Just to say..."I did it myself!" Introduction: Is it just human nature? Somehow all the hype about Y2K almost overshadowed the New Year (I would say new millenium, but there are those who believe the 21st century doesn't actually begin until New Years next year). And then, is it my imagination, but are some people actually disappointed that we didn't have a nuclear meltdown? massive power outages? downed telephone service? and other equally ugly manifestations due to the bug? I did hear a couple of somewhat amusing Y2K stories. Some fellow rented a movie for the New Year. When he took the video back, he received a bill for a whopping $10 thousand plus. Seems the video store tripped on the Y2K bug and charged him 100 years of late fines. Try explaining that to the credit card company. And then there was the computerized electrical service on the East Coast somewhere. When the New Year rolled over, it became 19100 instead of 2000. It only took about five minutes to fix and no loss of power during the repair. No one noticed except those people paid to notice. I don't know about you, but I'm really glad nothing really significant happened because of Y2K. I am also real glad that it is 2000. Happy New Year, Everyone! Welcome Members Joining us this month are several new members--a trend we hope will continue. It's not that we don't appreciate our continuing members, but new people get the creative juices flowing, provide more ideas to share around, and sort of remind us of things we left unfinished in a cardboard box in the closet. Who's Who? (New Members) sueece, whose real name is Sue, lives in Ontario, Canada. She says: "[I] love all kinds of crafting. I sew, knit, tole/decorative paint, make beaded necklaces, and just started to scrapbook and rubber stamp cards and stationary." mpack_99 (real name Mary) lives in a currently snow-less North Dakota (when have you ever heard of that happening at this time of year). She is into some really unusual crafts or at least the use of some unusual craft materials. "I gave all my friends tampon angel ornaments for xmas. They are darling. And I am now about to make candy cane hearts for Valentines Day." jan_odonnell, better known as Jan, is from Ohio. Says she: "I just love to craft. I tole paint and do wood working (have a small shop in my basement). I also enjoy sewing, mostly snowmen, santas, and angels. I like to do rubber stamping and embossing. I do floral arranging also. The crafts I make, I sell at local craft shows. I don't have a scanner at the present, but when I do get one, I'd be happy to share some of my ideas with everyone. My goal is to teach crafts. I feel I have so much inside that I'd like to bring it out by teaching. Not sure how to go about that though. Look forward to chatting with all in the new year ahead." mcfady, aka Karen, lives on Prince Edward Island, Canada and says: "I am new to the club, I love crafting I spend my time knitting, cross stitching, working with flowers, sewing and anything else I can find to try. Can't wait to share ideas with everyone." stormyspen50 "I'm Marjean aka Stormy, also from Ohio and know some of you from other clubs. I dabble at any craft and have stuck with several-always looking for something different. Looking forward to doing my first show come fall (I hope) and possibly opening a small shop in a year or two." See earlier newsletters for introductions to continuing members. All members are invited to offer up a thumbnail concerning what their particular craft talent (or earnest attempt) may be. We'll print in it right here. Recruiting. You can add to the pool of knowledge we can all share in by inviting known craft addicts to join us. Remember our URLs are: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/craftersplace and http://www.geocities.com/PicketFence/Street/3400. On going Message Board projects: we are currently attempting to compile a list of tools and crafts with definitions, descriptions, and pictures to create our own Craft-o-pedia on our website. If you have material that should be included, please post it to the message board or send to: craftersplace@iname.com. Another on-going project is the compilation of a listing of craft retailers, publications, mail order companies, and software. That's right, even if the store is only in your hometown, we'll put it on our list. Do you subscribe to a craft publication, journal, or newsletter? Send us the name, a brief description, and subscription information. Know a great source for paint brushes, chisels, pre-cut wood biscuits? Mail order companies, particular those on the Internet, are important to share. And, of course, if you know of any craft software, this is a must to tell us about. Please post it to the message board or send to: craftersplace@iname.com. Would you like to be more involved in helping fellow crafters? We currently have an opening for someone to run an advice column on the homepage. Also needed, someone to do some web browsing on craft sites on the Internet. Apply in writing to angel-pie@geocities.com. A new feature of this newsletter, we begin this month, is Project of the Month. The idea is for one member to propose a project for all other members of this club to try during the month. The project of the month must anticipate special equipment, cost, member interest, and timeliness. A good project proposal should provide: an explanation of the project, a list of the materials necessary, a list of the tools necessary, step-by-step instructions, and a summary. This month's project of the month is proposed by me, AngelPie_Mouse. Project for January 2000: Inventory Now the crush of the holiday gift making season is over, it's time to get organized/re-organized. We all did it--dragged our equipment and tools to whatever workspace we could find until we spread out all over the house. And even if we were better organized than that, there are always those family members who borrow things and leave them where used. "Just what are these pliers doing in the bathroom?" We shudder at the possibilities. Over the year, tools get misplaced, materials get used up, various bits of equipment begin to show wear, and we just plain lose track of all the stuff we have. So, get out the humguous Rubbermaid tote or a footlocker, open the filing cabinet or that dilapidated chest of drawers that is ours, and start making notes. What's missing? What needs repair or replacement? What have we used up, are we low on? What do we have left? Your computer, of course, is a great device for helping you with this chore. If you have a spreadsheet program (and know how to use it), you can list important information such as item description, quantity, condition, replacement cost. If you don't have one, a simple text editor such as your Windows notepad will suffice to create a checklist. The main thing is to get all your stuff in one place for at least five minutes, make sure it is all good, and discover what you need to spend that leftover Christmas cash on. And write us about it. This month, we're planning a newsletter supplement. As an incentive to get this project done, we're going to list all the people who write us and let us know when they've started and finished their inventories on January 20th. Tell us your "getting the stuff together" horror stories; I found my good shears "where?!" We'll print them in first responding order. How would you recycle Christmas cards? I love the idea of recycling. No really worthwhile object should ever go to waste and the art on Christmas cards is always fun or cute or pretty, is worthwhile. So I propose this newsletter contest. The materials you choose to : "here is a pile of used Christmas cards from 1999. What can we make with them?" What I didn't get for Christmas. The one thing I really wanted this Christmas was a Black&Decker Mouse sander. When it became apparent that I wasn't going to get it from some loved one...too heavy to mail...I went shopping. Well, according to some sources (every salesperson I talked to), that little sander turned out to be hotter than Pokemon, Furby, and Tickle Me Elmo combined. Did anybody get one for Christmas? What I really want to know is if you did get one, have you used it? And if you have used it, is it worth continuing to pine after it or just something as hyped as Y2K? The Crafter's Place Newsletter is publication of The Yahoo! Crafter's Place Chat Club. This edition was edited by AngelPie_Mouse. 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