About Us

Why Crafty Tips?

I would guess every crafter has that list of  favorite craft tips and websites. Mine started with good intentions but quickly turned into a laundry list of websites where I could never find what it was I was looking for.

CraftyTips.com started from a move to a new computer and the loss of many of those hard-found bookmarks. (Oh, they are somewhere on my old machine; but, moving the file just is not getting done.)  I know there are social bookmarking sites to help web surfers find interesting new sites - but when it comes to crafting they are fairly random and uncategorized.

With CraftyTips.com I did not want just a list of websites organized by category; I wanted to make my site a resource for helpful tips too. Thus the Tips portion of CraftyTips.com was designed.

CraftyTips.com as a Directory

Directories are websites that are similar to the yellow pages in a phone book. But, instead of providing mainly a company name and phone number; directory sites list the website, a description, linkable text, some interesting stats about the page, and unique to Crafty Tips are the crafting tips.

Some directories charge for sites to be included. CraftyTips.com does not charge for a regular listing. There are paid advertising options that can increase the exposure of a site; but all listed sites will have a description, crafty tip and linkable title/description.

Search Engine Optimization and CraftyTips.com

CraftyTips.com is a great way to help a site rise in the search results from the major search engines. By providing every website listed with a text link (this is what the visitor clicks on) using the keywords of their choice; CraftyTips.com gives you control over what keywords will be attached to your website.

Many of the other crafting sites and directories require the use of the URL of your site to be used as your link text. While every site owner should strive to rank within no less than the top 10 for their site name; they will rarely, if ever, get new visitors and customers from those searches.

So, if your site is about paper pieced quilting; it would much more valuable to have a link that reads Free Paper Pieced Quilting Patterns than a link to myquiltsite.com. Or, if you make wine bottle charms; a link that reads Charms for Wine Bottles would be more valuable than marysbaubles.com.

CraftyTips.com will never use NOINDEX or NOFOLLOW on any link. If you do not know exactly what that means, not to worry; only know that it is a very good thing.

Why do some sites not have a real picture?

I review the site logs for Crafty Tips on a daily basis. By doing so, I can see what crafters are looking for. When I see increased interest in a particular topic or technique, I will be adding categories and subcategories and finding websites that fit them.

While the Internet does have somewhat of a wild west feel about it, I believe in respecting people''s copyrights. The law is somewhat hazy about using screenshots from other people''s websites. Therefore, any site that I add will be shown with the picture shown to the left until I hear from the site owner that I may use a screenshot or image from their website. All site owners are notified by email (when available from their site) or contact form on their sites. [Sites without any contact information, regardless of how informative, will no longer be added; unless the site owner submits it themself.]

CraftyTips.com, A Great Resource for Crafters

All of the websites listed here have taken the time to share some of their best crafting tips on the art forms they know best.

So, whether you are a website owner looking for a great place to advertise your site, or you are a crafter looking for free crafty tips and website suggestions - this is the place.

CraftyTips.com launched in July of 2006. Please check back often as this site is sure to steadily improve as more tips and websites are listed.

Now go find a crafty topic and have some fun!