. They are both priced at 4.99 and are published monthly.

I also have enjoyed the more specific magazines such as cross stitch crazy and lets knit although they are filled with information about only one craft they are very informative and give a huge variety of articles within them.

Ever growing collection of craft magazines 

As it is January it is the time to be thinking about getting a subscription to my favourite magazines lots of them seems to be offering deals if you become a subscriber the only problem is deciding which ones to subscribe to. If any one has any suggestions on their favourite craft magazines please leave a comment and let me know.

Lantern Making (Part One)

I read a huge number of craft blogs I can spend whole evenings stumbling from one link to another. During my blog hopping I often get inspiration on new projects or techniques to try. 

Recently I have seen a number of people make lanterns using old jars and tissue paper. I decided I would give it a go. I bought a barganous huge pack of tissue paper when I first started crafting but haven't really used that much of it so this was the perfect project to use some with. 

I started by using a star punch to punch little stars out of tissue papers scraps, I then stuck about 6 of these pieces onto the jam jar I then layered on other bits of tissue paper using PVA glue. Once they were all stuck on I left it to dry for 20 mins before then coating it again with PVA glue. 

This is as far as I have got this evening I am going to leave it over night to dry and then finish it off tomorrow hence this os only part one of the post. 

Lantern in progress 

WOYWW

So last week whilst blog hopping I stumbled across this fantastic post where each Wednesday crafters from all over the world congregate on Julia's blog to share pictures of their work desks and the a particular projects they have on them on that Wednesday.

I only discovered the blog a few days ago and have to admit that I have been hooked ever since. It is so interesting to see how other people organise their work spaces, its also great to see that the people that post vary from novice crafters like me to some real craft artists whose work just amazes me.     

So far I don't actually have a desk solely for craft so kind of just spread out in the kitchen or lounge. This week I have been working on Thank You cards and decided to do something a bit unconventional so have done a thank you card with a panda on. As you can see from the first picture I used my large collection of pro markers to colour in the digi stamp.

I store my promarkers in a old sweet tin and to be honest its not great it is hard to find which colour I am looking for and its impossible to keep the pens in colour groups which makes it quicker to get the colours needed for blending. Some sort of storage solution needs to be purchased asap. 

As you can see from the above picture my desk gets a bit messy when I am fully immersed in a project. In the background you can see a pad of multi coloured card stock which I purchased in Lidl at the weekend it was a bargain at 1.99 for a pack of 25 sheets. You can also see my self healing cutting mat which I love I use it for everything not just cutting, it makes it much easier to tidy up when I am done if all the bits and bobs are on the mat. You can also see double sided sticky tape which I think every crafter is a little bit in love with, and my craft knife and scissors which I used to cut out all the elements of my digi stamp.

This is the final card not 100% happy with it but pleased as its the first card of this type that I have made. I used a digi stamp which I cut into individual elements and mounted them on different levels of my folded piece of card. The bamboo canes were fiddely to cut out so I don't think they look as neat as I would like. The sentiment circle I did in green and then added stamps I think it would look more effective in a purple colour rather then blending in with the foliage in the rest of the image. I added some glitter glue to the card to make it a bit more interesting. Overall I like the image but think the way I have set up the card could be better I think I would give it 6/10.

I look forward to looking at what everyone else has on there desk this Wednesday.

Thank You Card

I have started making Thank You cards for sending out to thank people for the lovely presents I got for xmas.

I used pro markers to colour in the image and used an old red xmas paper as well as the blue paper from the new Potabello Road paper collection. I cut the image out using pinking sheers to add a bit of interest to the edge of the image. I then stamped a sentiment using my new alphabet stamps. Overall really happy with this card its quite a simple design but I think its really effective.

I am entering this card into the passion for pro markers Thank You Card challenge. http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.com/

Craft New Years Resolutions

Seeing as it is the time for New Years resolutions I have decided to compile a list of crafts I want to try and projects I want to complete over the next 12 months.

I’m sure as the year progresses this list will change and involve but have decided it will be a good starting point for deciding what projects to work on.

•            Quilting – I think home made quilts look beautiful and have been reading about quilting techniques in a craft book I purchased recently (review to follow in another post) It looks like its one of those crafts that can be made as easy or as difficult as you want so I think I’m going to attempt to make a basic quilt to use as a throw on my sofa.
• ·      Glass Painting- In the December issue of ‘Simply Homemade’ I saw a project which involved decorating tumblers and simple glass plates or dishes with various designs. I think it would be fun to do this and think it would make good gifts I know a lot of my friends would love a hand-painted glass item.
• ·      Copic Markers- As I have said before I have a fairly sizeable collection of pro markers which I love using they really give a great effect if you spend the time on the images perfecting them. I am intrigued however to try Copic markers and see which I prefer, in a number of the online articles I have read about them it has stated that they are interchangeable with the pro markers and can be used together so I think I may buy a few and do a Copic vs Promarker article.
• ·      Freehand machine embroidery – I purchased a few hand embroidery foot for my sewing machine but unfortunately when attached it doesn’t fit an embroidery hoop underneath. I am going to purchase another foot that will allow a hoop underneath and give it a go. In an ideal world I would like to buy a new sewing machine as the one I have is fairly old I think it may be five or six years old now, it does however still work pretty much perfectly but doesn’t have all the settings or attachments I would like. It’s a Toyota sewing machine but I think I would prefer a Janome or Singer. I think before jumping into a new purchase I will try and complete some more projects on my current sewing machine and decide if it really needs replacing.
• ·      Crochet- I have seen a number of projects in my knitting and crochet magazine that I would like to have a go at. I have been told that crochet is a little harder to master then knitting so not sure how easy I will find it as knitting was a little bit tricky. Going to start with a few granny squares and hopefully will get enough together to make a blanket.
• ·      Mosaic- On one of the episodes of Kirsty’s handmade Britain she completed a Mosaic mirror it was beautiful and looked like a very enjoyable craft. I am going to first try one of the small kits that Hobbycraft sell for about £3 as I think this is a cheap way of seeing whether I like the process of making a mosaic. If I do I will invest in a few of the basic materials needed to get started on a larger project.
• ·      Card making – Although this is not a new craft I would like to try it is something that I would like to further experiment with. There are so many different techniques out there that I think look really great on cards for all occasions so I am going to try and give as many a go as possible. I also am determined to make sure that I start to do cards further in advance so I have more time to make sure each one is perfect before it has to be given out. I plan to start on Easter cards in the next week or so.

I’m sure I could think of a lot more crafts and techniques I want to try but this post is already fairy lengthy. I have decided that at the end of each month I wil do a sort of catch up post which will evaluate how I am getting on with trying these different crafts so hopefully come the end of January I will be able to cross a few of the above of the list. 

Stash Storage

As I mentioned in a previous post over the last two months I have amassed a huge amount of stash for a whole range of crafts. I seem to be one of those people that when I take up a hobby I really go for it.

I had been storing all this stash in various ice cream tubs and larger crates as well as just piled up on the floor. This meant it was right faff to find what I was looking for and wasn’t good for keeping things neat tidy and organised.

Most of my stash in some sort of order

Over Christmas I was lucky enough to receive a beautiful sewing box which I have used to store all my embroidery, cross stitch and sewing machine accessories in. This means it is much easier to locate exactly what I am looking for and all the threads are organised by colour and all the needles by size.

I also received a small draw system that included four draws that were all split into little sections. The sections were variable in size because you could move the dividers around to suit what you needed. The top of the draw section also opens up to reveal a large compartment.

Sewing box 

I have used this to store embellishments of varying kinds and some stamping materials. I had amassed a huge amount of sequins, beads, buttons, stickers etc. which I split up into each of the sections.

I also used it to store some of my smaller tools and basic materials including glue spreaders, foam pads, small craft knife, quilling tool and small alphabet stamps. The draws are all see through so I think this will make it much easier to find the particular embellishment or tool I am looking for each craft project.

Over Christmas Dunelm Mill had a sale as well as a further 20% of certain products, I took advantage of this by purchasing a mid size three draw system for only £7.99 which I have used to store larger tools, paper, cardstock and various glues, glitters, stamps and inks. It is completely full with a wide array of products all ready.

I still haven’t managed to store everything I have bought, I have 50 pro markers which are currently in a roses tin which is fine for keeping it tidy but makes things difficult when looking for a particular colour pen. I still have lots of paper which I have stored in a large wooden box and a number of balls of wool which are also in the same box; not to mention the enormous amount of magazines I have purchased over the last 2 months. At first I considered just removing the pages I was interested in and recycling the rest of the magazine but have actually changed my mind and decided to keep all the magazines as I think they will come in handy when looking for inspiration, information and instruction-now just need to figure out how to store them. 

Knitting Part Two

Apologies for the delay in posting, I have been away for xmas and new year without access to the web. Whilst I was away my Nan took the time to attempt to teach me to knit and I seem to have cracked the basics.

I understand how to do the knit stitch fairly well and even managed to give the purl stitch a go. In order to learn I just cast on 20 or so stitches and knitted rows, to start with I used the plastic needles that came with my knitting magazine but after speaking with my Nan she said it would be better to start with some thicker needles. Once I changed to the thicker metal needles I found it considerably easier and seemed to get into a rhythm with the knitting.

Although I found the knitting enjoyable it didn’t seem to be that creative as I was purely knitting the same stitch in the same colour over and over again. I’m sure once I am able to master the many other stitches and learn to decrease, increase and follow patters it will be a more entertaining past time.

It is something I am going to continue to experiment with and try to get better at. I have purchased some chunky grey wool and plan to knit a scarf with it in my spare time when I am looking to have a chill out evening. That seems to be the great thing with knitting it doesn’t take too much concentration and can be done sat in front of a good drama on the television. So hopefully in a month or so I will have a completed scarf to show you so keep your eyes peeled and keep checking up on my blog for regular updates on scarf progress.