A Sailor's Craft

How was I going to turn the boat around without anyone noticing? The men I had invited out fishing were all depending on me. They had been so impressed with my abilities as a sailor, navigating the boat through the channels and shoals that led to the open water of the Gulf of Mexico. Just minutes earlier I had successfully dodged five forming waterspouts spawned by passing squalls and they had enthusiastically patted me on the back.

How could I let on that I had been going in the wrong direction for the last thirty minutes and that we may not have enough fuel to get back to Key West? Boating was my craft. I was a sailor and sailors didn't make such blunders.

Maybe if I stopped to let them fish for a few minutes, they wouldn't notice when I restarted the engine that we were heading back the way we had just come. Even if they did, surely they would understand. This could have happened to anyone. The haze left by the squalls limited visibility to less than a mile. It was hard to know which way to go. Sure, I should have checked my compass, but sailors have a built in navigational system. and trust their instincts.

Water depth and underwater topography told me all I needed to know about where we were. I had been out here a hundred times and I knew exactly where we were. In just a few minutes the haze would lift and we would see the island on the horizon.

The haze did lift, but there was no island. There was nothing but water in every direction. Trying to hide my panic, I swallowed my pride and glanced at the compass. We had been going in exactly the opposite direction of Key West!

As I struggled with how to get out of this situation without losing face, a shrimp trawler about a quarter of a mile away that I hadn't noticed signaled us with a blast from its horn. The men onboard were frantically waving their arms trying to get our attention. I made a hard turn to port and sped over, happy for the diversion and the chance to once again show my seaman skills.

I pulled along side the "shrimper", idled my engine and yelled above the drone of their larger engines "what's the problem?" In broken English one of the Hispanic men yelled back "we lost in ocean, which way is to Keya Wesa?"

Well there it was. Now I was in the hot seat. I could avoid the issue no longer. My sins had found me out and it was time to pay the piper. I could see two of the men in my boat already starting to point in the direction that I had been heading and I knew that there was no escape for me.

I was a sailor and I was not about to put other sailors in harms way by giving bad directions just to save face. I could feel my crew's shock as I waved off their attempts to point and quickly motioned in the correct direction, telling the skipper of the other vessel "that way…set your boat on 115 degrees and it will take you right to Key West Harbor.

Now I was embarrassed. I had never fully understood that old cliché "the silence was deafening". Now I knew. No one was saying anything and yet, so much was being said. The only way I could have felt more ashamed was if I had gotten seasick in front of my friends.

I was humbled and while I know humility is a good thing, it certainly did not feel good at the moment. Still, I had learned a very important lesson. Always trust your compass over your instincts.

That lesson carries spiritual significance for me as well. When it comes to my life's direction, I need to consult God's compass, the Word of God. As the compass is the guide in a sailor's craft, so too is the Word of God the guide for a Christian's vessel.

In I Kings 8:56 (kjv) we are told "…there hath not failed one word of all His good promises." Solomon was assuring Israel that none of God's promises fail. His instructions are always trustworthy.

Christians often trust their own judgments without consulting the "compass" of God. When we do this, we are asking for trouble and often find ourselves headed in the wrong direction.

The author is a retired Coast Guard Officer with over 32 years of service. He is a Baptist Preacher and Bible Teacher. He helps those grieving the loss of a pet to understand the Biblical evidence that proves they live on. His most popular book, "Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates" delivers hope and comfort to the reader in a very gentle, yet convincing way. Visit at http://www.coldnosesbook.com for more information or write to petgate@aol.com

Craft Idea

What do you do when you're ready to sit down in your crafting area, and you don't have a single craft idea?! Sometimes we want to make something, but we#39;re just not having a creative day. Where can we get a new craft idea to encourage the creative juices to start flowing again?

The internet is the prime target for finding a new craft idea to work with. The abundance of information you can find online is amazing. Sometimes you have to narrow down your search results or rephrase your search in order to get better results, but the craft idea you are looking for is out there some place! You can simply type “craft idea” in the search engine, and go through the results for more ideas than you'll know what to do with! You'll get a huge variety of topics with a generalized search term like “craft idea”. If you are looking for a specific kind of craft idea, you'll need to be more specific. For example, if you know you want to work with clay, type “clay craft idea” in the search engine. If you're looking for free patterns to follow for crotcheting or knitting- than that is what you'll want to type in the search engine box.

Another way to come up with a new craft idea is to browse your favorite crafting magazines. You could read the articles for specific instructions on how to make a craft, or have a little more fun with it and just look at the pictures! When you find an item you like, use it as your craft idea and see if you can create something similar just by looking at the photograph!

Sometimes you can come up with a craft idea just by walking through your local craft supply store. Usually, the items you see will spark a craft idea you would like to attempt. The silk flowers might give you an idea to make a fancy, all season wreath to hang on your front door. The baking supplies might give you the idea to make fun shaped cakes for your child's class party. Walking down the aisle of pretty glass containers can spark all sorts of interesting ideas, and many popular craft stores have fliers with a craft idea posted near the item it uses.

Warren and Karen have been involved in the internet for a number of years and run several websites. They are most interested in providing opportunities for people to connect with information relating to business, health and creativity. Check out their Craft Idea blog for more information.

Making Rubber Stamps: Learn How To Make Your Own Art Craft Rubber Stamps For Stamping Up Paper Craft

Making stamps at home does not mean producing amateur stamps suitable just for kids' stamping. With a little information and the right rubber stamp making supply, manufacturing rubber stamps is fun and easy!

Classifying Rubber Stamps

For starters, rubber stamps are classified into two categories: business rubber stamps and art rubber stamps or craft stamps.

Business stamps are hand stamps, self inking stamps (pre inked) or dating stamps; the text of which makes them personalized rubber stamps. When using a hand stamp you must stamp it up and down on a stamp pad to load the stamp with ink before making your impression.

Art and craft rubber stamps are a lot more interesting as graphics such as hand drawn artwork, craft clipart along with alphabets and photographs can be used. Used in creating scrapbooks and greeting cards these custom stamps can also be used with embossing powder or ink for embossed rubber stamping. If you have ever tried to locate a Chinese character rubber stamp, you will know they are hard to find, so why not make your own? Stamp art has no limits - all your stamp ideas can be realized once you start making stamps at home so start gathering your rubber stamping ideas!

You will never again need to buy from a Rubber Stamp Manufacturer!

The fantastic thing about making your own stamps is that you will save money and do away with buying stamps from a rubber stamp maker or rubber stamp company. You can get all your rubber stamp making supplies or a rubber stamp kit and make your own personalized stamps, photo stamps, signature stamps and craft stamps within the comfort of your home.

Different Methods of Rubber Stamp Manufacturing

Does it sound impossible? Well it isn't. In fact making rubber stamps can become addictive once you grasp the basics. You must have an understanding of how different methods of rubber stamp manufacturing is carried out, then you can start searching for the relevant rubber stamp supply to start creating your rubber stamping ideas!

 

• Hand carved - Creating a carved stamp is still practiced in some countries. A simple example of a carved hand stamp is carving on erasers but this is beyond the skill level of most of us and is very time consuming.
• Vulcanizing - You may be familiar with magenta rubber stamps that utilize self cling foam similar to EZMount for sticking to acrylic blocks. These are vulcanized rubber stamps like the ones you buy from Stampin Up. Vulcanized stamps require a matrix mold to be produced for each new design making it an expensive process for small quantities of a single design. The vulcanizing heat press is also quite an expensive stamping machine for home use.
• Laser - Sounds hi-tech and so will your bills be! You can also make your own rubber stamps using a laser engraving machine, however, expenditure is high including its maintenance and operating costs, which are much higher than the vulcanizing process. Lasers are usually used for business style stamps where a custom rubber stamp is required.
• Flash technology - This relatively new stamping technology is not too expensive but the finished stamp has only a single colour, similar to the self inking stamp. This means it's unsuitable for your creative craft stamps. Flash Stamp technology employs a technique where ink flows through a membrane after exposure to a light source. The sections of the membrane containing the artwork remain open from which the ink flows.
• Polymer stamp making - Using a liquid polymer, artwork and a UV light source polymer is the clear choice for making custom rubber stamps at home with its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. You will only need a computer, laser printer and a UV exposure unit and of course the correct polymer for stamp making.

 

Stamping up with Polymer Rubber

Among the various ways for manufacturing rubber stamps, the polymer stamp making technique is the winner of all available stamp making methods for rubber stamp makers at home. Manufacturing polymer stamps will allow you to get professional quality custom rubber stamps at the lowest price possible!

It might surprise you that polymer stamp making is now the most common method of manufacturing stamps commercially today. The majority of business ink stamps, self inking personalized stamps and increasingly so craft stamps are now more often polymer stamps. Polymer stamps are also known as acrylic polymer, clear stamps, clear rubber stamps and rubber plastic stamps. Interestingly, polymer stamps contain no rubber at all and are still called rubber stamps!

Stamp Making Rules

Before you launch into making your own polymer rubber stamps, you must keep in mind three important factors about polymers. Pay attention to these and you can be assured of a high quality rubber stamp.

 

• Platemaking Polymers - Used extensively in the printing industry not all photopolymer plates will produce rubber stamps. To make a stamping die a polymer with the durometer reading of 40 is ideal; this is the hardness scale of the cured polymer. InstaPlate is just such a kind of polymer designed to make rubber stamp dies and best suited for home use. It is available as a photopolymer gel in a sachet (commonly known as ‘polymer in a bag'). With InstaPlate, you can be assured of a good quality polymer so request it when you investigate your stamp making supply.

 

 

• Polymer Solidification - Some stamp making kits employ other types of polymers that solidify under natural light or a single light bulb. This is not recommended as polymers that solidify under a specific UVA light range are always better. All professional stamp makers use polymers like InstaPlate as it allows control of the UVA light at a specific wavelength to make stamps. So invest in a quality UV exposure unit along with a commercial grade polymer such as InstaPlate to create stamps like the professionals do, this is especially important if you are interested in producing wholesale rubber stamps at home for resale.

 

 

• Strength of your Rubber Stamp - We often come across polymer stamps with no structural backing allowing the stamp to naturally stick to a mounting block. While these seem great, they are susceptible to tearing, dirtying and distortion. A strong permanent backing avoids these problems and is becoming very popular now that we have products such as EZMount and InstaGrip. InstaGrip is a new method of affixing rubber stamps to acrylic blocks and is a repositionable mounting system designed for mounting stamps onto acrylic. InstaGrip is basically a clear thin silicone repositional mat that sticks both to the stamp backing and the acrylic block. Since it's transparent, it will allow you to see through the stamp and the block to place your impression, making your stamping process easier than ever before.

 

The Light Source

You don't need to spend a fortune on a light source for making stamps at home. Commercial stamp machines have built in timers that control the exposure of the polymer and are quite expensive. A better alternative for home stamp making is a smaller craft stamp maker that utilizes an external portable countdown timer. The UVA light output from one of these units will produce the same quality stamp as the larger commercial stamp making systems.

Robert de Rooy has been involved with the stamp making industry for over 12 years and provides technical assistance to stamp makers. He operates two websites about stamp making, one for craft stamp making at home http://www.makingstamps.com.au and another for commercial stamp making http://www.instastamp.com.au

Craft Sleuth - Hunting for Craft Projects

Not every crafter is creative enough to come up with craft ideas to use the many supplies that can be found in craft stores. Thankfully, there are people who devote their lives to finding the perfect crafts for you to make at home, and you only need to follow a few simple directions. If you're an avid crafter, however, finding all of these new projects can be tricky-there are a lot of craft projects available that are not good for you. Some crafters are looking for quick and easy projects, while others want long-term projects to complete with the utmost care. Still others are looking for inexpensive crafts, and some are looking for crafts involving a specific technique, like quilting, rubber stamping, or sculpting with clay. Don't worry. No matter what your needs, there are craft projects available for you!

The first place you can look for new craft projects and ideas is online. The Internet is a great resource because it is ever changing and you can often talk directly to the author of the article via email to ask specific questions. Blogs are a great source. Basically, a blog is an online column that is updated rather frequently by the same author. Blogs usually have a specific topic, so by searching for ones about crafting, you can find updated ideas almost every day.

If you aren't connected to the Internet or don't understand how to search well, another great source for project ideas is crafting magazines. You can subscribe to a general craft magazine or one that is more specialized to your specific wants and needs. Good news-if you run a business by selling your crafts, trade magazines are tax deductible! Of course, you'll have to wait a month for a new issue, but crafting magazines still reflect current trends, like blogs and articles do no the Internet.

However, sometimes you just want to learn the basics to a specific craft. In this case, books are a great resource. If you're short on cash, you can even simply borrow them from your local library. You can purchase or borrow crafting books on every subject, and they are great to use in conjunction with magazines or even a crafting class.

No matter what your crafting needs, there are a number of resources in which to find new project ideas. Of course, you also could just walk up and down the isles of your local craft supply store and see if any new ideas come to you!

Visit TheGreatBigCraftShop.com for all your craft supplies and accessories. Both US and UK stores are available.

Affirmation Child's Craft - Building Self-Esteem With a Two-Part Craft Project

One thing I know for sure – it’s never too early to start learning to think positive!

Here is a simple craft that children ages five through seven will enjoy creating. It involves two parts: one is making the three dimensional craft, and the other is writing and repeating an affirmation. Affirmations are positive first-person statements written in the present tense. They are often repeated throughout the day. It’s all a matter of giving our subconscious minds a positive blueprint for a happy, abundant life.

This project is suitable for a small group of children also, for say a classroom or a church group.

Materials needed: (available at your local craft store)

A small mirror, maybe 2-3 inches in diameter. It can be any shape. It needn’t be perfectly round.

A small amount of air-dry nontoxic colored clay. Crayola makes a brand of clay that will work fine. Because it is air-dry clay, the project will not have to be baked in an oven, and it will harden in 24 hours.

Method:

Step 1. Each child chooses a small amount of colored clay. The clay can be squished and blended, streaked or whatever design the children want to do.

Step 2. Mold the clay into a lumpy ball shape. Place one edge of the mirror on the top of the lump and push down, so that the bottom of the lump now makes a flat base, and the mirror is partway stuck into the clay. The lump should now “stand up” by itself, with the mirror placed firmly in the top part of the clay.

Step 3. The lump can be “decorated” by pushing in the blunt end of a pencil to make holes, and/or striations can be created by drawing lines in the clay with an open paper clip. The children can leave their thumb prints in one area, and smear another area so it is smooth. The only limit is the child’s imagination and common tools found around the house. Clay can be placed on the top edge of the mirror also, to hold it in place. Wipe the mirror clean before the clay completely dries.

Set aside this lovely mirror creation.

The second half of the project involves writing an affirmation to go along with the mirror. Some sample affirmations would be “I value myself.” “I honor who I am.” “I am worthy.” “I love myself.” “My life is filled with good things.” “My life is filled with love.” “I appreciate my special skills and talents.”

A good point to remember is to phrase the affirmation so it has meaning to each individual child. Affirmations can be used to change the energy around any situation.

As an example:

If a child is having difficulty in a certain area of their life, or in school, an affirmation can be used to change and heal the energy around that situation. Repeating “I feel loved and protected all day long,” would help a child dealing with fearful thoughts of feeling alone and vulnerable. “I know what is best for me,” for a child dealing with peer pressure. As long as the affirmation feels natural and not forced, it will have a calming, soothing effect.

It’s very important to phrase affirmations in positive terms, not in negative ones.

As an example, saying “I am no longer selfish” is not an affirmation, and would undoubtedly create a situation of more selfishness. Instead, to feel more generous, a person would repeat “I am generous and loving to myself and others.” And if the person were feeling selfish, perhaps because of an underlying fearful thought of never having enough, an affirmation would be “I am always provided for,” or “I always have everything I need,” or “The Universe is a safe and loving place. I am abundantly cared for.”

Negative statements have a tendency to create more of a situation that is not wanted. As an example, I ran into a friend of mine at the gym. She was upset because she had forgotten her gym bag and now had to skip her workout. She told me she’d been repeating to herself before she left the house, “Don’t forget your gym bag!” Her mind focused on the word “forget,” and sure enough, it created that very fact. If she had been repeating, “Remember your gym bag,” or “I always remember my gym bag,” perhaps she would have been able to work out.

Finishing the children’s craft project:

After the children have written out their affirmation with the help of an adult on a sturdy card or thick paper which when folded can stand up by itself, place the card and the mirror together. The mirror will remind the children of their inner beauty and self-worth as they repeat their affirmation throughout the day.

Anyone of any age can use affirmations to create positive thoughts which in turn will create a wonderful life of beauty, purpose and promise!

(Note: Enhancements can also be added to the mirror and affirmation if desired, such as sequins, feathers, paper cut-outs, etc.)

This article may be re-published freely as long as the following resource box is included at the end of the article and as long as you link to the URL mentioned in the resource box:

Connie Bowen’s books have sold over 50,000 copies worldwide and still counting! She is the author/illustrator of the beloved children’s affirmation books I Believe In Me, and I Turn to the Light, and illustrator for The Sunbeam and the Wave, and Susan Chernak McElroy’s animal stories of Heart in the Wild and All My Relations. Inside pages of her books can be viewed and enjoyed as well as her stunning commission pet portraits at http://www.conniebowen.com. Connie’s story of how I Believe In Me was created originally for her own son is featured in the last chapter of Rosemary Ellen Guiley’s book, Breakthrough Intuition.