Hello, iam back with a posting filled with some tips and fabulous news. I just received a very exciting email from STAMPAVIE and i thought i am going to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about my experience about submitting cards to magazines. If you ever have considered to submit your most favorite card to a magazine.. now is the time. Use one of STAMPAVIE’s stamps and get not only the reward seeing your card in a magazine  – now you can also earn free stamps from your favorite company for it. Here are some tips that i thought might be helpful

[/lang_en][lang_en]1) find a magazine that fits YOUR style – don’t bend yourself.

2) use only current materials and embellishments that are available for purchase in the country you submit your cards to. Best example is belows card.. this card along with 5 other matching cards were considered from a magazine in the Netherlands, but did not made the cut because i had used all Stampin up papers. Now, i must say i thought that was very nice that i have received from the publisher this information. Usually you would not get a feedback why your artwork was declined.

3) Find out if there are themes or deadlines for submissions. You can do this online or by purchasing the magazine. Always be in time when submitting artwork and pack your cards nicely so it is in excellent condition when they arrive.

4) List all your supplies and short text using times new roman fond, size 11-12pt how you have created your artwork along with your card. I tape my document inside the card and add a Avery label with my address and phone number to the back of the card.

5) create multiple artwork that matches eigher using same papers, embellishment, colors or theme (example baby, wedding, birthday ect) Your work might have a better chance on being published, because it will look nice on a double spread layout. It makes the job for them easier. I had 6 cards in this magazine published all using the same Designer Paper but used different layouts and different images.

6) Alto i like fancy cards with lots of Designer Papers and layers i rather create simple when i submit cards. Usually the magazine want to cover the average stamper and your card should be a sample that can be copied.

7) When i color for magazines.. i NOW tend to color my highlights/shadows extremer, because i find it looks better on high gloss paper and after they have done their photo editing

send your cards in with a matching envelope addressed to yourself with exact value of stamps on the envelope. So the magazine can return the artwork to you. Some magazines may accept your submissions via high resolution picture if you photo is very good.

9) in this case if you can submit your artwork via email – do not add a watermark to your picture

10) read your favorite magazine not only for your inspiration, find the artists who are permanent contributor and find those stampers online and study their artwork. You will see what the magazine is looking for.

11) submitting artwork does cost you money.

12) be patient.. sometimes artwork can be kept by the magazine for up to 12 months until you hear back

13) Be aware if you submit your cards that you might not be able to show your cards on your blog up to 3 months after it has been published. This is sometimes a big issue for me, because i try to blog every day and i just feel sometimes the pressure if i have made a card and can not show it, but once you see your card in the magazine – it is all worth it.

talking about “rewards” this might be the right point to tell you about something new that STAMPAVIE gives to the public who’s cards are being published! You can choose up to 5 brand new stamps just for being published with a card using any STAMPAVIE image!

Get all the information here: STAMPAVIE “get published” reward

Below i would like to show you a Sarah Kay card that i have made in November 2008 and this card did get published along with 5 other matching cards. After i was allowed to show them.. i felt the time was wrong and my style had changed too so i never uploaded them.

I used for this card a Sarah Kay image – heat embossed the image with black detail embossing powder and colored the image in with Distress Inks -

You can purchase this Sarah Kay image and Distress Inks or Copic markes at 7 Kids College fund