Easter: Egg blowing and Decorating tips

A great way to entertain the kids and create Easter gifts for the Grandparents is decorate eggs at home. This ticks all the boxes for kids of various ages. You have the messy bit of blowing out the raw egg, best done by the adult, and the fun of painting or dyeing the shell with your own designs.

You will need:

Eggs
Craft knife
Bowl
Wooden skewer or a long needle

Blowing the Egg:

Gently twist the point of your craft knife into the end of the egg, pushing slightly, until it pierces. You need to be careful not to push too hard which could damage the body of the shell.

Do the same on the other end but widen the hole with your knife. Make it large enough to just insert the skewer or needle. Jiggle the skewer inside to break up the yolk; this makes it come out easier in the next stage.

Place your mouth over the end with the smaller hole, holding it above a bowl; gently blow into the egg. It won't come out all at once but after a few blows the insides will loosen and blow out easily. If there is any stuck, use the skewer to loosen and try again.

Once you've gotten the liquid egg out of the shell rinse using warm water. Hold the larger hole under the tap and shake it around a little with the water in and blow out again.

Leave them to dry thoroughly and decorate however you prefer.

Decoration options:

There are some fab ideas from the Readers Digest on this link: www.rd.com/slideshows/unique-egg-decorating-ideas

Paint with Blackboard paint and use chalk to decorate, wipe off & re-do
Glitter glue and washi tape are great quick fixes
Use melted wax & a toothpick to decorate the shell before dipping in dye leaving the area under the wax bare.

 

Curious Cat for Hallowe'en

Hallowe'en is a nice excuse to get crafty; I decided to stretch my stitching skills after a long time of not sewing anything.

I think this Curious Cat is just Puuurrrfect for October:

If, like me, you haven't done any sewing for a while the extra bonus with the curious cat comes as a 'Stitch and Keep' sewing guide that you can practice all the stitches on before you finish off on the proper piece. 

The kit comes with all the embroidery silks needed to embellish the printed design. I find working with an embroidery hoop much easier as it keeps the work taut and you're less likely to end up sewing two sides together by accident.

It's really simple to follow the areas that need to be worked and you can choose between the colours provided depending on what you prefer.

Now all I need to do is plan whether to make it into a cushion or frame it for the wall.....

If you haven't tried your hand at stitching before, I would recommend these wonderful kits designed by Nancy Nicholson 

New to craft, so where to start?

Christmas crackers pulled, turkey is long gone, and that strange period between Christmas and New Year takes hold.  Bit at a loss on what to do?  This is the perfect time to try out a new hobby or bring an old back to life.  Sometimes put off by past experiences or the belief that things are harder than they really are.

Crafting is becoming very popular but where do you start, that is the hard bit unless you have a Grannie to hand to show you.  For children it is easy but finding starter kits for adults can prove a challenge.  They do exist and they make life easy by bringing together all you need or much of it.

There are so many old wives tales around putting people off.  Crochet it not difficult unless you take up fine lace work, it is less stress than knitting, as your pretty much only responsible for one stitch at a time, not a whole row!  French knitting, cotton reel with four pins on top is not just for kids, you can make quite sophisticated designs from mug hugs to coasters.

So dive in, see what kits you can find, get help from the vast number of video's on You Tube, books or find a local craft club or centre where you can try out your hobby with others, picking up hints and tips as you go.

SIO Tips No 18

To get the last bit of glue out of your bottle set it in warm water for a few minutes so it will flow easier.

SEEK IT OUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time

Craft Tips for Newbies No. 15

Thread looks darker on the spool than it will on fabric. Choose a thread a shade darker than the material you'll be using it on.

SEEK IT OUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time

Craft Tips for Newbies No 14

Before throwing out clothing you no longer wear, stock up on notions by saving any usable zippers, buttons, or decorative trim. These can come in handy when you're trying to replace a fastener.

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Inter Twine is born!

Want to be part of the crowd - want to be individual, always hard to decide and so we have found a solution, well for your crafting anyway.

Seek It Out have created the clever Inter Twine range, project bags full of goodies. The bags are packed full of colour themed fabric fat quarters, felt, wadding, iron on interfacing, ribbon, buttons and other embellishments. The contents allow you either to copy one of our project suggestions or just go wild and create your own masterpiece. This ability to mix and match your projects is just why we called the range Inter Twine.

We want to help people to create wonderful items, and giving them freedom and support at the same time is what a lot of new crafters tell us they want. 

So from Kindle covers to 50's aprons this growing range of project bags and downloadable instructions you can express yourself and be part of the crowd at the same time!  Inter Twine brings you the solution.

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Craft Tips for Newbies No 11

When you're doing Decopatch, tearing pieces is preferable as torn edges blend together better than edges cut with scissors.

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Craft Tips for Newbies No 9

Low cost curtain linings: Use budget polycotton bed sheets in co-ordinating colour, lots of fabric for low price, try supermarkets or charity shops or even the back of your linen cupboard.

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Craft Tips for Newbies No 8

Cotton thread, you get what you pay for. Cheap is often rough & breaks easily, quality is smooth & strong.

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Thinking ahead, take the summer into winter

Want something different for your winter wedding invites, Christmas cards or festive decorations.  Little early you say but no, now is the time to press flowers which can be stored away carefully to create totally unique cards to send or give in the depths of winter.

Flower presses are easy to come by or you could rely on two sheets of paper with the flower sandwiched between and pressed by the weight of a book.  Flowers need to be at their best, dry when picked (no rain droplets or dew on them) and pressed as soon after picking as possible.  The process takes time to let them dry out so be patient.

We think that this site is just great for information on how to so check it out http://www.wikihow.com/Press-Flowers-and-Leaves

SEEKITOUT: Changing the world a stitch at a time

Craft Tips for Newbies No 7

Dressmaking is like Chinese cooking, preparation is everything, care cutting out & time taken fitting each stage, is key.

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Your very own Wells Dressing!

Crafting with the kids on this rainy day? Lots of ideas in our making section and also freebies for those registered on the site. http://www.seekitout.co.uk/to-make.html
 
FAMILY CRAFTING IDEA
How about a family craft day to see who can create something amazing. In the Peak District the traditional Wells Dressings use natural products from nature and clay to produce spectacular pictures, the tradition goes back way into history.  The results they achieve are spectacular to say the least.
 
So how about some simple plasticine or similar, even double sided tape (carpet tape - try B&Q), piece of card or board, rice, dried pulses, scraps of fabric, beads, old wrappings, egg shells, flower petals, moss, pebbles or scrunched up paper to create a family masterpiece, does not have to be done in a day so could not be more perfect.  Slip under a bed or on top of a cupboard for safe keeping till done.  Worried it will dry out cover carefully with cling film till done. Check these ideas out bit.ly/M0xPMu  Often religious yours can be anything, people, flowers, Olympics, date in History, even random modern art.... the world really is your oyster

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Craft Tips for Newbies No 5

Crochet newbie try cotton yarns in double knitting less fluffy than wool easier to find stitches and work generally.  Cotton comes in fantastic colours and lovely sheens, so will look amazing.  Lots of yarns to try, not just wool how about bamboo!


Seek It Out: Changing the world a stitch at a time

Expanding your world

Seek It Out has linked up with Craft Blog UK so you guys who follow us can find even more useful stuff on their blog too.  So many helpful hints, tips, how to's etc. out there in the bigger blog world and we want to help Seek It Out followers find them easily.

Seek It Out: Changing the world a stitch at a time

Craft Tips for Newbies No 4

Crochet in a round, working the work in one piece to form a tube like structure often used for bags. Use a safety pin to mark row starting points as hard to find start sometimes, move up each row and then you will always know the start point to ensure you do not end up with 1/2 row extra! Our crochet and felt starter kit bag is worked in the round, check it out.

Seek It Out: Changing the world a stitch at a time

CraftTips‬ for newbies No3

Knitting needles come in many lengths, use shorter ones when starting out easier to control.

Seek It Out: Changing the world a stitch at a time

CraftTips‬ for newbies No2

Helpful Craft Tips. Use the wool end from centre of the ball not outside, easier to control ball when knitting, wool jumps around less. 

Seek It Out: Changing the world a stitch at a time

(Guest Blog) Social Media – What to write about

This week we welcome the Sewing Directory as a Guest Blogger - huge thanks to them for this informative piece.

Social Media – What to write about

People are always saying you should get onto Facebook and Twitter or set up a blog to help build your business.  Where many people struggle is to know what to say on their social media accounts, most people know you shouldn’t go on about your products all the time, so what should you talk about?

Related products/services

If you sell fabric then why not share projects and tutorials which show people what to do with the fabric they buy from you?  Discuss sewing magazines or books.  All these things are complimentary to your products and will help to engage your followers.  If you have the time try and find projects made up with supplies that you sell so if someone loves the fabric featured they can buy it from you.  Or when posting a link you could say this would look great made up in this fabric (and link to one on your site).

Tips and How to Guides

People always appreciate advice; if you sell beads why not tell people about different storage options, different beading techniques or write a tutorial to share with people.  If you stock art supplies explain the difference between the different types of paint and when best to use them, demonstrate techniques, interview artists to get advice to share with your followers.

Show who is behind the business

People love to know who they are doing business with, maybe profile your company owners and staff on your blog, share pictures of them at shows or in the shop on Facebook.  Let people know about the history of the company, celebrate milestones with them and make them feel a part of your business.   It is a lot easier to relate to a person than to a faceless business.

Industry News & events

Keep an eye on key industry sites and magazines so you can share details of upcoming shows, new products and industry news with your followers.  If people know you are a good source of information they will keep coming back to you.

Your products and offers

Of course it is expected that you will also talk about your products and offers, just be careful to keep it to a minimum so you don’t spam people.   Facebook is ideal for sharing pictures of your new products, blogs give you a place to tell people what is coming soon or just in stock and tempting one liners on Twitter will get people clicking to see more eg. ‘Wow wait until you see what just arrived today...’

Promote others

It’s nice to promote complimentary businesses to yours through your social media, and often they will return the favour therefore getting both of you new fans and hopefully new customers.  For instance if you sell quilting fabrics but not wadding you could tell people about good places to buy wadding.  You could also tell people where to get their quilts long arm quilted and then hopefully when they get customers looking for fabric they will send them your way and hopefully mention you on their social media accounts.

General chat

Social media is all about being social, think about what you would discuss with someone you just met in real life – the weather, what was on TV last night, what is in the news etc.  Personally I think business accounts/blogs should be kept mainly to business but that doesn’t mean there’s no space for a little bit of general chit chat, and ironically those kinds of posts tend to have a good response rate too!

Hopefully the above will give you a few ideas about what content you could use for your updates.  In time you will find what works best for you.  Keep an eye on your stats (follower numbers, views per post on Facebook, Twitter interactions and retweets, page hits on your blog and whether your web stats increase following your posts) to see what gives you the best result. 

This post was written by Fiona Pullen from The SewingDirectory For more social media advice including detailed guides on using Facebook, Twitter and setting up a blog please visit: http://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/business-articles/


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