News + Skull Craft Flickr Group

I had grand plans for this blog, but they have been put on hold temporarily.

I have been working on my friend's store BlacksheepCreations. I have been listing some items in her store, but we plan to have an official merge of our creative talents very shortly. Subsequently, I've been a bit wrapped up in new logo designs, bios, site design, and other bits and pieces that life sometimes throws you.

Also, I am having a bit of anxiety about my first time really writing since my days at the high school paper :P

Anyhow, I'll be back soon with a tutorial.

In the meantime, check out the Flickr group I made celebrating crafted skulls.
Skull Crafts

A Bedtime Story

Once upon a time, a slightly morbid girl decided that she wanted an easy way to store, organize, and transport her crochet hooks. She was getting tired of not knowing where her 5.5 mm hook was, or wondering if she even had the 9 mm hook required for that lovely scarf.


The girl decided that a hook roll would be a great solution. So, without a pattern or tutorial, she made one out of some wonderful green leopard print cotton and some of that nice green silk that she got a whole bolt of at the thrift store for $7.99.

While her new hook roll did the trick, sort of, it was not too pretty to look at. The girl was never a fan of measuring twice, or really thinking projects through before starting. Thus, the part that folds over bulged, and the lining was longer than the outer fabric. For some strange reason, perhaps because she used the silk as the liner, her hooks fell out easily. Or maybe it was because she did not make any slots that were slimmer, for her teeny tiny hooks.

After settling for her sad little hook roll for months, she got fed up and searched a magical place called The Internet for suitable instruction for a hook roll. Most of what The Internet had to offer was a bit too complicated for her tastes. The girl loved simplicity, you see. So, the girl decided to wing it again.

Unfortunately, the girl had very limited crafting room. She also would misplace things. A lot. This girl also hated ironing. So, the girl sat on her couch and wrestled with wrinkly fabric, desperately trying to cut pieces of similar sizes. After a few hours of thinking, trimming, improper language, more trimming, more improper language, and some creative problem solving, she finally had a hook roll that she could be proud of. If only she'd found a suitable tutorial, and hadn't lost her measuring tape, she knew that the project time would have been much less.


Two days later, the girl received her April 2009 issue of Crafts 'n Things. What did she find on page 116? A how-to for a pencil roll that would have been perfect for a hook roll. Of course.

Introduction

I started crafting at the age of six when Mom handed me a piece of paper with a picture drawn on it, a darning needle, and some yarn. Sixteen years later, I'm still crafting up a storm. Like a lot of crafty people, I dabble in many different types of crafts and usually have multiple projects going on at the same time. In general, if I can afford the basic tools and have access to basic instruction, I'm going to try my hand at it.

However, I also have a great love for horror movies, bizarre cartoons, fast and heavy music, video games, and comic books. Above all, I enjoy combining any of the aforementioned things with my crafting. Nothing beats using my decoupage skills to plaster my coffee table with skulls, stenciling techniques to make my own band shirts, or my embroidery prowess to add my favorite horror movie quotes to my bath towels.

I hope to use this blog to help other people who enjoy these kinds of 'alternative' crafts find resources and inspiration for their own crafty, slightly unusual, endeavors.

You'll be able to find tutorials, links to other craft blogs, crafty websites, inspiration, and showcases, all with an alternative edge.