(This was inspired by
Green Kitchen's post and the posts she references that talk about craft blogs and the image craft bloggers project. I started to leave this as a comment on her blog, but then I realized I had a lot more to say than should be left in a comment.)
When I first discovered craft blogs, all the prolific, beautiful, seemingly-perfect ones really intimidated me. Would people expect *me* to be witty in every fucking post? Would *my* crafts have to be so incredibly cute that butterflies flew out of the ears of everyone that looked at them? Must *I* post several times a week? Ugh. It seemed like an overwhelming prospect.
All I wanted was to get pictures of my stuffies posted on
craftingjapanese.org. And, at first, I just emailed Maitreya images and she would post them. Then I started reading Maitreya's other blog,
craftlog.org. I liked her down- to- earth writing. She is very crafty and I love almost everything she makes, but sometimes her projects are just practical, and occasionally she would share her craft disasters. She seems like a real person, not a shiny craft goddess.
Maitreya's sites are a gold mine of links. Pretty quickly, I discovered there are lots of bloggers out there that don't post everyday, whose crafts are funny or goofy or silly or weird or just utilitarian, who don't take award-winning photos, and who write like real people. They are craft bloggers who are just *really* into crafting. And those blogs have become my favorites.
Eventually I started my own blog so I could talk about my crafts and get some feedback. I was surprised at how much I love it and how much fun it is. I don't like group activities and I thought of blogging as a group thing. It's not like that for me, though. For me, it's many one-on-one conversations.
On my blog, I focus on crafting and keep the personal info to a minimum, but I try to make sure that my posts are a reflection of me and not a projection of some fake Alice. When I find myself considering what blog readers might want me to craft (or not craft) or to say (or not say), I force myself to be balls-out Alice.
So far that approach has worked really well for me. I never would have guessed that my most popular crafts would be the edgy ones, or my use of the phrase "fuck me blue" would make people giggle themselves silly. Plus, I *really* like the people who comment on my posts. If the people I like, like me back, then I must be doing something right.
I have no idea what image I project. My guess is that there are as many perceptions of me as there are people perceiving. I'm lucky to have Andrew to take the kick ass photos, and I'm lucky that I do web stuff for a living. With the photos and the technical stuff taken care of, there is more time for crafting.
Just in case my blog implies otherwise, I want you to know that my craft-reality is far from ideal. I have very little time to craft. My space is a mess (evidence above). I have four projects going and I will probably start a fifth before I finish any of them. I neglect actually-important things (like cleaning and sleep) to do craft-important things. I have been working on one tiny stuffie for over a month now, and I all I have to show is an faceless head and a pile of deformed body parts. I have plans for a million-and-one swaps, but I don't want to propose them until I know I have the time to make my half. I take crocheting with me everywhere - the doctor's office, movies, the kitchen, visits to relatives - just to maximize my craft time.
In spite of all that, I love my craft blog. And, as long as it's fun, I'm going to keep doing it.