Sunday 20 March 2011

The Crafter’s Way 173 - *bespoke*

Meet the lady behind *bespoke* zine in this week’s Messenger column.bespoke-2-cover-preview It’s hard to believe that Jessica Van Denn did not consider herself to be creative until she had a light bulb moment in late 2008. Being loaned a novel about a woman who owned a yarn store sparked an interest that had lain undiscovered. Jessica discovered that she loves creating; jewellery, knitting, crocheting and embroidery and her new venture, *bespoke*.bespoke Issue 1 Cover hi-res Jessica’s desire to create something concrete and tactile lead her to create *bespoke*, a quarterly zine made by the handmade community, for the handmade community. The zine is made up of submissions from the handmade, vintage, and wider creative community. Featuring beautiful images and artwork together with inspiring artisan stories Jessica has created a zine with its own flavour.inside bespoke (3) *bespoke* focuses on the growing community of people who make handmade goods. Jessica is passionate about sharing the stories of the handmade community. “I think that's really struck a chord in people. So many people have told me how much they enjoyed reading those stories in Issue 1 - especially the stories of those who are making a good living from their craft - and it will remain a focus of the zine into the future”, says Jessica.inside bespoke (2)  Jessica actively seeks submissions from craft artists, handmadies and other interested people. Jess has a full description of categories on her website http://bespokezine.com/submissions however she encourage people to contact her via email submissions@bespokezine.com “please don’t be hesitant or shy – *bespoke* will live or die depending on the number and quality of submissions from people just like you”, encourages Jessica.DSC_0088 A full list of stockists is available at http://bespokezine.com/stockists You can read more about Jessica and her creative life at http://epherielldesigns.com/  If you  want to learn more about the person behind your weekly art/craft column be sure to grab a copy to read ‘Corporate to Creative’ on page 12, featuring myself as well as some other truly inspiring creative types.

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