This is not how this was supposed to work!

urban craft is running (without scissors) around in Europe.  Please talk amoungst yourselves over at little t jane, the prevailer of all things cool and creator of current previous blog header adornment:

The Pay-It-Forward means that I make you something for you for nothing but the hope that spreading craft continues on to other people.  In my case, the cycle returned and this is totally unexpected and I am in awe of the thoughfulness and marvel the creativity.

little t jane has truly taken PIFs to a new level.  Thank you for your kindness!  I will do my best to ensure it continues!  And to my other PIFers, don’t you be gettin’ any ideas!  My only wish is that you enjoy what I make for you and pass that spirit on to make more happy crafters!

While I am away visiting friends who are ill, spreading ashes of the dearly departed and hand delivering reproduced crafts:

I am thankful for everyone and everything and am glad to have met such wonderful and talented people (and I mean all of you!) via blogging.

Please enjoy this tiny speck of dust we live on called Earth.  It gets smaller everyday.

And who wouldn’t want to have Karl Lagerfeld wrapped around their little finger?

original Lagerfeld finger puppet design by: mullishmuse

Closet Blogging

I may possibly be one of the only people who blogs in secret.   More and more people I meet or already know are like “Check out my blog” and are promoting it on their emails, business cards, etc.   My husband, mother, and friends don’t know that I have a blog let alone a blog about crafting.  It’s not that I am embarrassed or anything.  I don’t know.   I am proud of what I do, but at the same time, my skill is not as developed as I would like it to be.  Despite that I post here and on flickr and comment on people’s blogs, I don’t really like to bring attention to myself.   Plus, I just started blogging.  Honestly, I never even thought of ever having a blog except that I wanted to win craft giveaways.  I tend to find that mostly all of them state that having a blog is an entry prerequisite.

See for me, crafting really evolved out a necessity, not creativity.   I don’t have a creative space.  I have a living space.  The sewing machine gets pulled out when needed and then goes back to it’s hiding spot in the guest bedroom closet. Yes, it’s actually a spare guest room and not a craft room.  The crafting that is done here is to cover up flaws or dress up the ordinary.

For example:

This was done to go over the hideous thermostat in the baby’s room.

This was much needed surgery of an IKEA paper floor lamp.

FYI, toddlers and paper lanterns don’t mix.

These leftover felt stars from previously mentioned birthday crown distracts from any unevenness in the ceiling.

I even got around to making those log pillows.

There’s something kinda off about folksy handmade log pillows on a modern faux Corbusier couch.  But then again, there’s probably something kinda off about me too.

The truth is who knows what will become of me and this blog.   Is crafting a fad?  What about blogging then?   I’m never going to sell crafts and I don’t have any intentions to. (There is an urbancraft on etsy but that’s not me.) I like to journal the story of my crafting in a Star Trek “Crafter’s Log” kinda way.   But perhaps one day I will move on to something else.   And while the rocket was a nice cover, it wasn’t really that bad without it.  And I am just being cheap, I’ll probably end up buying a replacement lamp from IKEA the next time I go.  The bedroom ceiling isn’t really bumpy or uneven at all.  And I am sure I will tell someone about my blog.

Just not right now.

Craft Addict

Let’s get down to the real meaning of it, shall we?  We see things and we make things.  And we make things and make things and just can’t stop making more things.
I totally understand now why people have etsy shops. They have stockpiled crafts that they have made and made and made.

Do you really just make stuff and have it sit around waiting for someone to buy it?  Cause I think that the people who are searching online for crafts are people who are crafters themselves.  Plus, the hourly pay rate sucks ass.  You’d be better off getting a job at Wal-Mart and I must tell you, I despise Wal-Mart.  But honestly, as much as I love etsy, I just ain’t buying.  And from what I have seen, esty sellers with zero sales, bloggers who advertise that they’ve just lowered prices again, others aren’t buying either.  The original idea of craft is that making something by hand takes love and mostly, is an inexpensive or often free gift.  Etsy, however, still encourages consumerism, doesn’t it?   It seems absurd to me that I would purchase something that I could make myself.  Buy a handmade felt pillow?  Well that would just defeat the whole love of crafting.

And what about the interruption of daily life?  Have you missed out of various facebook quizzes cause you’ve been behind the sewing machine all day?  Where do household chores fit in?  I’ve heard jokes of spouses feeling like they have been widowed by crafting.  I too have made that mistake.

“That’s a really sweet and beautiful coffee cup sleeve, honey.”

“But when’s dinner?”

Poor guy.  I don’t even drink coffee.  He’s so understanding.  Crafting is now done only after the house is clean and everyone is happy and fed.

Perhaps there should be some kind of support group for people like us. We could sponsor eachother.  I’d do it for you!  If you started to fall off the wagon, I’d be right there for ya and I’d bring my sewing machine.   Wait, that’s not what a sponsor does.  Oh crap, I messed that up too.

So what is the future of craft?  Even with all the gueriila marketing, knitta, please! and all the super hip renegade not your mama’s craft fairs (DJ’s spin while you browse,) crafting is still far from becoming mainstream.  While the Handmade Nation documentary has continued screenings across the world, there has yet to be a pick up for a major theater run or DVD distribution. (Scratch that, apparently there is to be a release on DVD but no exact date yet.)  And on top of that, various crafters featured in the movie (here & here ) are no longer blogging about craft.  Even if you happen to get your pattern published or make an appearance on Martha Stewart, there’s still very little to no prestige in the real world.  And I have yet to find anyone who has found crafting a prosperous career.

But, enough about fame and money.  Or the lack of.  I am waiting to see who will come up with the next comedy routine:

You Might Be A Craft Addict If …..™ Ⓡ

Your six year old boy claims he must have a sewing machine for Christmas and this is GREAT! cause now this is an excuse for you to get a used Bernina 930 or Viking 400 from eBay and give him your old Singer from Target.

All the party goers that came to your kid’s birthday party left with goodie bags filled with handmade cookies, cupcakes and donuts.  And there were 23 of them!  Beat that nemesis mommy with your $600,000 house and Range Rover!

Your grandma called and said she would like you to BUY her something, anything from Macy’s and enough already with the knitted items.  She also has alzheimer’s and has been living in a nursing home for the last 5 years.

Your mom sends your baby a (gasp!) plastic toy and you immediately repurpose it into handmade:

That’s it, send the crazy bus to come and get me.

(No plastic toys were harmed in the making of this craft)

*Bonus points if you can correctly identify where I got the idea for the driver from!

Back with a vengeance.

I guess it’s more of a purpose than a vengeance.  The mini ninja has returned this time armed and with friends. This is for one of the coolest things I have seen on the web: The Toy Society.  I wish I would have found toys as a kid.  Well, actually I did find a rubber ducky in a parking lot once.  But I was 23 and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t left purposely for someone.  Most likely it had accidentally fallen out of a bag.  And it doesn’t even squeak.  But I still have it.  Hopefully someone will happily find and adopt the mini ninja 3-pack.  Each comes with own weapon, sword, nunchucks, and throwing stars.  

Handy little carrying case also included.

No one reads blogs anymore. (warning rant alert & giveaway to apologize)

Actually, people do read blogs.  Me.  And if you are like me, you are reading 20+ blogs daily.  I think it’s wonderful that people are becoming bloggers.  I like the fact that for me, it forces me to stay on top of correct spelling and grammar.  Not to mention that it forces me to finish craft projects faster.  I understand that most blogs are not like mine and I doubt anyone would want a blog to be like mine, anyway, but:

Many a craft blogs I find drift more into other things, and less of craft.  Now, cooking is a craft in itself.  But I doubt that a gourmet chef would call his culinary masterpiece a “craft.”  Plus when I think of food and craft, in my head immediately comes the image of powdered cheese in a blue box.  So why are you including that new bread recipe or whatever Martha Stewart just came up with on your blog?  If we are interested in cooking, we are probably checking out actual gourmet cooking sites for those recipes.  I’m a random housewife.  Do you want me to give you cooking advice?  No, I didn’t think so.  And you have created your own etsy showcase. The problem with that is that I spend a huge part of my morning on etsy and have already found everyone in your showcase weeks ago.  But I am sure the sellers appreciate the attention.  Have they sold more from your promotion?  Do they give you a cut of the profits? Do they even come back to read your blog?  And yes, family is a huge part of crafting.  I can tell that walk you took with your dog the first day of spring was just priceless.  It’s just that the tree in your picture looks just like the one in my neighborhood, so, yawn.  And your blog is also a way for your family to see pictures of your kids and everything but, do you really make your relatives check out your craft blog to keep in touch with you?   I get creeped out by what happens with photos of children on the internet.  My extended family lives no where near me and are actually spread across six countries!  Yes, christmas cards are a bitch.  Damn Irish Catholics and their seven kids each.  They all get sent actual photographs and are regularly emailed the updated link to a private flickr and youtube account with new images of us.

So what is the actual craft blog etiquette?  Do you response to all your comments? Do you expect to be responded to either via email or a comment on your blog in return?  Or both? Why didn’t you tell me that you wouldn’t post my comment if I mentioned that I was going to try to make what you just made.   Wouldn’t want your other readers to get any ideas now.  ”If they can make it without buying my pattern, I’ll never get that book deal.”  Oh noooooooooooooooo! What about a comment on your blog thanking you for leaving a comment on their blog?

That’s cool if you want to give out your history or personal information on your blog.  But then when someone comments you or says something personal in relation to your post, why do you act like we are stalking you in your response?  Or sometimes, you have taken up such a huge following, you don’t even read the 152 comments people have left at all.   If you have blogrolled a gazillion other craft blogs, please check the links.  Most of them don’t work or belong to people who are no longer blogging.  There is nothing cooler than promoting a dead blog and you’ve made it obviously that you don’t even read the blogs you link.   I don’t want to read about how you haven’t posted lately.  I don’t want to read about your trip to the grocery store.  Isn’t that what twitter and facebook are for?  Has reality television been replaced with reality blogs?  We all have our own lives.  Hopefully I can entertain you with my blog and perhaps inspire creativity (I’m reaching on that one obviously) but you have your own life that is probably a lot more interesting than mine.  And if it isn’t, then blogging and reading blogs isn’t going to make it more interesting either.  You don’t want to read about my life or anyone else’s in order to compare.  They will never.  Show us your talent.  Show us what you made. Hell, show me how you made that same item that inhabitots featured and how you made it cooler/cheaper, whatever.  Let’s get to the real point:

Not blogging for blogging’s sake (GIVEAWAY)

Most times you aren’t even reading blogs, just strolling through pictures until you see something cool.  It’s a fact that we have become the A.D.D. generation.  So I will try to always post something crafty.  Don’t worry, I won’t be taking photos of doors or yarn.  I’m sticking to craft only and not craft supplies!  If I don’t have something crafty to show or tell, or if I am “wordless” then I just won’t post.  I won’t have any special photos of colors, either.   I’m not looking to bore you with images of fabric or candles or muffins.   I can show you the piles of scraps that I have, but I know you only really want to see the finished product.  If you’re looking for inspirational context, sorry, it ain’t here.  I’m not going to get sappy or emotional either.  I have emotions, don’t get me wrong but I’m not looking for compassion from the internet.  Isn’t that an oxymoron?  It’s just that I only got so much time, and the power’s dying on my laptop, and you’re off to the next craft blog anyway.  Keep it moving people.  Okay, here, have a cupcake.  I will send this treat out to one lucky commenter. And I’ll throw in some felt cookies too.  Last day for your word is: Sunday, June 7th.

This post has been edited numerous times to be the least offensive as possible.

Thank you for your understanding.

And hey, you at the uk etsy friends flickr group.  Join the discussion here, or at least make your group open to everyone so we can join yours.  I want to be a friend of uk esty sellers, too!

And 18 is the lucky number for the draw and that is:

Anne!  Thanks to everyone for your thoughts!  You rock.

I WANT YOU! to pay it forward, please.

I really really really love this and how it works.  And have been trying my hardest to come up with ideas for what to make although I want to try to make something specifically individual for each person.  SO, because it is obvious that I don’t come up with my own ideas, i.e. everything on this blog that I made is something people make all the time, I will let each person decide.  I’ve already complained about overpriced crafts.  Now is the time for me to recreate something for you.  Now remember here, I can’t knit or make jewelry, and gawd, you do not want to see me attempt bags or clothing.  And anyone who’s ever gotten anything from me will attest that my sewing skills leave something to be desired.  But, I can do it!  I have the technology!  Ugh, there a catch though, rules.  See, the people who I have seen do this are bloggers.  And they usually request that you perform a pay it forward to people as well.  I chose 5, but I will settle for you to make a handmade item for 3 people.  But you must have a blog!  It’s only fair that other bloggers have the opportunity to be able to get in on the PIFs when they were the ones that have already done one.  Sorry, I don’t mean to make it complicated or exclude anyone.  Now’s the time to start that craft blog you’ve always wanted.  I am living proof that you don’t even need to be that good at crafting.

So yeah, that’s the deal.  You have blog, you be one of first 5 commenters, you pick out a couple of favorite crafts that you would like me to make, you do pay it forward on your blog, you make something by hand for 3 of your readers.  You can make up the rules on your own blog.  And if you have already done a PIF on your blog,  I’m sorry, but that won’t count.  You will have to do another one and I will hold you to it people!  Don’t make me police you!

You already have seen what I can make, be it plushie, pincushionie, needle feltie, hell, I’m even sure I can paint!  But the more complicated a craft you fancy, the more you will be disappointed with end result.  Just warning you in advance.  But, I really will do my best and am excited at the opportunity to make something for you!

Comment moderation is on for spamming reasons, (not like I moderate swearing or insults to me anyway) but it is literally first come first serve and I will post comments as received.  Please link your blog and I will get more info from you after that via email.  I will do my best to get something out as soon as possible but then again these things can take months.  Or, the first attempt may suck and I may need more time to do it again.

April Showers bring May Cacti?

Well, in this case, yes.  Grandma No. 2 had lived her long retirement in hot Sun City, Arizona. Growing up in the midwest, I had never known people to have a gravel lawn before then.   Now Grandma is spending her extended retirement in a home in Ohio, yuck.  No offense to Ohioans.  I love you Dave Chappelle!  While I had mentioned that she doesn’t remember, perhaps something about this may seem slightly familiar.  If not, that’s okay too.

 

Happy Mother’s Day!