Arts and Crafts Resource Page

Part of doing arts and crafts has to do with the supplies, but the other part has everything to do with creativity and ideas. This resource page is meant to give aspiring crafters a place to start. The following Web sites should be helpful, motivational, and offer guidance for beginners as well as advanced knitters, sewers, quilters, painters, croppers, drafters, sculptors, and more! Some of these links are replicated on the buying guide pages as well.

Arts and Crafts for Kids

• Kid's Domain -- Excellent site! It's easy to find what you are looking for and it has just about anything you can imagine, including crafts to make as gifts for family members, holiday crafts, and crafts that use common household supplies. The site also has several other useful sections related to children.
• Enchanted Learning -- Geared more towards a child's eye, search together to find a fun craft project. There are hundreds of ideas organized by holiday, season, category, material, and more.
• Kinderart -- They claim to have the largest collection of free art lessons on the Web. The site is easy to look at, rich in ideas, and well organized. Children who are home schooled, or for those who have active parents who want to help them out, this site would be an excellent resource to bookmark.
• Crayola -- The coloring classic, Crayola, takes to the Web offering printable coloring projects and online activities for kids.
• Amazing Moms -- Some good ideas recommended by mothers.
• http://www.artbeatonline.com/about_artbeat.html -- Great resource for Art and Activity kits for kids.  And if you are local you can complete your project in the in-store studio.

Beading

• About.com -- Beading patterns A to Z.
• Bead Bugle -- An example of one of the many tutorials available on the site.
• Bead Sky -- Beading patterns, gallery, and more.
• Beading with Varvarra -- Free peyote and loom patterns (colors and design, not instructions) as PDFs.
• BeadingTimes.com -- Tips, projects, and more.
• Fire Mountain Gems -- Lots of "how-tos" with nice visuals. There are also some video tutorials, projects, and patterns available.
• Kimberly Chapman -- A few useful guides on how to do a brick and square stitch with seed beads. Plus, how to make French beaded flowers.
• Michael's Arts and Crafts Store -- Four short, interactive illustrative videos about crimpling, peyote stitch, and more.

Ceramics

• nmClay.com -- How-To  articles on making, baking, and designing with clay.
• Lowes.com -- Directions for cleaning, installing, and repairing ceramic floor tiles.

Drawing

• About.com -- Articles written daily about drawing and sketching.
• ArtShow.com -- A resource index for all sorts of lessons from portrait drawing to figures, and more.
• Drawing Lessons -- Free basic lessons online for 9 to 14 year-olds.
• Manga Tutorial -- Learn to draw Manga style.
• Portrait-Artist.org -- A portrait drawing tutorial with pictures and very good explanations of technique and tips.

General Crafts

• Ruby Glen -- Everything from beading to scrapbooking, wreath making and everything in between. Visuals aren't that great, but there are a lot of projects to try that all have simple explanations.
• HGTV -- An amazing resource for project ideas using all types of mediums.

Jewelry Making

• BellaOnline -- This site has more than 50 links to jewelry projects to try.
• DIY Net -- A series of jewelry making tips and projects from the Do-It-Yourself Network.
• DotCalmVillage -- A tutorial on making findings such as jump rings and eyepins, plus lessons for some projects.
• WigJig.com -- Making jewelry lesson by lesson. It's simple and easy to follow.

Knitting and Crocheting

• About.com -- Learn to knit step by step, but unfortunately, without any pictures or visual guides.
• Dummies -- Deciphering Knitting Lingo.
• Knit.1 -- If you know how to knit and are ambitious, check out this cool Web site just for some fashionable ideas.
• KnittingHelp.com -- Real videos of how to knit, plus patterns, techniques, and more. A great site for visual learners.
• Learn to Knit -- This is a simple Web site that gives you the gist of knitting and crocheting, plus quick project ideas. The learn to knit section uses illustrations to show hand placement and how to cast, bind, etc.
• Learn-to-knit.com -- Instructions with drawings for both lefties and righties. Not the easiest to follow, but comprehensive. Good if you are a "false beginner," meaning that maybe you used to know a little about how to knit, but you need a refresher course to get back into it.
• Oxygen -- How-tos from the Oxygen network on basics of knit stitch, casting on, and making bobbles, pom poms, and ribbon sleeves.
• You Knit What??? -- This blog is a fun site where people vent about other's knitting blunders.

Macrame

• Adult Ramblings -- Three projects: a necklace, a placemat, and a pillow cover.
• Ann's Macrame -- Two basic projects to try. Beware of pop-ups.
• Basic Macrame Techniques
• Chinese Knotting -- A few Chinese knot styles to try out.
• Handcrafted by Elaine -- You should definitely take a look at this woman's site before getting started. She gives an excellent tutorial on all the different sorts of knots that you will inevitably use for your macrame projects. The pictures speak for themselves, but she throws in a few explanations to show you how she creates the different patterns and designs.
• Kings Kountry -- How to make a macrame lawn chair.
• Knot Work -- More than 20 projects to make with macrame from plant hangers to belts and more.
• Macrame Super Store -- This site sells products and also has this useful how-to section with a few macrame projects and detailed instructions on how to make them.

Painting

• Aisling D'Art -- How to take care of your paint brushes.
• Art Education -- Free art lessons with visuals.
• ArtLex -- All the vocabulary and terminology you would want to know about art.
• Knowledge Hound -- An index to many articles and Web sites that deal with all aspects of painting.
• RexArt -- Some basics about different types and brands of acrylics, as well as some application tips.
• RexArt -- How to stretch artists' canvas.
• WatercolorPainting.com -- Guidance, ideas, and more.
• Watercolor Workbooks -- Online guides and advice for learning to paint with watercolors.

Scrapbooking

• DIYnet.com -- Hundreds of projects for all seasons and events!
• Lifetips.com -- Several user posted articles about scrapbooking, supplies, paper, and more.
• Momscape.com -- How to choose a scrapbook theme.
• MyCraftBook.com -- An excellent starting place with hints about themes, layouts, cropping, and embellishments.

Sewing

• Sewing Table Buying Guide  --  A handy resource for exploring your sewing table options.

Quilting

• Planet Patchwork.com -- A resource page for all kinds of useful links for beginners and seasoned quilters.

Woodcarving

• Are you looking for Woodworking?
• Wikipedia -- A general guide to the all encompassing area of woodworking.