allbingo | NATIONAL CRAFTING MONTH MEET AND GREET

Welcome! Here is our space to squee about the current theme and tell others a bit about our crafting interests.

Below are the thematic questions for this months fest. Fill in as much or as little of it as you wish, depending on your interests as they relate to National Crafting Month.

My Name (how I wish to be known):
Type(s) of Crafting that I’ve tried:
I consider myself a Beginner, Intermediate, Master, or Other:
Crafting I’ve loved and/or loathed:
Project I’m particularly proud of:
Something I learned the hard way:
Something I haven't done yet, but I'd like to try:
Biggest crafting frustration(s):
Something else I'd like to share:

Feel free to copy this Meet and Greet into your blog as well as filling it out here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

My Name (how I wish to be known): Jix

Type(s) of Crafting that I’ve tried: writing, drawing (analog and digital), sewing, knitting, origami, baking, scrapbooking, tie-dye, painting TTRPG miniatures, screenprinting, cricut-ing, cosplay.

I consider myself a Beginner, Intermediate, Master, or Other: Beginner at everything, and happy there! I love to dabble.

Crafting I’ve loved and/or loathed: I've loved playing with a cricut, especially to make designs for clothing! I feel unreasonably powerful when I borrow one. And I greatly enjoyed tie-dye. I will bake when I have to, but I don't enjoy it much.

Project I’m particularly proud of: I ran a tie-dye station at my workplace last summer and it was a big hit. Everyone had a blast. I learned how to solder this fall so I could make a light-up battleshell for a ninja turtle Halloween costume! For writing, my Hold Every Memory AU (TMNT) is what I'm most proud of!

Something I learned the hard way: Don't overbuy on supplies for your latest hobby just because stuff is on sale and you have Ideas. It may sit in your closet for decades. ...my closet is very full of Things.

Something I haven't done yet, but I'd like to try: Leatherwork, I suppose. (It seems like it would be very useful for my cosplay/DnD purposes.)

Biggest crafting frustration(s): I don't have much space to myself with my current living situation, so I don't have a dedicated table to lay supplies out on until they're done. It adds extra steps every time I want to sit down and work on a project, so I rarely find the drive to fully finish things.

Something else I'd like to share: I'm new to this community and just made this dreamwidth journal last weekend, so no crafting tags to share.

>> And I greatly enjoyed tie-dye.<<

Tie-dye is awesome. You can get cheap dye at a supermarket that will do a decent job, or cough up for professional quality dyes that will give spectacular results (if you can handle a bit more chemistry). I greatly admire people who can create elaborate designs. I have several geode shirts, one mandala, and one planet Earth.

One thing that seems to have disappeared is friendship shirts. You braid three (or occasionally four) shirts together and then put the dye on. The braid creates the pattern, so the shirts become related to each other.

>> I learned how to solder this fall so I could make a light-up battleshell for a ninja turtle Halloween costume! <<

That looks amazing.

>>Don't overbuy on supplies for your latest hobby just because stuff is on sale and you have Ideas. It may sit in your closet for decades. ...my closet is very full of Things.<<

While I do have some specifics, I also like to keep all-purpose craft supplies -- adhesives, scissors, yarn, craft wire, papers, etc. -- which can be used for many different crafts. That makes it much easier to do a project without needing to buy much if anything special.

>> I don't have much space to myself with my current living situation, so I don't have a dedicated table to lay supplies out on until they're done. It adds extra steps every time I want to sit down and work on a project, so I rarely find the drive to fully finish things.<<

You might look at jigsaw puzzle boards, which are designed to store a puzzle in progress. These can work for other flat activities like some crafts.

https://jigsawdepot.com/collections/puzzle-board

There are craft cabinets with foldaway tables, too. They can help with storage and work space, even if you can't leave the table open all the time.

https://storables.com/craft-storage/craft-table-with-storage/

Oooh, I like the idea of friendship shirts! I'm keeping that in my back pocket for next time.

We decided it might actually be more economical to get bulk dyes/chemicals so everyone in the building could participate if desired, and we had the budget. It was messy and very, very colorful, and the results were spectacular. Dharma Trading Co was our source.

>>That looks amazing.<<

Thank you!

>>While I do have some specifics, I also like to keep all-purpose craft supplies -- adhesives, scissors, yarn, craft wire, papers, etc. -- which can be used for many different crafts. That makes it much easier to do a project without needing to buy much if anything special.<<

Oh, I definitely have those too! But I have the terrible tendency to go, "I need green and brown and black specialty paints for my goblin miniatures, but look at this full-spectrum paint set on sale! It will be worth it so I can paint my fire genasi miniature next. And I'm grabbing this minifig primer spray from the bargain bin, even though my goblins come paint-ready, because my next miniature may not and it will be good to have on hand and you can't beat the bargain bin!" [proceeds to finish the goblins and not start my next figure, leaving 85% of the paints unopened]. As a random example that may or may not have happened to me...

>>jigsaw puzzle boards<<
>>craft cabinets with foldaway tables<<

I'll look into those! Thank you.

>> Oooh, I like the idea of friendship shirts! I'm keeping that in my back pocket for next time.<<

Yay!

>> Dharma Trading Co was our source.<<

Yeah, that's the gold standard for professional dyes. Go you!

>>But I have the terrible tendency to go, "I need green and brown and black specialty paints for my goblin miniatures, but look at this full-spectrum paint set on sale! It will be worth it so I can paint my fire genasi miniature next.<<

Failure of extrapolation. Those would be reasonable choices if you followed through. Study your actual use patterns, that may help with targeting.

>>I'll look into those! Thank you.<<

Also, look up. Do you have things like bookcases or china cabinets that you have not already put things on? If so, you've got another option for in-progress art projects. You can put things in boxes or on boards up there. A corner of bookcases will support a square board if it's not too big. And you can use something like "quake hold" putty to stick your minis in place so they don't tip over.

Oh I would love to try a Cricut machine! As a fellow dabbler I'm loving to see the different variety of crafts you've tried so far. Leatherwork would be great for cosplay, an expensive one to get started on though but would look amazing. I think after cost of materials and time to craft, having space to sit and work is one of the major problems people face, especially when the finished product might need to sit and dry out (anything involving paint or resin for example) and it is taking up the dining table.

Welcome to Dreamwidth :)

I hope you get the opportunity to try out a cricut! I've had luck borrowing from friends, but my local library also has weekly periods where they open up their crafting machines (cricut, 3-D printer, laser engraver) for patron use - it could be worth checking out if any in your area do the same.

Yeah, leatherwork would be useful but the tools/supplies would be the biggest barrier there. I do hope to try it someday!

And thank you! It's very nice to be here. :D

Leatherwork depends a lot on what you want to make. I made a fur bikini for a friend's book launch once, and that wasn't very hard.

Minimum investment is a pattern, a piece of leather or fur, a leatherwork needle (which is triangular), and button thread or sinew. I strongly recommend adding a thimble though. If you want to work with hard leather, that's more challenging, because it's usually done with stamps and such so you need more tools.

>> having space to sit and work is one of the major problems people face, <<

Workspace is often a limitation, especially when so many people are already rent-burdened.

>> especially when the finished product might need to sit and dry out (anything involving paint or resin for example) and it is taking up the dining table.<<

One option is a drying fan or oven -- various models are offered for art purposes.

Drying racks are available for flat types of artwork, so you can stack things vertically with a minimum of floorspace.

Another way is to put things up overhead, like on top of bookcases or cabinets.

Welcome to Dreamwidth! Glad you found Allbingo - this is a great community.

I like how you've adapted different pieces to make your TMNT costume. My costuming is always a mix of upcycled/recycled pieces and things I've sewn myself.

NATIONAL CRAFTING MONTH MEET AND GREET

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