The Crafter's Way 7

There's nothing like a bit of cross promotion!

Each week I write a weekly craft column for the North Lakes Messenger. I share with bloggers once it has been published.

I’ve just started my own Blog. A what? I hear you ask. A blog is the new age online journal. While some blogs are more like the diaries we kept as teenagers; many more are a great source of information & inspiration especially for crafters.

Craft blogs are a great way to learn and find inspiration. Many of the sites include tutorials, great photos and links to other sites. Blogs are not designed to be a passive tool that you read and more on to the next site. Most site owners allow readers to add their comments making the process interactive.

Search engines allow you to search specifically for blogs. For example: in Google a search for “blog” will bring up their search engine that looks only for blogs. Enter your subject heading and you will be given a long list of blog sites that cover that topic.

In addition to my blog (http://trishalandesigns.blogspot.com/) there are some very interesting sites from around the world.

Lilly Cottage (http://lillycottage.typepad.com) is an exciting collection of the handmade, gorgeous and unique. They have a passion for glitter, magazines, books, vintage items, beading, sewing, painting, feathers, pink from soft to bright and a zillion other things.

Judy Scott (http://judy-scott.blogspot.com). Judy is a Scottish Textile Artist who loves to create with fabric, thread and paint. We met online and realized that last year she had visited our shop and bought hand dyed threads from me. Her son lives locally. How’s that for ‘it’s a small world’.

Fabulous Threads (http://fabthreads.blogspot.com). Anica describes herself as an obsessive-compulsive stitcher with a passion for colour. Check out her needle felt tags.

Quinn Creative (http://quinncreative.wordpress.com). This site has some excellent tutorials for people interested in papermaking, calligraphy etc.

Happy blogging!