Easy kids project!

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Make your kids jump for joy when they help create their very own Precious Products project!

the following project materials list and instructions courtesy of Michaels Craft Stores.

Southern Handmade Gifts

When Cr8tive Living stumbled upon artist Meredith from Southern Handmade Gifts we knew we’d found a hidden treasure! The combination of unique crafts showcased within a tech-savvy site had us begging her to share tips with our readers.

Here are some of her favorites!

Crochet Tip ~ When purchasing yarn, make sure you have a reasonable, and by reasonable I mean one or two more skeins then you think you’ll need) to complete your project. Remember you can always eture unused yarn….but you can not always find more of the same dye lot! MAKE SURE you check the yarn “DYE LOT #”. This number is found on the skein wrapper. Some like certain RED HEART brands have “NO DYE LOT” meaning that all skeins are exactly the same shade. Others have dye lot 3…meaning all the skein with the same dye lot with match exactly. You may look and say “they look close enough” but TAKE it from me…..what looks right to you in a store will look totally different with crochet into a project…this is so important….solid colors could be just enough off that it looks like two pieces and in variegated yarn the way the colors change may be different…this may not seem like a big deal but take it from someone who has had to scrap more than one project because I did not buy enough of the same or did not check. this Blanket called Tequila Sunrise is a good example I had to buy many many skeins of the same dye lots to ensure that the colors where RIGHT ON.

Beading Tip~ Use good quality materials. I found when I first started beading that the saying “you get what you pay for” could not be more true. Now you can find deals..but you have to know you quality. For example a lower quality, all be it cheaper, beading wire will kink very easily. It would not probably make it through a nap with out getting kinks in it. You wan to get the best possible materials that you can find and afford…..and it will pay off with better quality, longer lasting and more durable handmade pieces. This Moonstone & Sodalite Necklace w/ Sterling ~Metaphysical Properties Healing & Stress Relief necklace here

is made with the most flexible wire I could fine, real gemstones, sterling silver and even sterling silver findings. Also because these gemstones have a little bit of weight to them I made sure I used wire strong enough…all wire should have a test pound weight and even recommended types of materials to use with them.

Last Tip ~ This I learned while building my site and it has been a total time saver…..Scan Your Jewelry instead of photographing. Granted this works way better on some pieces than other pieces but the ones it does work for are GREAT. Two tricks I learned (besides the fact that there are some great informative articles out there about it) is *Cover Scanner with dark blanket to block out light since it will the lid will not shut and * use a small ring box or I used a stack of post-it notes to prop lid to scanner open so it is not resting on jewelry and/or knock it out of place after you get it like you want it. Here is a great example of that a scanner can do Pink Leaves “Of Change” Necklace

I hope you enjoyed just these few quick tips and I look forward to hearing from you on my blog to Southern Handmade Gits

Meredith Crosby

craftyGAgal

Southern Handmade Gifts

Crafting Makes Me Happy

I’ve been having a couple of rough weeks. I’m not going to get into why it’s been rough, but I will say that crafts tend to be my saving grace. They allow me to create something beautiful while I’m in the midst of turmoil, pain, or just the chaos of daily life. There is something amazingly rewarding in looking at a project take shape right in your hands.

As many of you know who have been following along, I have been working on my biggest cross stitch project to date. I’ve decided to work on a couple smaller items so that I can have a sense of accomplishment (many crafters relate to this – it gets you motivated to tackle the bigger ones).

Having said that, let me tell you another project I picked up to take my mind off of things. I belong to a quilting guild in North Royalton called Keep Us In Stitches. One of the Challenges that you are given when you join is to make your own name tag. I’ve decided to combine cross stitch and quilting into mine. I finished the cross stitch piece this week and I will be quilting on a border very soon. I designed this myself (a major first for me). It’s small, but I love it. It speaks to my heritage and personality.

My Favorite Organizational Accessory

I love shoeboxes. What? That’s not an accessory? Sure it is, especially when you jazz it up a bit. Let me explain. I see infinite possibilities with shoeboxes, especially when it comes to organizing your craft supplies. They come in all kinds of shapes and sizes (especially when you have children who need back to school shoes) and you can get two boxes in one if they’re the type that have lids the same size as the box.

There are so many options with these. I love that the cardboard tends to be thinner so you can cut it up if you need to and fit it to your needs. Cut holes in the side and feed your ribbon through to have easy access to the stuff you use most. Store samples of card fronts and other smaller items in them. Use cardboard dividers to create compartments for all those tiny items that can get lost easily. You can also decorate them to make them “prettier” if you will have them out where people can see them. My favorite thing to decorate them with?

Wrapping paper!

I buy the non-holiday specific paper without the “happy birthday” and “merry Christmas” messages and use those to make my shoeboxes look a bit more festive or match the decor of my craft room. You can, of course, also use plain brown paper and scrap it up with different embellishments if you want to go crazy. Once you start thinking outside the box with these (forgive the pun) you’ll be amazed at how much you can get accomplished in terms of your organizational projects.