I first wrote this post 12/15/2009, it addresses such a great question of “what’s a zine?”. Since I’m knee deep in working on the next issue and thinking zine-y things, I thought I’d update it, and re-share it with you. Enjoy!
I love getting questions about zines. It’s one of my favorite topics since I spend a lot of time each month making one! “Lydia, Clueless Crafter” asked the question:
“You’ve got a really sweet blog going here. I hope I’m not cluttering it up by asking some silly questions. What is a Zine and what is published in them? Are they handmade and is all the content generated by the maker? Thanks for getting back to me!”
That’s a great question, and not clutter at all :) Read more →
I’ve had so much fun making many many paintings this past weekend using the Assisted Painting method I showed you all in the last issue of the zine. In a few hours time I whipped up a batch of 5 paintings. They are all pretty small (4×4″ each) and I’m going to slip them in the ArtVend machine at the local coop here in town. It’s been a really fun series to work on and hopefully they’ll sell and I’ll just HAVE to make some more :)
I was able to source some great images using a few public domain image searches, which are pretty handy for all kinds of projects we art and craft folk like to work on. Not just Assisted Paintings, but also just about any kind of paper art. You can also use them to cut out silhouettes for fabric decals and even to be the basis for a knit chart or embroidery pattern.
Me, I opted for a winter theme and searched for “winter” which then got me on the trail of dog sleds and snow cats somehow. I freaking love this picture of this fat cat. And how can I not think of Jak when I see these dogs in the snow.
If you go to Flickr, you can use their advanced search tool to include only images that have a creative commons license:
And always, make sure to do your research and make sure the images you are using – especially if you are using them for commercial purposes – are actually public domain. Unfortunately, just because someone states it is, doesn’t make it so.
The newest issue of the Leftover Christmas MiniZine is in the shop! In this month’s issue we make ornaments together. I talk a bit about silhouettes, felt, and cut paper. The zine contains instructions for making your own ornaments in bulk from silhouettes and includes an my own original design for a partridge in a pear tree–my favorite ornament yet!
Each Christmas I struggle to get my handmade gifts out the door. I’ve become determined to completely change this trend by making one set of handmade gifts a month. I work in the dozens with assembly line-like sensibilities.
This is the second installation of the Leftover Christmas series of zines which will run January to December of this year. New issues will be available in the shop once a month around the same time as new Craft Leftovers Monthly issues.
This month we are making scrap piles worth of ornaments from leftover felt, paper, and ribbon! Grab your hot glue gun and let’s get our Christmas crafting done!
Winter is always the season of weaving for me. With my overly large floor room, it’s the only time of year that I’m okay being tucked into my basement studio for hours shuttling back and forth. I turn on the space heater, bring down a pot of tea and put it on my candle warmer. [...]
What people are saying