What bothers me is craft shops here (Sydney) seem unaware of the blog bubble, and so are almost actively negative, reducing stocks, stating everything is unobtainable and young(ish!!!) people are uninterested, they might well close….

Or is it the “SO SICK of skull/crossbones/snark/irony” response to the increase? God knows I’ve been snide from time to time.

I see the snarkfest as a personalization of traditional craft — and perhaps it’s a bit trendy to do pottymouth cross-stitch at the moment — but the shift I’ve been sensing is actually *away* from the snark and the copycat trends. Seems that people are making things to make themselves happy. Then again, I don’t read nearly as many blogs/sites as you all do. :)

I’ve never seen snarky comments from non-hobbyists (I assume you mean those who sell what they make?)… I see a lot more mutual support between hobbyists and pros. After all, the hobbyists make good customers — we can appreciate the hours of painstaking work that go into something.

just like 4 years ago when an online crafty presence starting to perk up, there is a dividing line between hobbyists and non-hobbyists growing- which is leading to some dissatisfaction.

jeanne, blogs are indeed weird creatures. who knows if they themselves will be nothing but a trend in several years? beautiful response, by the way!

Seeing the small slice of people’s crafty lives can, I think, foment fatigue. Blogs are strange creatures, tiny slices of people’s lives and mostly the beautiful and productive parts. Because we are knee deep in our own lives with all the mess and setbacks inherent to them it can be hard to remember what we are seeing with others is really the same…just a tiny and well chosen reflection of the whole.

but lately, there seems to be a true backlash regarding certain aspects of craft (ie, cozies and skull and crossbones on things- not that i don’t adore those things, but..) from within parts of the community. as well as heard echoes of craft fatigue and overload- which is part and parcel caused by the very technology, the internet, that allows us to connect and to learn/see so many different things.

Of course, this doesn’t mean crafting in a vacuum. I check out blogs, books, and craftster for inspiration and technical help. I just find the statement that there may be an upcoming “craft backlash” utterly bewildering. If people are doing things for their own good reasons, not somebody else’s, that will stabilize a field. Perhaps that stabilization process is what you’re calling a “backlash”?

Irony bedamned.

in order to make it stick, i think we need to include craft in the sustainable/ethical/political/etc, etc, landscape, because not only does it speak to current times, but future ones as well.

i know i forget to check larger craft sites (as the ones i posted above) and just read certain blogs, and get trapped in the bubble. sometimes i need a little push to remind myself it’s just that, a bubble. there are loads of people out there that have no idea that crafts have become popular again.

*no offense to macrame enthusiasts! i just remember a rash of macrame owl wall hanging things from the late 70s. and still see them all the time in my local thrift… same could be said with pot-holder loom things, one of which i’ll be stealing from my from parents house this weekend to resurrect!