I want to bring your objects to life! To submit, send an email to hello@istolethisfromyou.com with the following:

• Text. Approximately 10 sentences, or 100 words, or less, is preferred. The more tightly edited, the better, because I will be writing out everything by hand. In terms of voice or style, anything goes! It’s your story, after all. Funny, sad, bitter, gritty, moving, but above all, honest — I want it all! Take a peek at past entries and you’ll get a good sense.
• Photo. Please email me a photo of the object you’re writing about — this will be the basis of the artwork I do for your story. It can be any photo — for example, if your object is a hat, it can be a photo of just the hat alone, or you can be wearing it… If it’s a coffee table in a room, it can be a photo of the whole room, etc. And lo-res photos (preferably jpg) are fine. As long as the image is large enough for me to see the object and draw it, that’s all I need. Also, please be sure that the photo you send me belongs to you and that you have the rights to distribute it. By submitting your photo to me, you are giving me full permission to use it as the basis for my drawing and this project. If you don’t have a photo, that’s ok too, as long as it’s something I can easily envision.
• Credit. Please also include your name, and website if you’d like, exactly as you would like it to appear, as I will credit your story to you and will happily link to your site or portfolio or blog, etc.! Of course, you can always remain anonymous too, if you’d prefer.

Please understand that due to the volume of submissions, and the amount of time it takes me to make each drawing, it can take several months before your post is up, so I truly appreciate your patience! Also, due to volume, I regret that I will not be able to publish every story that is submitted. Preference will be given to those whose stories fit the theme, have followed the guidelines above, and are original (after a while, all the “stolen heart” stories start to sound too similar…). But be assured, I will definitely try my best to crank out as many as I can!

While I will use the photo you send me for reference and inspiration, I will take liberties to draw your object as I see fit (and I thank you in advance for giving me the creative freedom). I also reserve the right to edit submissions for grammar, length, flow and clarity.

All images and content submitted or posted here are property of the I Stole This From You project, all rights reserved. That said, blogging and sharing is great and I deeply love it and highly encourage it — but please be nice and do not alter the work or remove the watermark. Even better, link back to this site! And finally, and most obviously, we do not in any way condone or approve of stealing. I mean, really.

Many thanks for participating!