2010 Canadian Weblog Awards Exclusive Nominee Interview with Karen Sugarpants and sam {temptingmama} of Craftastrophe

Karen Sugarpants and sam {temptingmama} author Craftastrophe, which has been nominated in both the Crafting and Group Weblog categories of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

Why blogging?

Because it pays so well. Hahaha..not. Blogging is part of who we both are now — we've both been blogging for forever and a day on our personal blogs, and this idea just made sense to blog when we started it.

What is the story behind the birth of Craftastrophe, and what keeps your inspiration going?

Craftastrophe began one night when we were on IM, "pouncing" on Etsy and discovering hilarious creations — some were well made but served no purpose, and some were just full of disaster win that we had to share them with the world. We were both laughing so hard, we couldn't help but start a website. Cake Wrecks was just becoming uber-popular and we knew we had a winner on our hands. As far as keeping inspiration going, that's easy. We both love to laugh. It doesn't feel like work. If life keeps us busy and we're unable to post, we don't sweat it. It's a fun hobby that pays well, that's all.

Are there any particular craftastrophes that continually haunt your memories?

Unicorn Porn, for sure. And Little Otik — I really want to rent the movie because it just looks so messed up.

Have there been any craftastrophes that you would not publish an entry about?

Yes — there is a crafter that emails us once a week to feature her work and it's really not that funny. The theme is something about Satan and it's just boring. As for nudity and NSFW stuff — we're just careful about what to show on the front page so our advertisers don't get their panties in a wad.

Craftastrophe has been featured in The Guardian and coined a new term in Urban Dictionary, among many other acknowledgments. Bloggers who achieve a certain internet celebrity status usually have an "aha" or "OMG" moment when they realize the extent of their reach and influence. Was this true with you and, if so, can you describe what that was like?

Winning Guilty Pleasure Blog 2009 at BlogHer alongside MamaPop was definitely one of those moments, as well as people freaking out when they met us in person — that was both uncomfortable and ego-lifting for a couple of shy Canadians. Oh and our first big ad cheques. We like money. And laughter. But mostly money.

What are your must-reads?

Lamebook, Not Always Right, and FourFour.

If you were to impart knowledge to an aspiring blogger, what would you tell them?

Find a niche that you enjoy. Have fun. Don't get too wrapped up in stats. Ask questions. Participate in your community. Don't be an asshole.

sam {temptingmama}, Craftastrophe co-author, can't find enough to do. If it's not enough raising her two young boys, blogging regularly at her personal site, Temporarily Me, and web designing for Temptations Designs! and Swank Web Style, she’s now finally found an outlet for outting handmade / homemade AWESOMENESS that is Craftastrophe. No, there is no craft talent here and she's EXTREMELY jealous about that.

Karen Sugarpants, Craftastrophe co-author, can't make crafts. She can barely make toast. So to curb her insecurities, she helps Sam make fun of those who can. Or those who think they can. Or those who think they can but can't and despite their craftastic failures, they try to shill this garbage on craft sites. You can also find her at the greek buffet scarfing down ouzo and spanakapita. NOM NOM NOM! Karen recently retired from web design to return to University. She blogs at MamaPop, Uptake, Canada Moms Blog and a new sex blog, Crazy Sex Stuff. She twitters like a mental maniac. And ignores her personal blog a lot.

2010 Canadian Weblog Awards Exclusive Nominee Interview with Alison Dunn and Perdy Andrews of 365 Fashion Rehab

Alison Dunn and Perdy (Perdita) Andrews author 365 Fashion Rehab, which is nominated in the Fashion & Style, Group Weblog, and People's Choice categories of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

Why blogging?

We both have always had a passion for writing and thought that blogging about our experiences would be a great way to share our thoughts with each other and the rest of the world. We also thought that it upped the ante of the project by holding ourselves accountable and being accountable to those following our journey. When we launched 365 Fashion Rehab, over half the people polled said that they thought we wouldn't make it past three months! We showed them, right?

You have committed yourselves to give up shopping for clothes or shoes or other pretty things for an entire year and are more than two-thirds of the way through. Was it your ridiculously burgeoning closets that pushed you to do it?

Partially, yes! And, at this point in our lives we thought we would have more traditional assets (a home, a retirement fund, etc...), but we realized that so many of our hard earned dollars were found hanging in our closets. When we lived together in Toronto, we used to have "Shopping Saturdays" every week so we would have something new to wear that night.

We love shopping so much, but between buying duplicate items and excessive bingeing and purging, we knew it was time to put our credit cards on ice!

Surely you have not given up on buying everything altogether. How do you decide which shopping is necessary?

The rules of the project are no buying clothes, accessories, make-up, or frivolous home decor. This includes basic items like underwear and lip balm. We just have to make do with what we have and be creative. It's extreme, but, for us former shopaholics, it had to be. The rules and regulations don't include supplies and services; we can still get our hair cut, and if our toaster breaks we can buy a new one.

What have you learned about yourselves now that such a large part of your lives has been effectively removed?

We have learned that we don't need to own the latest pair of jeans in order to feel good about ourselves.

When you can't shop, blogging about it is almost as good! Most of our free time has been spent building our site and learning how to become multi-media experts, but we still allow ourselves time to catch up with each other, as old friends should.

Is this shopping diet going to continue in a less severe form when the 365 days are over, or are you going to go on fashion bender?

On May 15th (the end of the project), we hope to meet in New York to celebrate our year of not shopping, but we don't know yet what our first purchases will be. At this point, after all of our hard work and self discovery, we are hoping that we will be more conscious shoppers. Otherwise, this year of misery will have been in vain!

What are your must-reads?

For a laugh we read Dooce or Go Fug Yourself, for financial tips we love Fabulously Broke in the City, and for style we go to Oh So Coco and Who What Wear.

If you were to impart knowledge to an aspiring blogger, what would you tell them?

It can be a lot of work, so you need to be committed. Try to give something back to your readers, whether it is advice or a laugh. As long as you know your audience, you will do great! And even though it's a cliche; have fun! It's a cliche for reason!

Love, A&P

Alison Dunn & Perdy (Perdita) Andrews of 365 Fashion Rehab have known each other since they were "tweens". They grew up together in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but they have lived all over the world: Stockbridge, MA; Lagos, Portugal; and Vancouver, NYC, Toronto and San Francisco. These best friends (now Rehab Sisters) honed their mean retail skills in their 20s when they both worked in the fashion industry as a sales rep and assistant buyer. Both graduated from institutes of higher learning dedicated to creative mediums: Perdy from The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and Alison from The International Academy of Design in Toronto.

After almost 20 years of shopping together, Perdy & Alison have taken on what some say is the impossible: No frivolous shopping for 365 days. No clothes, no accessories, no make-up and no home décor. They can't even accept gifts. These shopaholics knew it was time to take a break from their reckless spending and start to wear what they had spent years accumulating. Tackling this experiment from two major metropolitan cities (San Francisco & Toronto) in two different countries, these longtime friends are ready to face it head on! Will this experiment change their lives? Who knows? Keep following to see how it all turns out in the end!

Nominees of the Day: Group Weblog

The 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards nominees of the day are from our Group Weblog category.

The Group Weblog category is devoted to weblogs that are co-authored by two or more people. Weblogs from any genre are welcome, so this is a category with a broad scope. Our four nominated weblogs so far are written by four who keep us abreast of pop culture and entertainment, a funny trio of friends who have been blogging together since 2005, a six-authored journal focused on spirituality and justice, and a duo that gave us a word for what happens when crafting goes bad. They're a grab bag of goodness, so jump in and leave your mark in the comments to let them know you came by:

A Mandolyn and Ky
The Ashcan
Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice
Craftastrophe

Feel free to nominate a weblog into the Group Weblog category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards. Share the wealth!

2010 Canadian Weblog Awards Exclusive Nominee Interview with Jesse Kinos-Goodin of The Ashcan

Jesse Kinos-Goodin is a contributing editor at The Ashcan, which has been nominated in the Best New Weblog, Group Weblog, and Pop Culture & Entertainment categories.

Why blogging? And what drew you to writing about pop culture and entertainment for The Ashcan, in particular?

I think we all blogged because it's just an opportunity to write about whatever you feel like. There are no editors to deal with, no advertisers to please, so you have absolute freedom to pursue what you want. For us that was pop culture and entertainment.

The Ashcan has several authors. How did you come together? And how do you manage your writing relationships in terms of scheduling, style, subject matter, etc.?

We all went to journalism school together, and after being out in the work force for some time we realized, perhaps, how limiting certain journalist positions can be. It was sort of a mutual thing that we all wanted to write more about the things that interest us - and mind you, some of us already were and still are running their own blogs - and a great way to make a quality blog would just be to pool our efforts.

For scheduling we just split it up by days, and for subject matter it was easy because while we're all interested in pop culture, we each sort of come at it from different angles. Plus we all trust each others' abilities as writers, so style has never come up.

Do you think that being a Canadian blogger plays a role in how you discuss your subject matter?

Well, it is nice to try to fit in Canadian content, especially since it's what we know and love. But we don't feel obligated to keep it purely Canadian, if that's what you mean, because a lot of the stuff that interests us is also European, American, whatever. Short answer I would say no, being Canadian doesn't play a role.

If you were to impart some knowledge to an aspiring blogger, what would you tell them?

To just set a deadline for yourself to write a certain amount by a certain day of the week, and to edit. Nobody likes reading grammatical or spelling errors, whether it's in a blog, magazine, newspaper or even washroom graffiti.

Which blogs are your "must reads"? Are there any entertainment weblogs that particularly inspire you?

I would say on a daily basis I check out The Ampersand, the two Toronto blogs (BlogTO and Torontoist), and Gawker. Then there is also The Daily Beast, The Awl, Vulture, Freakonomics sometimes, various Canadian media blogs like the ones on Masthead and Canadianmags, and on our highly incomplete blog roll we have Gordon Gartrelle, Nah Right and Oh Word. I'm sure if you asked Anupa, Jef or Simon they could probably tell you dozens more.

The above interview was conducted with contributing editor Jesse Kinos-Goodin. He and his fellow contributing editors at The Ashcan can also be found on Twitter:

Anupa Mistry is @_anupa,
Jef Catapang is @Jeflee,
Jesse Kinos-Goodin is @JessKG, and
Simon Yau is @simyau.