Month: December 2016

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Happy Mail!

I nearly called this sneezy happy mail. Wanderer and Skunk are kicking up plenty of dust getting the yard sorted for the rental inspection (groan) later this week.

There has been all kinds of colourful happy mail brightening up my post box this week.

new-zine-friend-happy-mail

This zine is about Carrie’s reaction to the US Presidential election. This was part of the ZineWriMo groove, and she was kind enough to do a trade with me.

property-zine-happy-mail

Woo! My copy of Property Zine has arrived – and I’m in it! I haven’t submitted anything to a zine for ages (shame shame), and they accepted an art submission from me. I’m so excited. Not only that, they also included the actual page I’m on separately as well. Love it.

dystatic-happy-mail

Dystatic mail! Dystatic is from Canada and sends the most colourful mail. This envelope of goodness even included a few snowflakes, just in case Australia’s warm December had me forgetting what it’s like to live in a winter wonderland.

I’ve definitely not forgotten.

The holiday mail crush is well and truly on. I tried to mail out everything I needed to early, so I’m hoping everything has arrived. If not, please be patient. Things don’t usually calm down fully until the first part of January.

Thank you so much for sharing this bit of mail goodness with me. More to come!

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ZineWriMo Wrap Up (& Life)

Forgive me the later than usual post. So much happening over here!

zinewrimo

ZineWriMo!

I know it’s the 5th of December, but I still wanted to do a sort of wrap up sort of shout out for ZineWriMo (Facebook). November ended up being complicated in a lot of ways, including revamping my asthma attack plan (yeah, asthma ninja skills) because the hayfever hit HARD this year.

ZineWriMo was a really nice bit of extra motivation, and the Facebook group is so, so supportive. There are people there who want to keep the good times going even though November is over, so definitely still check it out if you’re interested.

I am very happy to have finished Don’t Call Me Cupcake 6 and Hairy. (Still a bit weird about that title, but some things name themselves.)

zine-ninja-loves-adelaides-parks

Wanderer and I had another trip over to Adelaide (about a 7 hour drive) that involved driving over on Wednesday and driving back on Thursday. We anticipated it taking a lot out of us, but it was even more full on than we thought.

The good news is that we’re one big step closer to moving to South Australia next year. If everything works out, this will be the last spring lung assault I will have to deal with. (Bendigo is amazing, but I can’t breathe…)

We did get to one appointment way early, though, so we chilled out in the park for a while. Zine Ninja loved it.

jacaranda-tree

Purple tree! There are so many jacarandas around Adelaide. It makes me so happy. (I love purple.)

rainbow-flower

We stopped at the market for breakfast, and I found these gorgeous flowers! How cool are they?! And yes, they are real flowers, in water. Gorgeous.

There will be a lot more to come tomorrow.

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Call for Calls for Submissions: Spread the Word About Your Zine!

Zine Calls for Submissions

Share your call for submissions, announce your newest zine, let people know you are crowdfunding… If you have an announcement to make that has to do with zines, do it here! Sea Green Zines wants to be your megaphone. Even better? It’s an automatic shout out on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr when you advertise here.

Big fuzzy love hearts to those who have a .jpg call for subs, but all are welcome. Get in touch by emailing theauthor[at]inkyblots.com or comment below.

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Zine Review: Tasteful Insect Nudes

tasteful-insect-nudes

Tasteful Insect Nudes
Steve Steiner
Mulletturtle.storenvy.com

If insects had adult classifieds, then they would look like this zine.

I can’t help but laugh whenever I think about this zine (look at this zine, pick up this zine, show this zine to other people) – for all the right reasons. Featuring up-close-and-personal insect ‘nudes’, you may feel a little bit squeamish and amused at the same time when reading these ads for insect companionship.

What’s even better is that it’s so easy to imagine a game show host-like voice announcing these ‘sexy bachelors and bachelorettes’.

This zine is an excellent antidote to taking yourself or life too seriously.

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Zine Review: Big Tight #6: Below Zee Level

big-tight-6-zine

Big Tight #6: Below Zee Level
Big Tight
https://bigtightzine.wordpress.com/
m.murasovs@gmail.com
IG: big_tight.zine

Big Tight #6: Below Zee Level combines a travel zine with a photography zine with a dash of humour that takes you on a bike journey to Amsterdam. Big Tight tells a tale of bugs, slugs, helpful Dutch people, and a lot of rain.

Not one to babble on, Bit Tight is almost poetic at moments in taking out the snippets of the journey shared in this zine. There is plenty to read here, but the amount of writing feels like a good balance to the pictures included.

The humour I mentioned is subtle and somewhat dry, but I think that makes it all the better. It’s unexpected and pops up only often enough to keep you smiling. My favourite was part of a description to go along with one of the pictures:

“the Oosterscheldekering, menacing in views and pronunciation…”

I was really impressed with the quality of this zine. It’s lovely to look at and to touch. The cover is made of a slightly-thicker glossy paper while the inside is made of similar quality paper that is matte instead of glossy.

If magazines were produced like that, I might actually buy them.

I don’t want to mention my one little niggle, but I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t: Spelling/typos. I don’t want to be the grammar police or anything like that, but it is probably a good idea to get a second set of eyes looking over your work. (A lesson I’m currently learning, believe me.) I know things in the zine community are very relaxed, but there are words in there that I’m not sure if I don’t know because they are foreign or if I’m just not clicking onto something that has a typo in it.

All up, it’s a small thing in the grand scheme of it all. From its production quality to the journey held inside, this zine has been an enjoyable one to read and experience. I will definitely be opening its pages again.