A crochet purse can be very practical and very romantic at the same time. Here (see below) are patterns and ideas if you want to try making your own crochet purse. Some are purses which you can buy too.

I like crochet. I make granny squares and did start a bigger project but I messed up along the way somewhere and put on a shelf. Crochet is something you can do without a lot of extras. Just yarn and a crochet hook are all you need to succeed with any crochet pattern. Of course, there are extras for those who want to have them.

If you crochet a purse you will need a purse handle in some cases. It will depend on the style of purse you want and, of course, the pattern you are using. I like the look of the more polished and professional purse with a handle. But, then I started looking at patterns online and fell in love with some of the crochet patterns for purses with crochet flowers and no plastic handles at all.

The all crochet purse made with just yarn is going to be nice and easy to empty out and throw in the washing machine. You can't saw the same for all those plastic handles, some will show wear and tear and cause wear and tear on anything else in the washing machine with them.

Don't think you have to stick to just crochet. I found one purse which was a crochet base but had added old jeans as repurposed denim for a pocket on the front of the purse and the strap. You could also use the denim to line the purse inside.

I would strongly suggest lining a crochet purse. Unless you are very, very sure you will never keep anything small in your purse (like coins) which will slip out through the holes in the crochet. Face it, that's not likely. So if you buy or make a crochet purse yourself, make sure it has a liner inside.

I like crochet because you need so little extra to get started and create something. One hook, yarn and possibly a pattern (or at least the idea of a pattern). You can crochet granny squares, stitch them together and create almost anything. No real pattern needed, just the design.

Crochet is quite simple. There is one basic pattern, the granny square, which can be turned into a lot of different creations from slippers, purses to colourful blankets. You can get fancier with patterns and creative projects using a variety of knots/ stitches - in crochet patterns they call them chains.

I don't have a crochet hook set - it would be nice. I keep a few crochet hooks in a sewing basket with all my standard sewing and crafting things. I've never had a full set of crochet hooks. These look nice. A bamboo crochet hook is nicer than the aluminum and plastic hooks. I find the plastic type of hooks rub my fingers and my finger nails scrape on them as I'm working. The finger nail thing gives me a squick feeling. A bamboo hook doesn't do that. But, I only have one bamboo crochet hook so far.

Whether you like crochet or choose to knit or sew instead, I think everyone should have a sewing basket. It's nice just to pull it out and plan what you could make. I keep assorted odd and ends of yarn, patterns that worked out especially well, thread (old thread is much better than modern thread) and of course it's a great way to keep all your crochet or sewing gear in one place.

I have the Happy Hooker book. She has simple patterns you'd actually like to make, more than scarves and bland things offered in most guide for learning to crochet. Have a look at the crochet flowers, that's my favourite!

Creative food photography for the holidays.

There is an art to photographing food and making it look good. Some "professional" food photographers don't use real food. Some of them use chemicals and the food becomes inedible. This isn't so much an option for everyone. Most of us plan to eat the food we are photographing, the photos were just an accessory to the main event.

It's all about the lighting. Photography is essentially capturing light and shadow, so this is the most important thing to consider and work with.

Choose a set of dishes, pots and pans, whatever cutlery and kitchen accessories you are going to have in the photo - especially the container/ plate the food is displayed on. You are creating a display of food so the food is featured and shown off but the extras add colour, design and mood to the picture.

Don't be intimidated by the food, get up close, closer even. Keep your lens out of the sauce but get as close as you can so the food mostly fills the frame of your photo. Pull back and experiment from there, but start up close.

You can use a point and shoot camera, without a flash, in natural light. I did!

Natural light works best. Put your food in a window if you can. Turn off the extra light in your kitchen and position your camera to catch the light as it falls on the food. Shadow in the background, light in the front.

You can focus and change the light with the addition of a white or black background, like a large sheet of white paper, white netting or black velvet. Experiment with this, see how diffused lighting changes your photo. Using a solid white background will reflect light back onto the food. A background can also block out the clutter of your kitchen table/ counter and the kitchen itself.

Set up props, pick the accessories which you use to display the food. You can set the stage with the details you add with the food, to show case and display it. Look for special dishes at thrift stores, you don't need a whole set so the odd plate out works for you. The extras should add atmosphere, details and compliment the food - keep the food from fading into the background (don't over accessorize).Also, smaller food photographs better but will make your accessories look huge in a close up picture.

Consider a tripod for your camera, if you don't already have one. The tripod lets you position the camera and gives you an extra set of arms to hold it exactly where you want it.

If you have a problem with blurry photos from camera shake (your hands aren't perfectly still when you take the photo) then the tripod will be a wonderful addition to your work with the camera.

Frame your photo of the food. Up to now you have been looking at the food itself. Now look at the outside edges of your camera's view. Choose where the focus will be in the middle of your photo and where you draw the line at the outer edges. There is a thing about threes in photo framing - consider your photo to be a screen with squares of 3 columns and 3 rows across. Sometimes you have a centre, or you can explore the idea of showing the food off centre. Like having the chicken breast to the right and the vegetables in the centre and the left. Or, the cake fills the left and the centre but the edge of the plate shows to the right third.

You're using a digital camera - experiment! We used to pay for every picture to be developed and have to buy rolls of film. Take advantage of the modern digital camera and take a bunch of photos to see how your lighting and display look. What worked, what didn't work, what could you change and improve?

You could pick a "best of" photo or you can take a look at what you have while the food is still hot on the table. Go back and get a fabulous photo before your food gets cold.

Don't under cook food to the point where it will look like something you wouldn't put in your mouth, but keep in mind that some food looks bland when it gets cooked awhile. Vegetables look better when they are still colourful and a bit on the crunchy side. If you prefer food to be cooked to a mushy level - do it after you take the photo.

Add a little garnish as a finishing touch - don't retouch your photo with PhotoShop. Keep your food real don't mess around with trying to add more shine, more colour or reposition parts of it. If you want to change something go back through the steps above, don't digitally enhance it in an artificial way.

I Like Making ASCII Art

Maybe you have seen ASCII art and didn't know what it was.

I make pictures using my computer keyboard - the characters of the keyboard, the text letters, punctuation marks and the numbers too. I enjoy ASCII art. Working with text to make a picture instead of words is like a puzzle, trying to fit the pieces into the right places and finding which text characters work best in which spaces.

I always thought I couldn't draw so ASCII art became my outlet to put images from my mind into something I could show in print. (Because no one else can see all the stuff in your head).

My Experience as an ASCII Artist - 1996 to Current

For me, ASCII art began in 1996 when I was new online and noticed amazing work done in keyboard text and used as signatures in email and online forums. I had to search to find the actual name, ASCII art. Those were the pre-Google days. I actually found it by asking someone on a website which was a one man project. I wish I still had the link so I could give credit to him. But, I don't even know if the site is still active, or even still online.

My first ASCII art was a house with a tree and other touches added in. It wasn't any house in particular so I had the freedom to create it however I liked. It did not turn out as well as I hoped. I was glad to have completed something in ASCII art myself but it wasn't something I was going to show off.

In 1998 I found a group of ASCII artists on the newsgroups. You can still find those newsgroups, they were eventually taken over (and the archives kept) by Google. Take a look at Google Groups, search for ASCII art and you will find two groups in the alt and rec sections. There are actually even more ASCII art groups if you look for those in German and other European languages. Now and then I use a translator online because there is some really great ASCII art in those groups too.

I met several artists in 1998. My early attempts were given fair critics, some suggestions and only a little snickering behind the computer screens where I couldn't see it. Joan Stark became famous for her ASCII art in those days. But, there were so many others who had wonderful ASCII art too. Joan was the most prolific and later, the most broken hearted as more and more of her ASCII art was stolen - credit for the work ripped off or claimed by someone else.

For a few years in between the late 1990's and about 2010 I dropped out of making ASCII art myself. Most of the people from the group were also winding down. Our newsgroup was plagued with spam, our art was being stolen, some was taken to be coloured by people using IRC (Internet Relay Chat) but they also took the credit for our work off and claimed it was their work because they had changed it so much. Another problem was someone who took the art and perverted it into obnoxious jokes and then posted it to the group just to aggravate everyone. Myself, I was disheartened when a set of jack-o-lanterns I created was ripped off - a woman in Australia claimed them as her own. She even posted them to the ASCII art newsgroup and asked everyone what they thought of her great ASCII work.

At the end of 2010 something sparked in me and I once again took up ASCII art, just for myself. I had enjoyed it so much when I was just creating something for myself and then showing and getting feedback, tips and encouragement in the group. Almost no one was left from the group and I have only tracked down a few of them since 2010. But, I found it didn't matter. My skill had somehow improved over the years, even though I had done almost nothing.

I began making ASCII art for holidays, like Christmas and Halloween and some which had very little (to none) ASCII art - like Groundhog Day. It became fun again and I didn't mind working alone.

Lately I have been getting requests for ASCII art. I didn't put my name out there so it was nice to be asked for something special. I have made ASCII art for a print literary magazine. They offered to pay but never did, so I won't be mentioning their name. The rest has been freebie work and at least it's honest freebie work. I have created ASCII art for a text based game and have a 'contract' to work on larger images for another game which wants ASCII art backgrounds. I've also created ASCII art for family events like a friend's wedding, the birth of my sister's first baby and my nephew, Zack, who started living on his own while attending his first year of university.

Doing More With ASCII Art

ASCII art in itself is nice but you can do things with the ASCII art you create. I've got a list of things you may not have thought of.

• ASCII Art in HTML Source Code

Now and then if you look at the source code (the HTML code) of websites you can find ASCII art. Its like a secret surprise for those who dig a little deeper.

• ASCII Art as Image Tags

If you know what the alt image tags are (and where they are) you could give this a try.

• Passwords in ASCII Art

One line ASCII art can be used as a unique password.

• Word Play with ASCII Art

Rebus Puzzles, also known as Wordies can be created with ASCII art.

It’s funny that ASCII art is still around, still popular at holidays. I started making ASCII art in 1998. I was active in the newsgroup for ASCII art then. The downfall that turned ASCII art from trendy to retro started with HTML email. It became tricky to send an email in plain ASCII text. For awhile people just used plain text, those who held on to their simple email that didn’t need graphics and scripts. Now you have to ask for plain text, if it’s even an option. I don’t think people realize all that HTML costs them bandwidth and adds to the cost of the Internet they use.

Anyway, I started making my own ASCII art again. I’ve kept most of the old art I made. A few got lost along the way. Today I found a ship in the bottle which I had forgotten about. It was on another site. Still had my initials, my artist credit with it. Nice to find it with those.

The ASCII Art Dictionary

ASCII Picture Collections

Heart and Soul ASCII Art Gallery

Christopher Johnson's ASCII Art Collection

ASCII Art Gallery.com

ASCII World

Sunny Spot Gallery

ASCII Mailer -- Send an ASCII art picture in email. Here is a list of places you can still find collections of ASCII art, done by various artists at various times. For an updated list check my links.