sweet magazine

I spent a good amount of time this weekend weeding out some magazines. It was hard. I love magazines. Especially lifestyle ones. You know the ones that have articles on better ways to eat and decorate and live. Reading them makes me feel like I am already doing these things they are recommending. I am already living better just because I am flipping the pages. Oh, and I get inspired to do so much: travel, clean, cook, craft - but later, right now I am looking at this beautiful magazine. And beauty is another thing that I love about a good magazine. The beauty of the objects, the layout, the design, even good advertising thrills me. Reading a beautiful magazine is truly edifying for me.

And there is a new magazine out now that is the ultimate. Sweet Paul is a food and prop stylist and crafter. He has a very successful blog that I have been reading for some time. This month he launched the first issue of his online magazine, Sweet Paul.

This magazine is beautiful, totally. It is filled with recipes and craft ideas that look wonderful and are also not overwhelming. I felt like I could do the crafts and recipes in his magazine pretty easily and I really liked that. The only thing I didn't like about Sweet Paul was that I couldn't hold it in my hand. But, after seeing a portion of how many magazines I can't get rid of this weekend, I think that might be for the best. I printed out some pages today and they looked great.

Take a look at Sweet Paul. I think you will really love it. I am excited for the next issue.

	look inside
Spring 2010

felted love letter and musings about magazines

It might be a little late to get something like this together for Valentines Day, but I had to share it with you all. The project is from LucyKate Crafts and there is a full tutorial here. I just love this and am very excited to try it sometime. A letter + felt + sewing = the perfect combination!

I saw this because I went on to the Craft Magazine site today. They just announced that they are ceasing production on Craft Magazine. I am not a huge fan of craft magazines, only because I have so many projects already on my to-do list that a magazine full of them only overloads my brain. Also, I am not a follow the instructions kind of person. However, I am sad to see it go and sad about the many many magazines that have called it quits in the last year.

It makes me sad. Magazines are one of those simple inexpensive pleasures in life. I have always loved a good magazine. As a teenager I dreamed of being an editor of Seventeen or something like that. As a twenty-something I dreamed of starting a magazine about life for renters like the short-lived Seventies magazine Apartment Living Magazine (I still think this is a good idea - tips on dealing with landlords, small spaces, simple repairs, etc).

By making zines I got a little closer to being a magazine editor and by creating graphics and content for the web site at my day job I am also doing work similar to what I dreamed of.....but still...nothing is as satisfying as a glossy colorful gorgeous magazine.

Here is hoping that that some will survive. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it. Maybe more expensive magazines with little advertising and certainly more available on websites......I think I may go subscribe to some magazines right now. I hope I pick the ones that won't quit next week!