Regretsy Where DIY Meets WTF (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
April Winchester and her army of reviewers on regretsy dot com and in this book put some depth into what it means to be snarky. Despite the whining complaints of those who think the comments are mean (and miss the points), what is happening here is many faceted.There's a lot of good, beautiful, genuine handmade stuff on Etsy, the site that Regretsy is mainly focused on. Or at least there was when first it started out. Over the years, some crazy stuff has been creeping into the offers at Etsy, stuff that makes you say hmmmm. Or WTF. Or other things I can't put here. But you can put them into Regretsy. Some of the "artists" at Etsy create a lot of things related to body parts, male and female, as well as things that come out of your body. Some of them even create their "art" with things that come out of the body. Trust me, they doo doo. You'll find a lot of funny snarky silly comments about those things in the book and on the site.There are also copyright thieves, people who try to pass their sweatshop work off as handmade creations, resellers and more - that's a service Regretsy provides to the real sellers and shoppers at Etsy. In addition, every month the artists and shop owners who belong to the Regretsy group, April's Army, donate their time and services to a week long fund-raiser - and others spend what little money many of them have to get the goods sold - helping a member in need. Regretsy the book is just a hand in what is a growing community.The latest venture is a collaborative tarot deck created by 25 artists belonging to Regretsy, using "art" from this book and the website as inspiration. A good portion of the profits will be used to help artists in need - not just those who participated, but those who are part of the community and beyond.The community doesn't respond well, ever, to those who are being mean to others. It's an incredibly giving community - read the book, but do it with all of this in mind. Even profits from the book go to charity. I read this while sick in a doctor's office, which I think was the perfect place to read it. :-) I really enjoy the Regretsy blog, and this maintains the feel of the blog. It's divided into sections for different types of crafts-gone-wrong, and each section begins with two or three pages by April Winchell. I really enjoyed those sections because of her sense of humor (a bit twisted, a bit vulnerable, but very insightful). The only reason I didn't give it five stars was that overall I wished she'd give more commentary on the actual Etsy pieces she was snarking on. But on the whole, this was a fun book, and a good companion to the blog.
What do You think about Regretsy Where DIY Meets WTF (2000)?
Hysterically funny. And a little bit disturbing.
—anita
