Paper Crafts Thank You

I'm not one to get sappy.
For one, I'm not good at it - I end up bawling all over the place and making people feel awkward as they try to calm the mess that I am.
Two, I have to take something very seriously to get to that point.

Which is why when I heard the news of Paper Crafts closing its doors, I wasn't sure what to do.

I've been pretty detached from cardmaking lately, after going a whole three months without it. Even before I left for this semester, I'd been slacking on the submissions game.
So honestly, it took me a day or two to fully realize what an impact Paper Crafts magazine, it's staff and community has made upon me - and I do not write that lightly.

I was going to try to shoot for short and sweet on this post (see Reason #1 for not being sappy), but, this is my chance to let the Paper Crafts staff know how they've affected me, and though I've passed the opportunities before to spare anyone from second hand embarrassment, gosh darn it, it's got to be said, so without further ado;

Dear Paper Crafts magazine staff,
I've been papercrafting (more specifically, cardmaking) for about a good seven years now, when a friend gave me a stamp set for my thirteenth birthday.
At first, it was just a distracting thing to do when I got bored.

But you made it real.
Fun.
Amazing.

I distinctly remember sitting in a library one summer shortly after, flipping through a magazine I had stumbled upon, and after finishing the last delicious page, wondering and wishing if I could ever be in a magazine like that.
Some years later, you made my wish came true - my first Paper Crafts card, which happens to be extremely fitting for this occasion.

You were the light switch for my current crafting energy.

I could go on and on about the excitement of that first acceptance (and honestly, the same excitement every acceptance thereafter), of seeing the project in a printed magazine, of frivolously spending that paycheck on more stamps, but I think you realize that already.

Having projects published was the (pardon the analogy) nail in the coffin to my passion for this craft. Unlike a lot of other crafters, when I first started, most of my family and friends thought it was rather silly (though they didn't discourage me), so when I started getting published, not only did they begin to take my hobby, no, craving, more seriously, but it also gave me personal encouragement.

But even before I ever had that first card published, you were such an inspiration to me.

I, someone who before could care less what was trendy in any sort of world, be it fashion or interior decorating, was actually starting to notice - and use! - some of those trends, to my own crafty delight.
You got me excited to try new techniques, to get dirty and tackle some of those time-consuming stamping endeavors (and I am not a dirty hands or patient person, so that's saying a lot!)
You got me to take initiative, to submit those darn projects, at the risk of rejection.
You pushed me to be more timely (though we both know that was/is still a big struggle bus for me ;))

Really, I'm a little afraid of getting back home and knowing that I won't have your monthly (and special issues!) awesomeness to look forward to, but know that for as a long as I've "known" you, you've been a huge driving inspiration for my "crafty life".
And also...

(I have no idea how a gnome relates to the content of this post, but hey! He's cute! And things are getting awful sappy and messy here, so we need something random to lighten the mood!)

Thanks. A lot.
Love, best wishes on your future endeavors, and God bless!
Clare