Some Musings and a Sweet Giveaway

 So, recently I have been eye balling the latest and greatest Scrapbooks Ect. magazine. It was my first one in YEARS and arrived after Halloween, so I kinda missed out on the projects, although I must say, other bloggers provide the vast majority of my inspiration anyhow!

But, I did want to spy and see who was getting into these magazines. AND, also see if I knew anyone. I came away with the same impression I had the last time I stopped buying scrapbooking magazines. Basically that I could do all the projects in the magazine already.

Then I mulled this over. I realized (duh!) that it wasn't about difficulty, but making things look easy the Better Homes and Gardens way....and beautiful. I always enjoy flipping through and seeing how they set up a shot, what props they use with the main element, and what fonts they use to illustrate their articles. And, if they can produce something that looks easy, more people will try to scrap, which in turn is a wonderful thing in my book.

AND, even though I know some of the most amazing scrapbookers ever, nobody I knew was in my magazine! What is up with that!! I do wish there was a magazine that was more for the serious scrapper. One that each page was more amazing than the next. OH. That is right. It's called blog land!!

AND, the nice part about blog land, is that I don't have to squint at the itty bitty font to see who the designer is! Sometimes Rock Star scrappers leave me comments and I write them back and voila, we have a conversation via various means and it's far more meaningful.

Now my other thing is that if I do a page their way, I use like 80% LESS on my page. Giggle. They would be saving me money! But, it wouldn't be me and I'll stick with the way I'm doing it. Of course that means I'll likely not be published anytime soon, but I'm OK with that since I have yet to even try!

And I'll enjoy my magazine for the lovely ads (Thanks Bo Bunny, didn't know I wanted the WHOLE Et Cetra line) and keep watching for you Rock Star scrappers I know!!! There is also a GREAT contest on page one that I thought I'd share. It's a Craft It Forward one where you make a project you donate or share with someone in need. It looks like just the thing for this upcoming Holiday Season!

And, talking about giving, head over to Scrapbook Rockstar Lisa's blog and check out her giveaway. While you are eye balling up her lovely giveaway, take a quick peek at her projects. I am still having a good laugh over her butt card. She is worth stalking, seriously.

Back later with a project!

First Prize

(Naughty)

The entire collection

(angels not included...they're just there for foo-foo decoration)

 Close-up pictures of the NAUGHTY prize

 And more of the NAUGHTY prize

So, as you can see...

it hasn't really hurt if Santa finds your name on the naughty list!

Second Prize

(Nice Prize)

The Entire Collection

Close-up Pictures of the NICE prize