Getting Crafty

If, like me, you haven’t been to your local Michaels craft store in a while, you may want to get your fanny down there and have a look-see at what is going on.

First up, they have the Great Pumpkin Event. Since this coming weekend is Thanksgiving here in Canada, the event is being held on Saturday October 6. Americans can take part in this event on Sunday and Monday (October 7 and 8 respectively). There is a fee involved ($7 in Canada, $5 in the US-would someone tell them that the Canadian dollar is very close to parity with the American dollar?) but it looks like you’ll be getting your money’s worth. This is a family event so bring the kids (borrow some if need be-their parents will thank you).

I wonder if this is a good time to admit that I don’t get very excited about Halloween. I’m not sure why but the thought of rigging the house out in pumpkins, ghosts and goblins never did get me excited. And costumes? I only put on a costume so that coworkers don’t label me a “loser” or “not a team player”. Nothing thrills me less than having to think up a costume and get all made up, although costumes that require the application of makeup are out automatically. Despite this (see how much of a team player I am?), I encourage you to check out what Michaels has to offer in the way of costume ideas. We all know that making costumes might be more time consuming and expensive than buying them but you cannot beat the quality, fun and personal sense of accomplishment and satisfaction involved in putting together your own costume.

Didn’t I just finish saying that Halloween isn’t my bag? Well after having a gander at what Martha Stewart has in store for the holiday, I might be a bit more open to decorating this year. I really like the spider confetti, decorative tape and 12×12 halloween papers (big surprise that I’m giddy over the paper).

What more is there to say but get thee to a Michaels!

For a limited time, Michaels will be carrying Rockstar scrapbooking papers from DCWV!

This cardstock paper is not your ordinary paper: expect to see pages with flocked metallic accents, shine and shimmer. I haven’t seen it “live” but from what I’ve heard, none of the pictures floating around do it any justice:

(Image “borrowed” from here)

For inspiration on how to use this paper, check out this altered frame.

Could the timing be any worse.

I have a full week free from the pressures and responsibilities of work to craft to my heart’s delight, and share the results of this fun with you, dear reader. So, it’s only natural that my internet service become suddenly unstable, and I be unable to access the internet from my computer for nearly a week now.

The good news is having no internet means I have more time to craft and less time to waste online. The bad news is I shall have to take pictures and write tutorials that I may not show you for a while.

I am working on resolving the situation and hope to be able to report back to you soon!

If you work in the craft industry and would like to share the challenges or your general experience, I would love to interview you. You can provide a tutorial, talk about your journey, or give a commentary on your industry in general.

Some questions that you might want to answer include:

Did you notice a difference when you went from crafting for fun/yourself to crafting for money?
What are the biggest challenges of working in the crafting industry?
How do you find inspiration?
What tools can you not live without?

If you are interested, or know somebody that is, please leave a comment!

interview, share your story, calling all crafters

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I really appreciate all the comments that I received on my first entry because they revealed what a diverse bunch of crafters (or people interested in crafts) there are out there, and I suspect that with respect to experience I fall in the beginner to intermediate level. My hope is that I will be able to introduce the expert crafters to something new to try, and that they in turn will be able to show us how to step up our projects to the next level. And for the beginner crafters, I hope to find some projects that are easy but not overwhelming, yet not so easy that you become bored.

I hope you’ll all bear with me as I settle in and get organized.

On Fridays, I will profile a crafter and either share an interview, project or both by the crafter. If you would like to be profiled, please send me an email at jummy.gettingcrafty@gmail.com and I will be in touch with you shortly.

Thank you for stopping by at Getting Crafty today. I am your new hostess, Jummy, and I look forward to getting to know the crafting crowd quite well.

I’m a novice crafter: I love everything from knitting to scrapbooking, and one simple craft that I do regularly is make marble magnets for friends and winners of a contest I run on my personal blog. Since my early days of jazzing up school projects with pop-up book elements and making friendship bracelets with embroidery thread, I’ve been interested in crafts and exploring my creativity; but unlike some (most?) crafters, coming up with original ideas can be difficult for me. This site will give me an opportunity to express my creativity, share tips, tricks, insights and bright ideas with you, and learn a lot from you too! And to those of you who claim to not have a creative bone in your bodies? I don’t believe it!

And now, before I tempt you to use your Exacto knife to slit cut something other than paper, I have a few questions for you:

• What is your favourite type of craft?
• Name a type of craft that you know nothing about but would love to learn to do?
• Who is/are the main crafters in your household or family?

And if you’d be kind enough to include a link to a handmade craft that you’re especially proud of, please do! I’d love to check it out!