I just heard about a new magazine that sounds kind of interesting, and not just for jewelry folks. It is called Totally Creative, and according to the web site's description, it covers all types of crafting such as jewelry making, beading, sewing, polymer clay, and mixed media.
Other than the fact that is covers jewelry as well as lots of other crafts, another interesting aspect is that it is a digital magazine that comes in the form of a pdf file. From what I can tell reading the site, there is no hardcopy option. Subscriptions are normally $24.95 but right now they are $19.96, and this includes 6 issues a year. There is also an option to get a free trial issue that you download right away.
With all the magazines that seem to be coming, going, and transforming lately, this idea of a strictly digital magazine may be something that we see more of in the future. What do you think? Have you seen the trial issue of this magazine? Do you think digital is the way to go now? I'm off to download my freebie, so my thought are still in flux as to what I think about this and the digital magazine idea in general, but I'm interested to hear what other jewelry designers think.
Comments
Very interesting, I’m heading over to take a look!
I’m not happy about the trend for online magazines. I’m one of the old-fashioned book loving people who like the feel of holding a book and curling up in bed with it. This sounds interesting, though, so I’ll have to check it out.
I went over to the Totally Creative site and clicked on the button to join the email list and get the free preview, but got
“Forbidden
You don’t have permission to access /Sign-up_Page.html on this server.
Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.”
Anyone else have this problem?
I love this idea. I am on the go quite a bit and this way you can just download your magazines to you laptop or iPhone and have them with you. I just got an iPhone and it is so easy to read books anywhere and I still read it in bed at night.
If you are going on vacation or a convention or something, you will have ideas and instructions at your fingertips and won’t have to cart along magazines. You can even bookmark favorite projects.
I am going to check it out.
honda Kaya – Try it again. I also had this happen at first but contacted the magazine and they say they have fixed it now.
The blue link in the middle of the page gives the same message but if you try clicking on the newsletter free trial on the left side of the page it works if you hold down your CTRL key…maybe it’s your pop-up blocker is causing this problem!
Not such a great idea for me. I have about 4 years of Bead & Button and Beadwork magazines stashed away and every once in awhile I get them out and go over them again. I’ll probably still have them 10 years from now. They’re always good for ideas.
I think it is a complete waste of money as I will to print projects I want to work on, meaning a waste of paper, way too pricey for a digital magazine.
Besides I work with computers all day so I don’t really fancy the idea of looking at more screens, I will stick to hardcopy magazines.
I’m torn. I like the concept of less paper usage, so e-books and e-magazines seem good from that perspective.
But I’m on the computer all day at work, and then surfing & games on the computer at night, so my eyes really enjoy print magazines for a break from the computer. Plus it’s easier to have it next to me when working on a project – my crafts are in a different room than my family’s computers.
So – my eyes prefer print, but my eco-logic-brain prefers e.
Thanks for the review of Totally-Creative Magazine. FYI: we did fix a download problem (we had for a short time that one day) and I apologize for the inconvenience.
Our next issue will be full of gift-making and ornament projects!
Happy Crafting -
Patti Ryan
Editor, TC Magazine
Thanks Patti, I wonder now if it was my pop up blocker, but no matter…it’s nice to know it is all working now. Thanks for being so quick to respond!
Hi I am still trying to get into the free sample portion. The sign-up page keeps telling me to fill in all the required spaces which I have done. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get in.
piggyperfect – I signed up this morning and, at first, got the same message: I had missed the “craftiness level” space (don’t remember exactly how it was worded, but you indicate your proficiency [beginner, intermediate, advanced]), so you might have missed filling in that space, as well.
I’m sad to say that I’m quite disappointed in the “free trial issue” – I scanned the contents page and was quite excited by the widely various projects, started paging through to find the one that interested me – it’s not there.
This is not a complete issue, just 10 sample pages, 3 of which are a “come-on” cover, table of contents, and the last another “come-on” page.
So, there’s really only 7 pages of projects/product review out of 50 total pages in the issue, which, to me, is definitely a disappointment after being mislead by “free trial issue.”
The one project I was interested in (the turquoise zap cloth collar) is incomplete and confusing. You need the separate tutorial (not included) for “zap” cloth (which I assume is the designer’s proprietary word for the multi-layer fabric/paint/fiber stuff all us fabric/fiber multi-media people routinely do).
It took me a couple of minutes to figure out that the supplies list really was all there – it’s just that the bullet-pointed items, which wrap around a photo, were scattered across the page, with bullet points, their corresponding items and “run-overs” misaligned – not a tidy shopping list.
In addition, the instructions indicate that several small pieces of black zap cloth should be sewn to “the narrow sections of the base” zap cloth. There is no further instruction nor indicative photo for this, and though I’m a fairly handy seamstress, this is not at all clear to me and the project photo is not large nor clear enough to see where these pieces are placed.
The disappointment, frustration, and confusion I experienced thus far were enough to sour me on this project and this whole particular digital magazine. Obviously, layout/download “glitches” can – and do – happen, but that’s but a small part of my negative “vibe.”
I can order a free COMPLETE trial issue of dozens of craft magazines, which not only give me a COMPLETE sense of what I can expect from future issues but I also don’t have to worry about download problems and I don’t have to print out instructions and shopping lists, etc., on my own equipment, with my own paper, ink, and time.
I’m sure there are many who prefer a digital format – this might be right up their alley – but I think this particular magazine was misleading and stingy with their free sample offering and I also think it’s expensive when compared to the “glossy-print” formats of their competitors, which I can thoroughly enjoy in the comfort of my own home/studio, can also take with me on the road to enjoy while traveling, in a restaurant or coffee house, and will have with me when I shop for supplies needed for the projects.
I wish the Totally Creative ladies well in this venture – I REALLY do! From the table of contents, I can see that a lot of talented people are putting their efforts into this digital magazine – but I don’t think it’s for me.