Thursday, October 20, 2011

BIG-a giveaway!

big mag
 I have something quite special and very beautiful to share with you today... here is the first issue of a brand new 60-page bi-annual  magazine that publishes stories and artworks by children and adult artists. Introducing: BIG Kids Magazine!
It's created by two lovely Australian mothers who were looking for a quality publication that featured the arts for their children. I've been watching it evolve over the year on their website, and couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy to open the pages and see what was inside. It's quite striking, with heavy weight paper that makes it feel more like a book... nice.
Here are some of ways that they told me Big Kids Magazine is unique:
•   The Senior Editor is 8 – E-I-G-H-T! – years young.
•    The two founders and creative directors, Lilly Blue and Jo Pollitt, have not seen each other for 12 years. Both are practicing artists – Jo is a dancer; Lilly a visual artist – and stay-at-home mums with bubs; they’re also educators and now they’re publishers.
•    They’ve given birth to Big Kids Magazine entirely over the ether; Lilly lives in Sydney; Jo in Perth.
•    It has taken almost one year of toil and countless hours of inspiration and perspiration to produce the first edition.
•    It can be posted to anywhere in the world, transplanting art from gallery walls onto playroom floors.
•    Each issue features a FREE artist print.
•    For every copy sold, BIG gives away one copy to children who might not otherwise be able to access them.
•    Big Kids Magazine is a creative arts magazine for kids (and big kids), which publishes stories and interviews of contemporary artists (dancers, painters, singers, sculptors, actors, film-makers, writers) with stories and interviews of kids.
•    It presents the artworks of children and artists side by side.
•    BIG is an acronym which stands for Bravery, Imagination, Generosity.

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I loved this quote of Jo and Lilly's:
“We are passionate about the rigour of quality art practice as neither elitist nor hobby but as an everyday way of engaging, viewing and responding to the world.”
Yes, I say... Yes!
All the information for subscribing or ordering a copy is right here. It's a very special site filled with Lilly's incredible illustrations and well worth exploring... my daughter loves it!

This beautiful copy of Big is for one of you! If you'd like to be entered to win, just leave a comment (with email, etc.) in this post before Sunday 5m EST. I will announce the random winner on Monday morning.  The winner has been announced below. Here's something to think about... whether to share as a comment or just to quietly ponder:
 How have you been touched by an act of Bravery, Imagination, or Generosity?

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Congratulations gos out to:
adriane said...

What an inspired idea for a magazine, my daughter and I would love to pour over this whole issue! Thanks for the chance!
***************
~I was happy to read how much many of you appreciated the focus and beauty of this publication. The expense to the US may be prohibitive to many, but their website is a wonderful gift in itself! Pin It

66 comments:

  1. my word, this looks amazing! i love the cover illustration. how great is it that they are giving copies to children too. i couldn't get their website to load, but i look forward to checking it out later.

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  2. thanks for sharing this. would love to check it out.

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  3. This magazine is gorgeous--it looks amazing! I'd love to get my hands on it.

    My sons (6 and 2) amaze me with their bravery, imagination and generosity everyday. On the best days, they inspire the same in me.

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  4. My daughter's latest art projects have included making an installation out of my scarf-to-be and painting hats for her toy dogs with watercolors (no, not on paper but on the dogs), so we're always open for some new inspiration! :) Seriously, the magazine seems a wonderful idea and looks amazing, too. I'd love a copy.

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  5. Bravery, Imagination, Generosity--if you add spazziness, that perfectly describes my son. He's the first one to stop what he's doing & comfort someone who's upset. He reminds me every day of the important things in life, and I think he makes me a little more B.I.G., too.

    What an inspiring magazine!

    victorynichols at gmail dot com

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  6. Wow this looks amazing. I checked it out about a week ago after seeing ot on an australian blog but found it a ilttle pricey with shipping to the US! Still it looks AMAZING.

    Generosity.....about a year and 1/2 ago, maybe 2 when my daughter was six she read about the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers and wrote to them....as a result of that letter she was invited by them to attend the council meeting in Sedona AZ on a scholarship. We had 3 weeks to figure out how to get from MA to AZ with no extra income! Our entire community stepped up and through about 40 small donations we raised enough money to drive there...it was a FAB experience and I will never forget all generosity involved to get us there...it was life changing in so many ways

    tony(a) lemos
    blazingstarclinic@ gmail . com

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  7. I was recently wrapped up in immense amounts of generosity as I was forced out of my rental home of five years a month ago. My friends and family lifted me up in their love and helped me find a new place and move into it. What a blessing!!!

    -Amy
    Crafting by Candlelight

    bibanon1@gmail.com

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  8. ww, it sound amazing! I would love to get one.

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  9. Hi Maya,
    Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this giveaway, It's so generous of you,
    This Magazine looks stupendous, I'd like to read it with my daughter, my niece and my nephew,
    Best regards,
    Jany (janypg@gmail.com)

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  10. Would love to check this out! What a terrific idea. Thanks for the chance :):)

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  11. Wow, this is cool! Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to look for online now.

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  12. An idea whose time has come! Thank you to the creators for their blood, sweat and tears.

    C. Smith (cjs12470@yahoo.com)

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  13. Wow - this looks amazing - My daughter would love it!

    Suzanne
    suzyram@nyc.rr.com

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  14. I wish shipping wasn't so expensive and it was available to buy locally. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.

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  15. I would love to win a copy~I can't see subscribing from the US but maybe they'll find a bookseller in the US to stock it.

    My kids' imaginations amaze me every day.

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  16. This is Such a lovely idea. I'd love to look through it and have it to share with my nieces and nephews.
    Stasigh at gmail dot com

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  17. This magazine looks super, and the thought of sharing it with children who couldn't afford it, is beautiful. I look forward to slow down the pace during the fall holidays, and this magazine would be very welcome then to read with my son (8) and two daughters (15 and 13)
    best regards
    Iceberg Blue/mc.leys@skynet.be

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  18. beautiful!! i am a kids footwear color designer and would love to have some new inspiration!!! thx!

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  19. really neat publication! i'd love to see a copy up close.

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  20. I've never heard of this magazine before ~ would really enjoy seeing a copy :)

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  21. What a great magazine idea! Isn't it just perfect that the first thing I thought of when I read "Bravery, Imagination, Generosity" was my children?

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  22. What an inspired idea for a magazine, my daughter and I would love to pour over this whole issue! Thanks for the chance!
    adrianesturgeon(at)gmail(dot)com

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  23. This looks incredible! thank you.

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  24. very special. thanks for the chance.

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  25. This looks like an amazing magazine! I've seen it around on the web, and really wanted to get it. Thank you so much for the chance to win!
    x Katherine

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  26. Oh this looks great Maya, please enter us!
    xoxo
    ~ joey ~

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  27. What a fabulous idea! The world needs more of such things!

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  28. The publication looks incredible and you are right, their site is amazing. Great tip. Hmm...bravery, imagination and generosity. I would have to say that every one of those is involved in every day of parenting both on my part and certainly by my kids!

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  29. Just today I was touched by the bravery of the two boys in my daughter's kindergarten class who are just learning to speak English. I can only imagine how hard each day must be for them.
    Thanks for this most unique giveaway!

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  30. Looks like a great magazine! I'm heading over to their website now to take a look.

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  31. wow! something me and my kids can enjoy - i think i might need a subscription to this one!

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  32. Oh how fabulous! Thanks for the chance to win!
    ~Michelle
    falafelandthebee(at)gmail(dot)com

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  33. We love BIG at our place. My daughter was lucky enough to receive a subscription for her birthday. What an amazing world BIG is. x

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  34. Keep up the good work. Best of luck. From www.gifts2hongkong.com

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  35. That magazine looks great - just what kids need these days to tear them all away from the technology!

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  36. Wow! Such an incredible project, I def. want it! :)

    BIG idea and giveaway!

    :)

    Contact: tarsila.kruse@gmail.com

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  37. wow. the art is gorgeous. what an inspiration for my little ones!

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  38. My 6 yr old punk recently asked me if the world was light or dark when the dinosaurs were born. Dark, i answered like a seed srouting in the earth or a baby growing in mama's wombs. Then i noticed the twinkle in his eye and before i could say another word he replied, with confidence, "no mama it was brighter than the sun"!

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  39. What an amazing magazine! I must say I am touched every day by the bravery, generosity and imagination of both my wonderful children.

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  40. great magazine and what lovely art! i am amazed by my children's imagination everyday. it is limitless and pure.

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  41. This publication is magical. It's so colorful and attracting. Their website is also engaging. Thanks for another great giveaway!

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  42. Looks rich and colourful and the best is that it's done by kids... I was always in love with Gordon Korman as a kid (and read all his books - still do) because he was my age when he was writing his novels. I always suggest my students read him (they're his age when he was writing at first too) and write, write, write because THEY TOO can DO IT! Would love to share this one too - Susanna

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  43. just this week I told a friend how much her generosity meant to me some years ago - she was amazed that it had such an impact on me at the time, but loved how something small (in her eyes) was so big for me.

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  44. how wonderful! thank you for sharing!!

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  45. I first read about BIG magazine when Annie (bird and little bird) did paintings for it with her daughter - its very exciting to see the finished copy....I'd love the chance to win one - Thanks! :D

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  46. wow - this magazine looks awesome! my kids would devour it! we are always looking for artistic inspiration. i love holding an actual magazine. the problem with ezines is my stinkin printer.

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  47. Oh my gosh I love this concept, what a way to inspire freedom and wild imagination. Thanks for sharing. xox Corrine

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  48. Super looking magazine. I am so thankful for all of our soldiers, especially one of my grandsons serving in Germany in the Air Force. I have been the recipient of generosity many times and hope that I have paid it forward.

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  49. this magazine looks brilliant!

    i learn so much from my daughter's generous spirit every day. she's more generous than a 4 year old ought to be.

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  50. Wonderful work, my kids would eat this up for tea, love it.

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  51. this looks great! please count us in. have a happy day.

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  52. 1. act of bravery and generosity on the part of an adult (providing time, space, free use of materials, free choice of subject, etc.)
    2. act of imagination becomes fully accessible to a child
    That inspires me!
    This mag looks AWESOME!

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  53. this magazine looks beautiful
    thank you very much for sharing it and thank you for the give-a-way

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  54. This is such a wonderful magazine..! I'm going back to the website to drool a bit more!

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  55. This is amazing,so generous of you.What a lovely new magazine and 8 year young editor,wow,wonderful.

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  56. I'm inspired by this magazine. I really admire those who have the fits to really do what they are passionate about. Creating a magazine is no small feat.

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  57. I really think that young people hold the key to our future... and this shows how beautiful it can be!

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  58. How I would love to share a copy of this with my 4-year-old granddaughter. She loves to 'craft' with me and her mommy and I think she'd love to see what other kids are doing.

    The act of bravery that constantly stands out in my mind is from the 'Greatest Generation', who stormed the beaches of Normandy and fought a war like we'll never see again. My dad was one of them and he passed away 2 months ago. Amazing bravery.

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  59. this looks awesome!!! hope i'm not too late!

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  60. Love everything about this...thanks for sharing!
    ~ sunshine & happiness

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  61. This magazine is so fabulous I cannot begin to tell you. I ordered one lickity split for myself and it is a creative wonder. I plan to keep it in the studio to spur on the
    adults to be more childlike in their view of the world. Thanks for finding it and sharing. xox Corrine

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