Good morning … it’s 39 degrees at 0715 with forecast temp of 52 and sunny today. This is some 30 degrees (or more) warmer than last week! This is a big deal … I love the sun … I love crisp days … I’m so very ready for spring.

But on to my blog post. Today, I’d like to share a bit about my new favorite magazine … which led me to my new favorite author … which led me to my new favorite website! It’s funny how life leads you down paths you didn’t even know existed.

My new favorite magazine? Where Women Create. This is one of those magazines that is just beautiful … the photographs, the subjects, even the ads are eye-candy for those whose blood runs with creative juice (and that would be most of all of us!). The articles are all about where professional artists/business owners create. There are bits in each article about how they each create what they create; how they take found jewelry … or old furniture … or snips and bits of paper … to create their art.

There are tips in the articles from the design-artists themselves … tips like having studio furniture on casters so they’re easy to move when needed … or “your home is your canvas; fill every nook and cranny with what you find beautiful”. The photography and layout of each article is glorious — celebrating the beauty and uniqueness of each designer’s space … whether it’s an old shed, garret studio or downtown office space.

The articles are not interrupted with advertisements … keeping the ads (which are just as beautifully done as the editorial content) to the few pages at the front and back. Minimal advertising makes this quarterly magazine a tad pricey with a cover price of $14.99. But the quality of the production (including the heavy-weight, matte finish pages) make this a publication you wouldn’t read-and-toss, a magazine you would want to pull out for inspiration.

This magazine is the brainchild of author Jo Packham who has written extensively on decorating and beauty in the home and workplace. The tagline for the magazine sums up Packham’s philosophy:

“from a woman’s soul, through a woman’s eyes, by a woman’s hands”

Packham’s books are just as beautiful as her magazine. She has published a couple of compilations from past issues including Where Women Create: Book of Inspiration that I mentioned in yesterday’s yarn-along post. As I mention in that post, I am awaiting arrival of another of Packham’s books, Where Women Create: Book of Organization, which delves into how professional artists/craftspeople organize their studios and keep all the bits and pieces from overrunning their lives (something I REALLY need to see).

But Packham doesn’t stop at just this idea of women artists and their “inspiring work spaces”. She also created Where Women Cook: the heart and soul of cooking and Where Women Create Business, two other periodicals with the same glorious embracing of the good, the true and the truly beautiful.

Packham partnered with Stampington Co. to publish these magazines and disseminate the books. This is my new favorite website! Check out the free project ideas … resources … great blog posts that come from this amazing source which started life as a rubber-stamping company and now sells gorgeous scrapbooking supplies, inks, ephemera, etc as well as links to all the books and magazines they publish.

Let me know what you think … I’m personally thrilled to see such an emphasis on the good, the true and the truly beautiful that come out of women (they do include men artists, too) who embrace their creative talents and want to shre their vision of beauty with others.