[Nfb-krafters-korner] classes and crafts

[Susan Roe]

Good idea Greg.  You get a big hug for that one.

Susan
dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "NCBootman" <ncbootman at gmail.com>
To: "List for blind crafters and artists" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 5:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] classes and crafts


> Jean,
>
> All of your points are very valid ones. A question for you. What crafts do 
> people in your country do? Also, think about your parents or grandparents. 
> What might they have done either as useful items to get through the day or 
> what did they decorate with or adorn their clothing or costumes etc? I 
> honestly don't know much about your culture and would love to learn. I'm 
> asking you these questions because it may be easier and more practical to 
> adapt some of your traditional ways instead of adopting and learning 
> American ways. The materials will be available. The need for electricity 
> won't be there because your people are not dependent on it. The need for 
> compact and portable will be there because that is a part of your way of 
> life. Tell us these things. Describe them as best you can no matter how 
> little that may be. What will happpen is that we will read your note and 
> go that's just like our something craft here. We will learn from you and 
> you will learn from us.
>
> I may be considered out of line here but that’s ok too. With your 
> unreliable electricity, even if a class can be offered at a convenient 
> time, you may not get to participate. So, what I think is that instead of 
> focusing solely on classes over the phone, we can start teaching each 
> other right here in the e-mails! That way, people can read and learn and 
> ask questions when they can. Doesn't seem like a brilliant idea just maybe 
> one nobody has thought about. And, if I know a craft and you have 
> questions, I'll always give my input and try to help. Sometimes folks 
> can't see the trees for the forest. Keep writing and talking to us and 
> let's learn together!
>
> Greg
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Jean Parker
> Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 2:12 AM
> To: nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] classes and crafts
>
> Susan, Henrietta and others:
>
> In answer to your question I am 10 and a half hours ahead of eastern time 
> at this time of year.  When America changes to day light time it changes 
> to 9 and a half.
>
> About what kind of crafts I like to do, this is a little complicated.  I 
> did some crafts growing up but nothing in quite some time.  That is why I 
> joined the list, to find out what other blind people do and learn some 
> things.  I feel the need to do something creative..
>
> There are many things I have to consider when deciding what to take up. 
> Although I have electricity much of the time these days we do have 
> problems with it so a craft or activity should be something that is not 
> reliant on power.  It should be something where the instructions are 
> either accessible already or where they can easily be made accessible. 
> Although I have a lot of sighted assistance, their reading abilities in 
> English are not sophistocated enough to explain paterns or detailed and 
> complicated directions.  Somehow I doubt that Joanne's and the like have 
> their patterns and directions translated into Hindi or Marathi.  It should 
> be something where the equipment and supplies are available locally or 
> easily obtained from abroad.  Electrical equipment for a craft or hobby 
> purchased in America is the wrong voltage so the expense of a voltage 
> converter must be considered.  .  Sending things to India is prohibatively 
> expensive so typical mail order is not an option for us.  With the safety 
> pin beading kits for example, Joyce and I are exploring the possibility of 
> having them despatched through the US Embassy in Bombay as her daughter 
> works for the State Department.  Since they are small and light this might 
> work nicely. Even if things or equipment is sent from abroad there are 
> customs fees to be paid and often things go missing in customs as well. 
> So sometimes after patiently waiting several months for something to 
> arrive it never does appear.  Fedex etc provide better assurance but like 
> I said the expense is so high only the corporations and wealthy people can 
> afford it.  It used to be that things could be brought in personal luggage 
> but new restrictions have made this difficult as well.
>
> Another aspect is whether something can be replicated here.  If I have a 
> safety pin kit for example, I can take that to the market and get the 
> correct size of pins and so forth for future projects.  I am terible at 
> metric conversions so it's better to show someone what is needed rather 
> than to ask for it by number.
>
> Another reason I was interested in classes on this list is because even if 
> I identified a craft I wanted to do, finding someone to teach it to me is 
> very difficult.  Classes for such things are huge.  This is a country of 
> well over a billion people annd everything is done in a crowd.
>
> It should be portable.  I have to move house often and travel a lot. 
> Having a setup for making candles for example would be a real problem.  We 
> live in close quarters here, space is at a premium.  With some sort of 
> beading I can have a container fabricated to hold everything in place and 
> slide it into a back sack. These and other questions have to be considered 
> when deciding what craft to work on.
>
> So that is a long answer to what I'm sure was meant to be a simple 
> question. I am not complaining, I choose to live here with all its 
> challenges, for reasons beyond the scope of this list.  But that in a 
> nutshell, is why I joined the list and was interested in taking classes.
>
> Jean
> _______________________________________________
> Nfb-krafters-korner mailing list
> Nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Nfb-krafters-korner:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org/ncbootman%40gmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nfb-krafters-korner mailing list
> Nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Nfb-krafters-korner:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-krafters-korner_nfbnet.org/dogwoodfarm%40verizon.net
>