Hello, 2023! A new year means one thing: new crafts! The fresh start of a new year is an excellent opportunity to start a new hobby. It’ll give you something to focus on over the course of the year and will help beat the January blues.
Crafting is superb for well-being! It’s proven that being creative and focusing your mind can improve your mood. It’s also a great way to reduce your screen time. In our modern world, we’re bombarded with the blue light of screens, so taking a break with something tactile is very welcome for our minds.
Knowing you want to start a new hobby is one thing, but choosing the right one for you is a whole other challenge.
We’ve teamed up with Gemporia Craft to bring you the latest craft trends for 2023 to help you decide on your next crafting adventure! You'll find lots of craft ideas for beginners, from card-making to jewellery creation to sewing and embroidery. We’ll show you how to begin your new hobby and which materials will help you get started.
Craft ideas for beginners: Starting a new hobby for 2023
1. Cardmaking
Cardmaking is a lovely hobby that gives you a plethora of choices when it comes to celebrating a special occasion. If you’ve never made your own cards before, we can promise you’ll never want to give a shop-bought one again!
There’s something so special about receiving a card that someone has made especially for you. They can be personalised to suit the exact person and occasion, there really isn't a limit to what you can include. It is also a very relaxing and fairly low-cost hobby to take up thanks to the huge amount of options available.
Cardmaking with a kit: Dahlia Dreams cardmaking kit
A great way to begin your cardmaking adventure is with a kit. In this kit by Debbi Moore Designs, you’ll find a variety of beautiful floral papers.
Each design features bright, bold Dahlias in a range of colours, suitable for a variety of occasions. There are plenty of occasion-specific sentiments and more general sentiments to choose from too.
This set can be used to celebrate special birthdays, anniversaries, Mother’s day, weddings and much more! These papers can be used as backgrounds in card creation or paired with other items in the collection.
These designs can be cut out by hand but If you want to make your cuts and trimming perfect you can use a guillotine. A guillotine is an incredibly useful bit of kit if you are making multiple cards and you want them to be cut perfectly to size, wedding invitations for example.
Stamping: Premier craft tools - A5 stamping press
We’ve talked about paper for cardmaking, but that’s just the start. Stamping is the ideal way to create beautiful cards quickly.
A stamping press is especially useful if you want to create lots of cards with the same design, accurately. It’s also useful if you wish to arrange multiple stamps onto one card, giving you the chance to plan out your design before stamping.
This A5 stamping press from HobbyMaker will allow you to take your cardmaking to the next level, creating beautiful collages on your cards.
2. Jewellery making
Jewellery making is a beautifully tactile hobby to start. Not only will you be able to create elegant jewellery to wear but you’ll be able to gift it to friends and family on special occasions.
Jewellery making comes in many different forms. You'll discover how to do wirework, beading and stone setting (and that’s just the beginning). Whatever medium you choose to dabble in, a jewellery making kit is a great place to start.
Kits usually contain everything you need to create your first piece of jewellery. They can take the pressure off and save you from trying to buy all of your tools individually. They give you a taste of the craft and an insight into whether you think it’s right for you.
Make your own earrings: acrylic hearts earring kit
Take a trip into the world of acrylic with these beautiful heart earrings. With this special kit, you’ll create three stunning earring designs all with a focus on acrylic hearts in shades of red and pink.
You’ll need to pick up your earring finding separately, we’d recommend these sterling silver earring hooks.
Make your own necklaces: Red tassel necklace kit
Create a pretty red tasselled necklace with this special kit. Everything you need is included to create these beautiful ready-to-wear pendants.
The showstopper part of this design is the pretty Gold Swirl Glass Beads which will sit in the centre of the design. You’ll find one in red and one in dark red, both of which catch the light and create a lovely sparkle.
You’ll also create a tassel to finish your design. Once you know how to create a tassel you’ll find these can be used often in all sorts of crafts and will come in very handy on your jewellery-making journey.
Jewellery making tool kit
If you’re keen to try a variety of jewellery making techniques, a tool kit is what you need. It’ll open up a whole host of creative opportunities for you!
The practical tool kit comes with a variety of tools that are commonly used in jewellery making and bead stringing. The tool set comes in a handy zip-up case too, so you can keep your set organised.
3. Sewing
Sewing is a wonderful hobby to take on. You can learn to make all sorts of fabric crafts, from clothing to home decor. Making your own clothing and accessories allows you to become more self-sufficient and planet-friendly too!
If you're new to sewing, you're probably asking yourself: what should I learn to sew first? While it may be tempting to start with something ambitious right away, it's best to start with something smaller or simpler and work your way up.
Sew your own caddy - Amber Makes Vintage Sewing Storage kit
What better way to start your sewing adventure than by creating your own practical sewing caddy? This lovely vintage sewing storage kit by Amber Makes will help you to learn how to sew thanks to its concise, full-colour instructions with step-by-step photos.
The great thing about starting off with a kit is that you’ll receive all the materials you need in the correct quantities, so you won’t have to hunt around for supplies. It’s great if you’d like a taster into the world of sewing without having to purchase a tonne of materials.
This lovely kit contains all the materials to make a caddy, a pin cushion, a scissors pouch and a tape measure cover. The fabric in the kit is adorned with illustrated vintage sewing tools, in a soft pink colour.
Sewing Street offers a wide variety of sewing kits, find the beautiful tote bag sewing kit, and create a reusable bag. If you’re looking for something more alternative try this fun fabric clock kit, it will add a fabulous homemade touch to your home!
Start your own sewing project - fabrics
For your first sewing project choose a project that is beginner-friendly, that way you’ll enjoy the process of creating rather than feeling frustrated if the project is too complex. Starting with bunting, cushions and small accessories is a great introduction to this rich craft.
Now for the fun part, choosing your fabric. Selecting a beautiful fabric can bring joy to your project! Sewing Street has a beautiful range of fabrics to choose from.
This Magical fox fabric panel by Delphine Brooks is just one of many sweet designs. This one features a dream-like scene which celebrates the beauty of the night sky and the mystical life of the nocturnal fox. This fabric panel would take any item to the next level and would work particularly well for home items such as quilts.
4. Cross stitch & embroidery
Needlework is a fabulous craft for beginners as you can start with very small and simple designs. Cross stitch is a very simple craft which is created by stitching little crosses into a design. It’s quick and easy to master!
Embroidery, on the other hand, gives you more freedom with your stitching and is compromised of a variety of stitch types and styles used to create a design. Like cross stitch you can start with super simple designs and progress quickly.
Cross stitch kits
Sewing Street have lots of wonderful cross stitch kits available. There are kits to suit all types of stitchers of any ability. A cross stitch kit is a lovely entrance into this craft, as you can feel confident that you’ll have everything you need.
The Crafty Kit Company’s cross stitch kits are absolutely adorable! This cute bear with his warm winter scarf is the perfect starting point for new stitchers. It’s made up of whole cross stitch only so it’s super easy to complete. The kit contains all the high-quality materials you’ll need, and even comes with a beginner's guide to cross stitching!
If you love this design, The Craft Kit Company also have a raccoon, a hedgehog, an owl and a squirrel - all as cute as the last!
Embroidery kits
You’ll find plenty of modern embroidery kits over at Sewing Street. We especially love the embroidery kits by Oh Sew Bootiful, they are modern, fun and bright. This cute cacti design is perfect for those new to embroidery thanks to the illustrated instructions.
The kit contains everything you’ll need for this delightful design! Including a pre-printed fabric, DMC cotton, a hoop, needles and padding.
5. Diamond painting
Diamond painting is a wonderfully easy hobby to pick up. In short, diamond painting is placing small resin gems on a pre-printed design. The gems correlate with the numbers on the design. It's just like paint by numbers but with diamonds instead of paint.
Thanks to its repetitive nature, it’s a very therapeutic craft to take up. Once you are familiar with the process, it doesn't require too much concentration, making it a great way to wind down from the stresses of the day.
Diamond dotz® squares: Frosty Morn
Create this spectacular sparkling scene with the beautiful Frosty Morn diamond painting kit. Made up of over 20k square diamonds, this design is packed full of gleaming detail. In the kit you’ll find high-quality pre-printed material, a stylus, wax and your diamonds – sorted by colour.
The design features full diamond coverage and is pre-framed, so once you’ve finished it will be ready for you to proudly display!
Simply Dotz®: Mount Fuji and Chureito Pagoda at sunset, Japan
How beautiful is this diamond painting kit? If you want a big project you won’t get fed up of looking at, this one is for you! Complete with everything you need to make, you can start diamond painting straight away!
The design is a beautiful glowing sunset sparkling over Mount Fuji and Chureito Pagoda in Japan. Once finished it will make a showstopping piece of artwork in your home.
Start 2023 with a bang!
Starting and sticking to a new hobby is truly satisfying! Your new craft will help to lift your spirits, especially during shorter winter days.
Choosing the right craft for you can be tricky, but we recommend starting off with a kit which includes all the materials to give yourself a taste of the craft!
Keep on crafting with Gemporia Craft
Gemporia Craft has a huge selection of craft ideas across their three brands, for all things jewellery making browse Jewellery Maker.
For sewing, embroidery, cross stitching and more visit Sewing Street for plenty of beautiful inspiration.
For cardmaking, and scrapbooking check out HobbyMaker for a vast collection of cardmaking materials and tools. Happy Crafting!
