Crafts thread

[in_the_dark]

i'm addicted to making cards now lol

i have near 100 cards and when my mom opens her shop in hastings my cards will be for sale in that shop.. it will be great

[sarahh]

Wow nearly 100 cards you have been really busy.

Sarah x

[tireesix]

Ok, I use 8 gauge and I too find it really difficult because sometimes I just do not feel strong enough lolol.

I recently bought some stuff called Tool Magic, do not know if you have heard of it........ Anyhoo, you dip your tools in and leave it to dry. It leaves a rubbery film over the tools (you only dip it up to the join bit, well a bit before), apart from helping with the grip it also helps reduce any marring of the silver.

Thankyou, it makes me feel good knowing people like it lol. I have just bought some silver soldering bits and pieces, just waiting on a tumbler so I can finish the jewellery off. I have also become fascinated by the idea of making PMC jewellery (Precious Metal Clay, you can get a beginners kit, looks really good, check out firemountaingems.com and look for the PMC link) and making Fimo beads etc.........

I am thinking of doing various projects, I am looking into bead weaving bags and purses and maybe a touch of loom weaving with beads. I never knew just how much there is out there to try and I really am surprised just how much I enjoy it!!!!!!!!!!!

I would love to do cards, I might just have a go at some point!

[in_the_dark]

sarahh yeah i hve been busy about 4-5 cards a day sometimes and all my own designs lol

best place to find cheap plase to find stuff to use for cards is poundland. look around and u will find them and in some plces that sell the same stuff its about 3-4 quid. also stationary box and all other stationary places have a look.

its a suprise i found them myself lol

[charlotte]

Wow You're All So Talented! I Wish I Could Make Some Of The Stuff You Guys Have.

I Tried Knitting But I Keep Going Wrong And Messing It Up So I Gave Up, Plus My Hands Really Hurt After About 3 Minutes I'd Love To Make Jewellery But I Really Don't Know How To.

Does Anyone Have Any Ideas Of Easyish Things I Could Try Making?

[vickers]

Hi Charlotte,

You can get Fimo soft jewellery kits that contain everything you need to be able to make a necklace, ring and/or earrings. Sculpey also do a stone effect clay in a good jewellery set. IMO sculpey is easier on the hands. Try Googling sculpey jewellery it should give you lots of inspiration.

Any questions re polymer clay please don't hesitate to ask, I'm addicted to the stuff, it's so versatile it's really great.

Vickers:- Who's off to bake some new pendants that were made last night and to get her daily clay fix.

[antimatter]

I was feeling a bit grumpy today because I wanted to try to make something for my little one to play with which involved making fairly accurate straight cuts in some thin plastic (a flexible cutting board). The problem was that trying to use an x-acto knife with any force was excruciating for my fingers/hand/wrist.

Gripe...gripe...moan...idea

A wood chisel and mallet is sufficient to make such a cut...yay! I just have to remember to have a soft enough surface underneath not to damage the edge on the chisel. I can't believe it took so long for me to realize that this was a way easier option for my hands (I should have remembered that the action is reasonably easy considering I used to do leatherwork ).

...antimatter

[antimatter]

Do any of you do this?

I was hand sewing something last night (replacing a zipper), something I hadn't done in ages, and I realized there was quite a bit of tension and pain in my left hand (I am right handed). I noticed that my little finger on that hand was going into a strange position, and I couldn't avoid it.

For some reason, my little finger was forming itself into a hook, and bending backwards at the base joint while I was sewing (not quite 90 degrees, but quite far). It was causing pain at the wrist (near end of ulna?).

I tried wrapping the next finger over it to keep it from hooking, but that was uncomfortable. I tried wearing a rollerblade wrist guard, that did not stop the finger from hooking, but it did keep the pain from travelling to the wrist. I tried tucking the hooked finger into the wrist guard to keep it from bending backwards, but somehow that transferred pain to my index finger

I think that this may be why crocheting got too painful a number of years ago, but I had not paid attention to what my fingers were doing at the time (I used to crochet with thread and a 0.6 mm hook).

Do you have any idea why this is happening? Does this happen just because the finger is capable of doing it? Should I be able to consciously relax the finger if I trained my mind appropriately? Would splinting it to the next finger help? Please help me!

...antimatter

[nickb]

Sorry I have no help-just wanted to let you know I'd read and not ignored you.
I do/have done alot of different crafts and I find it soo hard to work in supports and splints

Had to cut some stiff card for the cover of a circle journal yesterday-took me 45 minutes and I ached like hell after
I think my blade was a little blunt which didn't help so i've been sensible and ordered some more-despite my self imposed ban on craft spending

I'm going to Olympia next week with mum to a crfat show and I have birthday money to spend -just hope I cope with the tube and travelling ok

[JazzyJaz]

antimatter

I don't do much in the way of crafts (would like to but struggle too much with the combination of HMS/EDS/CFS/depression etc.) but I would like to say that my little fingers do that as well. Unfortunately I haven't found any solution so I can't help you, but they have been doing it as long as I can remember so I've just had to learn to live with it, although I can't use my little fingers for anything now.

Just to let you know you're not the only one!

[antimatter]

Thanks for the replies guys, it's nice to know that i am not the only one with the posessed little finger (probably good that it's not the middle one, or I could get in lots of trouble ).

Nickb, is a craft show for seeing and buying other people's crafts, or is it to buy interesting supplies for doing your own? Either way, I hope you have fun there.

I don't do much in the way of crafts nowadays either. Mostly, I'm fighting with myself trying to determine which task is most worth spending energy on, and I end up spending most of the energy trying to figure out what to do .

In terms of crafts (actually in terms of everything), I always want to figure out the optimal way of doing something before committing myself to completing it, so pretty much everything remains half finished, or to save space, never started. That is why it is soooo frustrating when I finally convince my mind to finish something and my body's quirks get in the way of completing it.

At least I did manage to make a hanging book rack for the little one a few months ago with custom-sized pockets for strange-sized books.

...antimatter

[Jess]

Anti-matter & Jazzy Jaz

I have the same thinggoing on withmy left little finger it curls up and does nothing except cause me pain when I do my cross stich.
God knows why though!
Jessie

[Sez]

All the crafty things you've all been up to look incredible!
I've started doing artwork on the PC until my studio is finished (we've just finished decorating the room I will be using, and still need to organise the furniture, move all the "junk" back in, and then sort me out a comfy chair and desk to work at), and wanted to share this piece with you.

Some of you may remember that my mini-lop bun, Bramble, was stolen last September and I have spent the last six months trying to track her down, with no success . I decided that the time has come to let her go, and pray that she has either found a loving family, or has found peace at the Rainbow Bridge. This was one of my first attempts at putting something together on the computer.

Bramble

[nickb]

Thats beautiful Sez

[ombili]

About the little finger:

It's pretty common for this to occur. I will tell you an exercise I give beginning piano students, and you can try it; it might help. As always, the caveat applies that you might check this with your doctor before trying it at home.

exercise #1 (my favorite):
Press all five fingers down on something. Could be your lap, a table, or whatever. Now, one at a time, while still holding down the other four fingers, tap each finger against the thing you're holding down on several times.

the next level is to alternate between two fingers while still holding down the rest; if you number your fingers 1-5, you'd do
1-2
1-3
1-4
1-5
2-3
2-4
2-5
3-4
3-5
4-5
That last one is by far the hardest.

Exercise #2:
Pretend you're playing the piano on a desk or table, and imagine that you're playing scales with your fingers. Move your hands right to left as though you were playing, but make sure your little finger drags along as you go.

I hope these help. I still find myself doing the curled pinky thing once in a while, but I do find that piano playing and these exercises can help out quite a bit.

As for crafts, I have been quilting, and last weekend I built a new dining table. Yay. The quilting isn't as easy as it used to be, but aside from hammering my fingers a couple of times (ow) the table wasn't too trying.