{Book Review–CRaFT FaiL}
Being an avid crafter (pretty much my whole life & certainly a BiG piece of my current life!!) – I can certainly relate to the title.
Flipping it open…reading about the tries & awesome photos made me literally laugh out loud, sometimes feel sad for the outcomes (& actually made me feel pretty stinkin’ good about myself! and apparently so very humble – ha!)
My mom was an artist (oh how I miss my mama!!) and was creating something all the time. She was very edited and neat and not what you think of when you think of the word ‘artist’. She did not flit around painting here & there – rather she knitted and scupted and decorated and sewed… She went back to school in her 40’s (after working in the airline industry for decades) and got first her bachelors and then her master’s in art. Not for a promotion, not for a career… just for her… for the love of learning… for the love of creating. This love of creating certainly rubbed off on me. She instilled this love in me (thanks mom!) and I utilize it every single day.
The CRAFT FAIL book was hilarious but I also found a deeper meaning within these pages… that not everything is as easy as it looks… that you sometimes have to try and adjust and edit and shift things around and practice, practice, practice before a project might work out. We might not be able to create like the professionals do (who might have teams working on creations with amazing photographers and lighting & have, themselves, probably practiced to perfect their craft!)
Being a handmade artisan/creator with the NORTHERN COTTAGE SHOP – I know from personal experience that items are not perfected quickly or without many, many prototypes and trials and re-do’s before they are exquisitely ready for customers to bring home, to give as gifts, to cherish. There is a much bigger investment in creations than just the one product being created and shipped!
But… All of us can (& should) approach projects knowing they might turn out fabulous or….they might not! But to remember to enjoy the process of creating… not just for the end product but for the journey!! And to LauGH along the way….big ol belly laughs…and then maybe start over (or not!) Maybe tweak/finetune it to make it your own…um, maybe read the directions (ha!) … or maybe just enjoy that you created something whether it worked out or not (regardless of whether it looks like the inspiration photo!)
Who hasn’t been perusing pinterest, saw a gorgeous project and thought…”I can sooo make that”… if you go look at my pinterest boards, you’ll see I have inspirations to create many many many crafts and recipes, etc. They may or may not actually get created, they may or may not actually turn out…but I’m fine with that. You can see more of my in process creation on instagram if you want to follow along there.
I just love how Heather is a real person, trying real crafts and not afraid to show us the ugly (though sooo funny) results – she is a brave girl indeed! She has founded two super popular websites: CraftFail.com and DollarStoreCrafts.com so she is no stranger to the world of crafting and yet…she can’t always create with perfect results - Love that!!
Some funny excerpts:
ummmm pretty?
and this one really threw me for a loop – I was thinking pasta for dinner but perhaps not… maybe next time you try out spaghetti stuffed garlic bread (oh yum that does actually sound good!) – it WiLL turn out and look/taste like perfection!
Here is what the books creators have to say about it…
CRAFTFAIL (Workman; November 2014) illustrates the hilariously gruesome underbelly of the creative process. Inspired by her own craft experiences, Heather gathered real-life home decor fails, fashion fails, holiday fails, food fails, kid crafting fails, and best of all—EPIC fails (those projects that are so inspiring that they are attempted again and again by members of the crafty tribe to, quite frankly, disastrous results)! Filled with over 100 full-color photographs of the hoped-for outcome and the underwhelming reality (plus captions pointing out what went wrong), these embarrassing and often pathetic crafting attempts are the stuff that gets the “A for Effort” and LOL for outcome.
But amidst all the terrible failure is a celebration of those among us who are brave enough to pick up the scissors and get crafty! Because even if you can’t make a handsome Papier mâché stag to hang on your wall, why shouldn’t you try? As Heather says, you learn more from trying and failing than not trying at all. And when it does go wrong—as it inevitably will—you can always find solace in sitting back and laughing at the ridiculous results. As one anonymous crafter said: “It wasn’t supposed to end this way.” Luckily for us, it did.
I dare ya to go grab a copy for yourself (or for a gift to the craft mavens or craft-challenged in your life) & bring on some laughs and remember…
Enjoy the Journey & Savor the Moments!
Happy day to you!!
Chat soon ♥ -
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This book was sent my way for review, however, I received no compensation for this review & all opinions are my own
