Skip to content

Blog About Crafts

A blog about crafts, art, selling both and other things that strike my fancy.

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Selling Arts & Crafts
  • Arts & Crafts on The Web
  • Sharing The Love
Menu

Crafting Resolution for 2012

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Michele

I’m not really one for resolutions. Too often they turn into lies we tell ourselves about how the coming year will be better than the last. I do hope to make and follow one this year though – to spend more time crafting. I’ve been so busy writing and working on my sites that I spend more time thinking about crafting than actually making anything.

A dear friend of mine lives in the Netherlands and this was the second Christmas that I sent him an American goodie box. Along with a variety of goodies and the much-loved Cheetos (who knew?), this year I wanted to include a little something handmade. I had picked up a bunch of different old-fashioned candies at Mass General Store (if you’re ever in Western, NC, you should check them out) and what would be better than designing and crafting little stockings for each member of the family?

Christmas Felt Stockings

In my haste to send them off to Europe, the box was packed and we had returned home from the post office before I realized that I never took a picture of the finished stockings. Oops.

I knew the box would be late, seems to also be part of the tradition lol, so there was no hope of getting a crafting tutorial up before Christmas. Sadly, I used all of the red felt I had so I had no way of making any more.

The recipient hung the stockings on his Christmas tree and thankfully took a picture of two of them. And how cool is it that my stockings matched their tree so well?

In the coming days, I hope to put the tutorial and crafting pattern up on The Crafty Tipster.

I’ll post an announcement here when I get that done.

New Crafting Addiction

I absolutely loved working with the felt and all the hand-stitching. That got me inspired to create a felt pin. They seem to be so much the rage right now. With all of the felt, threads and beads I had in my stash it seemed like the perfect project for me.

I think I have a new addiction. The first clue was spending hours trolling Etsy looking at felt pins, die cut felt and other sorts of things I could turn into pins and use for my new crafting projects. Then there are all the flower and shape outlines to be found online and more beads, more threads, more great crafting supplies. Uh, oh, I’m in trouble. But, it should make my resolution to put aside more time for crafting easier to keep.

I had so much fun raiding my stash to make this. It would have been crazy expensive to buy everything just to make this one flower. I used two colors of new, shiny rayon floss that I picked up at a local thrift store for 50 cents a piece. (Sometimes living near knitting mills and weaving companies has great benefits if you’re willing to buy commercial-sized cones of specialty threads and have a place to store them.) I used some green, metallic sewing thread that I bought years ago just because I wanted it and have never used for anything. The orange beads were a deep, deep, clearance item purchased from Fire Mountain at least 15 years ago. The green beads were a random hank I had picked up somewhere or other. The dark green felt and yellow thread are part of some discontinued Oriental Trading Christmas kits from our local Mighty Dollar. The other felt had been languishing in my stash for at least 10 years. And finally the dark green thread is some wool embroidery yarn I picked up somewhere in my travels.

Someone please tell me I’m not the only one with a stash big enough to supply a craft store.

Someone else please tell me that I’m not the only one who lets their imagination run away with visions of things to be made but never seems to fully act upon those dreams.

Anyone want to join me in resolving that 2012 will be filled with more crafting and less thinking about crafting?

And, if anyone feels so inclined, I’d love to know what you think of my stockings and pin.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • X

2 thoughts on “Crafting Resolution for 2012”

  1. Japhia says:
    January 10, 2012 at 4:36 am

    You are absolutely not alone. I have the exact same problem. I keep buying beads and clay and supplies because I get so inspired, but then they don’t get used. Trying to fit crafting around work, kids and other commitments is pretty hard. I read lots of mags and spend more time making plans and coming up with ideas for crafts than actually making things. I made the same resolution for myself. Your pin is great by the way, and hopefully will be inspiration that will lead to actual crafting!

  2. Michele says:
    January 12, 2012 at 5:18 pm

    Thank you Japhia for stopping by and the compliments on my pin.

    It’s so easy to get sidetracked from what we really want to do by things we feel we have to do. What should have been a project of a day or two has turned into a five day marathon that still hasn’t ended – migrating The Crafty Tipster to a newer version of WordPress. sigh. It’s gotten to the point that it might be worth it to bribe those folks to at least wait a year or so between major upgrades.

    I remember there was a contest somewhere about who had the biggest stash. There was someone who had an entire room full of yarn. And, when I say entire room, it was like they tried to stuff the room to see how many skeins and balls of fibery goodness they could stack from floor to ceiling.

    Hope you enjoy Blog About Crafts and that I see you around now and again.

Comments are closed.

Blog About Crafts

Back in 2006, when this site was launched, there was a gal who loved to help other artists and crafters build their business. She had several websites, including this one, dedicated to that endeavor. She helped them fly, while she only dabbled. Finally, she has joined them in pursuing her own artistic endeavors which can be found at Michele Tway Mixed Media & Fiber Art.

Categories

  • Artist Profiles
  • Arts & Crafts Selling Tips
  • Being Web Savvy
  • Blog About Crafts News
  • Craft Show Displays
  • Craft Tips
  • Craftiness
  • Crafty Rambles
  • Crafty Tips
  • Featured Fridays
  • Great Websites
  • Hapi Thoughts
  • Internet Marketing
  • Michele's World
  • Privacy Policy
  • Product Descriptions & Photos
  • Reusable Art
  • Selling Crafts in Person
  • Selling Crafts on the Internet
  • SEO for Arts & Crafts Websites, Shops & Blogs
  • Sharing The Love
  • Tutorial Thursday
  • Uncategorized
  • Website Promotion

My Work

  • Michele Tway, Mixed Media & Fiber Art

Sharing The Work of Others

  • Free Vintage Art
  • Reusable Art
  • The Crafty Tipster
Home » Craftiness » Crafting Resolution for 2012
© 2025 Blog About Crafts | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme