Hello from the peanut gallery

I have been following crafts on the Internet since the text only days, lo those many years ago. Before that I devoured books and magazines about all kinds of crafts. I am interested in knowing how everything is made even if I don't plan to try it myself. I want to know what products are out there and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

I am not artistic, but I am good with my hands. As an analytical thinker I am good at identifying why something isn't working out and then finding a solution to fix it. This has led me to trying all sorts of techniques and products over the years with varying success. I can't count all the projects where I've snatched defeat from the jaws of victory or saved from an ignoble death. I will probably share some of the various crafty type things I'm working on or techniques I'm using to make something better.

Crafting and DIY fads come and go. The Internet, like cable TV, has created a huge demand for content. For crafters this means large numbers of incredibly stupid projects, projects on blogs whose instructions aren't really expected to be followed, and projects that were specifically designed to take a nice photo. That doesn't even touch on the projects that were entirely or partially created by Photoshop. 

I can't stand it anymore. This blog is my cry in the wilderness. I am going to whine about mason jar crafts, plastic pumpkin crafts, the endless tie-dye projects that all look the same, wreaths, decorated shoes, cozies of all kinds, and anything else I see that is butt ugly or simply variations on a theme. I am going to point out when I see instructions that are incomplete or just plain incorrect.