A craft is a skill or a talent, especially involving practical arts. It may refer to a trade or particular art. Art and Crafts originate in human mind; craft is something that involves a variety of activities, creative qualities and hobbies. It involves a variety of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one’s own hands and skill. There is a large variety of crafts and so each craft is different from the other in terms of size, quality and nature. There are some crafts that have been practised for centuries, unlike modern inventions which were originally practised in a very small geographic area. The majority of crafts can be learnt on a more basic level by almost anyone, but requires a combination of skill, speed, and patience.
There are different types of crafts available like crafts involving textiles, crafts involving wood, metal or clay, crafts involving paper or canvas, crafts involving plants among other things. Banner making is the most common type of crafts involving textiles. It involves sewing banners by using techniques like applique, embroidery, fabric painting, patchwork and others. Calligraphy is the art of writing or giving form to signs in an expressive, pleasant and skillful manner. Crocheting, Embroidery, Knitting, Lace-making, quilting, spinning, weaving are some other kinds of textile crafts wherein thread or yarn can be turned into cloth.
Crafts involving, wood, metal and clay include, metalworking, jewelry, pottery, sculpture, woodworking, marquetry, wood burning, etc. Metalworking relates to metallurgy and is an art or craft of creating individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures and covers a variety of work like large ships, bridges, oil refineries and delicate jewelry. Jewelry is created by using, gemstones, coins, or other precious items which are typically set into precious metals like gold and silver. Other natural substances like glass, or enamel; wood, which is often carved or turned; shells, bone and ivory; natural clay; polymer clay; and even plastics are crafted to make jewelry. Marquetry is the craft of layering a structural body with pieces of veneer to create decorative patterns, designs or pictures like furniture and decorative small objects.. The veneers used are primarily woods, but may include bone, ivory, turtle-shell.
Crafts involving paper or canvas include, altered books, altered art, bookbinding, calligraphy, cardmaking, collage, decoupage, embossing, marbling, origami, papier-mâché, quilling or paper filigree, scrapbooking, rubber stamping|acrylic stamping among others. Calligraphy is the craft of writing or giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner. Decoupage is a craft which involves decorating an object by gluing layers of colored paper cutouts onto it together with special paint effects, gold leaf, etc. Each layer is then sealed with multiple coats of varnish.
Crafts involving plants include basket weaving, floral design, pressed flower craft, straw marquetry and corn dolly making which uses wheat, oats, rye and barley that can be plaited or tied into a loose knot. Basket weaving is a craft of creating a container from stiff fibres, generally of willow. Pressed flower craft involves drying flower petals and leaves in a flower press to compress and exclude light and moisture, resulting into faded colors to vibrant colors. This is then mounted on special paper, such as handmade paper and also used in wood furnishings using the technique of Decoupage.
Craft
