MISI is a case in point that there’s some excellent things being created out there that are stylish and well-executed.

Hmmm, tweeness is a bit of a problem for me where craft is concerned. I like to be open-minded, but sometimes if you happen upon some of the over-worked creating on the shopping channels, the gagging reflex sometimes kicks in. It’s a shame really, as the twee image can overpower some of the more stylish and minimal design aesthetics open in 21st century craft, in terms of the image of craft as a hobby.

That said, one does not like to knock gift horses in the mouth and having used some freebies from one of the mags on handmade Christmas cards this year - cutesyness can be done, there’s an audience for it, but it’s not craftmonster’s beverage of choice.

Welcome to Craftmonster. I am a recent convert to my hobby. My name is inspired by the feeling I get when I enter a stationery shop in acquisition mode. Not just want; NEED; or those occasions when you wish you could install an effective ‘Do not Disturb’ halo, when working on a project. Raaaargh.

A visit to a craft show earlier this year awakened a feeling that I don’t think I’d felt since 12-year old visits to the stationery bit of WHSmith (I know…) - think early/mid-eighties - smelly rubbers, early days of gel pens. The yearning for lots of lovely pads of paper, origami gear, coloured pencils, highlighters - I could go on.

So why the blog? The types of things I create are pretty ephemeral: cards, gifts, toys, clothes and so on. So I’d like to think of this as a little gallery of what I get up to. Who knows, one day things may even get a bit commercial…