work « Only Craft – Craft Blog and Store

October 7, 2009

Scrapbooking – Themes

Filed under: Scrapbooking — Tags: baby, birthday, family, photos, plan, school, scrapbook, theme, work — @ 1:16 am

There are a number of ways you can approach scrapbooking themes just to mix things up a little. You have your standard approach to scrapbook pages in your family album. You can create personal scrapbooks that journal your life, a trip, a period in your life such as baby years, teen years, school or sports or a scrapbook of birthdays adding a page each year.

Themes like these can take a bit of work and some do require forethought and planning but what a wonderful gift of memories they create. Done correctly they will be a treasured memento or heirloom for generations to come.

The great thing is you don’t have to limit yourself to scrapbooking only in books. Keepsake boxes are great for baby memories they can be made from a simple wooden pencil holder, personalised and used to hold a few treasured trinkets.

A nice idea I heard once is to get a large suitable jar, box or container and decorate it with coloured paper, ribbons, photos or whatever suits. The idea is to fill it with positive messages or loving notes to yourself or family, and read one each day. Add photos of family members or special times.

Sometimes we can lose some of our creative inspiration for new ideas and ways to present all of our much loved photos but don’t worry when in doubt keep it simple, remember your theme and make a start.

Have a great day

Comments (0)

October 2, 2009

Drawing with Perspective

Filed under: drawing — Tags: draw, eye, imagine, perspective, vanishing, work — @ 5:58 am

Things appear to grow smaller and closer together as the distance from you gets greater. This is called perspective and it takes your drawing to what can be known as the vanishing point and in doing so creates depth.

Here is a little exercise that will give you a clear picture of how this will work when you are drawing.

Write the word P E R S P E C T I V E, with double space between each letter, draw a line two spaces below it, then place a dot on the line below the middle E. Join each letter to the dot, start with the E above the dot then follow on to each letter after that bring each line back to the dot use a ruler if you need to.

Now you have given the word some depth, this is what you create when you give a drawing perspective. It works with straight lines, with different shapes and tones or a combination of all of them.

So lets recap, perspective is about things appearing smaller and closer together towards a distant point, (vanishing point), or points along a line. The line is called the horizon it is where the sea meets the sky, it is also approximately the eye level of people standing or sitting at your level.

The horizon is actually the curve of the earth, it is as far as the eye can see and it is the best guide to use to get the right perspective in your drawings.

Keep Practicing, Keep Smiling

Comments (0)

July 13, 2009

Crochet – Know How

Filed under: Knitting — Tags: Crocheting, drawing, hook, pencil, stitch, work, yarn — @ 3:45 am

Holding The Work

All crochet stitches are based on the principle of drawing one hoop through another. The hook is held in the right hand. Left-handed people may find they can learn to crochet using their right hand.

Begin by making a slip loop at the end of the yarn.
Hold the hook in the right hand like a pencil. Put the hook through the loop and pull the yarn tight.
Wind the yarn round the little finger of the left hand across the palm and behind the forefinger.
Hold the loop at its base, close to the hook between the thumb and forefinger.

The Stitches

Chain – Take the hook under the yarn and then from the back over the top, hook the yarn and pull it through the hoop. This is described as ‘yarn round hook’. This makes one chain. Repeat moving your hold up the work as you go.
Foundation Chain – Crochet usually begins with a length of chain into which the first row of stitches is worked, this is called the foundation chain. The hook is inserted into the centre of the last chain stitch, there will be two threads above the hook and one below.
Turning Chain – Because crochet stitches are worked from the top down, chain are used to take the yarn up to the top of the work at the beginning of each row. These are called turning chain. The turning chain acts as the first stitch of the row.

Practice these stitches for a while, some more stitches will be introduced tomorrow.

Comments (0)