Let's Define Crafts...

This is the second in a series on DIY vs Craft. Check out the introduction post on Get Your DIY Elitism Out of My Face.

 

When you look up craft in the dictionary, you learn that craft is an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill, especially manual skill: the craft of a mason.

If you use this definition, then the word craft is overused. The term “kids craft” is an oxymoron – how can something be an occupation requiring special skill, yet be designed for a child to accomplish?  The word craft has been hijacked to equally apply to woodcarving and popsicle stick crafts. I understand the frustration – even though there are some pretty sweet popsicle stick crafts out there.

I take offense when those who present themselves as DIYers decide to shun the word craft and all who use it. They treat craft as if it were a dirty word. They look down on anyone who uses craft to describe themselves, as if calling yourself a crafter means that you spend weekends with your seven cats working on puffy paint sweaters and plastic canvas projects. And even if it did mean that, there are some awesome puffy paint sweaters and some amazing plastic canvas projects that take serious skill.

Really, the problem arises when you have a gigantic group of people who can all define themselves the same way. A very generic statement would be to say “I know Karate”. Lots of people know Karate. But you don’t put someone who didn’t get past their White Belt on the same playing field as someone with a Third Degree Black Belt. But, Crafts doesn’t have degrees. And they don't have issuing agencies to test and confer degrees. So we all use one generic word to describe a cacophony of ideas.

If using the term DIY is a way to give degrees to crafting, it is being done wrong. There is an entire segment of the "DIY Community" that shuns the word Craft. To them the word is smut. They mock the word, and in doing so - all who accept it.

A black belt doesn’t look down on the white belt. A black belt encourages and uplifts the white belt. Coaches them. Trains them. A white belt is a black belt in training. The group of DIYers who are shunning the word craft are ostracizing those who define themselves as crafters. They are assuming their place in a nonexistant heirarchy. Craft is a community. Not a sport.

More on this next week…

ps – cats are awesome.

Get Your DIY Elitism Out of My Face: A Series

There is an entire movement of people who create that are refusing to use the word Craft to describe what they do. Instead, they are using the term “DIY”, which stands for “Do It Yourself”. Craft, by the way, means craft. It needs no explanation.

I don’t understand. Why are people turning their nose up at the word “Craft”?

 DIY is the Emperor’s New Clothes way of describing a creative person. The creative thinking here is that if they have to explain to you what DIY is, it must be fancier, and more important. It makes them sound special – a DIYer does something that you can’t understand without a Google search. DIY is like rocket science. I don't know what a rocket scientist does, but they must be pretty smart, right?

The elitism of DIY over Craft is nonsense. Pure insanity. Over the next few weeks I’m going to delve more into this DIY vs CRAFT phenomenon with a series of weekly posts. Feel free to join along in the comments.

Until next week…

I didn't make it... but I totally could have

Crafters tend to make a lot of things. Sometimes we make our purses, our clothes, or our shoes. Sometimes we take a store-bought item and jazz it up with some handmade flair. But sometimes we sport an item that looks like we could have made it. Maybe it was DIYed by a friend. Maybe we bought it at a craft fair. It could have been a gift. Or it could even be a mass-produced item that at first glance has some of that awesome hand-crafted flair.

From now on, when someone asks a crafter if we made something, we're not offering excuses. We'll proudly proclaim, "No, but I totally could have."

What is the SNAP Conference?

Bloggers all over Crafty Blog Land are preparing to go to SNAP the Conference next week. You might wonder what the conference is, what it means... and really, what the fuss is all about.

I get to go, and I am super excited. To be surrounded by hundreds of creative minds, to be able to talk to others who understand the insanity of blogging while trying to juggle a dozen other things. To have an excuse to put on something other than sweatpants. And to put on makeup without worrying that my preschooler's crisis will distract me mid-eyeliner, causing me to walk around with a half made-up face most of the day... because I never made it back to the mirror and forgot what I was in the middle of when I got distracted. Because that never happens to busy moms with two kids.

Really, SNAP is going to be something different for every person who comes - each of us will put into it and get out of it something different. Like our own little version of awesome.

Will I be seeing you there?

My day is not complete...

I try to create something every day. I might sit behind the sewing machine, or create a graphic on my computer. I might whip out the hot glue gun.
But some days, I sit down with my kids, and create a tower of blocks. Or a Lego castle.
Creating is about making moments that are tangible beyond the seconds they are created in.

I hope you find time to create today.

The Very Best Easter Ever

I'm sure you had a wonderful Easter. You might even think it was great. Possibly the best Ever.

But to really have the best Easter ever, you would have needed to create your own homemade chocolates.

And have spent 6 hours or more on each of your Ukranian Eggs.

... or at least painted four or more layers of paint on your fanciful eggs.

To really have the best Easter ever, you couldn't have a regular easter tree.. you would need one of these decorated Easter Trees.

... or spend hours creating tiny flowers for this floral Easter Tree.

You should have set up full garden tablescapes. And invited the neighborhood.

Of course at the best Easter Breakfast Ever, there would be Easter Bunny Pancakes for the kids.

... and everyone would have been given a yummy bunny tail to take home with them.

... or you could have just hung out at home with the family, and celebrated the reason for the season.

Crafter's Confession - That Thrift Store Smell

Yes. I said it. That musty-sweet thrift store smell makes me sick to my stomach. It smells like a combination of old things releasing generations of dust, cleaning fluid, and sweaty palms looking for bargains. Just thinking about it makes me want to wash my hands.

Having a passion for crafting doesn't mean I want to dig through your garage-sale rejects that barely qualified as tax deductions. I have no interest in paying $125 for a dresser that lived in a smoke-filled apartment for the last 30 years just to spend a small fortune on chalk paint, and give up a week of my life to re-hab it to look like the identical $149 catalog version.

When I was in high school I loved digging through rack after rack at the thrift shop, trying on different clothes with my friends. We were searching for the perfect vintage clothes to refashion into stylish additions to our wardrobes. Now that I spend my time in sweatpants and mom jeans, I've lost the desire to hunt.

Thrift stores just don't do it for me. Don't be too shocked. I've already admitted my distaste for glitter.

And no, I won't tell you what the other 92 confessions are.