There are a lot of amazing people on the web posting sewing ideas and craft ideas and it’s hard for me to keep track of them all. When I was looking for recipe software to help keep track of my cooking recipes, I realized that I could also use the recipe software as a database for keeping track of craft project ideas. I use Connoisseur for craft recipes and a separate program for food recipes. I like Connoisseur a lot and would have used it for food recipes except that the recipe import feature doesn’t work the way I need it to. However, it’s excellent for keeping track of all the projects I’m interested in.

Instead of cuisine types like “Italian” or “Mexican” I went in and changed those categories to include “Sewing” and “Painting”. Instead of course types like “Entree” and “Dessert”, I changed those categories to include “Clay” and “Mixed Media”. I can copy and paste the ingredients and instructions into the recipe software which lets me display the project onscreen or print it out. Or, if the project is involved and includes many steps, I save a PDF version of the file (using the “Print” window in OS X) then note the PDF name in the recipe so I can find it later. Above all, I always save source attribution so I know where I’ve found a project.