Yes, I decided to change things up a bit! After the previous challenge I sent Riikka the latest issue of (one of my) favourite magazines: Flow.

Honestly, I can’t get enough of magazines in general and I’m pretty sure I can find something interesting and inspiring in any given one. But Flow… Flow magazine is something special, something extraordinary. I still remember exactly when and where I saw the very first issue a couple of years ago. I fell in love!

It seemed like the women that created it knew exactly what I thought, what I liked, what’s important to me, what makes me happy (or sad). This wasn’t just any women’s magazine, this magazine was meant for me… and about 65.000 other women, LOL!! No seriously, I’m right smack in the middle of their target audience: higher educated women in their thirties to mid-forties… No wonder it’s speaking to me like it is. That and the fact that I’m just a sucker for beautiful magazines!

I didn’t feel the need to take notes for this challenge, like I did when Riikka and I took inspiration from films. Riikka prompted me to write a couple of things down anyway, but guess what: I didn’t use any of these ideas in my finished layout. Once I stood at my desk with the magazine in my hands, I looked at the cover and thought… ‘Hey, I think I have a paper like that!’

And then, when I browsed for photos to support the possible stories that I had written down, none of them seemed to fit the happy colour scheme and whimsical retro vibe I had going on. That’s when I decided to go with another story… A little story about the magazine that probably started my magazine fetish in the first place: Libelle.

Libelle is a weekly women’s magazine that was first published in 1934 (!) and that is still going strong almost 80 years later. The reason why I (still) love it, is that my grandma used to have a subscription and I’ve read it (and cut/pasted clippings from it) all my life. I don’t buy Libelle like I do Flow magazine, but my sweet mother-in-law always saves past issues for me and every now and then (if Harold remembers to collect them) I get treated to a big wonderful stack!

Paper: Echo Park – Hello Summer – Happy Flowers, Basic Grey – PB & J – Rasperry Jam, Stickers: Echo Park – Hello Summer – Element Stickers, Rub-ons: Heidi Swapp – Colorful Instaframes, Digital elements: Paislee Press – Gallery Frames no. 3, Conversation Piece no. 1

You can see what Riikka created with Flow in mind here on her blog!

Before I go, I need to tell you that you can connect with Flow magazine via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and their website. I especially recommend their international Facebook page for all of you that don’t understand a word of Dutch, because… the Flow team is currently working their first international issue! You REALLY don’t want to miss out on that one, so like them on Facebook ASAP!