ihcpl Crafts & hobbies: #64:zines

I believe I would like to make a zine on cats(one of my favorite subjects). I would start with some pictures of different breeds of cats, then I would discuss the characteristics of the different breeds. I would like to use colored paper and a special spiral-binding machine, needle, and thread to put my zine together. I would just start with maybe four pages, then work up to more pages in my next zine. Searching for information on cats for the zine would be interesting and informative. I could learn some new things to help my out of control cats. I believe that zines would be appropriate inside the library, but they would need to be put in a special section in my opinion. They could encourage the would-be-writer who likes to write for fun. This, I believe, fits well in today's blog world because it could get inspiring writers together to share ideas. It might also be the discovery tool for an up and coming future novelist.

ihcpl Crafts & hobbies: #62:decpouge

I have not yet done a decoupage, but it seems like a lot fun, and the research I did on it leads me to believe that if I ever get time, I would like to decoupage something. I was very surprised that there were so many things that you could decoupage. First of all, I know the materials that you need: white glue(mod podge), object you want to decoupage, wrapping paper, magazines, wallpaper, origami paper, scissors, x-acto or utility knife, paint brush, popsicle stick, and polyurethane sealer. These seem like simple enough items to purchase. I went on "Flickr" to view the decoupages that were done. Four of my favorites on that site were "beautiful blue cups with ladybugs on them; an angel (cinjinho para decoupage that was a beautiful red and gold color; target Tuesday decoupage buttons, and decoupage servithentochnik Marina 6899. These were several Christmas items(beaufiful bottles, a Church, an Angel). They were beautiful colors. The "etsy" site had four items I really liked: a LaBelle necklace, Hoops earings, a bluebird turquoise patina, and e for eggs plates. The colors of these were beautiful. The last site I visited was google. There were some unique poster chairs on this site which looked fascinating. I never dreamed that you could use decoupage on so many things! I am sure that I would enjoy decoupaging as a hobby from viewing these sites.

#65:Crafts & hobbies: Coin collecting

I really enjoyed the coin collecting ihcpl. I found several dealers of coins in our area by going to "google maps: coin dealers." I found several in Humble, which is really close to my home. I found "Regal gold buyers" which deals only in coins; "Houston Precious metals" in Houston, which deals in other things as well as coins; "Gold exchange" in Humble(coin dealers); "The coin shop" in Spring, Texas, which handles coins, supplies & etc., and "Eagle numismatics" coin dealers specifically. I also took out 2 pennies, 1 nickel, and 1 dime from my drawer, and searched them on "historical image library." I found that the pennies were just normal pennies with Abraham Lincoln on them. These were from 1989 to 2009. The nickel was a 2008 nickel with Thomas Jefferson on it. It was dated 2006, and he was 57 years old and vice-president when he appeared on the coin. The dime was a 2002 dime. It first appeared in 1946, and had Franklin Delano Roosevelt on it. This was a very interesting experience. I also found some coin dealers in the state of Texas on google maps. Most of them were in Dallas, one was in Beaumont, and one in Houston. So there are many dealers if you want to search them. Overall, this was a very interesting experience.

ihcpl #66:hobbies: knitting and crocheting

I would like to make all three items: a prayer shawl, a chemo hat, and a lap blanket. I don't knit or crochet, but it sounds very relaxing, and the reason that I would like to make all three of these things, is that it would be a very different and valuable experience for each one. Also, it would help a soldier, a chemotherapy patient, and it would really be rewarding to think that you were helping someone with something that you had hand made. We do not have a knitting or crocheting group at Kingwood. There is a private one that meets, but it is not among the employees. I guess that I would start with spreading the word around about the class, pick a good time for everyone, email everyone, and get ideas from other employees as to what they would want the group to consist of. If we ever have time, I think that it would be a very good thing to do.