Don't fall off your chair now. Here I am (hello!), emerging from the deep caverns of my lengthy but much-needed blogging hiatus to talk about something so near and dear to my heart, it's like a child. For our beloved Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine is closing its doors, and there's not much more gut-wrenching or monumental to this little corner of our paper crafty world than that. As someone who had the utter privelege of being at the center of much of that magazine's history, I simply couldn't let this opportunity escape--this chance to say one final good-bye.
In fact, it was just a little over a year ago that I was saying my own personal good-bye to Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine. After 8 1/2 years as an editor and 5 years as the creator and author of the Moxie Fab World, I made the painful decision to step down, mostly because I was simply exhausted and burned-out from blogging. And now, here I am again, saying good-bye, this time to a magazine that has provided untold inspiration to an international group of paper crafters, whose positive energy and encouraging spirit has connected us all to one another, for nearly 11 wonderful years.
And while Paper Crafts has meant so many different things to so many different people, for me, it was an incredibly stimulating job in which I was lucky enough to be a part of a phenomenally talented team whose main goal was, simply, to inspire paper crafters all over the world.
From the initial concept meeting to writing the call; to evaluating the submissions; to sending out the acceptances; to writing and then editing the instructions and copy; to preparing the projects for photography; to shooting the photos; to designing the cover, openers, and layout; to writing the cover call-outs; to first, second, and final proofs with even more editing in between, and still more editing after that; before sending it all on to the printers--e-v-e-r-y s-i-n-g-l-e i-s-s-u-e was prepared for our readers with professionalism, enthusiasm, and love--and all within seven little months before the on-sale date.
Early in our process, we enlisted the help of Paper Crafts Pros Alisa Bangerter, Nichole Heady, Wendy Johnson, and Sue Neal. Kim Kesti became a PC Pro later, and we asked Teri Anderson and Alice Golden to fortify the ranks. This photo even includes Valerie Pingree, our very first Editor-in Chief.
Later, the Paper Crafts Pros were re-branded as the Go-to Gals and included such talents as Teri Anderson, Maren Benedict, Heather Campbell, Julie Campbell, Kimberly Crawford, Kim Hughes, Kim Kesti, Laina Lamb, Jennifer McGuire, Windy Robinson, Betsy Veldman, Laura Williams, and Jessica Witty.
We got together once a year for Editorial Board meetings where we ate and laughed, brainstormed and planned. We met at CHA where we walked the floor and talked shop.
We watched trends. We explored techniques. We found ways to make paper crafting the seasons and holidays continually inspiring.
We pumped out break-through special interest publications. We invented a holiday. We hosted a couple of cruises.
We launched a blog. And then another. And became very popular on Facebook.
We had a tremendous amount of FUN:
...and became very good friends:
And you know what? From Day One I knew that I was part of something special, and that this would quite possibly be the best job I might ever have. I am incredibly grateful to managers such as Stacy Croninger, Jennafer Martin, and most importantly, to Jennifer Schaerer, each of whom saw something in me and encouraged me to stretch my wings and fly.
It was a rare and wonderful thing to learn how magazines are put together and the process by which they become a cohesive whole, and I still can't believe that I ever got the chance to do it in the first place. To have done it in this amazingly creative industry, this beloved connective hobby of ours, was a gift beyond any I could have ever dreamed or imagined. I learned so much about so many things, and I will be forever changed in phenomenal ways by the experiences that I had, and by the people I met along the way.
These photos say it all--these people, these experiences, the good work that we did, will live as cherished kernels of goodness deep inside of me...
...as long as I have a heart that beats.
Yours in honoring the end of a most moxie fab era,
~Cath
PS You should have arrived here from my good friend, Alice Golden's blog. To continue on the hop, be sure and pay a visit to the ever-inspiring, and my fellow New Hampshirite, Cindy Lawrence.
