The Rubber Stamper magazine

[Stampmomma]

A few months ago I subscribed to the Rubber Stamper Magazine. I remember a year or so ago, the few issues that I had purchased (at newsstand prices) were so well done, and soooo inspiring. Well, I must say- I am very dissapointed in the magazine now. It figures that as soon as I spring for a subscription, the quality of the magazine would go waaaay down! To me, it seems like the featured projects are so "been there done that"....frankly, some of the featured projects are downright ugly. I also am dissapointed with the lack of "substance"...it seems like the well-written articles articles I used to remember reading are now completely missing from the magazine...

It's just like a completely different mag than it was a few years ago!

Is it just me?

HAs anyone else noticed this?

[JulieHRR]

Email the editor and voice your concerns. They need that info to adapt and improve.

[Jessrose21]

That magazine has been hit or miss with me. I think part of the reason is, if I'm not interested in an article, then that's a few pages of the magazine I'm going to skip. If there's two or more articles I don't care about, then we're really talking about a bigger chunk of pages. I have noticed (and actually sat down to count once, cuz I'm a dork that way) that they have way less card samples in each magazine, than they did back in 2002. I'm sure that's because they've increased the number of issues per year. I suspected they wouldn't be able to keep up the quality once they did that. I can't remember now, but it sure seems like there's a lot more advertisements, as well. Sometimes those are the best part!

I have to agree, now that I'm skimming thru my Nov/Dec 2005 issue, that a lot of the cards are kinda ugly, especially in the articles. I always enjoy the gallery cards and "cards from our readers." Too bad those are the two departments that have been cut the most. I just signed up for another year (gift from Grandma!) so we'll see what that brings.

edited for grammar

[jgrabe]

Boy I must agree! I will not subscribe to it now. I go to the newsstand and get A look before I buy. Have you also noticed how many pages of nothing but ads. I have been buying more paper crafts.

[ninatar]

I think over the past year they have been exploring a different format, and have commented that they would like feedback. I think they are gravitating toward a more "open" format with fewer cards, but more consistent features each month. In their favor, they do feature Stampin Up cards, along with a wide variety of small stamping companies that I have never heard of before. Their web site has links to their advertisers web-pages, which I have enjoyed.

I do like that they actually return submissions if they don't use them, so in future, that may help attract "best" cards. And they encourage using stamps that are currently available. Nothing is more frustrating than seeing a "must have" stamp, and you can't get it.

It sure seems that many of the contributors have strong commercial/graphic arts backgrounds - and more than a few might be professional designers for large stamping companies. But then, every now and then, I see a card that makes me mumble to myself "heck, I could do better than that!".

Nina

[Qbee]

I do not subscribe to the Rubber Stamper, but I have been published by them in September and October. I have not seen the November/December issue yet. It's true that they are exploring a new format and I think constructive feedback would be appreciated by them. Tell them what you would like to see more of. I wouldn't give up on them after only one issue. My demo has been a happy subscriber of theirs for many years.

Take care, Brenda

[greetingsbydebra]

I haven't been too happy with RS the last few monthe, either. At the risk of sounding incredibly vain, I'm a bit miffed that they turned down some cards I submitted that I thought were realy cool, then they print some butt ugly cards instead. It makes me question if the editor really knows anything about stamping...