Happy Birthday Metal Clay Artist Magazine!

The metal clay community celebrates the second birthday of our very own magazine. Publisher, editor, and artist, Jeannette Froese Leblanc, had an idea for a magazine to support artists working in metal clay... lucky for us, she pursued that idea and Metal Clay Artist Magazine was born.

Since metal clay appeared on the jewelry scene (more than 15 years ago), it's gradually been gaining ground as a respected material/technique for jewelry making (fellow metalsmiths - listen up... metal clay is here to stay). Over the years, more articles about metal clay began to appear in the jewelry magazines. But was it enough to feed the growing interest in this new material?

Launching a print magazine devoted solely to metal clay at a time when print has been seeing a decline was an act of faith in the metal clay community. Jeannette was not disappointed - this international publication has a large circulation (growing every day), with the magazine available in major bookstores, craft stores, as well as bead/jewelry suppliers. With the help many supporters and contributors, including fellow editor Margaret Schindel (author of many informative Squidoo lenses), the magazine has blossomed into something really special.

And in addition filling the need for a print publication, Jeannette launched an online version for those wishing to read the magazine that way. This set MCAM apart in addressing those of us who like to hold a physical magazine and others who like their reading material delivered via computer. It's both tech and tactile...

For those of you who don't know, I started working with MCAM earlier this year selling advertising. This was a new challenge; I'd worked for a magazine, but on the graphics side - creating some of the ad artwork and working in production for a large local magazine and later art directing a smaller publication. But since I love working with the jewelry world and support the efforts of MCAM to bring information to artists, when Jeannette asked if I'd be interested I jumped at the chance. I've seen my mission as making connections for our readers with advertisers who have products they can use.

I like the idea of helping readers learn more, and many of the advertisers are small companies looking to find more customers - I really like helping them too. It's a win-win. I'm not a high pressure sales person, but one who likes to work with the advertisers to find what's best to fill their needs and budget. And it's a good fit because sometimes I wear my graphic designer hat so I can help with ad creation if someone needs it. If you are interested in advertising for your company, products, or classes, you can contact me at cathy (at) metalclayartistmag.com (ok, you had to see that coming... what kind of salesperson would I be if I didn't say something?).

Happy Birthday MCAM, here's to many more!