I had the opportunity this past week to do an interview via email with Marcie McGoldrick. She is the Editorial Director for Holiday and Crafts at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Long title, dream job.

Just last month, they launched a new blog at MarthaStewart.com called The Crafts Dept. Through that blog we are able to see some of the behind the scenes happenings and even see what some of the employees like to work on in their spare time. One of my favorite posts was done by the TV staff. They did a post about the inspiration behind some of the crafts. This blog is a daily read for me and I’m sure that all of you will love it, too! Tell them Christy Nelson sent you!

Have you ever wondered how they choose products to feature in their magazines, books, and television spots? Marcie explained that each of them are inspired by different things like color, texture, etc… but what it ultimately comes down to are three things. They need to be useful, well made, and beautiful.

When I asked Marcie about the economy and what she thinks about the near future of arts and crafts, she remains optimistic. I wholeheartedly agree with her there. Marcie wrote, “There is so much value in learning a new craft. There is the activity itself, the learning that takes place and the physical reward of the final outcome.”

Marcie is an accomplished artist in her own right. On doing my research for this interview, I happened upon her new etsy shop. Her craft of choice is ceramics and it looks like her work is rubbing off on her own shop. The items stocked there are useful, well made, and beautiful.

A new book, Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Crafts, is coming out on March 31st. I’ll have more information about the book and review of it next Tuesday. Oh, and did I mention that I’ll be giving away FIVE copies of the book to some lucky readers? When I asked Marcie about one of her greatest accomplishments, she mentioned being a part of The Crafts Dept. and this book. I imagine this was quite a task to gather all of the great information included in this resource book.

Before I finished with my questions, I had to ask Marcie what she might include if she were in charge of filling up the Christy’s Craft Challenge packets. Her picks include some of her favorite tools.

1. Cutting mat–once you have one you can’t craft without it.

2. Bone folder–essential for any paper crafter.

3. Screw punch– it is a really versatile tool- you can use it like a regular hole punch (in 3 sizes) and it can also punch holes anywhere on a piece of paper.

4. Brown craft paper

5. Wax twine in a bright color

I hope you will all take the time to go and check out what’s new at The Crafts Dept. and you can even follow them on twitter.