Blogging « Crafter by Night

Buy Handmade

October 24, 2007 at 6:54 pm | Posted in Administrative, Blogging, Gifts, Halloween/Thanksgiving/Fall, Indie! | 4 Comments

Today it’s come to my attention that I have offended in my blog, and for my sins I apologize. I have good intent, but not always good execution. I make mistakes and I learn from them, and I do my best to fix my mistakes where I can. I have done so here.

Allow me to state for the record that I am a huge supporter of handmade, crafters, independent artists and designers. I encourage everyone to support these people with their funds and encouragement so they can thrive in their chosen professions, and to encourage everyone else they know to do what they can to support indie as well. If you need any help with this, I offer my Index of Indie, where I have gathered all sorts of sources, and which I continue to add to.

I do have things to post – my husband and I have made and decorated the very awesome 3-D cookies from Williams-Sonoma, and I did some decorating I was going to share. However, I believe I’m going to take a hiatus from blogging instead, and come back when I’ve had a chance to think – I’m an introvert, after all.

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with something I just found at the Craftzine and I strongly encourage you to participate as well. It’s the Buy Handmade Pledge for the Holiday season.

Go to BuyHandmade.org and sign the petition. You pledge to buy handmade for the holiday season, and to encourage others to do the same for you. After all there’s nothing as good as handmade, is there!?

@ the Market

October 18, 2007 at 11:32 am | Posted in Blogging, Conference/Fair, Why craft? | 3 Comments

If you’ve ever been to a craft fair, purchased a craft or piece of art, or sold at a fair, you’ll want to read the following two posts and the comments on them. This is the sort of post to inspire a new appreciation of artisans and handmade items - a great deal goes into the production of these items and what goes into being the person producing them.

Margaux’s Craft Experience

Reply to Margaux

I was really sorry to hear about Margaux’s experience at the Crafty Bastards fair in DC. As a regular Barbie-defacer when I was young, I am quite taken with Margaux’s work and the statements she makes with it. I really wish she made something with Barbie hair, as that was my favorite aspect to deface.

I am really disappointed in the show attendees. I am a former DC resident, and although it’s not probably the artsiest place around, it’s not a void, either, so why the unfriendlies? Plus,I’m sure the show attracted plenty of non-residents as well. So why so many people who came to a craft fair and made stupid, insensitive comments. Were they not expecting artisans? And for pete’s sake – the artist is right there and you’re being rude about her art to her face? Hello basic politeness? Plus, what’s up with people telling an artist what she “should” and “should not” be creative about? I think Margaux (and the other artists who put up with this crap) had tremendous restraint.

I have quite a few more thoughts about all this, and hey! I have a blog, so I can sit down and tell all of you all about them. If you want to read (and I am ~~somewhat~~ garrulous), then the rest is after the jump.

Continue Reading @ the Market…

Blog Day 2007: August 31

August 31, 2007 at 11:03 am | Posted in Blogging | 3 Comments

I noticed this whole Blog Day thing somewhere… U-Handbag?? and decided to participate. The task: find 5 interesting blogs I wouldn’t otherwise patronize and post them here for my readers to see, and notify said bloggers that I linked to them. Add this Technorati tag in somewhere. Oh, and do it today. And I’d like to say that I actually have subscribed to all these – it’s not just an exercise. Here we go:

[Sorry to those I tagged who couldn't find me! Apparently WordPress is not as friendly as I'd like it to be!]

1. Bridget Jones Has Nothing On Me: mocking others for 33 years and counting. Be sure to check out the cast of characters. Real life soap opera? Whatever it is, there’s a good fair amount of that sort of black humor I love so much here. Not quite as dopey as Bridget Jones was.

2. Confessions of a Closet Environmentalist: In their words: “A couple of environmental minded students setting out to live sustainably on a student budget. This is a record of the struggle, the successes and the failures. Along the way, the attempt to fight the negative stereotypes of being an ‘environmentalist’.” I find this very interesting. Will forward to environmentalist-student brother.

3. Because I’m me and I can’t just do this without crafts, Suburose is next: bookbinding and pottery by a father and daughter. Like many of the good crafting blogs I read, this one is attached to an Etsy store with beautiful things in it. As with many blogs I subscribe to, I found myself liking the story attached to the blog.

4. A Chicken In Every Granny Cart: this one’s a smorgasbord. There’s (1) the kind of cooking that makes me hungry, (2) pictures of New York that are gorgeous and (3) it totally seems like the kind of thing most humans are – a unique mix of experiences, interests, and sensory information. Oh – did I mention I like to cook and used to live in New York. I completely admire her for cooking & experimenting in her tiny apartment. I tried that too. It’s such a shame such great ingredients have to be processed in kitchens that are about 2′ square!.

5. Slice of the Day is a blog that posts approximately an entry a day about a different flower. Pictures, compiled information, etc. You know I love flowers (and plants generally) and I love information in general, and now I get to have a daily dose of something great and beautiful! Yay!