image by North Light Books

I recently picked up this wonderful new book at my library called Pretty Little Felts by Julie Collings, it’s full of wonderful mixed media projects using felt. There is a little stamping in the book but not much but there is alot of use of paper with felt and it was such a fun book with lots of terrific ideas I wanted to share it with you. There’s projects ranging from ornaments, old fashion felt dolls, altered books, jewelry and lots more. It’s got easy to follow instructions and lots of great photos highlighting different steps. I was most inspired by the paper and felt ornament I decided to try some of my own, the book provided templates for the shapes but I used a die cut on mine. Below is a collage ornament I made  using felt,  vintage book paper, image of a little girl, a vintage button, crochet flower and ribbon. Visit my blog P is for Paper for more info.

-Heather

image by Heather Holbrook

image by Papercrafts

image by Papercrafts

image by Annie's Attic

Do you love using sketches to make your cards? Then visit Annie’s Attic to purchase this great new Card Makers Sketch Book: Christmas Celebration, you can even buy a down loadable copy and save on shipping!

-Heather

image by Heather Holbrook and Altered Arts

I’m again really excited to have my art work published in a magazine! My altered French themed book is in the Fall 09 issue of Altered Arts magazine on pages 44, 45 and 47.  It’s so much fun to see your work in print and it’s not as difficult as you might think. I’m no expert but I wanted to share some of my tips if you are interested in trying to get your work published.

Submission Guidelines: Most magazine that accept submissions have guidelines, they might print them in the magazine or on their website, be sure to follow their guideline directions very closely. Some want you to sent them a photo of the item and then after they’ve accepted it they’ll ask you to mail the item to them. Some magazines you have to mail the item to them and then they’ll let you know if they are interested in publishing it or not. Some will return your item to you (you have to pay for return postage) and some do not return submissions at all, so be sure to check if you want your item back. If your item is to be returned to you it can take a very long time (I’ve had items held for 6 months) before they are returned, so don’t sent something you aren’t willing to part with for awhile.

Style: When submitting to a magazine be sure that what your sending matches the style or “vibe” of that magazine, in other words if they only seem to print artsy or funky items don’t sent something cutesy. Also look for “calls”, when a magazine is look for something to fit with an upcoming theme they’ll ask for submissions with that theme, that’s a good place to start if you aren’t sure what they might be looking for.

Compensation: Some magazines pay if you are published and some do not, some might send you product or merchandise as compensation. If payment is important to you find out before you submit.

Rights: Some magazines might ask you to sign an agreement after you are published stating that you can not publish that work any place else (including on-line) and they will probably ask that it be removed from any online sites like blogs, forums, galleries etc. Also it’s always a good idea to only submit an item to one place at a time.

Don’t take it personally: If you submit something and it’s not published don’t take it personally, magazine receive lots of submissions and it must be a very difficult task to choose what to publish, maybe they loved your item but it just wasn’t what they needed at the time (I once had an item sent to a sister publication almost a year later to be published) or maybe you didn’t follow the guidelines correctly. It’s also a game of numbers, the more you submit the higher your chances become of getting something published. So if you don’t get published you know what they say: try, try again!

I hope this has helped give you a little more information and encouragement to send your artwork to a magazine, so what are you waiting for, send something in already

-Heather

image by Paper Crafts

image by Heather Holbrook

image by Heather Holbrook

I recently took part in a contest put on by Klutz publications for their new book Paper Fashions Fantasy. First let me say I LOVE this book! It’s something I would have picked up and bought for myself. I love making art paper dolls and I also like using templates to add wings, hats, etc to collage and stamped art pieces so this book was right up my alley. It has plastic templates you trace and cut out to make clothing for fairies, princesses, witches, etc, lots of different dresses, shoes, hats, wings, anything you can think of. Plus it comes with a bunch of great papers, ribbons, beads, sequins, tiny hangers and glitter glue. There are also lots of wonderful ideas to copy or to get you going on your own ideas. It’s a wonderful book for kids but also for us adults who love to play with paper too

For my projects I was inspired by my favorite princess, Snow White. It’s the first movie I remember seeing in the movie theater when I was really little. So I wanted to recreate Snow’s outfit as well as the Evil Queen, she’s one of the best dressed Disney villains (next too Cruella Deville ) and I was so happy to find I was easily able to use the templates, papers and embellishments in this book to make my versions of those iconic outfits, I think they turned out so cute and they were so much fun to make. I’ll definitely be using this book for more creations in the future!

Visit  the Klutz website for more info on this fun book and many others.

-Heather

image by Klutz

image by Scrapbook Trends

The latest edition of Cards magazine is on news stands now. And did you know that all of the wonderful magazines put out by Scrapbook Trends are available as a digital download? You can save money by getting a digital subscription to any or all of their publications. They are also offering a free download of the Mini Albums 2008 Idea Book!

-Heather

image by Heather Holbrook

I’m so excited I just had to share! One of my stamped cards is in the current issue of Stamper’s Sampler magazine!! My teal, white and black paisley card made with Close to My Heart stamps, inks and papers is on page 12. The Aug/Sept issue is on news stands now.

-Heather

image by Scott Publishing

The latest issue of Stamp and Scrap Arts is on Newstand now.

-Heather

image by Card Maker Magazine

Alot of magazines have recently decided to make their magazines available digitally and Card Maker Magazine is one of those. You not only receive the current issues as they come out but you also get access to two years of back issues as well, all for less than a regular subscription, now that’s a good deal!

-Heather

Are you guy’s having fun using all your stash yet? Continuing with our fun week of stashes and stamping.

Spike created this fun frame using Marks Paper Company..

More info here

Have a great day,

Maggie

How do you like the new design fun eh?

Every year when Spring comes I have this big desire to pull all furniture out and do a big spring cleaning..

alas with everyone done with the flu, I can’t do that.

But I can certainly clean my blog..

I’ve had the pleasure to meet Michelle who does such a fabulous job doing blog makeover..

If you are like me and in need of a blog Makeover, Michelle is our featured designer for this month

Here’s a bit about Michelle

I am Michelle Baird, creator and designer of Shabby Creations. SC was created just over a year ago as I was seeking a shabby, stylish and chic design for my own blog. I quickly had an unbelievable response, and what started out as an idea has turned into an almost full time job. Shabby Creations specializes, but is not limited to, styles and looks that represent a Victorian, chic, vintage, and/or shabby touch. We offer sassy pre-made designs that can be viewed at my site www.shabbycreations.blogspot.com . We specialize in CUSTOM designs that are individualized to fit your needs, personality, and style (see my portfolio to view a few of my favorites). In addition to blog design, we offer design services for Etsy banners, badges, avatars, business cards, stickers, stamps, and SO much more. All of which can be made to match and coordinate one with another. If you do not see a specific service available from my ordering page, please inquire via e-mail at bellablog@shabbycreations.com
Please stop by to say hi at www.shabbycreations.blogspot.com

Have a great day,

Everyone

Maggie

Have you seen the latest issue of Altered Sampler ?

There are some really yummy yummy inspirations on there.. [tag]Stamping[/tag], digital, houses oh my

Readysetcreate you can purchase here

We are giving away 1 copy of this Magazine, please leave us a message and let us know what kind of inspirations you want to see on this blog?

Have a great day,

Maggie

Valerie Salmon sketches are just pure fun.. It gives you an extra incentive to get your stash out and play, [tag]stamping[/tag] off course.

Here are some great incentives to play with this sketch..

This fun card was created by Betty bee

Have a great day

Maggie