Linda's Crafty Chronicles
Volume 1, Issue 8 - September 2000

In this Issue:
Welcome
Back to School Fun
The County Fair - How to Prepare and Compete!
Craft Pattern - Hyacinths made from plastic pop rings
New Patterns
Next Month

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome to the September 2000 edition of Linda's Crafty Chronicles. It's hard to believe that Summer is over and Fall is beginning. Children are back in school, days are getting shorter and the weather is changing. The year 2001 is not far off. I hope that you will enjoy this issue and come back for more in the upcoming holiday months.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to School Fun
By now most children are back to school after a summer break. The following are a few sites that are of interest to children and their parents. Remember Fun, Food and Homework(not necessarily in that order).

Fun - Here are a few sites that are rated kid safe and have a lot of fun games, coloring pages, etc... for children to relax with after a busy day at school:
Panda's Play Pen - This site is more for the younger children.
toottoot.com - Children's Stories, Pictures, Jokes, and Facts!
Funschool.com - Fun learning games for children from preschool to sixth grade.

Food - These are sites with a lot of great ideas for lunches and snacks that are nutritious and fun:
Ideal Snacks for Children
NNCC Snacks for School Age Children
Healthy Snacks for Toddlers and Preschoolers - Also links to site with snacks for infants.

Homework - These sites are great when it comes time for homework. They help that child without doing the work for him or her. You can find everything from math to social studies and science
Homework Helpers - Volunteers that will try to answer your question within 24 hours

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The County Fair - How to Prepare and Compete!
Either you have had a County or State Fair in your area our will soon have one. Maybe you have decided that you would like to put one of your projects in next year. If so, here are a few tips and ideas to help you in your quest for the red, white and blue(red - second, white - third, and blue - first).

  1. Go in with NO expectations other than to show others what you can do. Not all judges are the same and see your article the same way that you do.
  2. Do something you enjoy - Don't make something you think will win if you do not enjoy making that item(making a thread doily when you would rather be making something with yarn).
  3. Be careful in the type of yarns or threads you are using - I made a fridge magnet using Read Heart Fleck Aran yarn. If you have seen this it has little flecks of other colors in it. We don't have it here and so the judge had never seen it(strange for a judge). This person thought that I needed to clean my yarn before making something with it. I though it gave an antique look.
  4. Never assume - That is what I did in #3. I assumed that the judges would have seen the yarn and would like the look..
  5. Read the rules book for exhibits - They will give you an idea as to what they are looking for in an article: Simplicity, evenness of stitches, etc... Some really go by these rules. The rules also tell you how many articles you can exhibit in any one category such as crocheted afghans and crocheted baby afghans are usually two different categories.
  6. If you can, register your articles ahead of time - It is easier for most places to create the preprinted tags ahead of time and then just tie them to your article. Saves a lot of their and your time when you bring your articles in.
  7. Do your best, but do it for yourself - You will enjoy it better this way and will not be as upset if you do not get what you expected to get. You never know, you may end up winning the Grand Champion!

Remember to go there to have fun and enjoy all the work everyone put into this event.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Craft Pattern - Hyacinths made from plastic six-pack pop rings. For directions printed in color, send a SASE to:

Linda Bohrn
1570 Mill Street
Ely, NV 89301
I have these already printed and ready to be sent out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Patterns

I have a few new patterns this month. I have made a new buttonless towel topper but this one is a little different. It has a basic top for the main part but the button part is different. I have created several different tops for the button part and will add more as the seasons and holidays change. The ones for this month are a flower, butterfly and wreath topper.
I also have a pattern for a Pug(pacifier for the layman) Holder. This is very simple and can be thrown in the washer after you remove the pug. It is simple and inexpensive to make and uses scrap yarn.

Check for this pattern this weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next Month

Halloween Fun
Pumpkin Ideas
Cold Weather Help
Homecoming Fun
New Patterns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you received this newsletter in error just email me at smile@idsely.com and ask to be removed.