[Nfb-krafters-korner] Intro and Questions

Wed Jul 14 03:41:44 UTC 2010

HI Eleni,

Please forgive me, first, if I have misspelled your name. I'm not so
good with names, and please correct any mispselling I've made.

I am trying to get into basketweaving myself. I have several kits, and
just haven't gotten around to sending them to be scanned...sorry,
Joyce, things have gotten crazy around here with a move and school
coming up!

The soap questions, though, I have some ideas. You might get a talking
liquid thermometer, one used for backing or making candy. Such a
thermometer would be able to stand up to the temperature of the oil
and/or candle mixtures. As for measuring oil, depending on the
volumes, you could use 1) a tactilely marked injector (something like
the thing that diabetics use to measure their insulin?), 2) clicking
measuring spoons and/or cups. Such cups and spoons would be a single
spoon/cup that clicks into place for one-eighth teaspoon, one-fourth
teaspoon, up to one tablespoon, or one-fourth cup, one-half cup, up to
one or sometimes two cups, or 3) a container that is the right size
and a liquid indicator to inform you when it is at exactly the right
spot. It depends on the volume. If it can be measured in teaspoons or
cups, I think the clicking measuring devices would be the easiest. Oh,
also, if you are tlaking about essential oils that are measured by the
drop, there are droppers that release exactly one drop per squeeze.
You might look into that.

Hope those ideas help!

~Jewel

On 7/13/10, Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E] <Terry.Powers at nih.gov> wrote:
> Eleni;
> Welcome to the group.  Our president, Joyce Kane, who is out of town, in
> Texas, does candle making.  She might be able to give you some advice later
> or let you know if there are any resources for reading or buying supplies.
> I do plastic canvis, am getting into knitting and beading.  As of now, I can
> not think of any crafts the blind have not tried and found a way to overcome
> the chalanges so they can do them, just like a sighted person would.  With
> teaching, coaching and support, we have had many people take up their crafts
> again, after becoming blind.  They thought they could not do thair crafts,
> but with the help of this group, they are crafters, again!
> Enjoy.
>
> Terry Powers from MD
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Eleni Vamvakari [mailto:magkisa83 at gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 2:05 PM
> To: List for blind crafters and artists
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Intro and Questions
>
> I know that there are blind people in the academic field.  The problem is
> finding something that actually interests me.  In any case, thanks for the
> mentoring idea and thanks to all of you for the advice on crafting.  I'm
> really excited about these classes and can't wait to join one. *smile*  I've
> never taken a class over the phone so this will be a new experience for me.
>
> On 7/13/10, Zimmer, Cindy <cindy.zimmer at nebraska.gov> wrote:
>> Eleni,
>> There are numerous totally blind individuals that hold jobs in the
>> academic field.  Maybe you should contact some mentors from the NFB
>> website who are in your area.
>>
>> Cindy Z.
>>
>> -----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 4:58 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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>
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