One of the reasons I devoted one of the closing chapters of Buying In to the DIY/craft/handmade scene is that while it’s clearly a material-culture phenomenon, it’s a material-culture phenomenon that seems to have, on some level, an ideology. Surely that’s irrelevant to some participants, on both the maker and consumer sides of the dialogue. But just as sure, it is very relevant to others.
Here’s a recent example, brought to my attention over the weekend: The Creativity 350 Craft Contest.
The significance of that number is explained at 350.org: “The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.”
The idea of the Creativity 350 Craft Contest: “Craft up a project that somehow creatively and awesomely expresses the importance of the number 350. You can use any craft technique you like.” (There’s also a T-shirt contest.)
It is, in other words, about getting the word out, on a subject of greater significance than most of consumer/murketing culture, and certainly of greater significance the predictions about The Next Google/Facebook/whatever will be. Crafty sorts: Details of the contest are here.
[Thx, Leah!]
A few months ago, in what has got to be among the most indefensible financial decisions I’ve ever made in my life, I decided I wanted a really great custom poster to go along with one or more of the events that will promote Buying In. I told myself this might help with “buzz,” but really I know that it’s simply the closest I can ever come to even pretending to be a rock star.
I make it habit to peruse the sites of many letterpress and other poster-makers anyway, so when the time came I had a few folks in mind, and the first one I reached out to was F2 Design, in Lubbock, Texas. Can’t remember how I first found the site, but I loved the work. And I was pleased to find, when I inquired, that co-proprietor Dirk Fowler (his wife Carol Fowler is the other F in F2) was willing to do this slightly weird job. The design he came up with was, in my view, fantastic, and having received actual posters in the mail the other day, I can tell you they’re even more impressive in person.
In fact F2 was such a pleasure to work with, I thought it would be cool to do a Q&A with Mr. Fowler here, and he went along with that, too. In addition to posters for bands like Wilco and Spoon and many others, F2 has also done a variety of other striking design projects, from identity to apparel. But my questions tended to be about posters, and letterpress.
–> Please note: We’ll be giving out about 40 of these F2 Buying In posters (above; they are 18X24 inches), for free, at the event in New York this Friday night.
And yes, this is a weird time of day to post, but I’m out of pocket most of tomorrow. So here goes:
Q. So I believe you work with “an antique letterpress.” Without making you tell your entire life story, I’m curious about what first attracted you to letterpress, and, if the setup you have now, studio-wise, is close to your ideal?
A: I have a Vandercook No. 1 proof press and an unmarked sign press. The latter being the one I do most of my work on because it allows for a much larger print size.
I was first attracted to letterpress after a visit to Hatch Show Print in Nashville in the late 90s. After spending years as an advertising art director, I really wanted to get back into what drew me into graphic design in the first place, making art with my hands. I love the tactile quality and feel of letterpress and wanted to make advertising or design that people might actually want to keep.
I wouldn’t say my setup is ideal. It is a small room (once a sunroom) in the back of my house, really only big enough for one person. I’m a small guy, so it works for me, but ideally, I would like a larger space so I could add more equipment. The danger in this is that I would keep adding more equipment. What I have now allows me to be at home with my family, print until I can’t stand anymore, and go fall into bed. Plus, it keeps my operation small, which I think is a good thing.
On a similar note, I don’t know exactly how long you’ve been interested in letterpress, but I feel as an outsider as though the form has become steadily more popular in recent years — possibly as a result of rising interest in things that have a handmade touch, partly as a result of the Web. So that means more interest — but maybe also more competition? I also feel like there’s a rock poster renaissance afoot, and letterpress is part of that. Is it good or bad for you if there are lots of letterpress folks around? Read more
Apropos of nothing at all, I typed “Obama” into the search box on Etsy, the online handmade emporium.
Results? 538 items.
“McCain” search yield: 45 items.
And now, the last of Murketing.com’s series of three Q&As with Austin Craft Mafia co-founders who I interviewed for one of the closing chapters of Buying In. Jenny Hart is the founder of Sublime Stitching, a successful business that encourages people to do-it-themselves with embroidery patterns, kits, and books, and she is also a widely respected creator and artist in her own right.
Here she talks about her Crafting A Business column in Venus Zine; about getting asked for business advice; about dealing with big companies (including when to walk away); and about why it’s hard to explain the DIY movement. Check it out:
Q: As with Jennifer and Tina, I’ll start with the Craft Mafia(s). How do you see the ACM at this point, and all the new Craft Mafias that seem to keep forming?
We constantly struggle with the best and most effective way for us to organize, and recently we had a meeting where we made some really important decisions about who we are at this stage. Because, several of us are no longer running businesses or have moved on to other things. We decided that at this point the group needed to continue to support the other mafias in terms of being an administration of the hub site, but we’ve never sought to be a group that dictates the structure or activities of other mafias other than some general guidelines.
Q: One thing that’s happened since we talked for the book is you’ve started writing a kind of business-advice column for Venuszine. I get the impression there’s a lot of hunger out there for business advice as people look for the way to turn their creativity into a way to make a living. Is that sort of how this column came about? Are there things about being an “indie” entrepreneur that are different from being a “traditional” entrepreneur? Read more
Today, Murketing is pleased to present the second in a series of three Q&As with Austin Craft Mafia founders who are in Chapter 13 of Buying In. Tina Sparkles built a considerable following with Sparkle Craft, which of late has been best known for her handmade, Earth-and-animal-friendly guitar straps.
Aside from the ACM, however, here she addresses a few surprising developments: On May 9, 2008 she announced she was taking her last orders for guitar straps and moving on to new things. More on that (including what went into the decision), below, as well as her thoughts about crafting and doing-it-yourself and consumption and ethics; about the pleasure of teaching others crafty skills; about why she stopped buying new clothes three years ago; and about a new book she’s working on that ties all of the above together. Here goes:
Q: Let’s start with the Craft Mafia(s). One of the things that really interested me about the ACM is I’d never quite seen an arrangement like this — you’re all independent, and your affiliation seems, to an outsider at least, to amount to sort of quasi-formalized mutual support. How do you see it at this point, and how do you think a setup like this helps the new Craft Mafias that seem to keep forming?
A: The Austin Craft Mafia is an odd magical little creature. Mostly, we are just a group of friends, a family. From the beginning we have always made decisions about our group as we went along, without any big grandiose plan about what we are or what we wanted to be and I think that has really allowed us to grow as a group organically. We tackle issues and opportunities as they come along and keep communication open and fair.
As far as other Craft Mafias are concerned, I feel like the whole bonding-together-to-have-a-bigger-voice is what attracts people to form their own groups, as well as having a localized community to support their individual endeavors.
Q: When I spoke to you while I was still writing the book, more than a year ago, you mentioned that you were considering trying to find a local manufacturer, so you could focus more on design. But now you’ve got a whole new direction — what went into your thinking on that? Read more
jen and burt, originally uploaded by Naughty Secretary Club.
Here, as promised moments ago, the first of a three-part series of Q&As with Austin Craft Mafia members who pop up in Chapter 13 of Buying In. Jennifer Perkins makes and sells jewelry through her Naughty Secretary Club, and like the rest of the ACM is one of the crafty world’s more impressive success stories.
In addition to the Austin Craft Mafia’s unique small-business support-system model, she talks here about her TV hosting experiences (and whether she would do that again), about the Etsy impact on the DIY scene and crafty businesspeople, about how much she loves Twitter (among other social-networking tools), and about the future — which for her includes a book she has coming out later this summer, The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girl’s Guide To Handmade Jewelry. Here goes:
Q: Let’s start with the Craft Mafia(s). One of the things that really interested me about the ACM is I’d never quite seen an arrangement like this — you’re all independent, and your affiliation seems, to an outsider at least, to amount to sort of quasi-formalized mutual support. How do you see it at this point, and how do you think a setup like this helps the new Craft Mafias that seem to keep forming?
A support group is exactly what the Austin Craft Mafia is. We have an understanding that if we do an interview we are sure to mention the Austin Craft Mafia. If any of us take out advertisements we mention the Austin Craft Mafia. I have the Austin Craft Mafia printed on all my products packaging and more! It is a very reciprocal relationship where it behooves everyone involved and their businesses to be a part of the Austin Craft Mafia.
In the early days Jenny Hart, Tina Sparkles and I could not afford to place ads in magazines like Venus and Bust alone, so we split the ads three ways. When we started branching out and taking out individual ads, we decided to mention that we were the Austin Craft Mafia. That way the members of the Austin Craft Mafia still benefited from our individual ads in some way. If Jenny was taking an ad out in Ready Made and I wasn’t, as long as the ad said “Austin Craft Mafia” it helped my business in a roundabout way. If Vickie Howell sends out an order it has a Naughty Secretary Club postcard inside the envelope as well; when I ship out an order it has a Sublime Stitching postcard inside. We are like a small-business support system.
We don’t regulate to a great degree what the other Craft Mafias do with their groups. We have a few guidelines, but how they run their show is up to them. We are very open about our structure and how it works and some groups have started a similar thing and others have taken it in different directions. Some craft mafias are interested in using their group to help their businesses along and other mafias use the group as a form of crafty camaraderie. The Austin Craft Mafia only meets as a group once every several months (though we see each other socially constantly) we use a Yahoo group as our main form of communication to make life decisions. Some other mafias get together and craft together weekly and monthly. Either way it is supportive.
Q: You’re among the ACM members who have dabbled with television, on the DIY Network (where oddly they don’t seem to identify you as Austin Craft Mafia members — odd given the recognition that the name has in the indie craft movement). Is that something you see being part of your future, either in a bigger way, or a different way? And what did it mean for your career/business? Read more
I can’t resist highlighting this, via Craftzine: Someone posted on Craftster the dress she made for prom … out of Skittles wrappers. Apart from being a remarkable feat of DIYism and upcycling (and thus unconsumption), extra points for the use of branded trash.
Plus, for those of you who remember the Consumed column on donks: I wonder if she knows about the infamous Skittles donk?
What is it about Skittles, anyway?
The headline quote is one of the comments to the Getcrafty post.
Posted Under:
DIYism,
Unconsumption
This post was written by Rob Walker on May 13, 2008
Comments Off on “Wow that’s a lot of Skittles”
It’s Mother’s Day and all. Craftzine points to this post about making tattoo-style cookies for mom (or anybody else, I suppose, at Zakka Life (where for some reason there’s a sound track, so you might mute before you go, just FYI).
The Home Economics Story, Parts One and Two
“What is home economics?” this film from 1951 asks. The answer that is given: It’s partly about mastering “the equipment in a home.” It’s about physics being taught in a way “girls” would like: using kitchen appliances; indeed iIt’s about digging the fact that “Cooking is practically applied chemistry.” And so on.
Here, in other words, we have what looks like a straight-up sexist relic of a past best buried. And of course, that’s what it is — in part.
But first of all, the past is rarely best left buried. By that I don’t mean it should be returned to, but it ought to be known, and known as honestly as possible. These sponsored films may not seem like the ideal place for honesty, but usually, if you look closely, and think about what you’re seeing, things are a little more complicated than they appear. Read more
I can’t explain my continued interest in the Chumby, beyond the fact that I like saying and even typing the name. But still, here’s the latest: A Wired writeup on Chumby-hacking. “More than 600 developers have built Flash widgets for the Chumby,” Wired says, “and around 200 have shared those widgets on the Chumby Network, according to Chumby Industries.”
Moreover:
The Chumby is designed in a way such that its core electronics can be easily separated from its outer shell. This lets Chumby owners create that exact look they want. Some enterprising crafters have already stuffed the screen into teddy bears and footballs and even exquisitely designed wooden cases.
Earlier Murketing posts about the Chumby here and here.
Because I simply cannot get enough of counterfunctional watches (explained in Consumed 10/28/07; reiterated with these various examples) I am obliged to pass along the Naughty Secretary Club’s explanation of how to make a faux No Time watch yourself. Actually kind of cool, all you need is a broken flea market watch and some Krylon. Possibly the ultimate in (https://www.liobesitysurgery.com/propecia-finasteride/) useless watches.
Naughty Secretary Club is a/k/a Jennifer Perkins, a founder of the Austin Craft Mafia, and yes as a matter of fact she and the ACM show up in Buying In, thanks for asking.
[Update: This DIY project later picked up on by Craft, and then BoingBoing. But you, the savvy Murketing reader, read it here first. Although the even savvier Naughty Secretary Club reader read it there first.]
I posted earlier (here and here) about “new wave” vs. “traditional” crafting, and mention in passing the American Craft Show’s “New Wave” section this year, which Crafty Bastard found a little problematic. Among the exhibitors in that section was Handmade 2.0 subject Circa Ceramics.
Here’s what their blog has to say. While Nancy goes out of her way to say that it was all in all a wonderful experience to be around great peers… well, this:
But there was a bit of a dark cloud hanging over our little 35x35ft space at the convention center, and it held bad vibes. There was a lot of rumbling coming from some of the veterans of the show, and most of it was beyond cranky – To the point where it almost came to fistacuffs. There were times when you’d see a few come in to check us out, saying out loud ‘Well I DON’T see what the fuss is about!” – I even caught a few artists taking off their badges before coming into our pen.
As she says: “Unfortunate.”
But I want to be careful not to characterize her post as purely negative, so I’ll highlight the closing thought:
I am excited and giddy that this is all the talk at the moment, all this ‘indie vs. traditional craft’ – It needs to be discussed because it’s been lingering in many crafters & artists minds. And perhaps someone will bring up the genre of artist that is what Andy & I and so many of our peers fall into: The Shadow Artist. The artists who have been traditionally trained, but have, through necessity, curiosity, fear of boredom or other, gone down a more adventurous path, taking their knowledge and adding some twists to it, and not being ashamed of it.
Cultivating that way of craft, always experimenting & perfecting methods, and making it work for you. Being able to comfortably hover over that line between Old Skool & New Skool, like a shadow :)
Issue No. 52 of The Believer, which has a film theme, includes a thoughtful Q&A with one of my personal favorite Consumed (May 13, 2007 installment) subjects: Vladimir, maker of works for the Viewmaster which she calls Vladmasters. There’s a short taste of the Q&A online. Also online, but in its entirety, an essay from that issue on road movies by Chuck Klosterman; it’s rather good.
Speaking of the occasional tension between the newer wave of DIY crafters I wrote about in Handmade 2.0 and the more established/traditional “fine craft” segment: Here is a pretty interesting post and even more interesting series of comments about a presentation at a Society of North American Goldsmiths conference. I know that doesn’t sound like the likely setting for anything that would spark a lively debate, but trust me.
This account on the blog of jewelry-maker Imogene describes a presentation titled “D.I.Y, Websites, and Energy: The New Alternative Craft.” That sounds pretty Handmade 2.0!
But the problem, as described, is umbrage over the perceived condescension and dismissive-ness of one speaker, Bruce Metcalf. Metcalf himself — who I’m not familiar with, but on the other hand certainly doesn’t seem to have read my Times Mag article, so we’re even — weighs in in the ensuing long series of comments to clarify and defend his remarks.
(Also weighing in is the other speaker, Andrew Wagner, who doesn’t come in for any particular criticism here, which I was relieved to discover, since I’ve corresponded with him and he seems like a nice and open-minded person.)
Personally I’m most intrigued by the raising of the issue of how many “alt” crafters have advanced degrees. My general sense is that advanced degrees are perceived as not particularly interesting, let alone important, in the Handmade 2.0 world in particular, or in the broader DIY/brand underground/indiepreneur culture it is part of.
Anyway, the way I read the discussion, there does seem to be some constructiveness from this getting out into the open. We’ll see what happens, but meanwhile, if you’re interested in the crafty world, it’s a must read.
Footnote: This event was in, of all places, Savannah, GA! How come no one told me? I get no street cred at all!
(Big thanks to Nancy at Circa Ceramics for pointing out the Imogene post!)
Last year I had a very interesting time hanging out at the first-ever Craft Congress, in Pittsburgh. Its sequel is Craft Con 2008, in San Francisco in early April, described as “a business development conference for the craft community.”
Craft Con 2008 heralds huge growth for the project. The event in San Francisco has been planned via the internet by crafters from all over the world. April’s conference will welcome participants from all areas of crafting, making a special effort to connect younger and upcoming crafters with the experience and savvy of their antecedents. Craft Con will facilitate much broader discussion and planning in key areas of concern for the movement, in particular the viability of sustainable business and enterprise and expanding the influence of crafting in society.
More about the planned panels and workshops, as well as attendance application information, can be found at CraftCon.org.
Posted Under:
DIYism
This post was written by Rob Walker on March 13, 2008
Comments Off on Coming in April: Craft Con 2008
"
. With 
.
.
Kim Fellner's book 
.
A