Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine Special Blog Hop

You should have arrived here on the hop from the lovely Beverley Brown's blog.

News that Paper Crafts magazine was closing down came as such a huge shock!
Whether it is a print issue, a special issue or a digital issue my morning coffee always includes one of them! I still have all the print issues of Paper Crafts magazine.  For me I fell in love the day I found the very first issue on the shelf, a whole magazine dedicated to something that I loved to do. I still pull those old issues out year after year usually right before the new issue comes out each month. Looking at the cards again and rereading the articles like I had never seen them before. They always bring new inspiration and a few chuckles at how paper crafting has changed or how there is always a new technique that replaces an old one more efficiently.

I never had any confidence in my own creativity, but I studied. I studied the cards and studied the cardmakers and always walked away ready to try something new or something different.  So really for me this magazine was like my tutor, you taught me to keep creating, you taught me that what I was doing was good and you taught me to try new things.  I will be thankful for that always.

One of the  biggest surprises ever was when Cath Evaldson asked me to be a Moxie Fabber of the Week for October 2013! That was  such a huge boost to my confidence.  More recently I was recognized on the Paper Crafts Connection blog as one of the October Gallery Challenge winners.

I never submitted for publications because I couldn't possibly have what it takes to get published. What did change over time is that I had formed friendships with some of the 'celebrity cardmakers' that I found on the pages of Paper Crafts & Scarpbooking. Friends who encouraged me to submit and I finally did for my favourite issue of the year Holiday Cards & More. You could have picked me up on the floor when I got an email From Susan Opel that I was going to be published in Holiday Cards & Move Vol. 9.  That was the moment I realized just how much those magazines and special issues really meant to me and how I felt about myself and my abilities.

  

Thank you for that and so much more Paper Crafts &Scrapbooking!
You have given me the opportunity to not hide in the shadows.
You have brought so much joy to us all and you will be so missed.
This card is for you, and the sentiment is customized to how I truly feel.




Next on the stop is the talented Laurie Willison.

If you want to start the hop from the beginning head back to Jennifer McGuire's blog HERE.

Enjoy rest of the hop!