5 Crafty Sites You Should Bookmark Now!
September 29, 2009 | By
Back in the days before the Internet was born, artists and crafters had to rely on “real life” lessons and exchanging knowledge with fellow artisans to pick up new skills. Techniques were passed down through families, creating new generations of makers of beautiful things.
Those traditions still exist now, as well they should, but we now also have a whole world wide web full of tutorials and inspiration at out fingertips, which can only be a good thing for those of us with a thirst for crafting knowledge!
To that end, here are 5 great websites that every artist should have bookmarked:
Great Websites for Crafters
Illustration Friday is a weekly illustration challenge. Each week, a new topic is posted, and participants have until the following week to interpret the title any way they choose and share their work by posting a link on the site. It serves as a great motivator when you’re experiencing artist’s block, and browsing through the hundreds of other contributions can provide hours of entertainment and inspiration. There is also a great art forum which aims to create a friendly, creative community and does so very well.
Straight from the site itself: “Drawn! is a collaborative weblog for illustrators, artists, cartoonists, and anyone who likes to draw. Visit us daily for a dose of links and creative inspiration.” And the site certainly delivers just that. It’s a fantastic mixture of links to and interviews with artists of just about every variety you can think of. The articles are informative, interesting, funny, and diverse. The site is frequently updated with great new content, and well worth a visit.
Go make something is “an archive of projects and printables” by Lisa Vollrath, and it’s a wonderful resource. Lisa mixes an interesting and informative blog with some great craft tutorials covering just about every specialty technique you could think of, from paper folding, to polymer clay basics, to glass painting–enough to keep even the busiest crafter entertained for months!
It’s true that looks are only skin deep, but really, this is such a great looking site—and it has great personality too! Not Martha is run by Megan from Seattle, who mixes brilliantly written blog posts, plus an extensive archive of “how to make stuff.” and a really useful page of excellent links to other great blogs, shops, and interesting people. Go and have a look, there’s a lot to keep you amused!
The How To Gal believes that “Through creative means and a little elbow grease, anything can be beautified,” which is a great mantra for any artisan. In her blog, she charts many of her own recycling projects where she transforms secondhand finds into things of beauty, as well as offering some great tutorials and plenty of links to other sites worth a visit. The How To gal is both incredibly talented and very inspiring, and is definitely worth a spot on your blogroll.
Of course, the other site that would make the list is Just for Fun at HandMade News–but you’re already reading, so there’s no need!
Do feel free to share your other daily craft reads in the comments though, so we can find more great sites to visit.
Recommended Reading:
Overcoming Artist’s Block
Plan a Girl’s Craft Night
Swap that Art! ATC Swaps and Clubs
Recrafting Yourself in the Second Half of Life
Handmade Nation: Film Review
Photos courtesy of SweetheartSinner and Sweetiepie at etsy.
<--- Go back to the Just for Fun department for more crafty fun!
Leslieanne is a compulsive crafter with passions for music, art & fashion. She's a mummy to a gorgeous baby boy, and a fiancee to his delicious daddy.
You can visit her blog here and shop for pretty things at kooky boutique.
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