Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine Swan Song Blog Hop

Hi everyone! A thankful post from me.

Thankful for many things.

Today..I’m sharing my gratitude for the powerhouse that is Paper Crafts & Scrapbook mag.

Of course, it’s the people rather than the pages, but it was those pages that inspired a whole world for me.

It was a grey ordinary day many years ago, when I wandered into a local store and discovered what was then simply ‘Paper Crafts magazine’. I’d not seen anything like it before. The design and card styles spoke to my graphic loving heart. As a beginner crafter with a bent for artsy creations, this magazine was quite mind blowing. I’m sure most of you haven’t forgotten your tentative beginnings. Those ‘staring blindly’ moments as you try and work out how something was made; what were those techniques? How do I create something similar?

It was before the internet became the giant it is now. Those simple days where pages were king and information had to be sought out from the pages of a library or bookstore. It was the beginning of a love-affair. Sounds corny. Ridiculous even. Those little germs of creativeness that would blossom into doing a creative job that actually paid me money!

There’s much to be thankful for. You’ve hopefully turned up here from Mendi’s blog and are part of a large and wonderfully creative group of girls all wanting to express our thanks particularly for Jennifer Schaerer, Kerri Miller, Susan Opel, Stacey Croninger, Holly Anderson, Matt Anderson & Melinda Ward.

You can’t have a list without including Cath Edvalson nor the Go-to-Gals who have been an inspiring main stay over the years.

These lovely people have lost their jobs.

We have lost something too.

Not as crucial as their jobs (here’s hoping they find something completely perfect for each of them..and SOON!).

We’ve lost the spearheads of a community.

A community that has inspired, encouraged, challenged and forged trends. An artistic army cheering on each other during contests, publication parties and in Moxie Fab World challenges.

I have felt its value through learning. Through meeting online friends that remain with me today (and beyond). Through opening up opportunities for me like getting published, and being involved with Gallery Idol.

It’s more than a meeting of minds, Paper Crafts mag (as I still think of it!) encouraged me to think more uniquely, to push myself creatively, to embrace other styles and try something new.

It made me compete, congratulate, commiserate and cheer.

It enabled (it did a whole TON of that), it educated, it encouraged and it excited me creatively so often.

It forced me to examine critically my work. With lots of other girls (& the few guys) we felt the highs and lows of rejection and acceptance with our submissions.

It is an industry leader.

It’s fallen prey to a rapidly changing economy, to evolving technology and changes in patterns of readership.

We love you all.

We will miss Susan’s emails and funny comments.

We’ll miss Teri Anderson’s witty and cool posts over on Moxie Fab World.

We’ll not be able to pop over to Papercrafts Connection and read the posts from the super inspiring PC&S staff.

But so much remains.

Our thankfulness for having spent a few years in some top class creative’s company.

My personal gratitude for its part in pushing me to be a better designer and more rounded crafter.

I’m sad today. Sad, but thankful.

I hope all the guys over at the magazine feel the warmth of our affection.

We are grateful for you.

For each one of you.

For those not listed. For the editorial staff, for the photographers, for the finance, admin and clerical staff.

I have no idea who dreamt up this magazine.. but Thankyou.

We still are a community.

We will keep inspiring each other. We are still going to knock the creative socks off each other on a regular basis. Goodbye Paper Crafts & Scrapbook Magazine.

We owe you much, but you won’t be forgotten. Please go, continue to hop and be super inspired at Trinh’s blog

Much love,Keren x

Thanks to Taheerah and Veronica for organising this.

Should you get lost, just head back to Jennifer McGuire’s blog where the blog hop began.

There’s a fab video produced for the hop by Bethany & Taheerah here

Crafty supplies today were from ‘Project Life Kraft edition dividers & 12×12″ Blush edition papers’, Uniko Studio Background Builders-‘Vines’, Clearly Besotted ‘Many Thanks’, and the cut file created in Silhouette Studio and cut on my Silhouette Cameo