Announcing a new challenge

For the giveaway I held on Sew, Mama, Sew's giveaway day, I asked people to tell me the crafts they'd tried, the crafts they did and those they'd like to try.  I've put all those crafts, and as many others as I could think of on a separate page; if you'd like a look it's here.  Feel free to let me know any I've missed.  A lot of people did have new crafts they wanted to try, and others said they wanted to improve in the crafts they already did.  Me?  I want to do both. 

I read a lot of blogs before I took the plunge and began my own, and I knew straight away what my blog name would be.  I'm called the Crafter's Apprentice as that's what I feel like I am.  I didn't know much last year when I started making things and I'm constantly learning, from books, magazines, all of my bloggy friends, blog tutorials and of course my own, plentiful, mistakes.  This makes me an apprentice crafter as far as I'm concerned.

A few months ago, I started doing a LANT challenge with the lovely Sandra.  LANT stands for Learn A New Technique.  We both had a go at a few things including button holes (Sandra) and zippers (me).  Then a couple of weeks ago Susan challenged me to try binding (yes, I will, I just haven't finished the quilting yet!) in exchange for her attempting a zipper.  Then the other day Cuckoo pointed me to a link for a binding tutorial and my idea was born.

Ladies and gentlemen (are there any out there?  Well I know there are some out there, there's one sitting next to me, but are any of them reading my blog?), I present to you

I'm loving the support and encouragement I'm getting when learning new stuff and I want you all to get that too, so here's how it'll work.  First of all, there are three ways you can go about this.  One - You could choose to join in each month and challenge to learn a new skill every month.  Two - You could drop in as and when the fancy took you, only fitting in the new skills around your busy life.  Three - You could throw yourself in and have a go at as many new techniques as you can.  Multiple links (on topic!) will be welcome.

1. Pick something you want to learn.  This can be a whole new craft or a technique within a craft you already do.  For example, you might want to have a go at putting in a zipper or using binding, or trying hand quilting.  You could have a go at knitting in the round or Entrelac, or try something new completely and have a go at wood carving or stained glass!  If you're stuck for crafts, or techniques within them, check out my Craft List, - I'm currently in the process of adding links to information, resources, how-tos and free patterns to each category.  Bear with me as it's a long job and if you've got any links to help me, please let me know.  You can alsocheck out the Technique Tutorials page, it only has a few links at the moment but it will grow each month.

2. You've got a month to try it out.  Have a look at some tutorials, ask for some advice (probably best not to ask me, but I'm sure my readers or your readers can help!), give it a go, find out what works for you.

3. Write a post about it.  Show everyone what you learnt and how you got on.  Don't forget to link back to any tutorials you used so others can have a go.

4. One the first of each month (starting 1st August as 1st July is a little soon!) I'll host a linky party.  Link up your post and check out what other people learnt. 

5. I'll collect the tutorial links that you used and add them to the Technique Tutorials page as an easy reference for others wanting to try that technique/craft in months to come.  I will also go blog hopping to find some tutorials myself, and I'll add in the ones I've already used.

Easy eh? 

Now, I'm not trying to collect followers here, I think you know my stance on that by now, so following is not a requirement, you just need to drop in on the first of each month.  So, ladies, are you in?  Will you help me spread the word?

If you would be kind enough to spread the word and get all those craft bloggers out there out of their comfort zones, there's a button you can use.  I just made it!  Does that count for my June LANT?

Just copy the text below and paste it into a html box on your design page.

<a href="http://thecraftersapprentice.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/h460/craftersapprentice/055-2-1-2.jpg" alt="The Crafters Apprentice" width="125" height="125" /></a>

I used this fab tutorial here to make the button and the scroll box thingy.  If you'd like to point me in the direction of any fab tutorials for ANY technique / craft, please comment as I'd love to build up the Technique Tutorials page as a great resource.

For this particular challenge, I have decided not to include cooking / baking or photography.

So ladies, that's LANT in a nutshell.  Any questions, just let me know and I'll address anything I've missed.  Oh, and my LANT for July?  Well it'll be that damn binding!