Please don't kill me for posting second time within minutes of publishing such a long post !!
I need help in deciding whether to subscribe to cross stitch magazines or not (be prepared for my rambling)
Hubby bought me a subscription of The World of Cross Stitching magazine for my birthday in last week of Feb.He worked really hard to get a digital subscription on my tablet with lot of email exchanges with the publishing companies, downloading various software etc.
Since the first time I came to know about cross stitching magazines in 2014 , I have tried to get digital/hard copy subscription only to find that its not possible to get one due to my physical location.
Between 2014 and now, I have bought a few second had magazines and have been gifted a big lot by a kind lady.
TWOCS had a free issue to offer for Valentine day and I was just playing on my I-phone knowing that I would never get the free issue.But, miracle happened and I got the free issue. You can imagine how excited I must have been(poor hubby was thinking his surprise is going to go down the drain).
However, after surfing thru the magazine ,I realized that I like only one pattern in the whole magazine.
Fast forward to my birthday , Hubby shows me my digital subscription on my tablet(picture me not so excited and elated). However he has given me a choice to whether to continue with the subscription or not. He knows me too well..I would be guilt ridden if I didn't stitch from the gift he got me.
Yesterday , I downloaded two free issues of Cross Stitch Crazy mag on my phone and there are only few designs I like.These magazines have chosen the best time to offer free stuff ,adding to my dilemma.
So the big question my friends is :
What do you think-Should I continue with bday subscription ?
Is the money worth 1 or 2 designs which I may like in each issue ?
Would be it be too rude to cancel something which hubby gifted?
I need help in deciding whether to subscribe to cross stitch magazines or not (be prepared for my rambling)
Hubby bought me a subscription of The World of Cross Stitching magazine for my birthday in last week of Feb.He worked really hard to get a digital subscription on my tablet with lot of email exchanges with the publishing companies, downloading various software etc.
Since the first time I came to know about cross stitching magazines in 2014 , I have tried to get digital/hard copy subscription only to find that its not possible to get one due to my physical location.
Between 2014 and now, I have bought a few second had magazines and have been gifted a big lot by a kind lady.
TWOCS had a free issue to offer for Valentine day and I was just playing on my I-phone knowing that I would never get the free issue.But, miracle happened and I got the free issue. You can imagine how excited I must have been(poor hubby was thinking his surprise is going to go down the drain).
However, after surfing thru the magazine ,I realized that I like only one pattern in the whole magazine.
Fast forward to my birthday , Hubby shows me my digital subscription on my tablet(picture me not so excited and elated). However he has given me a choice to whether to continue with the subscription or not. He knows me too well..I would be guilt ridden if I didn't stitch from the gift he got me.
Yesterday , I downloaded two free issues of Cross Stitch Crazy mag on my phone and there are only few designs I like.These magazines have chosen the best time to offer free stuff ,adding to my dilemma.
So the big question my friends is :
What do you think-Should I continue with bday subscription ?
Is the money worth 1 or 2 designs which I may like in each issue ?
Would be it be too rude to cancel something which hubby gifted?
If you don't think it's worth it, I wouldn't continue. Instead, the money from the subscription I would use to hunt down back issues that contain patterns I really like on eBay or other similar service if it's available for you. I don't think it's rude to cancel if you aren't enjoying it, especially if he offered!
ReplyDeleteThis is the main reason I don't subscribe to any magazines. The only one that tempts me is Stoney Creek but I can't justify the price for 4/year even if I love so many of their patterns... But there are so many other freebies to stitch! Maybe we can order a subscription for more time? :)
I have subscribed to many magazines over many years. In my experience, one rarely stitches anything from the current issue. However, one puts them in a box and some time later one finds the perfect chart for a gift or celebration.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started stitching in the pre-internet days I did stitch more designs from the magazines but that dwindled when I found I prefer US and French/Italian designers to British (too much aida and cutesy animals for me).
I now subscribe to Just Cross Stitch (US) and Cross Stitch Collection (UK). I prefer the designs in JCS but the articles in CSC.
If you like reading about stitching and looking for inspiration it is well worth having a subscription to a UK magazine. The standard of journalism is so much higher than in the US versions.
I guess I will end up writing a long comment here :)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, cheer up that your hubby got something for you considering that he is taking interest in your hobby, some husbands don't. Mine has become experienced hubby now, so he waits for me to throw some cues what I am looking for and they become open gifts items and he looks for surprises somewhere else.
There are many items which my husband got from US thinking that I don't get here which I do and at a much better rate, so now he is comfortable acting as postman and just getting back my online order. I do cherish what he got and try to put to use as and when I can.
I don't subscribe to digital magazines, I just download the issue that I find interesting. That too sometimes I wait for discount offer and then buy because I am sure I am not going to stitch immediately. Now even the discounts weren't there this year.
But had it been I was gifted a subscription, I would have jumped to the ceiling. You don't have to bother about the budget when it is a surprise gift from someone who love. It is a splurge he is doing for you. So just take it easy and enjoy subscription for whatever period has been paid. You will definitely find some or the other things to stitch from it. I purchase digital issue just for a chart and don't bother about other charts that aren't interesting. So even if you like one in one issue, you should feel happy.
Another problem will be space crunch on mobile. May be you can take backup on iCloud. Also, crossstitcher and few other magazines' publisher got changed recently and I could not load few back issue that I had purchased. I had a looooong email war with everyone on the board and finally they said they will refund my amount. But I need issues not money, their new app don't have those old issues:( I am still waiting for those.
Save your receipt numbers(emails), good to do future follow ups when you want to restore purchases with errors.
I totally understand your dilemma! I was in the same situation as used to buy TWOCS every months and then decided to subscribe and when came the renewal I realised I wasn't particularly stitching their charts. So stopped the subscription & very very rarely buy magazines. Instead I buy the charts of the designs I want to stitch :)
ReplyDeleteI am in the same boat as you. I would love to have a subscription to Just Cross Stitch but I find the only time I am interested in the charts is the Christmas and Halloween issues and I am not ever 100% sure if those are included in the monthly subscription. I am still on the fence so I am looking forward to hearing what you decide, maybe it will help me make my mind up :)
ReplyDeleteTotally understand.... years ago I used to subscribe because my newsagent didn't get the magazine but when I moved to the city I was able to stop subscribing and buy the magazines - which I did for years... but I must admit over the last couple of years I have probably only bought a couple of TWOC and CSC. My tastes have changed again as to what I like to stitch and I very rarely find something in the newer issues that I like.
ReplyDeleteI recently signed up for a JCS digital subscription but once the 12 months is up I probably won't do it again unless the deal is a good one.... (This was a 3yrs for 1yr price) Most of the time I go for the Christmas and Halloween special editions which are very expensive by the time they get to Australia so a digital subscription is more cost effective - but not as nice as having the paper copy to drool over!! :o)
Good luck with your decision....
Hi Mini.. so nice of your hubby to take so much of effort to get you a digital subscription. I'm sure you are happy about it. I think you can keep it for an year and I'm sure you will find something lovely (1 or 2 patterns) worth stitching to treasure it as a keepsake. It is not a bad idea to unsubscribe it after few issues if you feel it is not worth. Any crafty magazine is like that. you can find only 1 or 2 at times nothing, that we can actually stitch. But it is ok..it is a gift and you can always go thru it for reference of ideas etc. Don't regret about this gift. I have really a good collection of magazines with me which i don't want to throw away, at the same time i haven't stitched a single pattern from it. so i would suggest keep that gift with you..:)
ReplyDeleteI have never had a subscription to a cross stitching magazine but when ever I saw one during my travels to the US or during my visits in France I was leafing through it and bought it of didn't when it wasn't interesting. Sometimes I bought a whole volume at an online store when the issues were already older and cheap. Not every magazine issue offers something for me to stitch but I love to browse through them every now and then and that's why I never throw them out, lol. And because my tastes change all the time I sometimes find something that I hadn't noticed before.
ReplyDeleteI made the mistake of saying to my husband at Christmas "why don't you get me the newspaper anymore?" Now I have a subscription and a newspaper that comes every day. I wish I hadn't said anything because it's all bad news, I feel guilty not reading it since it's paid for and there's no recycling here so what to do with them all? Cross-stitch is a whole other thing. Sometimes it's nice just to look through a magazine for inspiration. I personally don't like digital issues as some are very hard to really look at properly if you don't have the right device. I much prefer hard copy. And there's so many free charts online, I don't even feel the need to buy magazines much anymore. Except when I go to Dubai and visit the Japanese bookstore. They've got some really nice ones from around the world and I do indulge whenever we are there. :)
ReplyDeletePersonally, I haven't found much in any of the magazines that I want to stitch lately. You can buy a lot of patterns in PDF format and download them directly from designers these days. So I prefer to go in that direction. And of course there are many free designs to download as well. But I agree with some of the others that if your DH was kind enough to give you the subscription, you might prefer to keep it. Give the magazine a chance and maybe you will find some inspiration there.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, make sure your husband knows how much you appreciate all the work he did to get you the subscription! :) It seems to me that magazines "ebb and flow"...so some years I like a lot of things, but some years I like nothing. Sometimes I like to get the magazines just for inspiration...if I do not like the designs, maybe I am inspired by the way they are framed or finished, or the way they are displayed. Sometimes I change some colors in the designs and then they will work for my decor. If you think you would feel guilty not stitching anything, maybe you could tell your husband that the current designs aren't to your taste, so since you appreciate his thoughtfulness at trying to get something you like, you want to spend the money on something you will really enjoy. He could help you pick something else. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for advice about the Subscription dilemma.
DeleteI'm amazed how different people look at same issue differently.
I would have never thought about magazines being inspiration for finishing and display.
Following on your advice I appreciated my husband's effort. *;) winking
However before we could cancel the subscription , the money was deducted .
I have now paid for 2 issues and cancelled the subscription.
Waiting for the refund to show up in my account :)