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“There’s beauty in ordinary life, pages full of stories that turn ordinary into magical moments… Bits of magic everywhere you look from page to page. When reading Bella Grace you know there are still women who live authentically… and take the time to stop and pause to wonder and dream.”

— Lisa RedWillow

If you believe that there is beauty and magic to be found everywhere in life and want to see your name in print in the pages of Bella Grace, we want you to share your stories with us! If you are a writer, blogger, photographer, or listicle extraordinaire, submit your work for publishing consideration for our Winter Issue, now accepting submissions through July 15^th, 2016.

Not sure what to submit? Here’s a quick guide for what we’re looking for and ideas to help you get started.

What We’re Looking For

Narratives
We are looking for original narratives and poetry that focus on the idea that “life is a beautiful adventure.” Submitted work can be about simple pleasures, life lessons learned, slowing down, embracing your authentic self, and more. Written submissions can include accompanying photography, but we will also pair writers up with photographers if needed.

Photography
Picture submissions should capture the spirit of Bella Grace. They should depict simple moments, bits of romance, feelings of happiness, etc. Photography can be submitted on its own and will be considered for use with narratives or as the background for some of the quotes featured throughout the book.

Lists
Calling all inspiring listicles! A few ideas to get you started include 10 Ways to Turn a Day Around, 20 Inspirational Joan Didion Quotes to Live By, and 15 Things I’d Tell My 15-Year-Old Self. Make it funny, make it sweet … the choice is yours.

Instagram Collections
Who doesn’t love Instagram? As artists and creatives, it’s such a great way to beautifully share our days with others. It also serves as a diary to help us document our days. In each issue of Bella Grace we feature a few Instagram collections. We’re now opening this up to submissions! All you need to do is send 15 images that you feel capture your Instagram and a statement about what living a Bella Grace life means to you to bellagrace@stampington.com. If selected, you will need to provide high-resolution images that can be printed at 5″ x 5″, 300 dpi.

Ideas to Get You Started

We are happy to receive general submissions, but in case you need a few ideas to get you started, we are also looking for responses (photographic or written or both) to the following prompts:

Stories of Self-Love
Most of us have our own bag of tricks we turn to when we need to show ourselves a little love and kindness. For our editor-in-chief, it’s a quiet night spent under her very favorite blanket and the first book in the Harry Potter series. It never fails to brighten her spirits. What is it you turn to? What’s your recipe for self-love? (Lists and narratives accepted.)

Small, Random Acts of Kindness
It’s been said that you never know what another person might be going through, so it’s important to be kind with everyone. A small gesture, such as a flower placed on a car windshield or an anonymous note left for someone to find, can make a huge impact. For an upcoming issue of Bella Grace, we are hoping to gather as many ideas for committing random acts of kindness as we possibly can. Furthermore, if you have a story to share about the impact an act of kindness has had on you, we’d love to hear it.

Stories of Courage
Think about the last time you did something that required courage in a moment where you weren’t sure if you had any. How did you tell yourself you could do it? Who else believed in you? How did you prep for it? As an example, consider rock climbing or entering a competition. Sometimes this challenge requires physical strength, other times it’s about the power of positive thinking. In both cases, think about the moments you tackled a project or something just for you only to be able to come out on the other side triumphant, knowing you did it.

An Ode to…

Create an extra special shout out to something simple that you truly love! Your open letter of appreciation can be for anything you like whether it’s favorite fairy tales, carnivals/amusement parks, tea, old friendships, puppies, dreaming big, and so much more.

For consideration, please send any of the above to: bellagrace@stampington.com.

Submissions should be no more than 1,000 words. Due to the volume of submissions, we cannot respond to each person individually. If your piece is chosen to be included, you will be notified by the editor.

Photographers and shutterbugs! Click here to download our guide for submitting photographs. This guide will also show you how to convert images to the correct size and resolution for this publication.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

The post Be a Part of Bella Grace! Our Winter Issue Deadline is Approaching first appeared on Bella Grace Magazine.

Meet Our #BellaGraceGuest Instagram Hosts

Bella Grace — Tue, 19 Apr 2016 18:03:57 +0000

Words: Heather Taylor
Photo credit: Bella Grace Instagram

If you follow Bella Grace on Instagram, you may have noticed some stunning photos popping up from time to time from new and innovative photographers. Some are still-life images of flowers, teacups, and delicious sweets. Others are sweeping landscapes of vast fields, crashing ocean waves, and deep forests full of secrets. And for those who wonder what Bella Grace would be like as a person, she is found in the images of women throughout every stage of their lives; as explorers of wide open spaces, bookworms lost in the pages of a good book, and dreamers leaping into the air.

These pictures all come from our #BellaGraceGuest co-hosts. Each month, our editorial team invites women from around the world with joie de vivre to take over our Instagram and post images about what it means to live the Bella Grace life.

We have witnessed the beautiful poetry of living with these hosts, so let’s meet the women behind the photos featured in the collage above.

Writer and freelance creative Alisha Sommer opened up her world to us, capturing how she finds light and devours beauty in all its forms in the city of Chicago.

Over in Canada, still-life photographer Kim Klassen revealed that if you take a moment to stop and look around, you will see bits of lovely everywhere with her photos of weathered furniture and moments spent in her studio.

Photographer and silversmith Jillian Lukiwski took us on a bohemian adventure through the West Coast, pausing to peer up at the glow of a full moon where the darkness provides sweet dreams to one and all.

Southern Alberta photographer Schae Philpott showed us the moments that make her heart flutter, including her love for animals and the belief that all creatures deserve kindness.

Along the coast in Southern California, photographer Claire Brocato shared splashes of color found in blooming Bougainvillea and more lovely images inspired by a fondness for flowers, books, travel, and all things vintage.

We journeyed to Orange County with blogger and singer-songwriter Hayley Solano, a romantic with a penchant for falling in love with pieces of the past including her great great grandmother’s typewriter.

Midwest photographer and blogger Adwoa Osei showed us how to surrender to joy, with stunning photos of oceans, flowers, and selfies that captured moments of calm along with poetry that captures the quiet song from within.

Nina Hurum, a music producer and photographer based in Norway, let us glimpse inside her winter wonderland where photography freezes ordinary moments into a memory bank to treasure forever.

And this week our featured #BellaGraceGuest, Paige Leigh Reist, will be sharing her tales of magic as an artist and photographer living in YYC, Calgary.

Follow us on Instagram @bellagracemagazine for more everyday inspiration. Do you know someone who would be a perfect #BellaGraceGuest? Comment with their username — we would love to meet them!

The post Meet Our #BellaGraceGuest Instagram Hosts first appeared on Bella Grace Magazine.