I got some great ideas and set about the task of making swatch cards for the fronts of my plastic storage bins, but I kept coming across these great pieces that sparked new projects.

On a binge, I’ve sewed 16 organza wine gift bags, an ankle-length skirt-in-a-jiffy, two aprons for Stewart (one of which ended up in the garbage), a king-size bed skirt and three dog beds.

Plus, I pulled out all my upholstery book samples and organized them to make 12 panadieres – when I get some spare time .

My fabric organizing task is now much more manageable but I’m trying to decide if this binge crafting is good for my (artistic) health.

It keeps me from becoming a true artist in any field. I was gung-ho on digital scrapbooking for eight months, but to be a real graphic artist, I would need to abandon all other pursuits.

I still love digi-scrapping but I’m not willing to give up everything else.

I guess I like the flexibility of being able to come up with something for anyone or any occasion. One can only do this if one multi-crafts. Maybe multi-crafter is a better description for me than binge crafter (though I still admit, the last three weeks were a definite binge!).

Yeah, I like that – “multi-crafter”.

For Ease of Reading

If your copy of this newsletter is difficult to read, please go to the the archived version to see it in its original (intended) format.

Eileen

We Need Your Input

Have you seen our new Inout Page?

We'd like your contributions to The Artful Crafter. Do you have a craft or craft idea you would like to share with our readers? The best idea submitted by November 15th will win a $50 Amazon Gift certificate. Click here to submit your contribution.

If you have a craft tip to share, Click here.

If you have a business tip, click here.

Finally, if you have a craft to sell or a craft business to promote, you can do so for free by clicking here.

New on The Artful Crafter This Month

Skirt-in-a-Jiffy – Make up this pattern-less skirt in a jiffy.

Open Door Card – How to make a card with welcoming doors that open, perfect for an open house or many other occasions.

Peek-a-Boo Card – How to make a peek-a-boo action card to delight the little ones.

Painting on Fabric for Beginners – how-to and design ideas.

Topiary – How to make a Potted Topiary.

Eileen’s Digital Scrapbooking Journal: Part 9 – more fun with digi-scrapping.

Reader Tip: Compile a Craft Idea Book

When we lived in the States, I used to receive 10-15 catalogs every week. All it took was ordering one thing and all sorts of them started showing up.

So I started going through them to see what I could make using ideas from the catalogs. I figure as long as I wasn't making the exact same thing and mass producing them, I could have fun with this.

I started a book of ideas with a picture from the catalog. This has been helpful when I wanted to do something special for a friend and had no idea what to make. Catalogs are loaded with ideas.

Shaaron

In addition to catalog pictures, I include designs from craft magazines and sketch any brainstorms of my own, as well as ask other crafters if I can take photos of something clever they have done.

As Shaaron mentions, just be careful about copyrights and harming other crafters who sell their work for a living. They own the designs.

Like Shaaron, I take care not to copy anything from a catalog. The contents of my idea book are just for inspiration and as a starting point or even just a reminder to do something I’ve been meaning to try.

Reader Problem: Help, My Laser Printer Curls My Cardstock!

I have started to print my own invitations on a laser jet printer using card stock however the cards come out rounded and not flat.

Do you have a solution?

Thank you, Don

Curling of card stock is a much-reported problem with laser printers. Laser printers use heat to transfer toner to the paper. Curling occurs with lightweight paper too, but the paper relaxes back to normal as it cools.

As card stock curls around the printer head, it is literally ironed into a curled form. I’m sure you’ve already tried some of the following suggestions, but I’ll run through the whole list since I don’t know how far you’ve gotten. [Plus they might help another reader.]

1. In the printer features panel, be sure to select “card stock”.
2. Weight the card stock after printing until it cools.
3. If your printer has a manual feed tray that allows the paper to feed straight through without curling around the printer head, use that.
4. Purchase card stock expressly designed for laser printers.
5. Reverse the curl by “printing” a blank page on the other side of the printed card stock.
6. Contact the manufacturer for suggestions specific to the printer you own.

That's all for this month. Happy crafting!