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We had tons of fun all October long - wrapping up the Homecoming Mum season, starting fall and winter craft projects, receiving reader submissions for our "kid-friendly craft" icon and trying to help other crafters wherever we could.

I’m always a bit sad when Homecoming Mum corsage season comes to a close.

Even though it’s over for this year, I thought you would enjoy the last three new HMC articles we put up during October: one features a brand new love chain weave, one is my tongue-in-cheek "Ten Commandants for Homecoming Mums"; and the third is a fun thread of reader feedback.

We also had some really cute and clever reader submissions to name the little "kid friendly craft" icon to indicate projects which are suitable for kids and/or teens.

My four faves were:

• Kiddo for "kids can do" - submitted by Dianne;
• Victoria - submitted by Jacqueline, sounds very empowering and I like that idea for kids - they need to believe in themselves and their abilities - whether they be athletic, intellectual and/or artistic;
• Miss SmArty, a combo of smart and arty - submitted by Lorraine; and
• L’il Crafter - submitted by Shaaron for the kid-size version of The Artful Crafter.

I won’t tell you which of the four I would pick. I would rather you (the driving force behind The Artful Crafter from Day 1) vote to choose.

So please, after reading the rest of this newsletter ;-) reply with your vote to name our "kid-friendly craft" icon. Will she be:

• Victoria;
• Miss SmArty;
• L’il Crafter; or
• Kiddo?????

It’s up to you. Please vote now and - vote often! Just kidding :-D

Eileen

What’s New on The Artful Crafter this Month

Fall Crafts

Knotted Scarf - I wasn’t sure whether to list this tutorial under fall or winter, so I opted for "sooner rather than later". Start now and you can have a slew of them made before the really cold weather strikes. They make great teen gifts - for teens to make as well as to "gift".

Fall Triple Wreath - This is another project that can span the seasons. With a little imagination you can create triple wreaths for any time of year. With one small adjustment in supplies, the kids can get in on the fun.

Homecoming Mum Rules - This is the tongue-in-cheek "Ten Commandants for Homecoming Mums" which I mentioned above.

Having Fun with Mums - My tongue-in-cheek "Ten Commandants for Homecoming Mums" generated a lot of fun reader comments. Feel free to join in. Homecoming Mum season will be sure to come around again!

Candy Cane Ribbon Weaving Instructions - There’s an interesting story behind this brand new absolutely original love chain weave. Watch for it next year. [I’m also thinking how I might use it in Christmas crafting. When you see the photo, you’ll know why.]

Winter and Christmas Crafts

Quilted Christmas Place Mats - The darling Christmas stocking pockets on these holiday place mats make it fun for kids to set the table as well as a fun way to teach the kids where the utensils should be placed.

Decoupage

Secret Box Book - I made a secret box book in January; but didn’t get the tutorial completed until August. Now it’s finally on site - YAY! I’m especially proud of this project because I made it for my son to let him know how proud I am of him.

How to Decoupage Photos onto a Coffee Table - For a project like this you want a super-durable finish that doesn’t damage the photos.

Skateboard Decoupage - Just when I thought there was nothing new under the sun, a reader asked about decoupaging a skateboard. I should know my crafty readers by now, shouldn’t I?

Refer to our Holiday Craft Index for more holiday craft ideas.

Reader Letter of the Month:

This website is so informative. I stumbled across it tonight and am getting so many wonderful ideas! Just in time for holiday gift giving!

I was reading your information for putting decals on soap and had a fun idea.

My son’s dresser knobs are solid wood. I'm thinking of painting them white, and using my inkjet printer, printing a graphic using the Lazertran Waterslide Inkjet Decals you recommended. He's really into dirt bikes right now.

You mentioned Print Master graphics software. Do you know if they have popular images like Transformers, Dr. Seuss, and other well known characters?

If these come out good for him I was thinking of making some to sell but don't want any lawsuits bcuz of copyright infringements.

I've seen several people on eBay selling these knobs with transformer decals, or Elmo, etc. I'm thinking A) where are they getting these images from and B) this can't be legal!

Thank you!

Jeannie

Hi Jeannie,

Unless the eBay sellers have purchased a license to use the character clip art from the copyright owner for profit, they are almost certainly infringing.

I’m not a lawyer, but I believe it is permissible to use images you have acquired from a software program, book or magazine to make derivative art for your personal use or as a gift.

Some copyright owners do sell commercial licenses to their work, but I doubt this would be the case for the popular character images you mention. So you’re probably correct that "this can’t be legal" when you talk about the eBay sellers advertising items they have embellished with popular characters.

Where are they getting the images? They’re probably copying them from the Internet or scanning hard copy images which they’ve found in books or other publications.

Internet sites try very hard to make images they want to protect difficult to copy.

Some sites add faint watermarks noting the copyright on images. Most make the image files so small that they would be very pixelated when printed. This makes them useless to image poachers for anything except the tiniest applications.

Even Google tries to help protect copyright owners by posting a warning about possible copyrights when you do a Google Image Search.

All that said, you will find sites which say you can download their large beautiful clear images of popular character art royalty-free.

I would steer clear of those unless I could find a notice of terms of use. If there is no mention of copyright on the site, they can’t be legit.

Some of the popular card making software programs used to include character sets or offer them for an additional fee. However I don’t see many doing that anymore.

My guess is that putting the graphics into the hands of home crafters became problematic.

Many home crafters have little to no formal art training (where artistic copyright is a required subject) and are just trying to make a little money on the side.

I’ve written a lot about artistic copyright. You may find this article about using clipart found in software art galleries helpful.

Thank you for your kind words about The Artful Crafter. I’m delighted you like my site :-D

Don’t forget to reply to this newsletter with your vote for our "kid-friendly craft" icon. Will she be named:

• Miss SmArty;
• Victoria;
• L’il Crafter; or
• Kiddo?????