About ten years ago I quit working. Wait—let me rephrase that because it’s something that only my mother-in-law says. Let’s try this: Since the fateful day that the division I worked in at a large publishing house was eliminated, I’ve rarely worked harder. I just don’t work for The Man anymore.

These days I freelance. Shifting in this direction after the layoff was a huge leap into the unknown. My family wasn’t surprised because they’re used to watching me make sudden, often monumental, changes in my life.

For example, in my mid-30s I moved to another country. Decamping from Canada was the result of a job offer. My recall of the plane trip home after accepting the job is vague: hazy hours with my head between my knees, a damp towel held to my forehead by a steward while another fed me ice chips.

Change is scary, yet I’m doing it again because the consequences can be exciting. And that’s what this blog … and the alternaCrafts website … is all about. It’s giving you an entirely new way to explore craft: topnotch instructions , dynamic and up-to-date projects, access to the designers and authors you love, and more … with or without getting a book that you actually hold in your hands.

At alternaCrafts you’re in control. You decide if you want instructions loaded to your smart phone, printed by your computer, or sent to you as a traditional book. You decide to order all of the content or just some of it.

Me and my partners Katherine Prawl and Suzanne Tourtillot believe that alternaCrafts.com is an emerging model for publishing houses. We’re staking our careers on it.

As we move toward the release of our first product we’re going to talk about it here. The first part of this Grand New Adventure puts me in the “author/designer” hot seat, so you’ll hear a lot about designing projects and writing instructions. I’m also going to share free instructions if I create something you might like and point you to websites that showcase cutting edge crafting.

I’m strapping myself into a shoulder harness because it’s going to be quite a ride.