Learn To Combine Your Crafts

Hello Everyone!

It’s time we looked at being crafty enough to combine your crafts. So, if you’re like me, you’re a hobby hoarder, and you have lots of different projects in the works, but you don’t always have time to work on them one at a time, why don’t you combine them? That’s what many artists do, after all. It’s one of the best ways to develop multiple skills at once. So, for example, if you’re looking to develop your doodling skills and your watercolour skills, try combining them. Doodle your image first and use watercolour to colour it. Or maybe create a friendship bracelet out of yarn and use it as a bookmark! There are so many ways to combine your crafts, and there are many reasons why you should. Let me tell you about some of them.

Mixed Media Can Be A Form Of Recycling

When you use mixed media, you don’t have to buy things new. In fact, you can use whatever you have around the house that you don’t use anymore. For example, if you’re like me, and you knit or crochet, you can use those extra yarn scraps to decorate your bullet journals, or create an interesting, knitted piece, by tying those yarn scraps together and knitting something out of the balls you make. Or if you’re handy with other crafts, say woodworking, or wire jewellery making, use those wood scrapings or those itty-bitty wire bits to make an interesting art piece in your sketch book. There are many ways you can create mixed media, without buying new things. All you need are the scraps left over from your other crafts.

I have used mixed media before. No, I don’t mean in terms of actual art, but in terms of my yarn crafts and sewing skills. I’ve made a couple of fabric-backed crochet blankets before and even used scrap yarn to create a macrame bookmark. I’m now exploring the idea of using yarn in my bullet journal, all because I love my crochet, and I have too many yarn scraps in my storage bins. So, by including my favourite craft materials into a journal I use, I’m essentially recycling all the bits and pieces that would have gone into the bin, to rot in landfills. So, learn to recycle your scraps, and use them in other projects.

Combining Crafts Uses Creativity And In Turn Leads To Innovation

Honestly, you never know what will happen, when you combine your crafts. Sometimes it works, sometimes you just get a hot mess, but it’s a process, and you learn to trust it. Even if something doesn’t work the first time, the next time you try it, you might find a method that does let it work. All you really need is a vision, and it will turn into something beautiful and magical. Just keep trying. By mixing your media, and combining your crafts, you’re using your creativity, which will, in turn, lead to innovation.

While my combinations aren’t as dramatic as you might imagine, it still has taught me a few new things, like how to sew different fabrics to my crochet pieces, or how thick I need a macrame bookmark to be, to make a good image. I’ve even learned why using regular, coloured pens is not a good idea when trying out new watercolour methods. It’s all about practice and about learning from your mistakes, and eventually, those lessons will turn into innovation, maybe not in a major way, but in the way you handle your crafts. So, don’t be afraid to test the boundaries of your crafts.

Develop Skills Faster

So, you are a hobby hoarder, and you have multiple projects waiting for you, but you can only work on them one at a time, why not combine them? Sew that crochet piece to a cushion cover. Practice your doodle art on that wood scrap and stick it to your wall. Knit that thin piece of wire into a bracelet. Or crochet a lace edge for that cross-stitch piece, to make a fancy table runner. Whatever medium you’re working with, combine it with another.

By working with both skills, you’re developing them faster, because you’re using them both to make something new. You don’t always have to work on one project at a time, in fact, you might be better off working with each of them, in increments, or you can multitask, if your craft allows it. Most of the time, mine don’t, but that’s ok, because I can work on them in increments. So, while I finish a cross-stitch piece, I could already be working on the crochet edge, so that when the piece is done, all I need to do is hang it up. It’s all about understanding what part of the project you want to prioritise. Once you learn that, you’ll eventually find yourself with a finished piece that developed your skills, in whatever craft you used.

Learn To Trust The Process And Combine Your Crafts

I may not be the most creative person in the room, but I sure try to be creative, at the very least, and I know with time, practice and a lot of trial and error, I will come up with something that’s unique, beautiful and a completely new idea that no one has thought of before. Ok, that last one is a stretch, but it’ll at least be a new idea that no one I know has thought of before, and that’s a win for me. The same should be said for you. So, combine your crafts and learn how to make something new and unexpected. You’ll be sure to impress your family and friends.

Well, that’s it from me today. I’m going to go and try creating a junk journal page with my scrap yarn. While I go do that, please don’t forget to like, subscribe, comment, share and follow me, here on Feather’s Charm, on my YouTube channel, on my other social media channels (Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok), and on Patreon. Your support really helps me make more content like this, for you guys.

And as always, be kind, be creative, and be unique.

I’ll see you later!

Feather, out!