Belle Armoire® offers readers a fantastic opportunity to publish their wearable artwork. Our “Salon” pages are open to all who wish to share their handmade art-to-wear garments, jewelry, and fashion accessories. We are looking for creative submissions in the following categories:

• Fabric arts, including fabric painting, dyeing, stamping, and stenciling techniques
• Mixed-media jewelry and fashion accessories
• Art stamping on a variety of art-to-wear projects
• Clay art (especially polymer clay)
• Beaded jewelry of all types
• Knitted and crocheted items
• Silk painted garments and fashion accessories
• Quilted jackets, vests, purses, and other items
• Beading on fabric for scarves, belts, hats, vests, jackets
• Hand embroidery (floss and silk ribbon) on fabric
• Decorative machine sewing and machine embroidery techniques
• Handmade fashions for men

Be creative! The publisher carefully considers each and every submission. We only stipulate two criteria regarding your submissions: They must be handmade, and they must be wearable.

If your artwork is selected for publication you will receive a coupon for a FREE issue of Belle Armoire®. This offer includes the current issue, available back issues, or a one-issue extension to an existing subscription. It’s your choice!

Here’s how to participate in upcoming issues:

• Your artwork must arrive at our offices on or before the deadlines listed; please have them in the mail at least two weeks prior to the deadline to avoid late delivery.
• We prefer submissions of original art so that we may photograph it ourselves, but we also accept professional-quality 4" x 5" transparencies or color slides.
• All artwork must be properly identified with the artist’s name and address clearly printed on a label attached to each submission. No exceptions, please! As the artwork may be separated from instructions during our selection process, we ask that you be very careful to inscribe your name and address somewhere on each piece of art if at all possible; for example, affix a preprinted address label to the inside of a jacket sleeve or inner lining of a vest.
• If your artwork is three-dimensional or very small, attach your identification with a removable string or pack the sample in a plastic bag with your identification. Artwork that has not been properly identified cannot be considered for publication.
• Concise yet thorough instructions must accompany each art-to-wear submission so that we may share this information with our readers. Attach individual sample instructions to each piece of artwork you submit. If you use rubber art stamps, please include the stamp company names.
• For acknowledgment of artwork receipt, please include a self-addressed stamped postcard.

Artwork Return Policy

Due to the large volume of artwork we receive, it is a requirement of your submission to Belle Armoire® that you include sufficient funds to cover postage for the return of your artwork. If you wish to have your artwork insured for the return journey, please include sufficient funds and indicate your preference in a postcard or a letter enclosed with your submission.

You may send cash, check or money order in US funds made out to Belle Armoire® for artwork return. NEW POLICY: Please do NOT send us loose postage stamps! In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 disaster, heightened security measures at the US Post Office have made it impossible for us to mail out packages with stamps.

Sometimes, a piece of artwork submitted for one issue may be better suited for an upcoming issue, so we may have to hold your sample for up to six months. If you need your artwork back urgently—for a show or a special event, etc.—please indicate this in your submission information.

Upcoming Deadlines:
May 2007 issue: December 15, 2007
July 2007 issue: February 15, 2007
September 2007 issue: April 15, 2007
November 2007 issue: June 15, 2007
January 2008 issue: August 15, 2007

Writers’ Submissions

We are always interested in suggestions for future articles.

If you have a unique artistic technique that you’d like to share with our readers, send samples of your artwork accompanied by a query letter outlining your idea to the managing editor at the address below. Please note: If the technique you wish to share with our readers was learned in a class, a workshop, or from an art or craft book, Belle Armoire® requires that you give credit to the author or teacher who instructed you.

All samples, queries, and correspondence should be forwarded to the managing editor, Belle Armoire, 22992 Mill Creek, Suite B, Laguna Hills CA 92653, USA. No telephone calls, please.

The editor welcomes brief e-mail queries: mflores@bellearmoire.com.

Altered Couture
A hand-me-down sweater … a raggedy old skirt from the thrift store … a plain T-shirt … Using just a few tools coupled with your creativity, all of these items can be transformed into fantastic works of wearable art! The publisher of Belle Armoire and Somerset Studio invites you to submit your own altered and embellished clothing and accessories for possible publication.

A few ideas to get you started …

• Alter an old pair of jeans with dyes, paints, bleach, and rubber stamps
• Make photo transfers on fabrics and stitch them to clothing & accessories
• Add clusters of buttons and beads to collars, cuffs and hemlines
• Turn jeans into skirts with fabric inserts and embellishments
• Embroider hats and purses with ribbons, floss, and beads
• Appliqué scarves and shawls with fabric scraps, ribbons and yarns
• Doodle on jeans, jackets and T-shirts with permanent markers
• Use scissors or sharp craft knives to cut and slash garments with interesting patterns or make frayed edges

Altered Couture 3 will be filled with gorgeous photographs, easy-to-understand techniques and endless inspiration. You’ll find new ways to transform your own garments and accessories into fabulous wearable works of art.
Deadline for artwork to be received: June 15, 2007

Belle Armoire Jewelry, Volume 3
For the third volume of Belle Armoire Jewelry, we are looking for innovative and interesting jewelry pieces and instructions to share with our readers.

Whether you work with precious metal clay, beads, wire, fiber, polymer clay, charms, buttons or found objects, we know other Belle Armoire readers want to see what’s going on in your creative space.If you are a creator of earrings, bracelets, necklaces or brooches, we want to hear from you!Please send your submission no later than April 15, 2007 to:
Belle Armoire Jewelry
Stampington & Company
22992 Mill Creek, Suite B
Laguna Hills CA 92653

Belle Armoire Jewelry, Volume 3 will be on sale September 1, 2007.