Intro - m_findlow

[m_findlow]

Hi there!

There aren't many crafts I haven't had a go at, but when it comes to knitting I'm positively rubbish. I wish I could because I would knit myself all kinds of things but there's just something about me and knitting needles that aren't friends. I can crochet but just don't have the patience for it.
Mostly my crafting these days (a term I use loosely given how little I've done) is cross stitch, beaded jewellery and cardmaking. I have more unused jewellery and cards than anyone should ever have, and never got around to selling any of it. I also had a few little wooden kits for things like storage boxes to paint up and cover with scrapbooking papers. I only ever finished one.
I've also dabbled in washipaper ceramic decoupage but it's hard to find plaster or white ceramic figures/ornaments. I've done a seahorse, some cute little unicorns and a set of three Christmas papered reindeer. Once they're lacquered they're quite beautiful. If I could find bauble shaped ones I'd go to town.
Crafting has been with me since I was a kid because I had to spend long days amusing myself in the tea room at my parents business all weekends of the year. Mum took me to my first craft show when I was about ten and we did that every year for about twenty years, always buying more and more stuff. She was, and still is, a knitter, and handmade all my school concert costumes including all the handstitched beadwork (which must have taken her bloody ages!). Knitting was not genetically passed on, but mum always says cross stitch is too hard for her, so I guess that makes us even. When I was little she used to make tissue box covers out of cardboard and cover them in fabric, lace and fabric flowers but no one really bought them when she had a market stall. We still have them on all our tissue boxes around the house, and some she made in more recent years that were mdf boxes painted and using wallpaper strips.
In short, there's not much we won't have a go at.

Comments

[but_can_i_be_trusted]

there's just something about me and knitting needles that aren't friends

Yep, sounds like me, lol! ^.^ Mom has told me more than once that knitting is a cinch, but I know what my hands can do. And my hands tell me that I'd never pull it off.

some cute little unicorns

[Insert me squeeing here] :D

[m_findlow]

I wish I knew where they were and I'd send you a picture!

[badly_knitted]

You certainly like variety!

Some crafts just don't suit some people. My mum used to sew clothes for me and my sister, but aside from sewing on buttons I'm completely hopeless. Knitting needles don't like you but sewing machines hate me. In sewing classes at school, the sewing machines boke down every time I touched them. I was always way behind with whatever project we were working on.

Aren't mums amazing? I still have clothes my mum made me, mostly blouses.

The washipaper decoupage sounds fascinating, I've never heard of that before.

Like you I have a ton of jewellery I've made, mostly earrings, and no clue what to do with them all. Cards I usually make with recipients in mind so I don't have so many of those.

[m_findlow]

I wasn't sure what else to call it. Basically it's a bit like paper mache, only with the washi fabric type paper. You just tear it up into little bits and glue it onto a white ceramic and it sort of forms a regular pattern all over. Then you lacquer it. It looks a bit like this vase https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/700353280/decoupage-on-glass-vase

And yeah, craft was all I did before ptsd and depression which lead me into writing instead.

[badly_knitted]

That's pretty! I can only imagine what your unicorns might look like. It's a shame it's so hard to find suitable ceramic figurines to use as a base. Could you do plain vases though?

I used to do way more craft when I was younger, but when I was at my worst with depression I knitted a lot. It gave me something to do with my hands. This was back before I had a computer, before they were even that common, and I had no idea fanfic was a thing back then, so I read and I knitted so I didn't have to think.

[nagi_schwarz]

One of my former coworkers did cross stitch, and it looked amazing, so go you. Pretty much none of my mother’s specific crafty skills passed on to me, but I think her love of crafting in general is what I did get. The washipaper decoupage sounds lovely. :)

[smallhobbit]

I do enjoy cross stitch, and I'm one of the knitters, but I think it's great that we all do different crafts and gain enjoyment from them.

[froodle]

I love those wooden kits! I got an advent calendar one shaped like a pile of presents and... Utterly failed to finish it, tbh, but they're still great and I'd love to try and pick it up again one day!