Going Monthly!

We have gotten such an overwhelming response to our first digital print edition! Thank you all so much for your patronage to our magazine!!

Since the response was so great -- 600 unique viewers to the magazine in the 8 days since it's been published -- we are committing to that format going forward. With this change in format (from blog posts to a published magazine), we will also be changing posting from weekly to monthly. This will help to facilitate getting what would be blog posts into the format necessary to publish it as a page-turning magazine.

Our first of the monthly editions will be published on August 15, 2011. Each month thereafter, a new monthly publication will be posted with new and fresh inspiration for your creations. You are sure to be blessed with some magnificent projects from the team of great crafters that submit for this magazine!!!

But wait... We will still do two bi-annual publications (January and July) that will be chock full of never-before-seen projects that have not been published to the monthly editions. And there's a special Christmas Edition that will be published on November 15th full of cards and crafts for the Christmas Holidays.

We are sure that you all will continue to enjoy the Village Scraps magazine in its new format! Thank you for allowing us to inspire you!

Much Love,
Dymonz and
The Scrap Dymonz Design Team
The Designer Dymonz Design Team

Inaugural "Print" Edition!

This the inaugural edition of the Village Scraps Magazine! This edition, and every "print" (or digital) edition will contain Bonus Projects -- projects that do not post weekly to the blog. There are also coupons and other information that will be contained. We hope you enjoy this first digital print edition!! To ensure that you continue to receive the magazine, please be sure you are a Follower of this blog. (Click on "Open Publication" to read the magazine in the viewer.)

Open publication - Free publishing - More atc

Some Thoughts on the Dark Art Genre...

Dark Art – A personal view

As defined by Wikipedia

Primarily a product of the 20th Century, dark art is an art style defined as that being "dark" or unsettling in nature. Called and classified under many names such as gothic, horror, metaphysical, nightmarish, and disturbing, it is actually a culmination of techniques and styles. It has been presented in many forms by many artists, illustrators and film-makers. It continues to grow in popularity as a part of the horror genre and gothic, music and publishing culture. Today, it is a part of our mainstream culture, crossing over into multiple mediums including advertising, television, film, and marketing. While it has roots in horror, it has been presented as collage, surrealism, abstract, motion graphics, grunge, expressionism, and largely digital art.

Dark Art is, I think, is a personal voyage into the inner person. A journey into the unknown depths of that other side of the artist. The one untamed by convention and “normality”.

To teach, it is difficult, to learn it, harder. There are very few masters and most will only attain the status of acolyte. As with life, there will always be new avenues to explore, new techniques to try, a new emotion to deal with, helped along by others lucky enough to have drawing skills as well that have devised a new image to help us express these in an individually artistic way.

I can only speak for myself when I say that my true journey began with those images found at Tellen's Place Designs. They helped me develop that “unfettered by convention” freedom. Once that was nurtured and allowed to grow, my true journey began. Imagination is the only limiter. Let that soar and the results will follow.

Techniques learnt in mainstream art can be used, or is it the other way round? The darker side of art encourages the exploration of different techniques. Encourages mixing techniques that few have done before. The beauty of all this is – NOTHING is wrong. There is a place for glitter and glitz just as there is a place for the odd skull, witch or mystical image.

One thing Dark Art is not, and that's Cute.

Written and submitted by Helen Angel-Cullum (aka Croms)