Welcome
Welcome to The Crafty Hobbit! For a while now, I have considered making a website to record my crafty endeavours and even attempted a wordpress blog for a while, but I didn't enjoy the work of maintaining the back end of it and found that I spent more time trying to keep the software updated than I did posting content. As I am not a professional when it comes to computer science, it was something I struggled with. I have a pinterest account where I post pictures of my projects, but it's not the same as having a website where I can talk about why I made it, how I made it, my plans for it, etc. In addition to being able to talk about it, having a website will make things more permanant and less reliant on pinterest remaining on the web. In the past, I have had many image hosts disappear or cease their services so a site like this seems to be a better choice.
Updates:
20th August, 2021
It's been ages since I wrote an update for here. It's not that I don't do any crafting - I've been doing a lot of it lately, but I don't have access to the computer as much as I'd like to, and I have to make the time to post here. I've got some new crafting materials this week from the Works. I hope to make some things in the winter months, and to try out some new crafts I've found. I want to put my art that I do on sketching paper and watercolour paper into a scrapbook (I have several of these that I need to start filling, but I need some double sided tape to stick them in as I've run out of it/misplaced it.) but one of the problems I found was that the scrapbooks aren't always the right size to fit the paper I've worked on - the A4 pages don't fit and sometimes even the smaller pieces don't quite fit properly because the scrapbook is either too large, or too small. I came across junk journels recently, so I hope that will go partly to solve the problem as I can make the journals fit what I need, rather than trying to find scrapbooks that fit my paper (and failing...). I also hope to make an excersie book journal (or journals!) for writing - you know, making journals by gluing together the type of notebooks you use at secondary school (stapled down the spine, not sprialed, or hole-punched for binders). There are plenty of youtube videos that show you how to make these and I've linked some of the channels already. I've also come across some channels that show you how to make attractive storage containters for stationary out of waste cardboard that I'd like to try. I do a lot of online shopping and so tend to accumulate a lot of cardboard boxes and it would be nice to use them for something instead of just throwing them into recycling bins where you can't always be sure if it gets recycled or not. The videos are also useful to people who have just moved home and have lots of cardboard lying around in the form of moving boxes as you can make some useful things for your new home. I find that office storage solutions can sometimes be quite expensive - for example, a magazine rack from WHSmith can cost £7.99, and desk tidies can be quite expensive too - if you have waste cardboard, wrapping/scrap booking paper, sticky back plastic and glue lying around, you may as well make your own. I've also been working on one of my dolls houses and got some scatter this week so I can finish off the front.
27th November, 2020
It's really gotten cold these past couple of weeks or so. I've mostly been working on the colouring book, Animorphia by Kerby Rosanes. I bought the book about three, perhaps four years ago, coloured it over winter 2017 - 2018 and then stopped. I'd not really done a great deal of it and most of it was uncoloured until now. It's a mixture of gel pens, acrylic paints, fineliner pens and colouring pencils. (I prefer the finish that the gel pens give as the pencils can be washed out on the type of paper that is used and I hate washed out colours because it looks like you've not coloured it. Some coloured pencils go on better than others so I'm trying to concentrate on using those.) I prefer colouring the entire page and don't like leaving blank spaces unless I've no choice. I just hope that when I've posted the pictures that they give confer an happy feeling to people viewing them. We need it right now. (Gel pens do run out quite quickly so the backgrounds tend to be quite colourful to compensate.)
1st November, 2020
It has been a while since I updated the site. (Too long!). The summer season of cross stitch is over because I don't have enough light to sew by any more now that the days are shorter and the bleak weather is setting in, so I have started doing other crafts instead. I have gone back to working on colouring books, something which I like doing when I don't have the concentration to draw or paint from scratch. I have a book featuring dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures which I am working my way through and I recently bought some Gouache paints which I have been wanting to try for a while. They do remind me of watercolours somewhat and I'm enjoying working with them. I have tried all the different types of paint now, including oils, but I only really work with acrylics and watercolours since oils take a long time to dry. I am also filling in a scrapbook of art because I find it is really the only way to keep it from getting lost or damaged once you have made it - display books with pockets don't seem to work well and I can decorate it with scrapbooking accessories. I mainly do this to help me with my mood, to relax and to get rid of boredom as it looks like the virus is entering a second wave. It's not easy coming up with things to do when you can't go out and the weather is turning to gloom.
1st April, 2020
Autumn Leaf Felt Bunting added! (I need to make the felt projects index page...)
28th March, 2020
Wreath Making added, with a spring theme!