Let's Talk Magazines

Some of you may know that Mary Engelbright's Home Companion magazine stopped publication with the Dec. 2008 issue. It's one of the few of my magazines I can't bring myself to cut up. It will be sorely missed. I received a notice last week that I'd be receiving Martha Stewart's Living for the remainder of my subscription. Hmmmmm.... So I received the above issue over the weekend.

I had a subscription years back. I let it lapse and subscribed to Real Simple instead. I did miss MSL. I like the spare photography and use of color. I looked forward to going thru the latest issue for good collage images and inspiring ideas.

Boy, was I surprised. The magazine is intact. It's ready to bring to the classroom and have the kids tear at it for their projects. It fell completely flat! Ever since Martha went into the pokey, I found less and less reason to pick up an issue. I didn't like the look of the magazine with the replacement editor. I thought by now it'd be more interesting to me. Nope, sorry. Can I pick another magazine? This one is headed to the recycling bin.
The above magazines are keeping me busy lately. I've had Art Journaling for awhile. Read thru it, put in on a stack and I come back to it now and again. Then I picked it up Friday and re-read the article Illuminated Thinking by Pat Pitingolo. It hit me over the head with the idea of her "Rejectamenta" journal. It's such a cool idea. I have the makings of a couple of journals with all the bits and pieces we have scattered all over our house. The whole idea falls in with my philosophy of taking something discarded and tranforming it into an art form.

I enjoy looking at all the different styles of journals but I' don't want to copy them. I might zero in on an idea that I like and try it. I loved looking at the photos of the stacks of Janice Lowry's journals. Then I realized I have my own stacks. 30 years worth of written journals since I started as a high school sophomore in Mrs. Manchester's English class. The sizes have varied over the years. Mine are full of words but some have stuff and more stuff taped and glued in them.

Apron*ology-Wow! so many cool ideas! I have piles and piles of hand crochet doilies and embroidered cloth inherited from the Tias and the Grandmoms. I wear aprons daily in the class room and at home but dark ones 'cuz I like to wipe my hands on them. That's what they're for right?

I was brought up by seamstresses so it was a major faux paux when my aunt used to sew with whatever color thread was on hand hand rather than matching it to the cloth. So keep this in mind when I go thru the mag and ask, "what's with all the raw edges?" Is it a shabby chic thing?

Where Women Create- I love being invited to other people's studios. Is it me? I wanted to turn on more lights as I was going thru the magazine. I know I need new glasses but $$$ is tight. I dug out my contacts. They're feeling fine and I'm seeing well. I still want to turn the lights on in the studios. I think Denise Sharp's comes closest to my dream studio. Love her pen cubbies!

The latest issue of Artful Blogging-Still going thru it. So far it's a thumb's up. Good variety, interesting blogs. Great photography. There's one blog I'm curious to look up Maj Carita Hoenborg. She writes about vegetable paper. I've seen some vessels made of paper thin slices of fruit at the Mesa Arts Center Museum store and they are beautiful. I'm wondering if it's the same kind of thing.

Time to get off my fanny and get some work done around here. I have some deadlines that came up a little faster than I'd planned for.
Marissa