Crafty Manolo

I’m just going to come right out and say this before we get started with this week’s Project Runway recap: All women are real women. Models may come from an amazingly restricted end of the gene pool, but they are real women. Everyday women in the street may not be models, but they deserve every chance to dress in ways that make them feel beautiful and comfortable. Any clothing designer who forgets either of these things makes us all suffer with his or her  severe case of cranial rectosis.

And now, on with the show.

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In this corner, the Bearded Battler from Blighty, William Morris!

And in this corner, perennial star of reality television, Tori Spelling!

Yeah, seems a little incongruous to me, too.

But that’s the death match New Yorker columnist Alexandra Lange pits against one another in her recent article Don’t Put a Bird On It: Saving “Craft” from Cuteness.

Lange finds Spelling’s current reality show, Craft Wars, an offense against William Morris’ leadership of the Arts and Crafts movement… oh, and Etsy is an anti-feminist horror because many of the crafters are women who make cute things.

I would posit that Craft Wars is to serious crafters (who still exist in large numbers across the country and across the world) what the funky craft projects published in Victorian women’s magazines are to the Arts and Crafts movement. In short, both ends of the spectrum have always existed side by side. Sure the average Victorian housewife didn’t have Beadazzlers and plastic mesh (although they did have something like Yankee Candles), but that hardly means every proposed – or even finished – home project was tasteful, useful, and  not cute.

I would also posit that the worst aspect of Etsy isn’t the cute, it’s the plethora of buy and sell imported goods available that dilute its purpose of selling handmade items.

Am I a fan of Craft Wars? No. I’ve seen about half of a couple episodes and, well, it didn’t do that much for me. I hate the fact that there are builders who create the larger, sturdier bits while the contestants mostly decorate stuff with what the judges are pretty sure to say is nowhere near enough glitter.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t think there’s a place for something like it in the crafting world. I think my feelings were summed up best by commenter LGREYFORTWHITE, who said:

“I’m of two minds here: I had a parent who was a professional silver-and goldsmith. Family friends were all weavers, ceramicists, hand-printers, glas-blowers, metalsmiths working in all the differents media…. So, yes, I too recoil a bit when glueing pencils onto a window box is lumped into the ‘craft’ category. However, I have also witnessed acquaintances of mine start out stringing beads into nice earrings and necklaces, and become motivated to learn the full spectrum of jewellery-making techniques, or set about learning to make the glass beads by hand. So, starting off with something elementary may lead people to more engaging work. Not all of them will “graduate”, of course, but some will.”

And you know what? If even one of them does so because of watching an episode of Craft Wars, then it will have served a useful purpose.

It’s time once again to parse out reality… or what passes for it on Project Runway, the show where clearly nobody has ever seen the inside of an office not featured on a show involving Kardashians. Clearly nobody ever watched The Apprentice, or even The Office.

And if you don’t know where that rant came from, you might want to watch the episode before you read this… or you might want to just jump right in and read all the discussion now. Your choice.

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(Image via M3)

Happy Left-Hander’s Day!

Yes, it’s a real day. August 13. And this month friday the thirteenth lands on a monday, which makes it more dangerous. Bonus points to anyone who knows where that concept comes from.

Anyway.

As a southpaw, sometimes it’s hard to find equipment set up for me, let alone instructions to use it properly.

So in honor of the day, I have found a selection of tools and instructions to help my fellow right-minders be super crafty.

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There are times when I’m watching Project Runway, and I suddenly realize just how different the world of the fashionista is from the one the rest of us live in. This episode was one of those times.

As per usual, move on from here if you don’t care or don’t care to be spoiled. Follow the cut if you want to know my thoughts on last night’s Project Runway.

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I was wandering through the archives of Geekcrafts, as you do, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but this brilliant IT Crowd cross stitch:

There are eight other great geeky cross stitch projects in the same posting, but honestly… this won my heart like few things I’ve seen of late.

And if you don’t know what it’s about, do yourself a favor and watch an episode or two of The IT Crowd. It’s one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen.

Yes, it’s Tim Time again!

Well, that and Product Placement time.

And Blast From the Past time. Some more welcome than others.

As per usual, follow the cut unless you don’t want to be spoiled… or don’t really care about Project Runway.

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Oh my dears, have I mentioned lately that Tim Gunn is totally my imaginary gay TV boyfriend? Because he is.

We had a Moment last night. Possibly two or three. And a bunch of other interesting stuff happened on Project Runway. So settle in with your favorite beverage (which you might do well to set down at one or six points in the proceedings) or snack (same counsel applies) or both (just have a new monitor at the ready), and follow me past the bouncing spoiler cut to learn more.

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I remember my first – and thus far last – decoupage project. It was in about second grade, an art class project. Of course construction paper and Elmer’s Glue aren’t the best materials for the craft. And of course at seven I blamed myself rather than the materials for my utter, disastrous failure.

But over the last few years I’ve been seriously considering giving it another go. These days I know a lot more about the correct supplies and my personal aesthetic is better defined. Oh, and I discovered the blog Mod Podge Rocks.

It’s an homage to a fabulously versatile and endlessly useful crafter’s tool: Mod Podge. Oh, and author Amy Anderson has written a book about using Mod Podge to decoupage your world. You can see an illustration from it above. It’s available from Amazon for just $10.17 (list price $14.95) and qualifies for free Super Saver Shipping with a $25.00 purchase.

Oh, and to make up the rest of that $25.00, you can also purchase Mod Podge, scissors, foam brushes, or anything else you need for your project.

Darlings, last night began a new season of my beloved Project Runway, with my beloved Tim Gunn, and the fabulously deranged Heidi Klum back on my TV screen. Oh, and Michael Kors and Nina Garcia. Not that I don’t love them, but for me it’s all about Heidi and Tim. And the design. Okay, and some of the drama.

For those of you who don’t care and those who don’t want to be spoiled, here comes the cut. Follow it if you want to know who and what I’m snarking on.

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