Finding and Joining a Craft Guild in Your Area

Finding and Joining a Craft Guild in Your Area

Crafting is a hobby that we can enjoy in the comfort of our own homes. It's something we can do when there's no one else around, or while the rest of the family is doing their own thing. But sometimes it's nice to network and collaborate with fellow crafters.

Craft guilds are designed with this in mind. They help crafters meet others who enjoy being creative. They can exchange techniques, project ideas, and experiences. And, perhaps most importantly, they can get together and craft.

You might be surprised to see how many craft guilds there are in your area. Here are some tips for finding a good one:

• Decide what kind of guild you want to be a part of. Do you want to be part of a group of general crafters, or would you prefer being around those who do one particular kind of crafting? If it genuinely doesn't matter to you, look for both types of guilds. But if it does, stick with those that meet your criteria.
• Look in the classified section of your local paper. There you will find event announcements, and craft guilds often list their meeting times and places here. Make note of any that interest you, and call for more information if you need to.
• If you can't find any in the paper, try looking online. Many local crafting guilds have Yahoo or Meetup groups online. This makes it easier for them to communicate with one another and share ideas between meetings, and it makes it easy for you to find them.
• When you find a craft guild, learn all there is to know about membership before joining. Some are free, but others charge membership fees. Formal guilds often require that members submit a piece of work for approval. Less formal groups might alternate meetings among members' homes, or ask members to take turns providing refreshments. Knowing these things before making a commitment is important.

Starting Your Own Guild

Can't find a guild that suits you? Start your own. It's as simple as getting together some fellow crafters, finding a meeting place, and setting a meeting time. You can put an ad in the paper to find members, and libraries and community centers will often allow you to use their facilities for free or at low cost. You can make things as formal or informal as you like.

Joining a craft guild can enrich your life in a number of ways. They provide fellowship with like-minded crafters, and they give us the opportunity to learn more about our crafts. If this sounds good to you, pick up the paper and start looking for a nearby guild.

How To Make Candles

Discover How To Make Your Own Candles With This Simple-To-Follow Step-By-Step Guide. At Last, Learn The Best Candle Making Secrets Using This Easy To Follow Beginners Guide To Making Candles.

Have a look at all you will get to help you with your candle making!

1. Detailed instructions on the equipment and additives you need to get started in candle making
2. Detailed instructions on how to set up your candle making workspace to start
3. Detailed step-by-step guide for making your first ever candle
4. Detailed step-by-step recipes for a further nine types of candles

You will learn:

• How to make Container Candles
• How to make Molded Pillar Ca
• How to make Simple Votive Candles
• How to make Tealight Candles
• How to make Floating Candles
• How to make Basic Taper Candles
• How to make Basic Beeswax Candles
• How to make Gel Candles
• How to make a Hurricane Candle Shell

Have a look at: How To Make Candles Now! Access Is Instant.

No-Sew Fleece Throw

No-Sew Fleece Throw

If you are looking for a nice project to do during the cold months, you just may find this easy no-sew throw a great choice. Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store offers the most creative simple throw blanket project. It is so easy your kids can make it; and that makes this a great project for the family on a cold cloudy day.

The ease of this projects helps to make it easy for you to create beautiful one-of-a-kind blankets as gifts for Christmas, birthdays, and many other celebrations. This is the time of the year when many people host parties and gatherings to celebrate the sprit of the season. Wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of the typical bottle of wine or tin of homemade cooking that everyone brings the host of the party, you gave her a blanket that will help to keep her warm on those nights when she is sipping that wine and eating those cookies in front of a fire place?

With a project like this you can do that a more in half the time you could if you sewed them all.

You will find everything you need to get your blankets done at Jo-Ann’s. Every tool you need to make this project a breeze is available. Having all the tools is what makes any project feasible.

So don’t sit around this winter twiddling your thumbs. Add this handy project to your list of fun for the while family to enjoy. You won’t regret it.

Decorating Techniques (Ceramic Class)

Decorating Techniques (Ceramics Class)

Creating one-of-kind treasures through the art of ceramics can be a breeze with Decorating Techniques. Continuing the excellent Ceramics Class series, this is a fantastic book for those wanting to decorate ceramics. Starting with an introduction to materials and tools, this idea-packed book then shows crafters myriad techniques for transforming standard ceramic pieces into beautifully ornamented, one-of-a-kind treasures for personal or gift use.

Decorating Techniques is a great book in that it is simple to maneuver through and is handy for any ceramic crafter. You will find this book divided into five sections, each devoted to techniques designed for the category of ceramic to be decorated:

• Damp and unfired ware
• Leather-hard ware
• Dry ware
• Dry bisque-fired ware
• Glazed ware

Each technique is explained and shown in detail along with decoration methods such as incising, carving, casting, graffito, enrobes, colored pastes, fillettes, reserves, waxes, and many other ways to enhance the surfaces of ceramic pieces. With the excellent step-by-step instructions accompanied by lots of demonstrating pictures, plus any formulas you need, this book is a must have for your ceramic crafting shelf.

There is a helpful glossary of terms in the back. With so many wonderful techniques and a wide variety of projects, there is something for everyone here.

Decorating Techniques is a concise, easy-to-understand book that is good for the ceramic student, teacher, and even novice. You get 64 pages of powerfully packed teaching in this book. With this book you will crank out beautiful pieces with ease and learn to love ceramics even more.

Easy Fun Crafts - How to "Felt" Your Yarn Crafts

How to "Felt" Your Yarn Crafts

Felting gives knitted items a whole new look. It eliminates the definition of the stitches, creating a soft, smooth piece. Felting is most commonly done to hats, purses and other accessories.

The easiest way to felt your crafts is in the washing machine.

Here's how to do it, step by step:

1. Set your washing machine on the hottest temperature, longest agitation cycle, and lowest water setting. Adding detergent is optional, but if you do, it's important to use only a very small amount.
2. Place the item you are felting in a pillowcase, preferably one that zips shut. This isn't absolutely necessary, but it will keep your project from getting hung or lost in the washer and keep any fuzz that is produced during the process contained.
3. Wait for the washer to fill and begin agitating, and drop the pillowcase containing your item in.
4. Check the item every five minutes. Felting times vary depending on the yarn used, so this step is crucial. If the washer starts to drain, stop it and reset the dial so that it resumes agitation.
5. Watch for signs of felting, which include loss of stitch definition and shrinkage. Once these begin to occur, start checking the piece twice as often to avoid overfelting.
6. Determine when the felting is complete. If your piece was designed to be felted, it will be done when it reaches the dimensions that the pattern calls for. Otherwise, it's simply a matter of preference.
7. When felting is complete, remove the piece from the washer and let the water drain. Rinse it with cold water, and wring it out very gently so as not to stretch it. Shape it and let it dry.

Tips For Effective Felting

• If you're not sure how well an item will felt, make a swatch and felt it first. That way you won't ruin the project you spent so much time on.
• Some say that yarn crafts felt more quickly if they are exposed to added friction. An easy way to achieve this is to put something else in the washer with them (but not inside the pillowcase). A pair of jeans works well, because they're firm and heavy.
• Most washing machines do not start the spin cycle if the lid is up. If you can't watch your item closely, leaving the lid open will keep the washer from spinning the water out until you can attend to it.
• Items with straps or other parts that could get twisted up will have to be watched especially closely. Twisting will result in uneven felting.
• White and light-colored yarns usually do not felt well. If possible, make sure your item is made of medium to dark thread.

Soap Making Made Simple

Soap Making Made Simple

Handmade soaps are all the rage these days. A quick online search will reveal lots of companies where you can buy handmade soaps, and some will even make them to order. But what about making your own soap? Most who enjoy handmade soaps like the idea, but few actually try it.

Those who do try to make soap often give up. It can be difficult to get it right, especially if you don't have an experienced soap maker showing you how to do it. Wouldn't it be great if there were a highly detailed instruction book that you could refer to?

Soap Making Made Simple is an ebook that tells you everything you need to know about soap making. It's written so that even someone who has never even considered making soap before can understand it. It covers even the most basic topics, including choosing your equipment, deciding which ingredients to use, and much, much more.

Once you have everything you need to get started, this ebook guides you through the 21 steps of cold process soap making. It shows you how to make all natural basic white soap, and once you've gotten the hang of that, it tells you how to start adding other ingredients. It even covers making liquid soap.

But it doesn't stop there. If you're making soap to sell, or even to present as a gift, you'll need to add some pretty packaging. Soap Making Made Simple tells you everything you need to know before you package your soap, as well as how to package it beautifully.

This book is great for beginners, but those who have some soap making experience can learn from it as well. In addition to the basics, it includes advanced techniques that the pros use. Lots of soap recipes are included as well. There's also plenty of information about safety during soap making, a consideration that it's very important not to overlook, no matter how much experience you have.

Soap Making Made Simple presents all of the information that you need to get started, as well as more advanced tips and techniques. If you want to make your own soap, this guide can get you on the right path.

Download Soap Making Made Simple Now!

Fun Easy Crafts - No-Sew Fleece Throws

20 No-Sew Fleece Throws (Leisure Arts #3741)

No-Sew Fleece Throws

There are so many easy fun crafts you and the kids can do together. Have a look at this book for all the amazing ideas for No-Sew Fleece Throws. So often in spring it is still nippy at night and then such a fleece throw will come in very handy. Have a look at all the options for easy fun crafts in this book

When the weather is cool and it is fun to snuggle with a good book, in front of a warm fire under a nice throw. But, you don't own a throw or the one you have is old and torn. You want a nice new one in a specific color and style, you can locate it and you just hate to sew.

With No-Sew Fleece Throws at your fingertips you can create one or more of 20 easy-going fleece throws and you will never sew a stitch. These cozy coverings range from simple cut-and-fringed throws made by our teenage "apprentices" to handsome designer looks.

This is a good book for simple craft ideas with older kids or for a youth group you may lead. And if you are looking for a simple handmade gift that you can make in a jiffy, then you are bound to find something to whip up that will be bright, cheery, and welcomed.

Think of all you can do with a book like this in your hands:

No-Sew Fleece Throws

* Make a blanket for everyone in the family
* Have a craft day with your girlfriends or for your daughter's friends
* Make the blankets and have a sale
* Make a few and take them to a senior citizen home. They will not only love the throws but the company as well.
* Make a special throw for each one of your kids. They will feel really special.

It is a fun smart decision to purchase No-Sew Fleece Throws and add it to your crafting shelf. Add to your stash of easy fun crafts with this book.

20 No-Sew Fleece Throws (Leisure Arts #3741)

Fun Easy Crafts - Making a Scarf, No Sewing Machine!

Making A Scarf Even If You Do Not Have A Sewing Machine

Fleece scarves have become very popular cold-weather accessories due to their softness and warmth. You can find them in most clothing and accessory stores in the winter. They look so easy to make, but are they? Why yes, they are!

Just because you make it yourself doesn't mean you have to settle for a plain old strip of fleece. If you get some fleece in a pretty pattern and follow these instructions, you can create a beautiful fringed scarf that no one will ever suspect was handmade. But you'll be so proud of it, you'll just have to tell them.

Supplies

* 2 yards of fleece

* Scissors

* Straight pins

* Measuring tape

* Disappearing ink pen

Instructions

1. Cut a piece of fleece that is 27 inches wide and 72 inches long.

2. Figure out how long you would like your fringe to be. The best length is between 5 and 9 inches. Mark and cut a square in the desired size from each corner of the piece of fleece, taking care to make sure the edges are nice and straight.

3. Fold the fleece in half lengthwise, being careful to keep all edges even. Smooth the fleece out, and pin it together in several places just past the length you will be cutting the fringe.

4. Make cuts the desired length of the fringe, about 1/2 inch apart, all the way around the scarf.

5. Tie each piece of fringe to the piece behind it, double knotting it. For best results, tie a few pieces at each corner before tying the pieces in the middle. This will keep the fabric from bunching up.

6. Remove the straight pins. Add beads to the fringe if desired. Knot the ends underneath each bead, and add some seam sealant to keep them in place.

Why not make one for yourself and a matching one for your sister, mother or best friend? These make great holiday gifts. And since they're so easy to make, you could make one for everyone on your list. They're also great for winter birthdays.

You could also adjust these instructions to make a scarf for a child. You'll need to cut the fleece shorter and narrower, and cut the fringes a little bit shorter. Other than that, the technique is the same.

You don't have to know how to knit or sew to make a warm and fashionable scarf. If you can operate a pair of scissors, you can create this easy project in no time. But be warned: once you get started, you might not be able to stop until you have a scarf to match every piece of your wardrobe!

Discover the Secrets That Will Have You Sewing Successfully in No Time At All – Even If You Have Absolutely No Sewing Experience Whatsoever: Sewing 101