Passing on a Passion for Crafting to Kids

Last Updated on Thursday, 7 April 2011 06:33 Written by Victoria Thursday, 7 April 2011 06:33

Today, I’ve been thinking about the next generation of handmade artists and how we can promote creativity in our own home without the confines of structured educational exercises. Here are some of my thoughts on crafting with kids.

Finding the ideal kind of project that can be done with children sometimes manages to stump even the most creative of parents. After all, sometimes the typical craft ideas that people are used to seeing detailed in magazines and portrayed in classrooms just aren’t the most compelling picks. And while it might be fun to make something out of paper mache or to get involved in the exciting world of active volcano models, most of the time, people are more interested in whether or not they can find something that will delight youngsters while also not being that difficult to set up. Fortunately, figuring out how to craft these kinds of projects is not as difficult as one might think, and getting things set up for the whole family is definitely a lot less stressful than one might think.

Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

The first step in successfully crafting a project for the whole family to enjoy together is identifying just how difficult one wants things to be, from amount of time things will require to the amount of supplies that need to be invested in. Fortunately, it’s a whole lot easier than people might realize to be able to figure out something that is slightly no mess and no fuss. For younger children who tend to require more supervision, going for something that is less messy is a far better idea, as it will mean that those in charge will not be cleaning things up indefinitely. And remember, just because you love fiddly projects that take hours to complete, it doesn’t mean youngsters will – think instant gratification and not too much precision.

Take Into Account Their Interests

When it comes to actually selecting the kind of projects that will keep children entertained, it also makes sense to be considering one’s own child and his or her particular interests. After all, if a child is more bookish, going for a project that is going to be more oriented towards sports is not going to fly quite as well as finding something that clicks more with one’s interests. So be keeping that in mind when making those kind of decisions, as it’s definitely a better way to handle making the best choice. Your child will be far more enthusiastic about making a train/ballerina/dinosaur themed project, even if it isn’t your cup of tea.

Don’t Be Too Rigid

No matter the age of the children with whom crafting is happening, it’s always good for parents to take a step back and allow the children to shine. Make it clear that there are a set of different rules that are worth following, but that being creative is definitely encouraged, and that following directions and finding a way to put one’s own spin on the process is a great idea. This might mean being very specific about putting a piece together but then decorating whatever is being built in a more freewheeling way. This is also a great way for parents to teach their children about the balance between being creative and following the steps at hand to get a great end result.

So when making plans to entertain the children with a craft project, it makes sense to go ahead and realize that focusing on interests and abilities are the two secret weapons to ensuring that all goes smoothly and that children are happy.

About the Author: Victoria Crowdell writes articles on family, home & garden and crafting – her passion is scented candles.

Artists Wanted for New Handmade Co-op In L.A.

Last Updated on Saturday, 5 February 2011 02:04 Written by marci siegel Saturday, 5 February 2011 02:04

Hi, I am opening a NEW HANDMADE co-op boutique in a very hip area of Los Feliz, CA. We are at the end  of lease negotiations for a 1200 sq. ft store that will be designed with a combination of vintage/modern and industrial.  I will be renting space to artists from $50 to $200 a month, plus 20 percent commision.  please contact me at coop56handmade@aol.com, if you think this could be a fit for you, along with links or photos of your work.  best wishes, Marci Siegel
p.s. I realize this post is brief, it is just an introduction for your consideration.  i have dealt with many etsy artists under hlegends and you are welcome to check my feedback or ask any of them about my business practices.

p.s. we are open to a trunk shows too!

A Book Review of Chained By Rebeca Mojica

Last Updated on Saturday, 11 December 2010 10:12 Written by Handmade Artists' Forum and Shop Sunday, 12 December 2010 12:00

Well our long time friend and member of the forum Rebeca Mojica,  from Blue Buddha Boutique,  is now a published author of what I found to be a  great book about chainmaille. We were lucky enough to get an advanced copy of  “Chained” so that we can give it a once over and make sure that Rebeca didn’t mess up! We’ll she did not disappoint, the first thing I found is that “Chained” starts with the basics and leaves no stone unturned. My wife Kimberly and  I have many other chainmaille books and tutorials that we have collected over the years while creating  jewelry for Chainmaille By MBOI, and the one thing they always forget is the basics. This book goes through the important stuff like how to open and close a jump ring. Simple right? Not so,if you don’t close a jump ring properly your piece will just look like crap for lack of better words. So the art of properly closing a jump ring is just critical if you want to learn how to weave chainmaille.

Rebeca says: ” I would love for my book to help elevate the standards of maille.  Chainmaille as a jewelry craft form is relatively new, so there are no strictly defined standards of what is considered technical precision like there are for other jewelry media.  I don’t expect beginners to be perfect, but I sometimes see people who consider themselves “experts” posting or publishing photographs of pieces with very poorly closed rings.  My guess is, a lot of people don’t think that it’s a big deal.  Or they’ve been taught by someone who has poor closures, and it never even occurred to them that seamless closures are an option. To me, though, having perfect closures and smooth, shiny rings are critical.  I hope that people flip through my book and see what a difference seamless closures make.  And then, I hope that maillers everywhere make it a point to always aim for perfectly closed rings.  Of course, there are plenty of maillers (especially ones who frequent online forums) that already do so.  You are my peeps — let’s elevate this artform together! ”

Chained also painstakingly  goes into details on various metals and how to care for them. This is so important, honestly, I wish that I had a reference book like this around when I started weaving. Rebeca takes you through years of her own trial and error and puts things in simple understandable terms. You may not think much of  it, but finding the right pair of pliers is huge. I personally have probably 20 pairs of pliers and only use 2, the book sends you to the right tools to start. I guess what I’m saying is “Chained” takes the guess work out of chainmaille for beginners and gives great tips for the more advanced chainmaillers out there.

The tutorials are set up from basic to advanced so that you can grow with the book. I don’t know how many people start doing chainmaille, buy a bunch of stuff and then give up. Chainmaille can be difficult that is why it it critical to start off slow with basic weaves and then move on to more difficult intricate patterns. You need to truly build your weaving skills, and “Chained ” walks you through the steps. Starting with simple Japanese weaves and then progressing on to more complex patterns.

The other critical thing I looked for while reviewing the book is ring size. As I’ve taken my own journey through the art of weaving chainmaille I’ve noticed patterns in English Units, Metric Units, AWG (American Wire Gage), SWG (Standard Wire Gage), all these nuances will affect your finished work. Blue Buddha takes the time to give you proper ring sizes as well as their metric conversions for each weave so that there is no guess work. This is a huge time saver, ring size is one the of the largest struggles you will find when you start weaving chainmaille and “Chained will lead you down the right path.

The book goes through Japanese Weaves, Byzantine Weaves, Helm Weaves, and what Rebeca calls Coiled Weaves. These various techniques will give you a good foundation for weaving chainmaille. I would of loved to see her move into some Perisan Weaves or Roundmaille variations, but there are so many weaves out there I’m sure she had to edit herself or the book would be 500 pounds. Maybe we’ll get a sequel one day, hint hint, if you are listening Rebeca.
Rebeca says:  “Heh, heh.  Hint Taken. You are not the first to suggest a Persian chapter.  I have already started to think about a second book, one that is tailored more toward Intermediate/Advanced Weavers.  Right now, Persian will likely be a chapter.  If not, I’ll probably develop some stand-alone PDFs for the Persian family of weaves.  And you’re right, there was a LOT that we couldn’t fit in Chained.  My original manuscript turned out to be 260 pages, so my editor had quite a lot of editing to do. An entire chapter (on Mobiusing) got cut, along with several projects from the other chapters.  Look for a supplemental PDF of “The Deleted Scenes” sometime in 2011 for these missing projects.”

One of my favorite aspects of the book is that she gives artists the right to use her designs to create jewelry for sale. Believe it not most of the  books out there, not just chainmaille, restrict the artist from selling the finished work created from the designs in the book. Sort of silly uh? Like there is a copyright police man out there searching the web for infringement. Well Rebeca, being a femailler and jewelry artist at heart, insisted to her publisher that this be waived and that artists would be free to sell their finished work. If your interested in an autographed copy, which I did, you can get one here “Chained” Autographed. Blue Buddha will donate $5 from the sale of every signed copy to Friends of Franklin Fine Arts Center