A painter has a canvas, a writer has a page, but a crafter has all sorts of mediums to choose from. Will it be fabric, clay, wood or something completely unexpected today?

Isn't it great to make something from whatever you had around the house. Cooking is like that too. Once you get the hang of it and don't use elaborate recipes that require special trips to certain specialty grocery stores. My favourite recipes are those made with leftovers originally. Soup is a prime leftover candidate. I think every flavour of soup in existence started out as someone's leftovers.

Sewing is like that too. Take your leftover fabric and turn it into a scrap quilt. Take your leftover yarn and make a shawl, scarf or granny squares. Being able to make things by hand is the ultimate in recycling and reusing.

Of course gardening lets you reuse kitchen scraps but that's pretty much seasonal in most places. If you leave out your vegetable peels for compost now you'll risk finding skunks and raccoons lurking around the place. Trust me, you don't want to come home after dark and see a skunk's eyes reflecting back from your car headlights. For some reason skunks are not afraid of people, wonder why...?

Enough reminiscing about eau de skunk. What craftiness will you be up to over the winter? Did the winter solstice take you by surprise and you've just realized half the winter is gone? Move to Canada, we still have plenty of snow just over the horizon, plenty of time left to get crafty. I'm still in the planning stages myself.

I like sewing. Whether it's sewing on a button, mending a pair of rippy jeans or working on a completly new project like a denim backpack or holiday crafts. I really enjoy threading that first needle and pulling together fabric. Sewing is such a nice old traditional thing, practical too!

When I was a kid my Mom and I sewed together. Neither of my sisters would really learn. Now, when we are all adults they still need to get my Mom to hem pants and mend rips for them. Not me! Over Christmas I got my first sewing machine. Before now I have done everything by hand. I still haven't done much with the machine but once I'm moved and settled somewhere I am really looking forward to putting that machine into motion.

In particular, I have patterns for quilts, Raggedy Ann dolls, teddy bears and backpacks. Once I get the hang of using the machine I can get back to finding cheap sources of fabric and then start selling some of my work. There are always places to sell sewing crafts. As fewer people learn to sew those of us "in the know" can take advantage of them, in a crafty way.

I haven't sold much of my work. Once I hemmed up pants for a young guy at work and charged him by the pair. That was a nice extra bit of cash for me. I was able to do all the pants in one night, by hand back then. It only cost me my time and the thread.

What do you sew, if you sew? I really like seeing quilts in particular. This summer I will be back in Ontario and in the late summer, shortly before Labour Day you can be sure I will be down at the CNE (The Canadian National Exhibition) looking at the winning quilts.

I like sewing. Whether it's sewing on a button, mending a pair of rippy jeans or working on a completely new project like a denim backpack or holiday crafts. I really enjoy threading that first needle and pulling together fabric. Sewing is such a nice old traditional thing, practical too!

When I was a kid my Mom and I sewed together. Neither of my sisters would really learn. Now, when we are all adults they still need to get my Mom to hem pants and mend rips for them. Not me! Over Christmas I got my first sewing machine. Before now I have done everything by hand. I still haven't done much with the machine but once I'm moved and settled somewhere I am really looking forward to putting that machine into motion.

In particular, I have patterns for quilts, Raggedy Ann dolls, teddy bears and backpacks. Once I get the hang of using the machine I can get back to finding cheap sources of fabric and then start selling some of my work. There are always places to sell sewing crafts. As fewer people learn to sew those of us "in the know" can take advantage of them, in a crafty way.

I haven't sold much of my work. Once I hemmed up pants for a young guy at work and charged him by the pair. That was a nice extra bit of cash for me. I was able to do all the pants in one night, by hand back then. It only cost me my time and the thread.

What do you sew, if you sew? I really like seeing quilts in particular. This summer I will be back in Ontario and in the late summer, shortly before Labour Day you can be sure I will be down at the CNE (The Canadian National Exhibition) looking at the winning quilts.

Happy Crafting!

Isn't it kind of weird to think that people are all over the Earth? While you are sleeping there are people in Australia in school, learning how to spell and divide. While you are eating breakfast someone in Hong Kong is getting sleepy and thinking about going to bed. While you are riding your bike on the weekend someone in Africa is riding their bike on the weekend too.

You don't see all those people, you won't even know their names but they are all there all the time. I think about that once in awhile.

I also think about all the people through time and still to come. Isn't it interesting to wonder what a cave man thought about on a nice sunny day? Just because most things weren't invented didn't mean they couldn't feel and think some of the same things you do. Enjoy the sun on their face, enjoy being warm and having the things and people they like around them.

Even after you are gone or living your next life, there will still be people here. Still be people riding bikes, flying kites, learning to spell and falling down and skinning their knees. Forever and always and all over the world.

The warm weather seems to be here. Outside I can see tulips and all the other early Spring flowers blooming. The days get longer as they warm up. It won't be long before school is out for the Summer. What will you be doing in the meantime?

There is all that time between dinner, clean up, homework and bedtime to fill. A lot of people just watch TV. Kind of boring but it makes the time pass quickly. But, is that enough for you, just filling in time? Wouldn't you rather be doing something more fun and interesting?

Instead of TV how about doing something. Get your friends and family involved or just do it yourself. Pick a hobby or craft, there are an endless supply of them. Reading, writing, collecting zillions of different things (postcards, stamps, buttons, kites, model planes, marbles, rocks, etc.), building models, birdhouses, sewing, playing board games, sports, making a journal or scrapbook, keeping a little garden, and so on. Its never ending list. Just go to a web directory and take a look at the different hobbies, crafts and collections listed.

Once you find something that suits you, look for other people in your area doing the same thing or having the same interests. You might find a group near you or a group that has regular meetings to share ideas and show off collections and creations. Some things will even have summer camps for kids.