I'd like to chime in and welcome you all to MyCraftivity! I'm Jessica, one of the cohorts Tonia mentioned in her first post, and I'm so happy to have this outlet to connect with all of you in the mixed-media and collage world.

As Tonia mentioned, we are book editors, and I have to say that sometimes editing books is a strange thing indeed. We work closely with the authors for a very long time--often well over a year--helping to bring their artwork and their voices to life on the page, and then we send the finished products out into the world and... well, and then that's it, for our part in the process! We move on to the next work in progress. But all of the books I have a hand in creating also have a special place in my heart, and many times I find myself wondering who reads them, who they have helped inspire, who makes up this elusive audience of crafters, what their own labors of love are, and what they are looking for to enrich their craft.

That's why I'm so excited about this group here in MyCraftivity; finally, we can all be part of one big, interactive online community. I look forward to receiving feedback from all of you on all things mixed-media. I look forward to reading your blogs and seeing your artwork in the gallery and hearing about your creative processes. And I also welcome the opportunity to share my own thoughts and creations with you here.

Here at the North Light Books office we are preparing to travel to Anaheim for the Craft and Hobby Association show. This is one of the rare opportunities we have to really spend time in person with some of our favorite talented mixed-media and collage artists and authors. Events at our company's booth will include special appearances by Michael deMeng, Claudine Hellmuth, Jane Wynn and Josie Cirincione, to name just a few of the many lovely and talented smiling faces we're looking forward to seeing in sunny California. Jealous? Not to worry; so you can live vicariously, we'll be sharing fun stories and photos from this event with all of you right here at the blog.

Happy Friday,

Jessica