Posts

Posted on

Sirius Rising

Various life things have made zine making/reading/drooling/etc lower on the priority list than I like. But, I have managed to start putting together my first perzine Sirius Rising.

I wish I had a strong theme to it, but really, it’s just a mash up of things. Where I am in my life seems like such a mash up anyway, so at least it is reflective of something. There are bits and bobs of plenty of stuff, separated out into sections of past, present and future. I wish I could say I know where I’m going with the rest of it, but I truly have no idea.

More to come…

Posted on

Call for Submissions! Dear Anonymous 2

Dear Anonymous 2 is on its way and I’m once again looking for letters!

Lessons learned from DA1:

*250 words or less is good (for one page)
*500 words or less is good (for two pages)

So, basically, you’re right in the 1 – 500 words range, but shorter is better. BUT, this blog is about expression, and I don’t want to force anyone to clamp down on their passion just for me. I’m flexible. 🙂

As for content, 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 future… Dear Anonymous is about writing the letters of the things you can’t say for whatever reason.

Send letters to theauthor at inkyblots.com

All contributors will receive a copy.

Posted on

First Letter of Dear Anonymous V2

I promised myself some ‘relax and zine’ time this weekend, and I actually managed to keep the promise to myself. Here be the first letter laid out for Dear Anonymous V2.

Of course, it won’t look this way once it’s has been copied, but I sort of like this original with ends sticking out because I only stuck down enough for it to stay put in the copy machine.

With Dear Anonymous, I always start with the letter that goes in the middle of the edition – what I think of as the ‘feature letter’ because it stirs the most emotions in me. This letter – actually three pages long – is a bit different from the last issue. People who have DA V1 will see that I’ve changed things up a bit…

When I receive a letter for Dear Anonymous, I usually immediately ‘see’ what should go with the letter. The pictures that accompanied the letters in DA 1 were ‘flashes of insight’ that I followed. Sometimes much to my annoyance, as I am in no way good at drawing. But the flashes never failed to come, so I went with them.

The moment I read this letter, I knew I wouldn’t be handwriting it. I couldn’t. I couldn’t add my personal flavour or touch because it needed to stand on it’s own. This letter needed to be heard. I still consider the arrangement of the words to be art, but secondary to the letter as it should be.

When you read the letter, you’ll understand why.

So here it is, a peek into DA2 along with a little insight into the process that goes into putting Dear Anonymous together. This issue is going to be bigger and a bit different to DA1, so I hope you enjoy.

And, as always, I’m looking for submissions.

Posted on

Silence Will Fall

Double points if you know where that quote is from…

Instead of posting one of those ‘oh, I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while’ things that no one likes, I’m just going to say, ‘Hey! Still around!’

I’ve done a smidge of updating here with new pages up top and a new link in the side. If I know you (in any way, really, even through ‘we make zines’) and you think I need to have your link in my sidebar, let me know.

More reviews, news and purple mouse coming up soon.

Posted on

Call for Submissions! Dear Anonymous 2

Dear Anonymous 2 is on its way and I’m once again looking for letters!

Lessons learned from DA1:

*250 words or less is good (for one page)
*500 words or less is good (for two pages)

So, basically, you’re right in the 1 – 500 words range, but shorter is better. BUT, this blog is about expression, and I don’t want to force anyone to clamp down on their passion just for me. I’m flexible. 🙂

As for content, 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 future… Dear Anonymous is about writing the letters of the things you can’t say for whatever reason.

Send letters to theauthor at inkyblots.com

All contributors will receive a copy.

Posted on

Zines! Glorious Zine (Reviews)!

I was thinking about the other times I’ve mentioned other people’s zines that I have bought/received here, and it seemed to me like they were mini-reviews. Nothing flash, just a bit and bob and a link to buy.

So I’m thinking I should keep up with that, eh?

I went to Sticky Institute in Melbourne a little while ago, but I’m only just getting to talk about my gloooorious purchases. (Okay, it was hot, I was nervous, and I had somewhere to be – but it was still glorious!)

I can’t seem to find all the zines I bought there on the Sticky, but I’ll put up whatever buy links I find.

Conspiracy Corner #1


Buy here!

I bought this zine for my bloke in my effort to convert him to the zine side. We’re a bit ‘into’ conspiracies, so none of what was in the zine was new to us, but it is CC #1 and I imagine it would be a good introduction for people who aren’t as familiar. The few typos were a bit distracting just because my mind works like that, but I wouldn’t say that was a reason not to get it.

I always find it amusing when I ‘just so happen’ to stumble across something that is so much bigger than I first thought it to be.

This is a zine I got purely because it looked interesting and different. I say ‘got’ because, unknown to me, this is a free zine that had been appearing in Melbourne for years. Read the description on the sell page because it’ll do a better job, but this was a letter in a paper bag. The letter was beautiful and somehow strange. I’m glad I got it, though. I am thinking about saving for the anthology (also on the linked page).

How to write a Mills & Boon-esque bodice ripper novel


Buy it from Sticky! (scroll down)

This zine wins the award for first zine to make me laugh out loud. This zine is a tongue-in-cheek guide to writing your bodice-ripper romance novel which, frankly, is a guide in writing the worst kind of romance possible. With quotes like “But make certain to never choose names that reek of boganess (‘Tayla’, for example). If you do you quash your chances of achieving an educated audience while undermining the aspirational delusions of bogan readers everywhere…”, you’re not going to get much better. Highly entertaining even on second and third reads.

Instructions for surviving the zombie apocalypse: in rhyming couplets


Buy it here! (scroll down)

So simple yet so funny! I absolutely love this zine. The beauty comes in its simplicity and just goes to show that zines can be about anything. I just have to wonder how the creator ever thought of rhyming couplets for zombie survival instructions. Haha. Love it.

Posted on

Dear Anonymous & The Perfect Pocket Guinness Guide

I am so happy to have finished my first zines and have them out there in the world. Today I sent out a stack of envelopes to contributors, trades and some surprises for sendsomething.net. Both are available at my etsy shop, but I think most of this first print run will go on trades and such. Haha. I don’t mind that at all. I need to stock up my zine collection!

I’m in that weird moment now where I’m thinking ‘what’s next…?’ as far as my next zine goes. I’ll put a formal call for submissions for Dear Anonymous V2 soon, but I’d like to work on something else as well.

But, until I decide what’s what, pictures!

Purple moose loves Guinness and The Perfect Pocket Guinness Guide.

Posted on

New Etsy Shop!

I’m running late with a heap of things (including updates here), but I do have a quick announcement:

I have an etsy shop! Woo hoo!

My etsy shop: OzButterfly

Posted on

Off to Sticky!

We’re heading off to Sticky Institute in Melbourne (amongst other places) in mere minutes! Purple moose is coming along for the fun and I have heaps to talk about and will have heaps of pictures when we’re back.

Posted on

Dear Anonymous V1 Sneak Peak

This is a page I finished that is simple, but I love it. It’s less serious than a lot of the letters.

I didn’t get to work on things last night because puppy – by accident – sunk his tooth into my thumb. It seems find today, though, so if I can just get the scanner working, I should be right to go for sending volume one out next week.

I already have letters for volume two, so keep sending those letters in! Volume two is probably going to be done on the computer instead of being handwritten like this one. Mostly to save time and because my mad drawing skillz are severly lacking.