Loving your work isn't your wage. (Dear crafters, designers, and small business owners.) | Crafting Fingers

We love handmade. Our crafts are ‘made with love.’ And so many of us start selling our crafts so we can make a living doing what we love.

But does loving the work we do mean it’s worth any less? Too many crafters sell their goods without giving themselves a ‘living wage.’ If the work you love can’t pay you at least £6.31 an hour after material costs, are the other benefits worth it? Are the highs worth the lows of getting paid less than minimum wage to deal with accounting, taxes, National Insurance, marketing, and an incredibly competitive market?

NO. The highs don’t make up the numbers. Love doesn’t pay the bills. Crafting and designing is worth a living wage.

There is value in the work you do that goes beyond it being work that you love. (Enough that you’re willing to pour blood, sweat, and tears into it. Now that is love.) Sometimes we forget that.

What is handmade?

We’re quick to blurt out the answer, but the truth is that defining the concept is getting a lot harder. It’s a bit like saying blue. There are a heck of a lot of shades of it!

When Etsy changed its definition of handmade last year, there was a lot of confusion. And backlash. The new policies meant that shops could hire others to help with high demand. (It’s not easy to churn out handmade goods all alone.) Before the change, Etsy sellers had to make their ‘handmade’ goodies themselves.

And since Etsy got so popular before they changed their policy, maybe that’s why so many of us think handmade means something made by one person, from start to finish.

Yet we can’t forget the community so many crafts thrive upon.

Crafting can hurt. Office work and crafting aren’t two things I compare often, but as it turns out they’re both likely to cause RSIs. (Repetitive stress injuries. Or as I would call it, ‘ow why does my shoulder hurt after 5 minutes of doing anything?’ syndrome.)

I’d heard of RSIs but it’s not something I thought I was going to have to worry about as someone in their early 20s. Turns out that was a big fat lie!

Shoulders are tricky things, too. It will easily take 6-8 months for my shoulder feel good again, and that’s after physiotherapy. If I’m honest, before the doctor told me that I was terrified it would be early-onset arthritis, so this was still good news.

Long story short? My plans for 2014 have been thrown for a loop! As fun as it was, if my lifestyle in 2013 led to this then some things have to change.

If you’re a fellow computer-loving crafty type, please learn from my mistakes!

No matter how young, physically fit, and healthy you are it’s a good idea to stretch after crafting. (Isn’t it funny how we naturally stretch as kids? Why do we grow out of that?)
… and stretch after being by the computer for a long time. Smartphones and tablets count, too. (Looking at fellow Twitter lovers!)
Schedule in breaks. Breaks are just as important as whatever craft work you’re doing.
If your shoulder hurts and you can’t keep on top of email, double-triple-quadruple check that the auto-responder you set up is actually turned on. Argh!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. This is a holiday close to my heart!

(My years in America might make me a bit biased, though, especially because my birthday often fell close enough to Thanksgiving that I got my birthday off school. How awesome is that! It did make epic birthday parties hard to organise.)

The truth is that whatever the reasons behind the tradition, everyone everywhere has something to be grateful for. When we’re all rushing to make plans for the upcoming holidays, it’s nice to sit down and remember to just enjoy what we already have. No matter how long or expensive our crafts wishlist is. *cough*

This week I postponed my 21 things from Monday until today. Thanksgiving felt right to share these 21 things I’ve been making, reading, and been grateful for this past week.

Making

I’m drowning in knitting but I want to make Purl Bee’s beautiful alpaca cowl, too
Sew your own acorns with this tutorial + pattern
Let it snow with this free x-stitch snow globe pattern
I’m getting use of my leather scraps by making stamps (even tiny pieces work)
A gorgeous tutorial for making your own holiday PJs!
This modern tree garland is so simple but stunning!
This butter squash mash is absolutely drool-worthy.

Buttonbag Advent Calendar kit c/o John Lewis

Most of us have heard of the philosophy that being grateful makes you happier.

As my project to learn new crafts comes to an end (well, technically. I’m not going to stop learning now!) I’ve been thinking a lot about mindfulness. Learning new crafts has a way of putting you on the spot and making you focus on right now this minute. Mistakes and pricked fingers happen pretty easily otherwise.

21 things is going to be a new series posted every Monday, sharing things I’ve loved, made, read, and generally just enjoyed the week before. And what day of the week needs a bit of cheer more than dreary old Mondays? It’s all about making, reading, and loving in the moment.

Enjoy this first instalment of crafty links and reads!