The Secret is Out ~ She's Finally Here!

An advanced copy of this lovely publication arrived in my mailbox last week and put a huge smile on my face. This new special edition from Stampington has been in the works for months and features a wonderful collaboration I took part in last summer. That's when Dede Warren put out a call for a Marie Antoinette inspired altered book round-robin to which I enthusiastically responded to along with Maria Rodarte and Barbara Smith. It was such an honor to work with such a talented group of artists to create these treasured works of art. And a GREAT BIG hug of gratitude goes out to Dede for suggesting that we submit our books to Stampington when we were finished.

And our fun little collaboration, along with a second one initiated by Natasha Burns, inspired a brand new special publication by the editors of Somerset studios called Marie. Our first little hint that this dream was actually going to become a reality came back in August when Dede told us to check out this post on Jenny Doh's blog. We couldn't believe our eyes because there, in editor Jennifer Jackson's hands, was Maria's and Barb's altered books in a Call for Art for Marie. It is so thrilling to have your hard work be recognized and published in any of Stampington's gorgeous magazines, but to have an entire feature in a special publication ~ well, words just can't describe our excitement!

All of you (and I know there are many of you from my blog & Flickr hopping) who have been inspired by the decadence, beauty, richness of this exhuberant Queen of France are going to be blown away when you see this magazine filled to the brim with colorful eye candy. And you won't have to wait much longer because it arrives on the newstands April 1st.
And to coincide with the launch of this brand new publication, Maria Rodarte is hosting a Marie Antoinette Collage Swap on her blog. Come join in on the fun - you can get all the details by clicking here.