Crafts & Hobbies: Knitting and Crocheting

Back when I was in college and when I first started working I did quite a bit of crocheting. I crocheted several afgans, both granny squares and a ripple effect. I also made a couple of shawls. A few years ago I tried a couple of hats for someone with cancer who had lost her hair. They were OK, but I was out of practice. Since then, I haven't done much. I have tried knitting in the past, but I have problems with it. My stitches aren't regular and I can never get the size right.

I kind of like some of the chemo hats and since Head Huggers has crocheted ones, that would be something I could do.

We don't have a knitting/crocheting group. To start a group, we would have to put out a call to see if anyone was interested. Those books go out some, but I think we have more quilters in our area.

Crafts & Hobbies: Coin Collecting

On and off I've looked for unusual coins. Unless I'm in a hurry, I'll usually look at coins I get as change. I'll try to spot wheat pennies and look at dimes to see if any are all silver. Haven't found a silver one in years. Frequently hold on to Susan B. Anthony dollars. From my grandfather I inherited some old buffalo nickels and some other old coins that he had collected over the years. Haven't gotten into the state quarters.

There is a coin shop in Humble, don't know that I will visit. I do look at the coins when I go to the Houston International Gem & Jewelry show and the Houston Gem & Mineral Society show. There are usually people there selling coins, but I look at them for interest, not for buying.

This is not something I would do seriously, but I have fun looking at my change.

Crafts & Hobbies: Digital Scrapbooking

I've done a tiny bit of scrapbooking with paper, etc. Unfortunately it's very time consuming, plus you need a lot of supplies. It's not really a craft I want to do. At least with the online sites you can play around and edit everything easily. Also, no scraps or mess to deal with. I have looked at a couple of the online sites and they look like they would be fairly easy to use. There are a lot of great pages in their galleries to give you ideas on things to make. I don't know how much of this I would do, but it might be fun to make up a few pagers.

I signed up for Scrapblog to practice on. I have trouble getting things done at one sitting, so it's easier to be able to save and work when I have a chance. OK, I finally finished a page and have hopefully loaded it. Finally got it to load.

Crafts & Hobbies: Decoupage

Several years ago we had a teen night and part of the program was decoupaging covers for a scrapbook. The covers were made out of a thin wood. I did the sample one. It was fun, but not a real project. I've been trying to find the time to do a project for several weeks and I just don't have the time at work to do anything like that. It is not a hobby I would be inclined to take up on a large scale. Some of the jewelry ideas look like fun and maybe not too time consuming.

I also really like the suitcases by pixiegene. Some of them are really wonderful. Some really neat jewelry too. This pendent is a fun Texas map. A good use of old maps and catalogs.

This is just not my thing, but I might like to try the jewelry at a later date.

Crafts & Hobbies: Craftspiration!

The video is a real hoot!

The One Hour Crafts has some fun ideas and some good links. Found a cute easy to make scarf that doesn't require knitting, crocheting or anything but winding yarn. I like the Curbly Video on using paper nakins to make coasters. I love the garland idea from Kiddley, can be used for any season, especially Christmas. There are also some good organising ideas for crafts. This is a good website for making bias tape.

craftzine had an interesting yo-yo crocheted afgan. Maybe more time consuming than I want to do. I don't crochet much, but from her site, she had a recipe for cream cheese mints that looks easy to make.

A really cute Valentine pin craft and easy to make. Another craft with buckets and pictures decoupaged on to the outside.

One website I like when I have time is from the PBS series Bead, Baubles & Jewels.

I'm also finding good stuff on Repurposeful including what to do with leftover coffee.

I like these kinds of sites, there is just never enough time in the week to do everything I would like.