There is certainly no shortage of beaders and jewelry crafters who enjoy a good magazine but it seems our options are getting fewer by the day. Call me old fashioned, but I really like a crafting magazine. I like the paper, the advertisements, the show notices, and the oohing and ahhing over the delicious projects and ideas within the pages.
In the land of online media it seems our favorite publications are all disappearing. Everyone is looking at Pinterest, YouTube, and a variety of online video and pattern suppliers. That is all great and fun, but I have a head time learning that way. Maybe I am old-fashioned, LOL!
One magazine I am really enjoying lately is Bead & Jewellery that comes out of the UK. This is a great publication that has a larger print format, great articles and interviews with artists, and a real variety of beadwork and jewelry techniques that aren’t all the same looking. This mag is also available at your local Barnes & Noble Booksellers, which is where I first saw them long before becoming a contributing designer.
While the subscription cost may seem a little on the high side, its important to note that this magazine comes out with these great large format booklets EIGHT (8) times a year! So it is really about $9 per issue, and a great value overall (and they usually have some type of new subscriber gift that is nice too!
This Spring’s latest issue (#114) was a real surprise and total honor to be included in not 1, but 3 sections!!! The magazine showed off our fun Beading is Contagious COVID Molecule project – sale of kits and patterns help to support my local food-bank, and my NEW Faux Cellini beading Pattern, but also a fun interview about my process and inspiration! I was like WOAH! I feel like such a celebrity! LOL!!!
I hope you will take a look at my new projects and this great magazine publisher for all of the other beautiful designers they discover around the world. It’s not everyday you get to see your face in print, and I feel so honored to be included with the world class designers that grace their pages. In a world where print media is harder to come by, it feels great to be recognized in this way and I hope others still enjoy the hard-copy printed magazines as much as I do.
