With four little ones every day is a bit chaotic. And that's okay. Because somehow I'm able to craft amid the chaos.

Friday, October 29, 2010

The Bag that Started It All


I made this reversible tote bag for my mother-in-law in January of 2009. It was one of the first things I'd made (besides some poorly done I Spy Bags and some coasters) that wasn't a simple baby blanket.   I chose to make a bag because I wanted to make her something she could use. She was teaching primary at the time and I thought a tote bad would perfect for her to be able to take her things back and forth from church in. To make it a little prettier, I decided to add a fabric flower pin to each side. (Tutorial for the flower can be found at Wise Craft).

So why is this the bag that started it all? Because while I was searching for tutorials for a bag I found the one I liked best here at a site called Craftster. If you go there I'm sure you'll understand. It is a community dedicated to a large variety of crafts. There are tutorials, discussions, pictures of things people have made, swaps, and so much more. Once I found Craftster I found the desire to make things, all sorts of things. It made me branch out into a variety of crafts and I found that I love it. Almost everything I will post on this blog (with the exception of baking related items) can probably be traced back to my becoming a member of Craftster.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

2009 New Years Resolutions

I don't like New Years Resolutions. Possibly because I don't bother to keep them, so why bother making them in the first place. But in 2009 I decided to make some anyway, craft related ones. I decided that I would make 50 projects that year (easily done and then some) and to make a homemade birthday present for all of my family members. By that I meant parents, siblings, children, nieces and nephews, and of course in-laws. I don't believe I thought it through, but despite this I did really well. Until October that is. That's when it all fell apart. Which is sad really, I was so close. I had only missed 4 people, but miss them I did.

I've changed a lot since then. I've recently decided to be more discriminate in who get's a hand made gift. There is no reason to go through the time and effort of making a gift if it isn't going to be appreciated or used. It's no fun for anyone involved: the giver because it took so much time and effort, the receiver, well because who really wants to get a gift they don't like. This is not to say that I will never again give out a and made gift that the receiver is less than ecstatic about. Let's face it, if I get an idea in my head of something I really want to make, I'm probably going to make it. I'm just not going to spend hours searching and racking my brain trying to come up with something I can make someone just because I need a gift for them. Unless of course I know they appreciate hand made gifts.