(a few of my Craft Stylish projects over the last year)
Last week was my last post as a regular contributor to
Craft Stylish. If you follow craft gossip (yes it exists, believe me!) you may have heard that Craft Stylish has restructured the nature of the site (you can read about it
here) and all the regular contributors were let go. This is another unfortunate blow to the crafty publishing world.
More and more people are picking up crafting as a hobby every year and yet, it's really hard for craft magazines and websites to stay in business. Some of this is just part of the flailing economy; the publishing industry is doing fairing pretty poorly across the board right now. Also, people are really used to getting everything online for free. The only model for money-making online right now is ad-based. What happens when no one is buying ads?
And what else can be done? I
wrote about this a few months ago when the print component of
CRAFT folded but I do think that people who love crafts need to put their money where their mouths are. Nowadays, it's so easy to find free craft tutorials and projects online that a lot of people don't even bother to pay for a magazine or a book but crafters need to make a living too! Sure a lot of what we do is for love but love doesn't pay the rent.
Craft is all too often undervalued: crafters underprice their wares and buyers often think, "well I can get this cheaper at Target or Wal-mart (and no, I'm not linking to them). But you can't get the same thing. Handmade items have soul, they have heart, someone made it by hand for you. The same goes for a handmade tutorial. They take time to do right: not only do you need a great idea put you need to write clear instructions and take well-lit, well-styled photos. Writing a good tutorial is a craft in and of itself which is why people who are good at this should get paid a decent, fair wage.
So I beg of you, if you love beautifully made crafts, support your favorite crafters! Buy their books (and I'm not just saying this because I have a book coming out!), shop at craft fairs, appreciate the value of something the is made by hand. Think about the possibility of paying a subscription for an online craft magazine. Buy fewer but more well-made things. Really think about where your money is going. I'm going to try to do that too and maybe we can make this better together.