Mortem's Tricks or Treats:Sincerest Form of Flattery

My my, I have been a busy bee this past week or so-- which will explain my absence.
I couldn't decide whether to bombard you all with the updates into one fat post... or to torture you all slowly in the upcoming days. I think I'll do the latter.

I'll start with the most recent update, which will begin with a giant disclaimer:

This is a homage piece; I do not own the rights to the following, nor will I distribute the pattern in any way shape or form, so please do not ask. It is all property of Archaical-- so if you want one, then please go to her site here.

Now that I have that off my chest...

I'm not one to "copy" another artist's work on a whim; it takes a special set of circumstances for the notion to  create enough momentum to even remotely cross my mind, and conversely weigh the pro's and con's of doing so. If I had limitless funds and limited knowledge on the particular craft, I would buy one in a heartbeat; just as I have with Louise Black's corset at the time of its purchase, and many more like that. Unfortunately funds fluctuate terribly, identical to that of my moods. So my conclusion seemed inevitable... they do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

Through mere observation, I was able to recreate one of the infamous hoods. I was armed with nothing but my finite knowledge of knitting, tools, and ambition to succeed.
I exaggerated the ears just slightly so that they resembled bat ears more than cat ears. I also made the scarf bits of the hood wider, so it would curl less and cover more. The colors were my choice, of course; I adore many things purple and black! You could just as easily say they are my favorite colors. I didn't use the large yarn which is evident in her original hoods, but it really didn't take much of the regular stuff to complete it. It took me approximately one day and one night to complete-- I imagine with the larger yarn it would take half the time; I don't consider myself to be a quick and prolific knitter by any means, FYI.

I recommend purchasing one of these hoods-- it's quite comfy, and very handy not to mention cute! It's also quite fun to tease a scaredy cat into thinking you're a large animal with-- Poe will attest to just that!


Off topic:

I was nominated by not one, but three lovely ladies (Bones & Lilies, Breakfast on Mars, and Drinking! Not Studying) for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award

The honor of receiving this comes with the duty of listing 5 of my most aberrant habits. So, in order of peculiarity:

1. I concentrate best when I have a tape dispenser near me, so I can snap a piece and place it at random on my body. Although most anything sticky does suffice-- just not jam sticky... I'm very particular about that.
2. I willingly clean just about any mess, and some were really quite grotesque-- but I vehemently refuse to do dishes.
3. I don't speak as I write. I am very closed mouthed in person; though I may have much to say, it very rarely comes out, and when it does it's haphazard and awkward at best. I tend, very much, to mumble. I have done very well during phone conversation, though-- it's a long process.
4. I tend to be quite absent minded-- I wander without consciously knowing it, I'll randomly stare blankly, and at one point or another I have misplaced every item I have ever owned... and they are usually in equally peculiar areas: my phone has been found in the fridge, in the shower, in the microwave, on high selves where I couldn't possibly have reached without a stool... and that is an example of one item!
5. When items are in front of me, I subconsciously move them around until they "feel right"... but this habit never happens inside my craft room where I need it most. Even I find that odd, and contradicting to 4 as well...

So now I list some of the bloggers which inspire me and haven't been tagged, in no particular order:

- Craft For Misfits

- Insomniac's Attic

- News From The Cave

- Vulcan Butterfly

Totally voluntary; you won't hurt my feelings if you refuse, I'll still keep reading your blogs!

Fashioning My Cyber Microcosm: Beating The Dead Horse to a Bloody Pulp; The Handmade Dilemma

A question artists and professional crafters alike face:

"Why is handmade so expensive?"

The answer is both simple and complicated.

To start, aside from the unique and curious, we offer an ideal to the consumer. And that ideal is conscientiousness and quality.
It's so easy to go into a large retail store and pay $10 for a t-shirt, and justify its low quality by saying "well I only paid X amount so who cares?"
It is you, the consumer, who ultimately suffers. Mass produced items aren't intended to last because the companies are relying on that mentality so you'll buy two or three of the same item "just in case".
Not to mention the amount of wasted raw materials and money that inevitably comes with this type of thinking.

To put the term 'handmade' into perspective, take a look at your local museum. Notice anything about the historical fashions?
It's still perfectly preserved after all these years!
These were all handcrafted and hand tailored, once upon a time. They were likely passed down from generation to generation, enduring countless wears and harsh elements (like perhaps a dusty trunk) until finding itself inside that museum, and because the artisans of old took such pride in the quality of what they did, their work transcends even their lives and perhaps our own, for all of us to admire for many years to come.

These days, companies focus on the output and revenue; how fast and how cheaply they can make the most of profits. If attention to detail was the focus, I believe that the world will see products differently-- respect and true admiration for new products would be commonplace.


So why is handmade expensive?

It really boils down to quality and self-worth of the artisan/artist's time.

Artisans are often lead to believe that their prices are "too high" by the average consumer.
The average consumer is lead to believe that all products inevitably fail and that customer service is a four letter word by large conglomerates.

Most people are hesitant to give "handmade" a chance because of what mass production has done to their thinking. When you buy handmade, you're not only ensuring yourself of quality and uniqueness, you're also ensuring that the money goes to the person whom took the time and effort to learn and create it. You're essentially thanking them for their efforts, and making sure that they can keep producing that product for as long as they can.
When you make a remark about how "expensive" it is, you are belittling those efforts and the imagination and creativity it took to produce it, putting aside the fact that high quality materials are never cheap.

If just anyone could make and imagine anything, then there would be absolutely no need for stores.
If just any company could produce high quality conscientiously sourced products, you might find that everything is "expensive".

All that said, I understand that money is naturally very tight for most, which breeds this unjustified resentment towards handmade. But please, make yourself aware of all this before remarking again about "how expensive" it is.

Stop the 'handmade' stigma. Support your local artisans and artists and show them some love and appreciation!