[Nfb-krafters-korner] Intro and Questions

[slery]

Eleni,

Please check out our website (www.KraftersKorner.org) for a list of the
classes that have been taught previously and that will be coming up. We have
had a coil basket weaving class in the past and Joyce, our President, has
taught one or more soap making classes.

You also might want to check the archives for this list since there have
been several messages regarding how a blind person would measure essential
oils.

Joyce is currently on vacation this week but feel free to email her directly
with questions regarding the soap making.

Cindy Sheets, Webmistress
NFB Krafters Division

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org 
> [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
> Eleni Vamvakari
> Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 5:58 PM
> Cc: nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Intro and Questions
> 
> 
> Hi there,
> 
>   I apologise in advance for the rambling but I feel this 
> will help to explain my situation a bit better.  From here on 
> in, I'll keep my posts short.  Anyway, my birth name is 
> Tiffany, but I intend on changing legally to Eleni, so that's 
> what I'll be using here.  Some of you may know me from The 
> Zone, from Facebook or from other places. I've been totally 
> blind since I was two-months-old.  I'm 26 and from New 
> Jersey.  I'm a college graduate with a BA in sociology and a 
> certificate to teach ESL, which was earned after graduation.  
> While most people feel that I should take a job in an 
> academic, scholarly or prestegius setting, I'm finding it 
> difficult to locate even ordinary work that doesn't require 
> experience, vision, degrees that I don't possess or that pays 
> enough/is close enough as far as travel to interest me, let 
> alone that I'd actually enjoy doing.  I'm not into the whole 
> telemarketing thing either, though I've tried it.
> 
>   But I love working with my hands and making things.  I am 
> very interested in starting my own business in crafts ranging 
> from basket weaving, to soap-making, to broom/brush making 
> and possibly chair caning, once I learn and feel comfortable 
> doing these things.  I have a friend who's visually-impaired, 
> with enough sight to read regular print but not to drive.  
> Now I've got her interested in some of this as well (plus 
> jewellery-making, which is her own contribution) and she 
> wants to be my business partner.  The broom-making looks and 
> sounds easy enough, But the equipment and supplies are 
> extremely expensive. So I've decided to start out with the 
> baskets and soap, since the supplies are cheap and easily 
> available online.  I found several resources for learning how 
> to weave baskets, but unless I learn with a teacher or touch 
> the type of pattern that I'm supposed to be weaving, I really 
> can't use them.  Several are videos but they're of no use to 
> me since I can't see them.  I've been looking around for 
> schools for the blind that teach these skills, but none seem 
> to exist in America today that have any of these courses.  
> Perkins does but said they could only help me if an agency 
> financed me, which, of course, none will, since I've already 
> gone to college.  This is really frustrating, since these 
> were all so-called blind trades at one time.  To top things 
> off, many blind people insist that I shouldn't do these 
> things as a career because of my background.  I e-mailed a 
> basketry guild, and though they were very nice, they really 
> couldn't really help me from a blind perspective.  But I'll 
> probably join them so that I can take their classes.  But I'd 
> still like to meet some blind weavers, particularly totally 
> blind ones, so that I can learn about any adaptations that we 
> may need (especially with regard to measuring and holding the 
> basket straight), types of weaving that are good for 
> beginners (I've heard coiling mentioned alot), books that 
> would be most useful to us etc.
> 
>   My friend and I bought two beginner basket weaving kits and 
> a soap-making kit.  I'd already decided to go with melt and 
> pour soap and to stay away from lye, since it can be very 
> dangerous and she agreed.  She made the first moulds, just to 
> see how it was done.  I'd already made soap once or twice at 
> The Diamond Spring Lodge, a place for the blind here in New 
> Jersey, so knew what to expect.  In the second batch, I 
> helped her.  It was really easy and enjoyable.  We used some 
> essential oils that she brought with her and even 
> experimented with the bottom of a disposable cup as a mould. 
> Everything came out wonderfully.  But I'm still trying to 
> figure how I would do this on my own.  That is, how would I 
> insure that the glycerine was properly melted, that the 
> colour blocks (or food coloring if I went all natural) 
> blended properly into the soap, and how I would measure the 
> oil so that I didn't put too much in each batch.  So again, 
> are there any blind soap-makers here who could help me?  As a 
> sidenote, she wove the first basket on her own, again, to get 
> a feel for it.  We still haven't done the second one, where 
> I'll hopefully be doing most of the work.  But when we do, 
> i'll let you know how it turns out.
> 
>   Neither of us have ever had our own businesses and though I 
> know a few people who are in crafts, this is not their 
> full-time job.  Can anyone give us an idea of how much we 
> could make and which of the crafts that we've chosen, if any, 
> are in high demand?
> 
> With appreciation,
> Eleni
> 
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