A very happy 2008 to all our readers and contributors.

We have a busy crafting year planned, so stay tuned for our new team of writers and craft specialists.

Folk Square is a useful online resource for anyone interested in a wide range of crafts.

It’s described as, “An online primitive magazine released monthly. We showcase talented artists from all over while featuring dolls, patterns, folk art, primitives, raggedies, stitcheries and so much more.”

They have a Craft Fair from June 1 to June 15, so check in if you want to participate or take space for your own crafts.

Crafting is a major niche topic on the internet and this site has links to a large variety of subjects and features. Worth a browse.

Check it out.

The world-famous British model-making kit company Airfix has gone into administration, prompting an outpouring of nostalgia for its products. Many older people have memories of assembling models of Spitfires and Lancaster bombers in their childhood.

Millions who grew up in the 1960s and 70s remember spending their weekly pocket money on plastic model kits and polystyrene cement on Saturday mornings.

Many also recall the chore of glueing, assembling and painting anything from Spitfires, Saturn 5 rockets, soldiers and sailing ships, to railway rolling stock, armoured vehicles, classic cars and even dinosaurs.

“Kids still love them and often parents enjoy playing with the kits with their children as it brings back memories from their own childhood. Retro-toys such as Airfix can help in promoting parent-children relationships in this way,” says spokesman Daniel Himsworth.

The BBC says “For speciality shops like the Swindon Model Centre, it’s really terrible news. But a spokesman adds that Airfix has been losing ground to computer games for about seven years (the company has also stopped introducing new kits and is just repackaging old ones). Airfix prices have also risen sharply in recent years.”

I remember Airfix kits in my own youth and had a few of them. I didn’t like working with plastic, though, preferring models made of balsa wood and paper, even though they didn’t look “real” as the Airfix models did.

Does anyone have any memories of Airfix kits?

Creativity is the fuel that drives the crafter. It is an expression of ideas that brew about in our heads. Sometimes the creativity well runs dry though, and a little help is necessary. Other times it is fun to see what other people have created and expand our own ideas. “The Creative Life,” is a television show, with a corresponding Web site, that features everything from traditional crafting to the new recycled art so popular today.  

‘The Creative Life’ is your new one-stop show for step-by-step how-to segments and tips and techniques for creating unique items for the home. From decorative painting to building, gardening to cooking, sewing to home decor and everything in between, Cheryl does it all, and takes you on location as she explores every nook and cranny of ‘The Creative Life.’
The Creative Life Web Site

“The Creative Life” presents not only ideas but free patterns on the Web site.  If you have been unaware of this show, you can also find the PBS scheduling so you can watch the production in your local area.  You can also see different clips from the show.  For the crafter, “The Creative Life” is a “creative” approach to crafting that will be become a useful resource.

The Creative Life