Crafting Fingers is two years old today. What a ride it’s been! To kick off 2015 I wanted to share these goodies you might have missed from elsewhere on the web.
Get the most out of your camera
Blogtacular’s debut event was a huge success last year, and now Kat M & Kat G (both super talented behind a camera) have released a FREE photography ebook to help you go beyond the automatic settings of your camera. These ladies know what they’re talking about.
Download ‘The Unmanual’ here | Blogtacular
Reflect on what’s been and what’s to come
Time to put last year to rest and get excited about what this year will bring. The fifth edition of Susannah Conway’s free workbook will help you do just that. It’s like a printable life coach. Go dig out your favourite pens and dream big! No one has to see it but you.
(Psst. What’s your word for 2015? Mine is persist. Or better put, ‘just keep swimming’!)
Get your ‘Unravelling’ workbook here | Susannah Conway
Focus on getting better, not ‘being good’
This was my biggest lesson in 2014. After completing my journey to learn a new craft every month in 2013, I felt a bit lost. Then anxiety set in. What if, despite all the progress I made and the things I had learnt, I was just some crafter wannabe? Social media makes it even easier to compare and feel like a failure. But it’s not about them. It’s about your improvements. Take it one stitch, loop, and snip at a time!
The closer we get to the holidays the better evenings are holed up in my craft room. Some sewing sounds much nicer than hurrying through busy high street shops.
These lined stockings are simple to sew. Each uses just two fat quarters of fabric so they’re great for stash busting. As a novice I was nervous about the curved seams. Just remember to take it slow, pivot around the needle, and snip the seam allowance.
If you don’t have a stocking pattern, you can use my free printable pattern below!
This Christmas it’s just Alex and me round the table for dinner.
To make it cosy I wanted to make a rustic centrepiece for a warm, country feel. A farm crate would have been perfect. Problem is, it would be a bit big for a table for two. Crafting time!
If you have old wicker baskets or pale wooden crates, you can use the same dyeing and sanding technique to get an aged look fast.
It’s blog hop time!
What better way to blow the dust away from this blog than to tell you all what I’ve been up to recently? I love sneaking a peek into other peoples’ crafty lives. (And if social media’s popularity has anything to say about it, so does just about everyone!) Being nosy is just part of the human condition.
Kate of Made By Mrs M has invited me to join in on a dual blog hop. She’s shared snippets of her life on her own blog. If you love mid-century design or textiles, be sure to check out her work!
Blog Hop #1
What have you been making at your desk this week?
Can you feel the pressure of the holidays yet? I’ve been practising techniques I want to put to use in my own Christmas decor this year. My latest make was a ruffle-edged panel curtain to practise (you guessed it!) sewing ruffles. Away from my desk I’ve been getting more and more passionate about cooking and baking, too. I’m cooking a (hopefully) romantic Christmas dinner for two and that means lots of recipe testing.
Where am I currently finding my inspiration?
I’m focusing on deliberate consumption. Pinterest is strictly an indulgent treat. Instead of photos (that don’t tell you much about the effort involved) I’m focusing on the people who do work I aspire to do.
Making isn’t always straightforward. A lot of my projects (especially the ones I design from scratch!) are bumbled through. It’s a journey, not a process. There’s always more to learn, even if some things are easy to pick up: take it slow, measure twice, and check colours in daylight!
Here are some of the other lessons I’ve learnt from crafting.
1. Handmade doesn’t always = better.
Handmade doesn’t mean it’s ethical, well made, eco-friendly, or local. And crafting isn’t cheap. Or easy. And it’s NEVER done in five minutes. (And, technically, handmade can be just as systemised as machine production.)
That’s why beautiful, ethically produced, and quality handmade design is so worth investing in. Even better if the materials are eco-friendly and the designer is local.
All the more reason to make something yourself!
2. There’s more than one way to be rich.
There is only one universal currency: time. Crafters need a lot of it. It doesn’t matter what the materials are or what the craft is, you need time. Time to learn, time to design, time to make.
To craft, you need to be rich in time. Not money. (Although the latter does help when you binge-buy fabric!) Let yourself take it slow.
