I spent my summer working on a secret project. Picture it now: dark trench coats, sunglasses, furtive conversations whispered into earpieces while pretending to read a newspaper.
Okay, so it wasn't really like that.
One day last spring, I received the call from one of my favorite operatives, er, editors at Interweave. Our conversation went basically like this:
Editor: Would you like to work on a web project with the editor of Handcrafted Jewelry?
Me: Is that a trick question? Of course I would!
So this summer I worked on Handcrafted Jewelry Studio emag as a freelance project editor. This meant working with some very talented mixed media jewelry designers (Sherri Haab, Jess Italia-Lincoln of Vintaj, Deryn Mentock, Heather Powers, Andrew Thornton, Kristal Wick). That was my favorite part of the job. Even after my years as the editor of Beading Daily, I'm still a bit starstruck. I couldn't believe I was trading emails with some of the top jewelry designers in the field.
Given that we had such a small editorial team, I also did a lot of what other jobs might term "other duties as assigned." This included tasks such as helping find cool products for the Found Objects page, watching videos on resin and polymer clay to see which segments to use, and creating a massive spreadsheet for the entire emag. (Sorry, Excel, I still don't love you, but I'm glad we were able to at least forge a cordial working relationship.)
I won't post a review of Handcrafted Jewelry Studio. Anything I write would be akin to a mother writing about her own baby: Isn't she beautiful? Isn't she the most talented baby you've ever seen?
What I do ask is that if you've seen the emag, let us know what you liked and didn't like. What should we do differently next time? What should we keep? Which jewelry designers would you like to hear from? Which mixed media techniques are you most eager to learn? I'm not asking to be polite. I'm busy working on the next issue of Handcrafted Jewelry Studio (a.k.a. "How I Spent My Winter Break"). Your opinion can make a difference!
Pictured on this page: The first page of the Found Objects department. My favorite insider moment: Editor Danielle Fox had the great idea to dump out some of the glitters so you could see them in a pile in the alternate photo view. You can really see the colors that way, but then we had to figure out how to put the glitter back into a container so we could take it back to the Interweave office. Have you ever tried to corral glitter before? I didn't know how bad it was until I met with someone after the photo shoot who asked, "Are you aware that your hands are sparkling?"