Check-In Post - January 2nd 2025

[badly_knitted]

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.


This Week's Question: If you're making any, what are your crafting resolutions for 2025?


If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!

Comments

[badly_knitted]

I had my Cuttlebug out this afternoon, playing with some of my new cutting dies and a stack of old Christmas cards. It was fun, and I only had one disaster when the card and the die slipped out of alignment. A few slight deviations from perfect, but nothing too serious. Positioning of the die does tend to matter more when cutting a section from a picture though.

[peaceful_sands]

Sounds like you mostly had fun - do you have a plan for what you have cut? I'm going to have to go and look up exactly what a Cuttlebug is (I have a picture in my mind of what it does and what it looks like but I think the 'what it looks like' may be more bug like than reality!)

[badly_knitted]

Most of my dies are good for making frames I can use around my stitching, and the Christmas card bits are also good to use in making new cards, so that will be their main uses. I made some Christmas card before Christmas, using die cut squares to back some ready-made printed toppers, so I might do some more of those later in the year.

The Cuttlebug does look a bit buglike, when the sides are lowered like a pair of wings to form the platform. It's a new little die cutting machine, although it doesn't take the full width of A4 card, That's probably the only real downside. I'm having fun with it now I have a better selection of dies. Still figuring out how to separate the more intricate cutting dies from the cut pieces of card though, especially with some of the Christmas tree dies.

[wiseheart]

Thanks for explaining what a Cuttlebug is. I was wondering but didn't want to look like a total ignorant and ask. I'm asking too many stupid questions already. *g*

[badly_knitted]

You should have asked. I sometimes forget that not everyone knows about die cutting machines. There are videos on youtube, if you want to see what they're like.

[yarnofariadne]

It sounds like a mostly successful afternoon! I hope you enjoyed it.

[badly_knitted]

I did. I wish I had more room to set things out, but I got quite a bit of cutting done. Still haven't tried all the cutting dies!

[spiralicious]

That sounds like a fun afternoon! And hurray for only 1 disaster!

[badly_knitted]

Thank you! Even the disaster might just be salvageable with some careful snipping.

[spiralicious]

Nice

Happy New Year to all!

[peaceful_sands]

I'm going to try to be a bit more present when I can and also do more crafting. Life took a bit of a sideways step last year and left me out of sorts for staying on top of things I enjoy and struggling to keep up with people into the bargain. I'm not sure I'm going to get everything together and back in line but I'm going to try and so hope you'll all forgive me both for the absence and lack of participation for good portions of last year and for when I slip up this year (it's probably going to be inevitable that I don't manage to stay on track all the time).

In the run up to Christmas, I have started crafting again doing some scratch art - they often end up looking more impressive than I hope (and certainly then my own personal art talents should permit) but they are a bit messy and so I have to be in the mood to be able to tolerate the scratchings.

In the aftermath of Christmas, I've picked up a Diamond Art project - a set of Christmas cards - the plan is to try and get the set of 12 done before I put all the Christmas things away which will mean I can pack the finished cards in with the box of cards ready to be sent next year. Previous experience tells me that I'll lose the finished pieces otherwise (I cross-stitched some Christmas cards in 2023 that I still haven't found! Goodness only knows what 'safe place' I found to store them in!).

I am trying to decide whether to set myself a new set of 101 goals but if I do, then I'm pretty sure that reading and crafting should feature.

Re: Happy New Year to all!

[badly_knitted]

Yay! Welcome back! And there is absolutely NO pressure here, never has been and never will be. People are free to come and go as life allows, or doesn't. You don't even need to have crafting to report in order to join in, you're just as welcome to hang out and chat to other members. This is a place of 'Do what you can when you can and don't worry about it the rest of the time'.

I remember the do it yourself scratch art from when I was a kid, a lot of work with wax crayons and unimpressive results. I'm sure the proper kits work a lot better. The Christmas card set sounds like it will be fun, if messy, to do, so good luck with that, and with not losing the finished pieces. I was looking for something a few days ago and found some card toppers I'd been making years ago, so there's still a chance your cross stitched pieces will show up when you least expect it.

Personally, I always think that reading and crafting should be included in any list of goals. Everyone needs to make some time and room in their lives for things they enjoy.]

Happy New Year, I hope 2025 will be a better year for you!

Re: Happy New Year to all!

[peaceful_sands]

The scratch art kits are a lot easier to do than the wax crayons attempts that I also did as a kid. I was given a kit a couple of Christmases ago and liked the end results so bought myself a set of postcards which are manageable - can get through one or sometimes two if I do a longer session.

I'll try to take a few photos and post in the next few days either the scratch art or the diamond art - or maybe even both. There's not a lot of 'talent' involved, it's more about patience and persistence but they do look okay when I'm done and I'm counting that as a win (much like doing a jigsaw which I also enjoy when the time is right).

I plan to get back into either some cross-stitch or some crochet eventually - having a few eye problems at the moment that make the stitching a bit of a strain but I really do need to start making an indent in the number of TBD projects I have piled up/stored in one place or another.

Re: Happy New Year to all!

[badly_knitted]

Looking forward to seeing photos of whatever, whenever you have the chance *grins* Always happy to see whatever anyone is working on!

I love jigsaws! (I'm doing online ones. I can't lose the pieces, which is helpful!)

Hope your eye issues clear up soon so that you can stitch. I have my own pile of projects prepped and ready (only small pieces for cards) and made good progress with some last summer, but the light isn't good enough in winter.) There are always so many exciting projects, but there never seems to be enough time, does there?

Re: Happy New Year to all!

[wiseheart]

Welcome back and Happy New Year to you, too!

Scratch art sounds interesting, I've never tried that one. I hope you'll be less overwhelmed with, well, life this year. :)

Re: Happy New Year to all!

[yarnofariadne]

I'm sorry life was so rough on you last year, and I hope this year is kinder to you. Best of luck with the Diamond Art project!

Re: Happy New Year to all!

[spiralicious]

Welcome back! Good luck with your diamond art cards.

[yarnofariadne]

Finished row 84 on the blanket!

[peaceful_sands]

Well done!

[badly_knitted]

Woooo! *twirls you*

[spiralicious]

Well done!

[wiseheart]

I worked a bit on the head of the second rag doll. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted (most likely the felt was too thick for the double layer), but it's... acceptable. And the doll now even has flower-shaped earrings like a proper girl. Even though her head is still detached. *g*

[badly_knitted]

Oh, very stylish!

That's the trouble with felt. Sometimes the thickness makes it difficult to work with.

[spiralicious]

Wonderful!

(The last bit instantly brought me back to a scary story we read in elementary school about a girl who's head was held on with a ribbon around her neck.)

[jasleh]

I've reached the first bit of colorwork on my blanket, and am faced with the fact that mosaic crochet works much better in the round lol

ah well, I think it'll still work well enough

[badly_knitted]

Hopefully it will give a pretty effect anyway.

[spiralicious]

Good luck!

[yarnandglue]

This is not a crafting update in the strictest sense, but I cleaned up a vintage Wilkins puppet!

https://yarnandglue.dreamwidth.org/1051.html

[badly_knitted]

Wonderful!

[spiralicious]

Well done!

[yarnandglue]

Thank you!

Okay ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Here are my Goals for 2025. A few are crafting goals, like the hippie strand I need to assemble. Not sure where went with the parts I ordered, though -- neither of the packages have arrived, and all my other stuff has from holiday shopping. :/

Also, goals_on_dw has a Signup Post: Arts and Crafts Challenges in 2025 if anyone is interested in some inspiration.

Re: Okay ...

[badly_knitted]

That is a lot of goals, and all very organised! Good luck with them. It's a good thing you have all year to get them all done, I think you'll need it.

Re: Okay ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

1) I don't usually complete all of them, but with luck I come close. I like a target-rich environment.

2) I learned to spread out the goals so all my activity is not in December-January. The seasonal goals have been a big success.

3) I'm currently debating whether to break down the current spread into separate categories to make them easier to find, like I did with Seasonal Goals.

4) This spread is the result of 17+ years of trial and error. I'm still finding new things to try!

Re: Okay ...

[badly_knitted]

I can only admire your organisational skills! I seem to get less organised the older I get *grins*

Re: Okay ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

It helps that I've found ways to make it more efficient and effective over the years.

Re: Okay ...

[badly_knitted]

Good for you!

Re: Okay ...

[spiralicious]

*\o/*

I hope the package make an appearance.

[nagi_schwarz]

Hi! I haven't checked in in ages. But I am still here and still crafting! Goals this year are mostly presents for friends. Not sure I'll keep up with the stained glass I learned last year but I think I will keep up with the book-binding this year.

[spiralicious]

Glad to see you. Good luck with your goals!

[badly_knitted]

Good luck in your goals! May you bind many books ;)

[spiralicious]

I sort of did the sketchbook exercise today. It's supposed to be masking tape off the edges of your sketchbook and a small place where you want the title. Then you add colored blobbies to the whole thing using wet on wet watercolor technique. When it's dry, you doodle around the blobbies with a pen, remove the tape, and label it something like "2025 sketchbook".

As part of using up materials I have on hand, I'm using a sketchbook that I drew bears on the first 2 pages in 2017, then never used it again. It is not really meant for wet medium, but I know how to work with that. The problem is, I remembered to put a piece of wax paper between the page I was working on and the rest of the sketchbook, but I accidentally missed a page and everything I painted predictedly bled through to it. I have got them separated so they don't dry stuck together. The wax paper did work protecting the rest though.

It's still very wet, so I haven't done the pen but yet.

My craft resolutions are pretty much the same as last year - work on using up what I have, but I am also trying to finish knitting through the knitting for dummies book, and a few other projects I can't actually talk about yet.

[badly_knitted]

Heeee! I would love to see the result of your doodling around your blobbies when everything is dry enough for doodling! Maybe you can find a way decorate the page you bled through to and make the bleed-through work in a more positive fashion...

Good luck with using up supplies and knitting!

[spiralicious]

Thanks. I've been working on doodling around the blobbies on the page that was bled through on as well and am contemplating using it for the base of a collage, but we shall see.

Thanks!

[badly_knitted]

Doodling blobbies sounds fun but a bit naughty... or maybe that's just me...

[spiralicious]

LOL, definitely sounds naughty.