I am THE ECONOCRAFTER, and I’m here to help you craft in a crunched economy!

2008-10-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

Maybe your crafting is just a pleasurable hobby, something that enables you to unwind after a tough day at the coalface. Carving graphite trolls, perhaps, what do I know.

Or maybe you rely on it for a little side income. Trouble is, as the cost of supplies, craft fair stalls and online listing all rise, that side income is just getting littler and littler… and that problem is just multiplied if crafting is your full-time occupation.

What you need is a whole new mind-set… the mind-set of ECONOCRAFTING. Effectively it’s the peasant/hunter-gatherer approach to food, taken and re-applied to crafting supplies and techniques.

The question you may have asked yourself in previous times is ‘What do I need to learn/buy in order to make X/Y/Z?’ That question is what needs to be re-framed.

Ask yourself instead, ‘Okay, so what I have to hand is A, a whole lot of B and I remember my neighbour offered me some C. Now, what the heck can I make with that?’

Pragmatism, crafter peeps, we need to take a big dose of pragmatism. Plus a dollop of ingenuity. A few pinches of shamelessness, cheekiness, lunacy and untrammelled invention won’t hurt while we’re at it.

When you re-frame your world-view this way, everything looks different. Obviously.

Think materials first, then technique. You’re tired of lugging bag after bag of newspapers into the car every couple of weeks to take them to the recycling centre? How many times do you have to lug them before you decide, ‘Hell with this. I’m getting a book on papier mache out of the library.’

Your local store hasn’t yet got the message about plastic carrier bags and is still dishing them out like candy? Knitting with shredded plastic might have been done before, but you haven't put your own spin on it yet. Nice orange mandalas on the purse, Joyce! Does that come from the Sainsbury’s carriers?

The other half works in a lumber yard and brings scraps home? (Who knows why. He never does anything with them). Get whittling! Okay, not an owl or cat then… maybe a pair of earring focal beads.

You get the idea. I get the idea. Let’s put it into practice! In subsequent posts I aim to highlight peeps who are doing just this, along with showcasing my own efforts in the econocrafter line. Maybe yours too! Drop me a line and show off the art you’ve created out of the trash. Let’s save the world - one econocrafter at a time.