I was rummaging around in a drawer a couple of days ago looking for my old magazines. I was doing a teaching application and needed to find 'evidence' of what I'd done in the past. Anyway, much to my surprise (being a bear of short memory!) I found that I'd actually had my Christmas tree earrings (similar to the ones I've been selling on ebay) published in monthly magazines (Popular Crafts and Practical Crafts) as far back as 1993 & 1998. I honestly thought I'd got the pattern from somewhere else but obviously not!! They had probably been in a Ring of Tatters newsletter before that. I also found other patterns of mine which those two magazines had used too. I knew about the My Weekly ones which were later in the 1990's/2000.
My first ever published piece was done in about 1971 for Lady magazine. I remember waiting for about two years for them to use the piece which was about Netting. I 'spent' the money I thought I'd get for that many many times but in the end it wasn't much!!!!
In the past I used to take payment for patterns used by magazines but quickly found that if I did then the copyright then belonged to them!! As payment is so little for all the work involved I decided to just give the work to them. This is why I am now able to put those patterns onto my site once the magazine have used them (I usually wait about four months before I put them on the internet).
