“The online reaction to the attack of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has been significant, with many going on to Twitter and other sites to declare “Je Suis Charlie”. Many cartoonists have been using that slogan in drawings they have done in commemoration and solidarity.” – BBC News
It’s a bit hard to engage the brain with this… Words are never enough.
It is a hot and heavy 38C/101F in my local patch of Oz today, and my office is mighty toasty. But a fan on my desk and a bottle of cold water are suiting me just fine as I work on Dear Anonymous 3.
I love making zines, but DA has a little bit of extra special. I ‘let the muse take me’ when it comes to how I present the letters that are sent to me. The weird thing is that, with nearly every letter, an idea instantly pops into my head. Then it’s simply up to me to figure out how to put that image into the zine.
Happy Mail posts can go up on Tuesday… I live wildly like that. š
One little letter to show you today, but it’s so lovely that I couldn’t resist posting a couple pictures.
A while back, when I was still looking around for examples of zine reviews and such, I came across One Minute Zine Reviews. I found it merely days after the blog owner (DJ) had put up the post about closing up shop there.
I was a bit disappointed. Even so, I dug through his archives with pleasure and figured that I’d send him a letter of thanks for letting his archive of zine reviews remain ‘alive’ on the net.
This letter is his reply.
A close up (with better lighting) of the front of the card. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and I loved receiving it.
He also gets added to the list of people who have much better handwriting than I do. š
On another note, I received some lovely happy online mail as well. No pictures for those. I sent out a bunch of emails last night to anyone who had submitted to DA3 more than two months ago. I wanted to let them all know that DA3 is still happening, and that I am now shooting for the end of January (as I’ve had over half a dozen letters come in over the past couple of weeks).
I didn’t expect any emails back, so it was pretty awesome checking my email this morning.
Until the next post!
Yes, I’m one of those people who likes filling out surveys and such.
I have been a little distracted from the zine-ish things in my life (which is bound to happen sometimes). However, this is because I have been working on a project that is very, very close to my heart.
So while it’s not quite ready to be released into the wild (final proofing and whatnot), I am happy to scream from the roof announce sing while I tango say that it is complete! Anything from here on out will be tinkering.
If I have your interest, take a look after the more tag… (Not sure there is a more tag in feed readers…)
The zine will be posted on Tumblr (like And I Get To Tend The Rabbits! was) and put up to be downloaded for free online.
At badhouse we think that thereās a lot more we could all be doing as writers to be more social, more inclusive, and more supportive of each otherās art, so weāll be encouraging all contributors to get in contact with one another, and ultimately weāre going to try and build a real community around this zine and any others we put out in the future.
To honour this, the theme of this first zine will be ācommunityā. You can interpret this however you like. You can write about how communities can be positive, broken, shallow. You could send a photograph of a community. You can be abstract or literal. You can ignore the theme altogether if your work is exceptional enough!
If you make it, we want to see it! Poems, short stories, essays, visual art ā whatever! If it can be printed, submit it!
So if you want to get to know some fellow writers, be there to help badhouse take its first steps, and if youāve got something relevant lying around or have the time to put something relevant together, send it over to contact.badhouse@gmail.com
Submissions will close on January 9th, and we aim to have the zine out there by late January/early February.
Good luck!
Dear Anonymous has a rolling, open submission, so you can submit your letters at any time!
DA3 is on its way, and you still have time to get your letters in. These letters can be confessionals, but they can also be whatever you like them to be. Write to your life, write to your cat, write to your past or your futureā¦ Dear Anonymous is about writing the letters of the things you canāt say for whatever reason.
Basically, youāre right in the 1 ā 500 words range, but shorter is better. BUT, this zine is about expression, and I donāt want to force anyone to clamp down on their passion just for me. Iām flexible.
Send letters to theauthor at inkyblots.com If I donāt respond to you within a few days, comment here.
All contributors will receive a copy.
*** Do you have a call for submissions for your zine? Let me know!
How to Turn You Journal Into Your Best Friend, Your Life Coach, And a Visual Extravaganza
By Asphyxia
A6 – Single Sheet
https://www.etsy.com/shop/fixiesshelf
https://www.facebook.com/FixiesShelf
I bought this little lovely on Etsy partly because I am a newbie art journalist and partly because Asphyxia is in Melbourne. Score for learning stuff with cheaper postage.
The other reason that I bought this zine is because of Asphyxia’s art style, which you see on the front of the zine. There is something incredibly familiar about it, but I have yet to put my finger on exactly what it reminds me of. Either way, I think it looks great.
The first thing that I thought was neat about this zine is that it’s made from a single page. That in and of itself might not seem all that impressive, but it’s an A6. This means that the one sheet is an A3. This is the first time I’ve seen a zine printed out on an A3 and folded into an 8-page zine. I quite like the size.
The inside is mostly text, which is completely understandable given the amount of information packed into this zine. You definitely won’t be left wanting for instructional content. I did find myself wanting some sort of artistic flair inside, though. I want to make it clear that I definitely didn’t hold anything against the zine for focusing on text. Definitely not. But there was an opportunity to make the zine a ‘visual extravaganza’ like the journal you’re learning to create.
As for the actual subject matter, it’s excellent. She gets right to the point (no waffles here!*) and gets you on your way to getting more out of your journal.
*I thought about how she doesn’t waffle in her writing, and that became ‘no waffles!’ I have that makes a smidge of sense.
Yeah, I’ve become a tad bit obsessed with ‘Bokeh’. No more bokeh posting for at least a month!
Hehe.
Okay! So, it is the first day of a new year, and it also happens to be a Thursday. No review for today (if you hadn’t already guessed that), but things will be back to normal tomorrow.
Yes, as the post title suggests, I am in the midst of collecting my thought bubbles. I’m feeling pretty good and confident about what is happening here on SGZ with posting and such. I do, however, have two other blogs and a stack of zines I would like to create.
Dear Anonymous 3 is at the top of the list. I’ve had a few more submissions come in, so I’ve slipped back from being about halfway through. I’m still shooting for a January launch. There is also Don’t Call Me Cupcake 2 coming up after that as well as a SOOPER SEKRET ZEEN that I am so excited about.
If I had only that, then things would be going a lot faster. But I also am in the middle of designing a 2015 planner that will also help people with mental illness (focusing on the up/down nature of bipolar) track their moods and mood influencers. (That is too a word, WordPress!) The 2014 holiday season really packed a punch this year, so this planner is for me. I am planning on releasing a less Nyx-specific planner/mood tracker a bit later.
So that’s what I’m up to and what I’m thinking about. I don’t know if anyone actually likes these posts (besides me because I am such a voyeur interested in people’s lives). It does feel good to sit down and sort it all out in my head, though.
Upwards and onwards!
I feel like I should be writing some sort of 2014 wrap-up, but… I have nothing. I’m very happy to be back into zine things as of the past few months, and I want to thank you all for being awesome and supporting my passion.
So, with my newbie PhotoShop techniques, I wish you…
