For the past few days, I’ve been trying to come up with the right word to describe who we are. It’s way more of a challenge than I imagined it would be. After all, the handmade community is made up of so many different types of artists and crafters, it’s hard to come up with just one word that covers everyone.
However, somewhere between green smoothie numbers 1 & 2, it hit me: handmaker. The word bounced around my head most of the day, making the gerbils who run my inboard computer pretty anxious. Then it stuck: we are handmakers. Spell-check doesn’t like the word, but I sure do and I hope you do to, because I need you help to make this official. Nothing makes a word more official than a manifesto. So, let’s write one just for us, the handmade community. I’m looking for 7 basic principles that make us who we are. I’ll start it off:
- Our hands are our tools.
OK, can we come up with 6 more. Be creative and let me know in the comments: what makes you a handmaker? I’ll take your ideas and complete the manifesto. Then, I’ll talk to you about spreading it around. Thanks gang!