Blog About Crafts

Like this section of doily that is just about complete, a new advertising option for crafters is just about ready for its grand relaunch.

The Crafty Tipster, my free craft projects and patterns website, has undergone a major face-lift, change of software platform and is being updated with many new free craft projects and patterns.

The redesign isn’t quite finished as I still have to redo the logo. But, everything is working perfectly.

While I plan to continue adding my own free craft projects, free crochet patterns, free vintage knitting patterns and a myriad of other projects; I also hope to expand the site to include projects and tutorials from other crafters.

Save Geocities Websites!

I was quite shocked when I heard that Yahoo! was discontinuing Geocities as we know it. While it seemed predictable under the current financial situation; it does seem a bit like they are shooting themselves in the foot. After all, all those Geocities sites are plastered with advertising that must be providing Yahoo! with more income than most of those small, and often abandoned sites cost to run.

I remember somewhere in the distant past, when I was still in high school, that kids were making and exchanging friendship bracelets as a colorful and quirky way to express their fondness for each other.

30 months ago, I happened upon a wonderful website and forum dedicated to making friendship bracelets. The creator had patterns like I’ve never seen before and I went ahead and added the site in hopes of listing more like it and perhaps seeing some additional traffic from members of their forum. Despite having sent the site over 2,300 visitors, the site owner has never shown an interest in participating in Crafty Tips by granting me permission to use a picture from her website. (Heather, if you ever read this…wouldn’t you rather have a picture instead of the ugly placeholder image I use?)

Anyway, I’ve been noticing a curious trend the past 6 months or so. Whereas it was always in the top 20 or so search phrases that were bringing me traffic, free friendship bracelet patterns has vaulted to the number one traffic generating phrase on my site for months. Anywhere from 10-15% of the search engine traffic on Crafty Tips is from people searching for patterns to make their own friendship bracelets.

So, it seemed only natural that if that many searchers are looking for something it must be a very popular craft right now or it is a challenge to find useful websites on the topic. Either way, it seemed easily justifiable to add a top-level category on Crafty Tips for something I had originally listed deep in the Children’s Craft Projects area.

But first, I needed a picture for my new Friendship Bracelets category. The sites I typically use to find free photos did not have any friendship bracelet pictures. OK, so I figured I would just make my own - how hard could it be? After all, I can remember girls sitting in class with strands of embroidery floss tied to their pants leg and knotting away while actively participating in the class.

In a move that is perhaps greatly overdue, I’ve finally added a category to Crafty Tips that celebrates the artists and crafters who work with recycled items. These green and crafty folks take things that we would normally discard and create something beautiful, functional and even wearable!

One of my favorite websites that shares projects and patterns about recycled crafting is called My Recycled Bags. As the name implies, this blog is all about recycling bags to create even more functional and useful items. Cindy, the crafter and artist behind this site, provides step by step instructions to make your own recycled crafts that often use plastic bags and old denim.

Her latest project and my personal favorite is a Recycled Plastic Cuff Bracelet Pattern made from “plarn”. Plarn is yarn made from plastic bags. Don’t know how to make yarn from those old grocery store or bread bags? Not to worry, her site has a super easy to follow tutorial on how to make your own.

Along with plastic bag crafts, Cindy also shares great ideas for crafting with cassette tapes, VCR tapes and even lettuce netting. I first added her blog to Crafty Tips back in 2007 so you know there’s tons of great stuff to be found on her site.

Now you can also find her site listed in the new category Recycled Art!

I dreamed a dream that people were judged by their talents and personality and not their appearance. I dreamed a dream that there would be one of those talent shows where the contestants were hidden from view and we had to judge them purely upon their ability. While neither dream has completely come true, this week the world has certainly come close.

I had heard the story. I had seen her picture and listened to her sing for the morning talk shows. But, I did not hear the actual video until yesterday. Up until then, the cynic in me thought this was a gigantic ploy to gain international attention for a British talent program. I thought she sings very well but her talent was being overblown.

I was so under-informed and missed the much deeper part of this story.

I know Les Miserables well. I know the song and yet it took me a few days to truly consider those lyrics and how much they are a part of this story. Read the words and consider how well they can express the emotions that someone who perhaps has never truly fit in or reached their true potential must feel every day.

I Dreamed A Dream


There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he’ll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

Maybe it was the song choice and it’s moving and seemingly appropriate words, the beautiful voice, the way the audience behaved or a little of all of them but I too found myself listening to what happened with tears literally streaming down my face.

What Susan Boyle did this week as she auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent was so much more than about how well she sings. With great poise and more guts than I think most of us possess, she faced on onslaught of one of the most hateful personal attacks that’s ever been caught on camera and came out not only on top but has become the focal point of the most downloaded video ever to be posted to YouTube.

Before she even stepped foot on the stage, the audience was laughing at her. Not for what she said or even what she was wearing. They were mocking her appearance. When she stepped onto the main stage, the laughter and even a few wolf whistles that greeted her had to have been one of the most cruel and vicious things I’ve witnessed in a long time. It would have been one thing if she was trying to be a clown but she was truly serious in her dream of being a singer like her idol Elaine Paige. I don’t know how she stood up to the onslaught but this brave lady seemed to ignore the audience and focus on why she was there and what she had to prove.

And prove to the world that she belonged there was exactly what she did!!! Even as the music began, her detractors were still behaving badly. What was truly shocking to everyone but Ms. Boyle was that she could indeed sing a song Paige had made famous.

It didn’t take long for the sneers to turn to cheers. The crowd, who moments ago judged her so harshly for not being a size 2, Cover-Girl model of femininity; jumped to their feet as this lady showed the world that it’s what’s inside that matters.

Shame on those who behaved so badly. Thank goodness the people of Britain’s Got Talent who invited Susan Boyle on that stage did not judge her as you did otherwise we all would have missed one of those moments in time that have the power to move people to reflect on how they treat each other.

I hope Susan Boyle’s days of dreaming are coming to an end and she can begin being the star that she always somehow knew she deserved to be.

Easter Sunday in Western North Carolina was a glorious day. The weather has been quite unpredictable here this spring. It’s normal for this area to see a last gasp of wintry weather in April. But, this year has been a mix of terribly dull, dreary gray days - some rainy, others just looking like it will rain, glorious sunny days and mid-winter-like days. It’ll be 70 degrees one day and snowing the next.

Our daffodils froze while the next door neighbor’s were lovely. It was just a matter of dumb luck which day the buds happened to open and which days fell below freezing overnight. We thought our tulips had been nipped by Jack Frost but Easter morning brought a happy surprise. Three bright red blooms were dazzling amongst the greenery of the evergreens and ground cover.