Aside from Adorn (and even that magazine made a mark), the businesses listed under “indie craft websites” are some that have reached out and made waves in the community. Certainly it would be tough to create an all-inclusive list. I think that consulting some of these folks for THEIR input would’ve been more effective.

I have many artist friends who are not into CHA and still make a living from their work, and enjoy every second of it and are very successful!

it is all about doing what you love and what you need to do to keep it going!

OK, peace out!!
Kathy :-)

Here is my take. I consider myself an indie crafter and am also active in CHA. Both have opened so many doors for me. But i had to hunt and find those doors, sand them, locate the keys, etc…

We have to think of why we craft. Is it to inspire others? Or to make a living selling our pieces? Once you nail down what you want out of all this, then you hit the resources to help you move that dream forward. My personal goal is to make a living inspiring others while making a living doing it. Through CHA I’ve connected with book editors, product developers, indie businesses, etc.

I don’t let myself gripe too much, instead I put on my miner’s hat and try to be part of the change.

I worked for years in the local music scene promoting reggae bands and would get furious at the lack of coverage in the local paper. also for the local art scene. I was so passionate, I ended up getting a job at the paper, volunteering to write stories about the people/bands I felt their staff had over looked. I didn’t like what I saw and I became part of the change.

Same with the craft industry. When I attended my first CHA in 2005, I was taken aback too, at the lack of insight to the emerging craft scene, especially the Latino market. So I made it a point to become involved.

If we want to thrive, I say we 9people interested in doing crafts FT) all make it a point to join the professional designers, infiltrate, pitch and teach workshops, off to sit on discussion panels, offer our services, ask for our own little area of the show, etc. Show off what we can do. Learn from the experienced people, plus show them the new wave.

Here is a blog post I did when I came home, it has more specifics:

http://thecraftychica.blogspot.com/2009/01/blog-post.html

On a side note – I do know for a fact the CHA folks really did mean well when they made the indie crafters part of this year’s theme. They were really nervous in trying to get it right. Yes, there were some hits and misses on the first time out, but overall, I’m happy they reached out. I am crossing my fingers they keep us on the agenda for future shows. Anything to help artist thrive!

You have to go in there and find your niche. I met an adorable punky artist girl who writes and draws anime diy books, and they got picked up by Michaels. She was swooning!

Look at it the same way when you go to an estate sale, you bypass all the stuff that is not your style and hunt for the treasures!!! I used my house payment to go to my first show. I was so scared, but so many good things came from it!

anyhoo- peace, love, and glitter to you all!!!
Kathy :-)

Let’s talk about the tone of the report, though. The tone is clear to me. For some reason, indie crafters are interlopers. That’s what it sounds like, the way it’s written. Indie crafters are not serious, they aren’t schooled in or interested in the thread of craft history or heritage, and they don’t belong among ‘normal’ crafters. Now, that’s my kneejerk reaction, and even I can recognize that it’s a bit simplistic. We all know how this attitude affects us, so I won’t belabor the point any further.

But I think, after years of being on the ‘outside’ in terms of being a member of one fringe group or another, I recognize how the money people work and I think I can imagine what can happen in such instances. What happens is that a few of us, in some way or another, will make a splash of such size and magnitude that someone in corporate will want to take it and run with it, giving the artist/crafter subsidy and markeing that will gain her/him/them enough attention that it becomes worthwhile for others to invest in their own indie crafter(s) and pretty soon we will no longer be indie, we’ll be subsidized. We’ll be a force, we’ll have ‘respect’ and it will become cool for people to know about us, collect us, wear us or be like us. And then we’ll lose our purpose and our edge and we will be homogenized. that’s what can and often does happen. Because what’s good can’t help but be recognized eventually, and indie crafters are good because they care, they don’t try to copy other people or do the same things, they don’t look at something and see only its marketed use or beauty, and from that kind of vision and passion comes real innovation. But it’s sad that it comes with co-opting.

So in a way, I’m glad they don’t ‘get it’ yet, but what bothers me is that if they don’t get it, they should just shut up. This patronizing attitude and the sloppiness of the research and the carelessness of the writing is an insult on top of the fact that they won’t be able to ‘get it’ until it benefits the pocketbook!

I echo a lot of what others have been saying, and that’s that, we spend plenty of our hard-earned, non-subsidiezed, incomes on product with which to create new art, new clothing, new jewelry, new furniture, and if we disappeared, it would make a huge dent. The beauty of what we do is that many of our works are one-of-a-kind, inventive, and exciting in their newness, and that’s something that’s valuable beyond marketing considerations.

In many instances, I feel that people have to settle for things too often. They settle for the same things because that’s what the market will bear. I try not to shop as much as Michael’s or Joann’s, and instead support independent online suppliers, and it’s more expensive and sometimes it’s not possible or practical with regard to time. But if I can avoid settling on things, I try to sacrifice for something better. I’m glad CHA exists, I just wish it were with open minds.

can I come back later?

okay.

p.s. I’ll try to make my self-righteous indignation sound fun.

On the other side or the CHA people, while yes, there is creativity and originality, it’s all about product. It’s all about kits and tutorials and copying a look that a hired designer puts together. Pre-made, pre-packaged, pre-determined results. Scrappers, CHA type followers and the like emulate – they don’t create.

CO-OPTING
The bridge between the two communities I see is this, the indie crafters come up with some wonderful ideas — the CHA people see the idea, market and mass produce the kits for consumption by the status quo. I.E. “Generation T” and now the latest and greatest “art journaling” (come one – do we really need tutorials on how to journal? Isn’t that missing the point?) The new hot up and coming co-opted thing is record album memory books/journals. Indie crafters have been using vinyl albums and covers for years — the scrapbooking industry is now cashing in on making pre-made “blank” vinyl album covered – chipboard books.

They may have made a half-hearted attempt and “outreach” to the indie community at CHA — making it seem that they don’t know a thing about the indie movement, but believe me, they know a lot more than they let on. Because the indie craft movement is the well in which they draw on for the next best selling product, trend and all the expensive pre-packaged goodies that go with it.

So clearly you and I are on the same page, the CHA … yeah maybe not so much.

Where was Ravelry on that list? The biggest thing to hit the online knitting community in the last couple of years and it’s not mentioned. Is it too mainstream to be considered ‘indie’? Or have they just not heard of it?

Where was the huge importance of Japanese crafting books and the ‘cute’ aesthetic? Where was the growth of adult plushies? (OK, that just sounds a little wrong!) There’s not a single mention of podcasting, which I’d say was huge in the online ‘indie’ crafting community and very in line with our DIY attitudes. Oh, and where were all the damn skulls?

And MySpace as a crafting community? Er, really? No one I read blogs on MySpace. OK, admittedly I hate MySpace but afaik, it’s just not a big crafter’s place. IME, most craft bloggers either have their own sites or are using Blogger or Wordpress.

Make me want to buy your items by getting to know more about my INSPIRATION, not just looking at the end result and materials used. I used to work in a Michael’s store and would stuff the silk flowers that fell off the stems and got swept up at night in my purse to take home to decorate hats with – now you can buy little packets of flowers in the scrapbooking aisles. But 20 years went by between my hoarding of trash flowers and the marketing of brand new ones… if they want to keep up with us, they need to engage us, not patronize us.

Funny how I never was sure if I was “indie” or not – but if reading Craft magazine and using repurposed materials is part of the definition, I guess I am!

But back to the contest, I was disappointed as a crafter in implementation of the contest but that seems to have been a miscalculation on the part of the marketing company handling the exhibit. They really should celebrated those artists all of whom were so excited to be chosen and then were so let down. It’s a big deal to win a contest – there should have been prizes. How cool would it have been to have awarded those winners with bags of supplies from those self-same manufacturers. It was just a big goof that could have so easily been avoided.

And by the way, Mike Hartnett who posted earlier is himself a Rock Star in the creative world. I heard him speak that Sunday at CHA about turning ideas into products and he truly is an inspiring generous soul who wants everyone to aspire to greatness. We should all take him up on his kind kind offer to put our ideas in front of the manufacturers. That is like getting the golden ticket into Willie Wonka’s factory. It really is.

And thanks, Diane, I love your podcasts!!!