Why do we pay so much for magazines?

Why do I pay so much for magazines?  I am almost at the breaking point when it comes to magazine price, the point at which I won’t buy them any more.  It’s bad enough that when the Canadian dollar is so strong, that I am still paying $2+ more than an American consumer.  The magazine powers-that-be decided the answer to that was to omit the US price, and just leave the higher Canadian dollar price on the mag.  Gee thanks, I feel appreciated.

I also notice that magazines contain more and more advertising, and in fact, a lot of the articles are little more than advertising.  A large number of the North American quilting publications are guilty of this.  Apparently the fabric designers send bundles of free fabric from their new lines to quilt designers who make up projects that happen to contain the newest, most expensive designer fabrics.  You too, can make this, and here’s the purchasing information…

It’s not a bad thing to showcase your project by offering design ideas and patterns, but why am I paying $10. or more for you to sell me something else?  Knitting and crochet patterns used to be free with the purchase of yarn, but there seem to be fewer of those, as well.  I think I am supposed to buy the pattern book, then buy the yarn. 

Recently I bought a decorating/lifestyle type magazine, one that I usually enjoy a lot.  The price has been increasing in the last couple of years, but so far I felt I was getting good value.  I was particularly interested in an article on making funky-shaped pincushions from vintage fabrics.  The article contained enough directions to make the projects, but when I looked for the enlargable pattern, there was none to be found.  For instructions, see page…….I turned to page……and there were instructions to order the pattern for an additional $10 or $12!!  I was livid!!  Eventually I will write to the magazine to explain why I have stopped purchasing it after 4 years.  I’m still too angry that their cover suggested I could learn to make vintage pincushions, when the first instruction was to shell out more money.

Remember the tiny colored glass bottles you received free in a box of Salada tea?  What ever happened to gifts with purchase?  Now it’s “thanks for buying our product, here are twelve other things you need to purchase”.  Even when I purchase a DVD, there are commercials for more movies, TV shows, cars, food products I should buy.  Why am I paying for the right to be hit with more unsolicited advertising?  Why can’t I at least have the option of purchasing a DVD without further advertising on it?  I’d pay more for a DVD without commercials, or a magazine with half the advertising and real articles of real interest.  Heck, I’d pay more for a t-shirt without someone’s logo on it.  If you want my chest to be a billboard for your brand, give me the t-shirt for free.  Or pay me to wear it.  If I paid to go there and do that, why do I need to buy the t-shirt?

Vision precedes execution

Vision precedes execution.  It’s the start of another new year, and I am setting big goals for myself this year.  Not my usual New Year’s resolutions, which no one believes you will accomplish, including yourself.  Rather, I want to make a good start on some big goals this year, many of which will take longer than 12 months to accomplish. 

 So what do I want to achieve in the next few years?  I want to spend less time dreaming about crazy quilting and just drawing out ideas for fabric art, and much more time creating art.  I am in the process of decluttering my tiny sewing room and dealing with WIPs (works in progress), UFOs (unfinished objects) and PIGS (projects in grocery sacks).   Some of these neglected projects need to get finished (or started!), and some I am donating to the Salvation Army Thrift Store.  I’m letting go of the guilt and making room for projects that interest me now. 

 I want to finish the novel I am writing, in the next year, I hope.  I have never written a novel, and have no idea if it will ever get published, but for me, the real goal is to finish the book and submit it to a few publishers. 

I need to lose weight, around 115 pounds, and this will require getting honest about why I overeat, committing to some radical permanent changes in habits and relearning to enjoy exercise.  I am not particularly excited about this, more like dreading every minute.  But this is the year I will begin to turn my health around, as much as it depends on me.

 I am on what seems like a constant program of decluttering and organizing my house.  I love crazy quilting, which means I collect old clothes to recycle, new fabrics, threads, buttons, beads, books and idea pages, fabric dyes, interesting fibers and charms and bits of “stuff”.  I love thrift stores and dollar stores as sources of beads and baubles, fabric and fibers.  My husband is also a bit of a pack rat , and we are experts at “stash and dash” cleaning.  We are working hard at decluttering this year (we actually started last year), and are hoping to reduce our possessions by another third.  I am trying to use up the food in our pantry and freezers as much as possible this winter, finish sewing and mending projects, and only buy the absolute necessities to finish art projects.  No more trolling through thrift stores for treasures until we are decluttered a lot more.  And at that point, it’ll be “one in, one out”.  If I buy a new (to me) pair of jeans, out goes one old article of clothing.  If I buy fabric, out goes an equivalent amount of art supplies or magazines I no longer need. 

 So, my vision is to be healthier (weight loss and exercise), create more, clear out the clutter, write more (hence this blog), and use up what we have rather than going out to buy more, more, more. 

Vision precedes execution « FabricArtist’s Weblog

Vision precedes execution « FabricArtist’s Weblog

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