Using online resources, you can find everything from inspiration to instructions to help expand your craft knowledge.
NOTE: All activities are done online or mobile devices.
Steps
Search
1. Inspiration.
Use the images and information you find online for inspiration. This might include a pattern, color usage, final piece or anything else in an image that inspires you. The images do not have to be craft items that you find inspiring. It might be a sunset or a cool car. Start looking at images for inspiration.
2. Ideas.
Ideas can be gotten from others doing your craft or a similar craft. For example, I adapt a lot of cross-stitch ideas to plastic canvas pieces. Start looking at images for more ideas.
3. Organize.
As you start looking at images for inspiration and ideas, you’ll want to save the bookmarks, images, PDFs or whatever else you find online. Use sites such as Pinterest or Evernote to keep the items you find in Steps 1 and 2 organized for future use. You might also determine making a cohesive file structure on your hard drive works better for you. Determine what kind of organization system will be the best for you and use it.
4. Files.
Don’t feel restricted to one type of delivery. You’ll find help not only in text, but audio and video offerings. This includes podcasts. With your craft in mind, explore sites that support your craft.
Crafting
5. Material.
You can find help working with the materials you have available. This might include what items adhere best with a specific glue, which crochet hook to use with a specific yarn and more. What kind of information can you find that will be useful to you in your crafting?
6. Tools.
Do you have craft tools that you don’t remember how to use? Perhaps you can adapt a tool you have for a different purpose. You can see demonstrations and more online to help you get the most of your tools. If you find something particularly helpful, be sure to save a copy as it’s not guaranteed to be there the next time you need it.
7. Find.
You can find basics for many crafts online. From a video to photo series, you can get visual instructions. If text works better for you, you can also find instructions on the basics of almost any craft. Look for basic instructions for a craft you’ve been thinking of trying.
8. Tutorials.
When you want to expand your knowledge on a particular craft, you can find tutorials, tips and techniques online. For example, my favorite crafts tend to be paper. In the United States, most paper crafts fall under the title of scrapbooking. The United Kingdom has much more to offer for paper crafters and I frequently go to their sites. Explore crafts you already do and see if you can find additional information on it.
9. Patterns.
Craft pattern providers will help by providing information for incorrect instruction on printed patterns. Experts within a craft might explain how to adjust a craft pattern for another media. This type of knowledge is not something you’d normally look for. As you find these types of sites, bookmark them in a unique area so you can find them later.
Information
10. Shops.
Shops might give you free instructions on how to use a new tool they’re releasing. They also might highlight what people are doing to expand the crafts they start. Explore shops and craft material / tool providers to see how they bring knowledge of their craft to the public.
11. Groups.
Groups on Yahoo and Facebook allow you to connect digitally. Meetup and Eventbrite allow them to follow digitally, but meet locally. Groups can share information as well as expand your possible craft experiences. Check for groups online to find or share information about your crafts.
12. Education.
Educational sites are blowing up. You can learn crafting skills on sites like Skillshare, Bluprint and CreativeLive. While not “craft” sites, they have workshops and classes you can take to learn more. Explore one or more of these sites.
Badge and Supplement Files
Member Level
- 0EP_B_BPG_Craft Knowledge_2in_12up_MS1_larajla — generic badge printable
- 0EP_BLIST_Craft Knowledge_MS1_larajla — list of badge items
- 0EP_SUPP0_Craft Knowledge_Journal_MS1_larajla — badge journal
- 0EP_SUPP0_Craft Knowledge_Planner_MS1_larajla — badge planner
- 0EP_SUPPL_Craft Knowledge_MS1_larajla — list of supplements for the badge
Supplement Fun
- N/A
Sites to Explore
- www.pinterest.com
- www.evernote.com
- www.youtube.com (specify craft)
- www.creativelive.com/craft
- www.mybluprint.com/topic/paper-crafts
- www.udemy.com/courses/lifestyle/arts-and-crafts
- www.instructables.com
- www.skillshare.com
- www.creativebug.com/categories/free-classes
- meetup.com
- eventbrite.com
Get the infographic here > larajla blog post
Get the PDFs of the badge program / supplements here