Month: November 2017

Hello and happy weekend, zine friends! It is picture perfect here in the land of South Australia. A beautiful spring day to share your plans and/or goals for the month.

In the world of NaNoWriMo, people tend to describe themselves as planners or pantsers. The latter basically means diving in without a plan and just going for it (by the seat of your pants).

Whether your plan is to make a zine, write a novel, or get the house clean, I think it’s good to figure out what kind of person you are. For the most part, I’m a pantser who likes goals. Plans are great, but my mental and physical health demand flexibility. I get too irritated when things don’t go to plan to actually make firm plans.

But that’s just me! Take some time to get a sense of what you like to do.

Before I share my goals, I want to mention that I am also the kind of person to try to do all the things and then be happy with whatever it is I end up with. So please don’t feel like you need to have anything beyond ‘make/finish a zine’ as a goal.

Here are my goals:

*Complete ZineWriMo – don’t miss any days
*Complete all ZineWriMo mini-zines
*Complete mini-zines: Little Reminders 2, Little Reminders 3
*Complete all writing for Don’t Call Me Cupcake 9

Bonus round:

*Complete Dear Anonymous 7
*Complete Don’t Call Me Cupcake 9
*Complete Don’t Call Me Cupcake 9.5

That’s me. It feels like a mountain to deal with at the moment, but we’ll see how things go. Are you sharing your plans and/or goals? Leave a link in the comments so we can all support each other.

Until tomorrow!

G’day zine friends, and welcome to day three of ZineWriMo. I hope this fine day finds you well and ready for some hands on zine stuff.

It’s time to make some mini-zine blanks!

Mini-zines have a special place in my heart because they tend to be easy(easier) to make, faster to make, and make for fun trades. They’re light, too, which can help save on postage.

I count anything smaller than A5 as a mini-zine, but for the purposes of today’s prompt, I’m talking about the one-page mini that leaves you with eight ‘pages’ – including front and back ‘covers’ – to use. If you’re feeling sneaky, you could use the inside as well, but that’s up to you.

I recommend making six if you want to get ahead and have blanks ready for all the ‘make a zine’ prompts this month. But there’s no reason you can’t make fifty, make one, or make different sized zines for the ‘make a zine’ prompts. I made eight only because that’s how many sheets of paper I pulled out of the packet. (Plus I know I need at least three for zines I plan to make in the near future.)

If you aren’t sure how to make a one-page mini-zine or would like to dust off your mini-zine skills, check out the Zine Videos Page. There are how-to videos (the second video on the page will show you one folding method) as well as mini documentaries about zines and the like.

Enjoy!

Hello and happy Thursday, zine friends!

It’s day two of ZineWriMo and, if you hadn’t noticed, I went for the slow rev up to actually making zines this month. Get a firm foundation and all that good stuff before jumping right into making things. (Of course, that doesn’t stop you from jumping right in and making things.)

Today the prompt is brainstorming zine ideas.

“What do I make a zine about?” is a variation of a very common question for creatives. There can be so much energy, but with no idea what to do with that energy, things can get frustrating. Hence brainstorming ideas.

How you choose to brainstorm is up to you. There are heaps of possibilities out there from mind mapping to writing down everything you can think of as fast as you can. You may want to write down or print out 51 Ideas for Your Next Zine as a way of getting started.

There’s no wrong way to do it so long as you find your way to inspiration.

How you choose to store your ideas also comes with many options. One fun idea I’ve always liked is the idea jar where you write down your ideas on slips of paper and stick them in a jar (or a box):

Whenever you’re ready to start a new project but aren’t sure what to do, you can pluck an idea or two out of the jar to get you started.

This is my version of the idea jar. It goes with me wherever I go and contains all the strange and wonderful (and not so wonderful) ideas for what to make zines about. Sometimes it’s an idea for a whole zine, while other things are rough sketches or small blurbs to include somewhere. Either way, this little notebook means I don’t forget any ideas I have.

I already have a pretty huge list written down today, so I don’t think I’ll be looking for new zine ideas anytime soon!

Be sure to share links to your posts/pictures showing off your ideas and where you keep them.

Hello, zine friends!

I’m popping in a little early today with an extra post to explain something a few people asked me about. On day 11 for the daily activities the activity is to make a media box. Inquiring minds want to know:

What’s a Media Box?

A media box doesn’t have to be a box. Basically, it’s a place to keep all the cut and paste bits and pieces that go with and inspire your zine creating. You may keep…

Washi tape

Stickers

Magazine/Newspaper Clippings

Die Cuts

Or all matter of things that you use in creating your zines, collages, mail art, so on and so forth.

You can even use those things to decorate whatever container you use to hold those things.

I hope that answers the question. 🙂 I’ll be back in a few with today’s prompt as well as today’s zine review!

Hello, hello, friends, and welcome to the very first day of ZineWriMo 2017!

I hope the first day of this fine month finds you well and feeling creative. I’m still in mostly-drowsy land, but I am excited about the month to come. I have so many zine ideas that I can hardly keep up with writing them down.

However, today is about connecting with fellow zinemakers!

It’s all too easy to feel alone when you are a creative person. Especially when your art requires spending long periods of time alone. You’re not alone, and it’s important that you have spaces that help remind you of that.

When it comes to zines and ZineWriMo, there are a few spaces to enjoy:

*ZineWriMo Facebook Group
*Zines A Go Go Facebook Group
*We Make Zines
*Pen Fight Distro Community Board (especially if you’d like to do trades or will find calls for submissions inspiring)

You can also search for the hashtag #zinewrimo on Twitter or Instagram
Or the hashtag #zines for a broader search on Twitter or Instagram

Also, it’s more of a directory rather than a place to chat, it’s still worth checking out the good ol’ Zine Wiki to see who and what you can find there.

If you’d like to connect with me, I’m on:
Twitter
Instagram
WeMakeZines
Tumblr

These are just my hangouts, though. I’m sure there are heaps of other places, so be sure to share them in the comments.