Thank you all for introducing yourself at the forum, and as whitefox said (Berkley, California) Hello–Wow! after reading all these intros–I see Whip Up is truly international! Yes it certainly is, people from all over the globe - participating in craft without boundaries. Thank you all for participating in the forum, sorry I can’t send everyone out a book but I will be doing more giveaways in the future, postage costs a fair bit, so please visit our sponsors or if you have an indie business yourself - consider advertising.

Please continue to introduce yourself at the forum - I am really enjoying ‘meeting’ everyone and learning more about the people in this great community.

The four forum participants to receive a crafty/creative book are: (can these four people please email me whipup[at]gmail.com with your postal address please.)

redswirlginevr from Sydney, Australia. She says: my favourite craft has to be knitting, I also like sketching & used to do papier mache. I now really want to learn to sew clothes for me, my toddler and baby. What I like most about whipup is the depth of the articles … they make me think hard about crafts that aren’t my own. Oh, and I really like the book reviews, I do get a good idea whether I’d like to buy the book or not.

Vasalisa living in Montreal Canada (hometown is Ontario) (no website). She says: I find myself starting all over again at 36: going to university for the first time (scary and exciting!); letting go of old ideas and embracing new ones. I would like to steer my work towards a more DIY approach - re-purposing materials and concepts in ways I have never previously allowed myself. Whipup was the start of my online fiber journey. Through this site I have found so many valuable resources and sources of inspiration, which lead to more and more! I recognize quite a few names on here, which is a great comfort, even if I have not met any of you in person. :)

Lina, from Stockholm, Sweden. She says: I love all sorts of creativity. I’m very into street art and I crochet quite a lot. Sometimes I do mail art and other things with paper. And now I’m slowly progressing with learning to knit. The political and feminist aspect of crafting interests me a lot. I love the worldwide crafting community that has developed with internet. To me Whiput means daily inspiration and connection to like-minded (and not so like-minded!) crafters from all over the world - and I hope this forum will make that connection even stronger.

DonaB, on the Central Coast of California, USA, says: I tuck knitting, a bit of bookbinding (mostly journals for myself and others), photography, writing, art journaling, and a tiny bit of sewing in around the edges of my job, though I always seem to circle back to drawing and painting eventually. I love reading whipup because I get exposure to styles and trends in craft-making that I haven’t seen before as well as the exposure to crafters who are making things full time and supporting themselves, which is incredibly inspiring to me. I also love the book reviews, round-ups and challenge results posts.

Some great comments about why you love whipup and the online crafty community too:

I appreciate Whip-up in large part because it keeps me humble - there are people out there far greater than me, who are engaged every day in creating art. We’re all in this together, right? (chris in Michegan)

I’ve been reading Whipup mostly from the start, and I love it for lots of reasons. I like articles that explore the relationship between art and crafting, I’m very interested in copyright issues, and I love the tutorials and alternative stuff. (strikkelise from Oslo, Norway)

I think that sites like Whip-Up are very important in ensuring the craft movement continues to grow, it gives crafters somewhere to congregate and share and communicate ideas (crafters are such an inclusive bunch, and I LOVE that!), and Whip-up is so educational. (ladybag from London, UK)

I love Whip-Up. It can be very isolating being at home with children Whip-Up provides a link to like minded people. (sew witty, Perth, Australia)

I love WhipUp for the inspirational ideas and especially for the opportunity it gives to connect with talented crafters from all over the world. Whiplash is my favourite part of WhipUp - challenging myself to do something different and seeing everyone else’s amazing work is truly inspirational. [whiplash will be back - i swear - ed] (planet june from Ontario, Canada)

the most wonderful part of [blogging] has been discovering a craft community. For me this has been a really important source of inspiration, both in terms of the work people do and the way different people weave craft into their everyday lives. I love that there are all these people doing different things, sharing their experiences and expertise, motivating and helping each other. (sooz from Melbourne, Australia)

Sitting by the computer I upload my photos, write in my blog and chat with my friends via e-mail and other communities online. A lot of time is spent writing, but yet I tell people I hardly ever write… Without really noticing what I did I wrote a lot in my blog last year. And the more I thought about it the more it felt like a manuscript for a book, a diary form book that I would design, edit, print and distribute to friends and family and other creative souls out there! A book to hold in my hand, put in my shelf, keep as a memory of days that passed, days filled with sewing, knitting, making art, spending time with friends… Can you imagine what a fun project that would be? So I did it.

This is an excerpt from Ihanna’s blog, where she describes the process of using Lulu.com to turn her personal/creative blog into print form. Not an easy or short process but obviously extremely worthwhile and rewarding. You can preview her book at Lulu.com here or read more about it at il bloggo and if you are interested in doing this yourself you can find out how here.

Self publishing with Lulu does not have to be a big project - you could think about self publishing your patterns, zines, illustrations or images.