First post...!

I've decided to keep a blog of my crafty exploits, partly to keep track of new things I learn and also as a place to store all the ideas that are currently jostling for space in my head and occasionally (often!) falling out and getting lost.


There are lots of crafts that I love.... jewellery making, sewing, kirigami, origami, kumihimo, weaving... . Not knitting though, unfortunately. Just don't seem to be able to get the hang of it, and always end up with a hole-y triangle-shaped piece.


There are a few Japanese crafts in that list (I also love Japan :) ) - origami is well-known; kirigami is its cousin, and involves cutting rather than folding of paper (think Christmas snowflakes you made when you were wee - ^^ ). Kumihimo is traditional Japanese braiding, which makes braids of various shapes, and whatever length you like. I braid on a frame called a 'marudai', with various numbers of bobbins (I think I'll go into kumihimo in more detail in another post).


My main problem is that I'm always getting my head turned by new ideas and crafts, so I think I hope that this blog will help me keep track of those ideas and hopefully allow me to come back to them all at some point. I have a wee shop on Etsy where I sell some of the things I have made in the past. I'd really like to decide on one craft in particular to focus on, and then specialise in that area.


Recently I've been doing mostly kumihimo - I've found some amazing thread sellers on Etsy (Sassalynne, Therainbowgirl) who dye their own threads and make thread selections which are perfect for making beautiful braids. I'm going on a metalsmithing summer school next month at Leith School of Art (very exciting!) where I hope to learn some techniques that will somehow let me combine the braids with metal to make jewellery pieces.


The most exciting crafty thing though is my new purchase of yesterday - a BabyLock Embellisher :D. It's amazing!! It looks like a sewing machine, but there is no thread or bobbin - just several barbed needles (mine has 7). It's basically a needle-felting machine, but it's so much fun! I've spent the whole weekend playing with it :D.

Anyway, more on all these things soon... need to go and watch 'Dexter'!

Bye!