New Forum and Article

Well we have started a new forum which is for both the Free Craft Downloads and the Free Craft Stuff sites. There are obviously a lot of craft forums around at the moment so I don't expect this one to be too busy but at least it gives somewhere where people can make comments / suggestions about the sites. You can find the forum at www.freecraftdownloads.co.uk/forum . Stop by and say hello if you have time.

I have also written an article on Craft CDs about print quality and DPI. I wont bother repeating it all here but if you buy craft design Cds it may make interesting reading for you :-)

A Difficult Year

There is no doubt that this is going to be a difficult year for craft companies both on and off line. Towards the end of last year several of the smaller online craft companies ceased trading and more are sure to follow. There were far too many of these small online companies to be sustainable but it is a shame as many of these smaller companies were run by real craft enthusiasts.

I've noticed already that several craft fair organisers have cut down on the number of shows they are running so this will cut down on the choice for crafters. As incomes drop and stand prices increase crafters will have to think hard about which shows they book. Unfortunately most finished craft items are not a necessity for the buying public and we shall have to wait and see how much they continue buying.

All is not doom and gloom, as normal in this situation there are bargains to be had as craft companies compete for the smaller amount of custom around. Keep you eyes on your favourite craft websites and you will see more reduced prices and sakes.

Crafts and Computers

Most of the time I think a computer is a crafters best friend. With it I can access the Internet and therefore source crafting materials, talk to other crafters in forums, promote my goods etc. Away from the Internet I can do my accounts, make up new design and deal with all my show bookings.... great..... until something like earlier this month happened when both of my hard drives (laptop and desktop) decided to break in the same week.... so even though I had been backing stuff up I lost it all :-(

So now I've bought one of those stand alone hard drives and I shall backing everything up TWICE, what are the chances of 3 hard drives going at the same time do you think?

Speaking of forums, I read an interesting statement on a forum the other day. The website owner said "You can say whatever you want in this forum", not sure what prompted them to write that but it seems a bit of a strange statement, somewhat naive. What is it about the internet which makes people think it isn't governed my either everyday social rules or even the law.... of course you can't write what you want in a forum, and should you write anything which is libellous, racist, promotes hatred etc. it would be a very silly site owner who didn't take any action. Forums are great, I'm a member of at least 10, Craft Forums, animation forums and software forums but I like to think I behave in them no differently than I do in face to face meetings :-)