Craft This!

Photo Gallery Up!

2005-09-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

The Photo Gallery is now up for the first Craft This! project. I loved watching the photos come in! You gals are awesome and inspiring. Come check out the amazing creations!!

If your photo is not up, I have not yet received it. I'll post them as soon as I do!

October Project!

2005-08-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

The next project will be for the month of October. Lori will be hosting! (Thank you, Lori!!!) If you would like to participate, please email Lori at: lorielin@gmail.com . She would prefer to use Paypal, so please send your payment of $15 directly to her using the same email address. When you send your payment, please remember to include your mailing address and web/blog URL.

The deadline to get your money to Lori is September 15th. You should receive your materials by October 1st. Photos of your finished projects should be emailed to: CraftThis@gmail.com by October 31 to be included in the gallery.

Happy Crafting!

I'm Back!

2005-08-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

Okay so I have had no car and no computer for a couple weeks. I'm back online and want to apologize for keeping everyone hanging. It is too late to set up a challenge for September, so I will be passing the torch and letting someone else host the project for October. Details will follow soon.

There's one more week left to get your August project done! Be sure to email me a photo of your finished work so I can add it to the gallery!

And I want to thank everyone who emailed me with kind words during this challenging time for me! Every single thought truly meant a great deal to me, thank you.

Passing The Torch

2005-08-04T06:35:00.000-07:00

I want to thank everyone who has contacted me to join the September project. I have been weighing it over in my mind, considering my other responsibilities. I was trying to decide whether I had the time to continue this as a monthly project. Then yesterday the decision was made for me.

I was driving on the freeway with my three children and my hood popped up and crashed into my windshield. There was glass everywhere, including the top of my baby girl's head. Luckily I was able to veer to the right without anyone crashing into me. I could not see a thing in front of me. Thank God none of my children were harmed. We were very lucky. However, now I do not have a car. Being a single mom, this is a pretty huge upset. So since I now have to figure out a way just to get our groceries, I'm afraid I will not be able to go shopping for future Craft This! projects.

If anyone would like to take over, please let me know. I will send you the contact information of those interested in the next project. Perhaps someone who would be willing to take Paypal, to make it easier for those participating? Maybe it can be a rotating thing, someone taking a turn hosting the project each month? I don't know. Let me know what you think.

In any event, thank you for everyone who participated in the first project. I am still looking forward to displaying everyone's finished works at the end of this month!

Materials Sent!

2005-07-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

Update: Okay, the materials are in the mail! Whew! I will probably post a photo of the materials, but I want to wait until everyone receives them first, so it can be a surprise. I included some unique fabric, two choices of ribbon, and instead of buttons I chose an accessory that was a little more interesting (and perhaps more of a challenge). I hope everyone has fun with the project!

~~~~~~~~

I just wanted to post a brief update. I've been super busy, but the materials for the August project have been purchased and divided. I just need to get them into envelopes, address them and send them out (hopefully tomorrow!) I'll update here again once they have been mailed out.

On the sidebar, I have posted the list of August participants. Please feel free to take the Craft This! logo (located above the list) for your blog if you'd like to link back here.

August Project Deadline Now Closed

2005-07-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

The deadline has now passed to get your money out in the mail for the first project. If your money is still on its way, I will email you when I have received it.

If you missed the deadline, I'm sorry and I hope to see you join us for the next project! (Payments for the September project must be received by August 15.)

Thanks to everyone for their enthusiasm and support on this idea! I'm really excited to get the materials out to you and see everyone's creative masterpieces!!

Deadline Approaching!

2005-07-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder to anyone interested in participating in the first Craft This! project...the deadline to get your money to me is July 20th! If you haven't already contacted me for my mailing address, email me at: CraftThis (at) gmail (dot) com .

I'm excited to get this project started!!

Details

2005-07-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Okay so here is what I have organized in my scattered brain so far:

Cost
$15. I was trying to decide between $10 and $20, so I chose $15. After the first project, I will ask everyone whether they want to keep it at that amount, or go lower or higher.

Payment
Cash. Cash??? Yeah, cash. I am boycotting Paypal and refuse to open another account with them. I am a busy single homeschooling mama to three kids aged 5 and under and don't have the time to do the whole check cashing thing...waiting for them to clear...paying a $20 fee if they don't clear...etc. etc. I do believe cash is still excepted methods of payment, at least for the next few years or so. I understand that sending cash is risky for two reasons. 1) Most of you don't know me, and therefore have no reason to trust that I won't take your $15 and run off to the Cayman Islands, and 2) The USPS has been known to lose an envelope or two. For these reasons, I highly recommend you insure your envelope, and I am willing to eat that cost. I think it's like a dollar. So if you are sending an insured envelope, stick $14 inside instead of $15. (And I don't know if the USPS will insure cash, so you may wanna say it's a gift certificate inside or some such thing.)

Deadlines
It appears that the first project will be for August. I'd like to get materials to everyone by August 1st, or soon thereafter, so you have the full month to work on it. So I'd like to receive all monies by July 20th. In the future, I'd like the payment deadline to be by the 15th, just so I am not racing around like a mad woman. I need the time to shop, organize and mail out the packages.

The deadline to have your finished project will be the end of the month. So August 31 is the first project deadline. When you have finished your masterpiece, please email me a photo of your finished project. I will post a gallery to my blog to display everyone's works of art!

Overseas Participants
I will have to look into the extra postage costs, as well as how much longer the mail will take. (If you are overseas and would like to look into this for me, that'd be fabulous!)

How to Sign Up
If you would like to participate, please email me at CraftThis(at)gmail(dot)com. (I know that's annoying, but I type it out this way to avoid being spammed like crazy.) I don't want to publish my mailing address on the internet, so when you email me I will forward my address to you. Please don't forget to include your mailing address in your envelope.

Oh, and if you have a blog or website, I'd love to include your link on my sidebar under a list of participants! So if you'd like, include your URL with your address in your envelope. When you see your link posted, you will know I have received your money.

Anything else?
I'm sure I'm leaving something out. If you have any more questions, please let me know!!

The Beginning

2005-06-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

So here are my first thoughts on this project, taken from a post I wrote on my other blog:

I was thinking of starting a new craft blog, if I could find enough people interested. I had an idea where everyone would be given the same few materials, and would have to create something using those materials. For example, if I sent everyone the exact same:

piece of fabric
couple of buttons
length of ribbon

Then...everyone would have to create something with those items. Be it a piece of clothing, a bag, a stuffed animal, a frame, etc. I think it would be interesting to see how different minds work, given the same materials.

There would be no rules on what you could make, as long as you used the enclosed materials. Other materials can be incorporated into the project, but the materials you receive cannot be omitted, though (obviously) a length of ribbon or swatch of fabric may be cropped.

Those interested would be asked to contribute a small fee to participate, to cover materials and postage, as I am not a philanthropist, and cannot afford to buy materials for everyone!

If I'm the only one who thinks this is a cool idea, then it probably wouldn't be the first time. But if I can get a handful of participants, I'll be really jazzed!!

One last note...I had intended this to be a craft project for adults/moms, but if I get more interest in it being a project for kids, we can go that route also!

Please feel free to pass this post along to any crafters you know and love!