Today, I bring you a giveaway from long-time SouleMama Sponsor, Living Crafts. In the words of editor Pardis:
"Living Crafts is a magazine devoted to crafters who practice a natural lifestyle."
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Pardis: The love of handwork was ignited in me when I became a mother. It started with the desire to make natural and simple toys, and expanded to other projects. For inspiration, I went through my mother’s scrapbooks of craft ideas and patterns she had saved through the years, signed up with online craft groups, and also purchased craft books and magazines. However, I could never commit to subscribing to any one magazine because each had a piece in it that I could use, but the total sum did not fit my needs. Soon I realized that there is not one craft magazine out there that is dedicated to families who practice a natural lifestyle. With years of experience working for natural magazines such as Natural Home, Mothering, New Age Journal and Body+Soul [now called Whole Living], combined with my newly found love of handwork, Living Crafts was a natural! The rocket of desire to create this publication has continually outweighed all the impossibilities well-wishing people have pointed out to me, but so far I have been able to keep my eyes on the vision of providing inspiration to crafters who prefer a simple life.
SouleMama:
How do you come up with new designs and ideas?
Pardis: Well, I’ve never had to think about this before, but I don’t come up with the new ideas; it is the new ideas that come up to me! For example, I once saw a beautiful holly berry decoration on a wreath at a local quilt shop. It was the typical berries and 2-3 leaves in one corner, made of shiny materials. By seeing this vision, my mind led me to the same but with natural fibers, and I remembered the red felt beads my daughter and I had made together in the summer. I ran back home and cut out some leaves from green felt and attached the beads together loosely with embroidery floss. I now had a brooch to wear for the holidays, or by attaching it to an elastic my daughter’s Christmas party dress was complete. What I now had in my hands was a copy of the holly berry on that wreath, but miles away from it, really. Recently I stumbled upon this concept while watching a documentary on Kaffe Fassett’s website. Kaffe, known worldwide as an artist and textile designer, was telling the interviewer that actually there are no new designs, and everything is really a copy of another. You see a design you like, and you copy it into your own medium, altered with your unique vision and that original design is now born into what is called your own design.
For today's giveaway, Living Crafts is offering the following gift to one winner:
"All 11 back issues, in addition to a two-year subscription starting with the Fall 2010 issue [7 back issues and one-year for international subscribers]. If you are already a subscriber, this winning subscription will be added to the end of your existing."
In addition, Living Crafts is offering all SouleMama readers a free Winter 2010 back issue with new subscription purchases. Please enter W10SM in the Offer Code section on the Subscribe Page. Offer valid until July 30, 2010.
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Thank you to Living Crafts Magazine!
To enter, please leave a comment in today's post (one entry per person, please). Comments will close on Sunday by 8am EST. Comments closed. Winner will be announced Monday morning!
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