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I do agree with the comments on the competition pieces, they are not as such what I would call hobby things. What interested me more was the little people with the everyday type things, like the rag rugs. The thing is if it encourages 1 person to give an everyday hobby a go, I think it is worth it.

Realistic charges are not an option. I tried that many years ago with machine knitted picture jumpers,. It did give me some money but not what the item was worth in either time or ability.

Chilli-head wrote:As for the slant of whether the crafts could be a commercial success ... the answer would appear to be a flat no. So a piece of glasswork which takes 10 days to make fetches a few hundred pounds.

... the other problem is that you're up against all the people (like some of us !) who do it just for pleasure and don't charge realistically.

In the 20 years I was working professionally as a calligrapher, I was never able to charge anything commensurate with my training, skill level and time taken to make the piece. An additional problem for calligraphy and lettering artists is that so much can be done on computer. Any handwork is regarded as being of less value than, say, a painting, simply because something similar could be produced by pretty much anyone at home.

Regarding your second point, that is a real problem that I have encountered time and time again. I would lose work because the client's mother has a friend who dabbles in calligraphy and she will do it for a fraction of the price (no matter that the end result is abysmal!). If I make something for somebody now that is outside of my professional area of work, it is strictly for family and friends and I will ask only for cost of materials. I truly think it is a mistake to charge less, just because one is not a 'professional'. It damages other's livelihoods, and also gives potential customers an unrealistic notion of the price real quality should command. This is just a general and gentle rant, by the way, not aimed at you CH.

I still do a little calligraphy commission work for existing customers. A local church had hoped to save money by asking a willing parishioner to inscribe their memorial book. I have spent the last two years taking a few of those entries at the time (as the church could afford it), covering them over and rewriting them. The work was truly appalling, and I would have expected much better from any one of my beginner students.

Mastercrafts, by showing the process by which raw beginners had to learn the skills, gave a real appreciation of the craft's worth. Handmade Revolution doesn't even begin to address this. However, Pol said she really enjoyed the programme, so hopefully, many other people will have done so too.

Going back to the wartime farm, here is a photo of my mother driving a tractor when she was in the Land Army. Mr D has just photographed some of her original photos with his digital camera.

Great British Bake Off final - I got absolutely addicted to this series after not having seen any of the previous ones. Brilliant - can't wait for next year!!

I've heard a lot about this - even my mother in law was addicted

GBBO was brilliant and I was soooo pleased about the winner (won't give it away in case people are waiting to watch on catch up)

Daft thing is people keep telling me to go for it but I know I'm nowhere near their standards. I bake for fun, family and friends and really not into doing all the technical fancy stuff although I'm sure it would be a brilliant learning experience for someone brave enough. And I have no desire to be on telly!!!!

I know what you mean - I think I would cringe if I saw myself on TV! I also wonder if the competitive element would get in the way of actually enjoying the making process? I suppose it depends how competitive you are