Whilst hunting in my local newsagent’s for the latest copy of “inspirations”, I came across another magazine, called “Selvedge” whose ethos is (and I quote) “Our aim is simple: to provide a textile publication which fits seamlessly into their creative lifestyle. Directed towards an international, discerning audience, Selvedge covers fine textiles in every context: fine art, interiors, fashion, travel and shopping.”.

A quarterly (?) publication, it’s a lovely produced edition, but I was a bit reticent to spend £7.50 on it, so with some regret, I put it back on the shelf.  Later that day however, I found their website, and what a great and useful website this is…well worth bookmarking and searching through.  Whilst you don’t get the benefit of getting the articles because of the font size (yes, you WILL pay the money to read!), you do get the experience of being able to turn each page of the latest edition as if you had it in your hand.  This is what you spend your money on!

You also get to see the pages for the advertisers, again as laid out in the published edition, and can link through to the matching websites where ever possible.

It’s certainly a website I will be returning to, and I will have to convince myself that I have the money to afford

I finally succumbed to StumbledUpon the other week, which is terrible for taking up so much time that you dont have.

Having spent some time flicking through I’ve found the following sites which I really like the look of and need to invesitgate more of.

Indian Embroidery who’s own tag line is “showcasing the best of Indian Embriodery to the world”

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood, who also does the craftsanity podcast now has her own column for Grand Rapids Press which can also be seen on mLive.com

The web is great as a resource for teaching yourself stuff. Reference websites include Sharon B’s for hand embroidery, WhatTheCraft.com for additional sewing resources, HGTV for Quilting etc.

Have loads more to discuss, but will come back later

Cross Stitch Collectables have released a new (bookmark) fractal here

I sat down to listen to some podcasts last night, and tuned into the latest CraftSanity one (Episode #58), that is a recording of the “The Art of Crafts” breakout session at the Blogher 07 Convention.   There were some very interesting topics brought up, including copyright, intellectual property theft, making money from crafting etc.

“Great!” I thought, “Bloger’s going to give some reasonable coverage to this too!”.

Not a chance.

Blogher have relied on Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood to record the show and take the bandwidth hit on her website.  I’ve searched around the blogher site itself, and there’s one small reference to the breakout session, pointing to the craftsanity site. Why has no one on the site taken this forward?  There were some important questions and discussions held, and there’s no transcript, and no questions posed, or discussions had, to be shared with people on the blogher site.

Very disappointing

wip0076, originally uploaded by Nordie.

On 14 count aida, using Oliver Twists hand dyed cotton, colour 038, which accounts for the changing in colour across the piece.

Pattern is one of the free ones taken from Tantes zolder . Ultimately I look to making it into a Lavender sachet as it’s just the right size

Why are some of the best patterns on non-english websites?! I’ve found some lovely looking patterns by a designer called Gigi here. I quite like the simplicity of monochromes of all shapes (deep reds and blues are particularly attractive, I wonder why?!) . I’m tempted to buy, at least the S and the A, for various reasons, but know I shouldn’t really – my stash is already far too big! I wonder if she’s going to add any more letters? 26 x €11 ! Far too expensive to contemplate!

Naturally my French is lousy, but it’s interesting how, having read so many webpages, and general conditions of sale, how I can at least guess at some of what’s written…….

or Aunt’s Attic to you and me (at least I hope Zolder means Attic, my Dutch is rather non-existant!).

Anyway, Tantes Zolder is a website, in both Dutch and English (thankfully!), where a woman (isn’t it shocking that I’ve just realised I have NO idea what this girl’s name is?!) has access to a whole load of handmade cross stitch patterns that are out of copyright, and she is making them available to people on the internet for free, so that they can continued to be stitched rather than sitting in a box and ultimately fading away.

I do mean to stitch at least some of these – they can be done in one or more colours, depending on the stitcher’s preferences, and many of them are small enough to make lavender sachets or biscornus. I’ve only just come across the latter a few months ago, and as yet have not had the time on the inclination to make them, but some that I’ve seen look great!

Anyway, a lot of work seems to be involved in getting these patterns up on screen so I say Hurrah! and thanks!

Cross stitch Collectibles have put a new free fractal up here

One of these days I’ll get around to stitching one of these!  I’ve actually have a number of patterns from this site – very good and challenging!

Through an aquantance of a friend, I’ve ended up with a couple of editions of Workbox, a needlecraft magazine, which is dated late 1990/early 1991. It’s interesting to see that for a magazine dedicated to crafting, it’s printed virtually completely black and white (apart from the front cover and the occasional one off inside). Even people’s completed items are reproduced without any colour, which is a shame.

It’s also interesting to compare this magazine against other magazines that have been produced since. These editions seem to focus heavily on advertising, and after a quick skim through of a couple, there’s very little “here’s the step by step of how to make the cover items” provided.

I’ve since had a quick look on the web, and found that the magazine is still printed and the website can be found here. Whilst not the most professional looking website (I have no idea how old the producers are or what funding they have), it at least looks like it’s updated regularly. I do get frustrated when I see websites like this though. Having spent the last 10 years playing around on the internet – and actually producing my own pages once in a while – I start chomping at the bit when I see so much potential going to waste. Internet is another major sales and media channel, and should be utilised as much as possible, to be as professional as possible. sigh.

Having seen the covers to recent editions, I think I have seen the magazine in the shops, but have never been interested in buying it. I might have another look at a recent edition and see if anything has changed.

Right off to have a flick through the magazines!

Sigh. Once in a while I will come across an email or a website, that is supposed to be for a business (e.g. to promote the business or ask advice), and it is so poorly constructed, that I wonder how long the business will last, and what state it is in right now.

One of my email groups received the following mail, which was sent in reply to a conversation on felting.

“Hi,

I was wondering if you can help me .. I started a business in west lothian
Scotland , which is ethnic crafts, we do bring all types of silk products
from India Like silk yarn, silk fibre, silk fabric etc… I usually sell them
to other shops . I would like to get some contacts in Ireland may be some cool
shops or group of people who really love these products ….

I hope you don’t mind me asking .

best regard’s”

So let’s see.

• There’s poor spelling, punctuation and capitalization. I’m ignoring the multiple full stops here, because I use them myself sometimes when so inclined!
• Someone who has not grasped the concept of email structure. Admittedly, on the group, there is a mixture of casual and more professional emails, but when attempting to gain business contacts, surely you would aim for the more professional looking mail, yes? When trying to explain email structure to someone once, I said “you have to write them the same way as you would write a proper letter on a piece of paper”. They replied “but that’s how I write a proper letter too!”. Again with the sigh.
• Someone who has not grasped the concept of threads. I know they can be confusing. I know it can be tough if you’re a new member and you’re still not sure what the email address is. But to piggy back on a completely separate thread and then not modify for your own purpose, starting with changing the subject heading, and ditching the old message.
• Inappropriate language. “maybe some cool shops”. What are you, like, 12?
• They do not mention the name of the business, or if they do, there is nothing to say that’s the name. No promotion whatsoever! How are we to find the company and establish decent contacts? (And I think I’ve just found their website. As a long time Internet user, with a background in IT, this website is screaming at me to be overhauled. The content is not much better than the email above. Even one of the external links I’ve clicked on – whilst not perfect – is already in a different class).