In fact, I hate the term "crafting" so much I threw up a little in my mouth just typing the above. I hate reading about anyone who classifies themselves as a "crafter," I hate the idea of "crafting," I hate "crafting events" and "crafting communities." What is it about this word that works like fingernails on a chalkboard making me cringe and barf at the same time? Let's explore...
I associate "crafting" with shoddy workmanship and inferior materials. It makes me think of the scary camphor smelling craft fairs held at community centers all over the US, yes, the ones where little old ladies sell their oddball creations made out of acrylic yarn and twigs...But wait, I don't want to be mean, once in a while you can find something well made or artistically interesting at these fairs...once in a great while.
I also find the term "crafter" demeaning. It doesn't have the nobility of craftsman or artisan, somehow it seems to connote uselessness and frivolity, a mindless occupation of time that results in nothing good.
Maybe I just don't like the people who call themselves "crafters," maybe I think they're a little arrogant and silly and they should just make good things and not worry about what their friends call their hobby of making plastic Christmas ornaments decorated with spangles and yarn.(craft can also be defined as skill or ability used for bad purposes as in cunning, deceit or guile...hmmm..)
Maybe I just hate the idea of being lumped all together with the acrylic twig grannies and the weird hippie DIY kids in some "crafting" box.
Maybe I just like to make nice things by myself or with nice people and don't like to call it anything but having fun. Fun is a good word. I think I would be far more likely to go to all of those weird craft fairs if they called them "Fun Fairs."
Imagine you saw a sign that read something like this: FUN FAIR!!(with an arrow pointing towards a community center, high school gym, or library) I would probably go, wouldn't you? Who wants to say no to fun?
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