Why is sitting down to write a newsletter after a month away always so daunting? Hi guys, and welcome back to the substack of Kris K, also known as artsnfartsnkris. I hope February finds you safe and warm. Here in the Northeast, I’m patiently waiting for the foot of snow to melt and enjoying food very much so, as well as my Comfy. I even had my first cup of hot chocolate of the season the other day. Fun fact, I’m not a hot beverage drinker. I don’t drink coffee or tea. As a kid I remember we always had those packets for mixing up hot cider. I believe I enjoyed them.
When I come in from a frigid walk, usually it’s my legs that need warming up. So I take off my sweaty clothes and change into fresh sweats, plop on the couch in my Comfy, and move the heating pad around on my legs and feet for the next hour. How do you warm up? I also reach for comfort food, which for me is salty and crunchy. It’s been a real winter of snacking over here. I wish fruits and veggies hit the same.
So I’ve spent most of the time since I last wrote feeling more like I was still on a break. And it felt nice. I contemplated taking this year easy, easier than the past few, and doing less traveling and zine fest tabling. Getting off IG had me in a weird place, contemplating my next move. A friend, trying to help me with my feelings that I was wasting time and needed to kick my butt into gear, suggested just resting on my laurels for a while. After marinating on it, I agreed. I’ve been pretty prolific in the past with my creative work. I deserve some time off. Or at least time without expectation.
Since getting off IG, I had an idea to make a monthly perzine, kind of like an analog newsletter where I share what’s on my mind and what I’m up to, like the photos I would normally share on social media. That’s what I spent a few weeks working on in January. I got some fun craft paper and junk journal pads at 5 Below, so I used colorful patterns to kind of go along with my theme of tamagotchis. I got a Tamagotchi Paradise for Christmas and have been pretty obsessed! My goal with this project is to not be too precious. If it doesn’t come out perfect, no big deal. Imperfections are human, and this is a zine after all. I’m just working on getting stuff out, and sharing my life. I think it’s really important to document our experiences during these unprecedented times of social upheaval.
And here is where I pop in to announce that I’ve started a Patreon! If you’d like to support me in my non-social-media-year adventure, you can receive a monthly perzine in your mailbox for just $5! I also have an option for a tip with no physical reward. This is perfect if you’re a fan of my work, enjoy my writing, but don’t have room for any more zines in your apartment right now. You are free to subscribe for one or two months and cancel, or dip in and out. I appreciate any and all support, even if that’s just sharing this newsletter with a friend. I plan to share behind the scenes photos and process posts, as well as who knows what else? This is an experiment.
January’s zine is called Tiddies & Tamagotchis. These were my two hyperfixations, playing with my Tamagotchi and researching gender affirming top surgery. You can read about the beginning of that journey, the healing power I find in arts and crafts, what books I'm reading, state violence + resistance feels, and a playlist in the January zine.
This time of year, I make an extra effort to get out and be around people because I usually end up feeling more isolated what with the harsh weather and being Covid conscious/not dining indoors. I attended two arts and crafts workshops in January and have also been enjoying a journaling club at a local library. I tend to think of journaling as a solo activity, but Gina from The Someday Society offers great prompts to get you reflecting on your life and what positive changes you might want to make. We wrap up with a short meditation led by Nikki, and it all just really starts off my weekend in such a lovely way. What a breath of fresh!
I attend support groups and volunteer with NEPA Stands Up, so my schedule ends up pretty full sometimes. I reacted by surprise when my therapist told me that I was a very social person last year. I hadn’t thought of myself as a social person for a long time. But it’s true, I no longer hang around the house and wonder why I feel lonely. I hope you are finding the time and energy to engage with your community and partake in activities that you find restorative. What’ve you been filling your time with? Leave me a comment!
I’ve been watching a lot of movies, reading books, and enjoying cooking nourishing meals for myself. I figured out how to migrate my Goodreads data over to Storygraph, so feel free to friend me on there! I love to see what other people like reading, and collect books for my “to read” pile like Pokemon. Honestly, I love to see what other folks are watching, too, so why not add me on letterboxd?
With surgery on the books, and not knowing how my body will do during recovery, I’m not going to be vending Montclair or Lancaster Zine Fests this year. I’ve been dying to get back to Lancaster to check out their creative reuse store tbh, but I really just want to take it easy and see how everything pans out this year. I do have one event on the calendar, EPTEP’s Trans Art Market in Bethlehem PA on March 8th! If you’re in the area, stop by and check it out.
I recently made a batch of Collage Zine Kits, some available in my shop and dropped some available for purchase at Pigeon Post in Scranton. I found my little teen Kris cut-outs, which were kept in envelopes labeled “bands”, “hot guys”, and an unlabeled one full of Archie comic panels, a Little Mermaid coloring page and some internet print-outs LOL. A few of these 90s gems can be found in those kits, you’re welcome. Each kit comes with a plethora of magazine and ephemera scraps, crafting papers, a pre-folded minizine, stickers, word + phrase cut-outs, and a gluestick and washi tape. These are great starter kits for a collage practice, junk journaling and of course cutting and pasting all over that minizine!
That’s all from me this time, friends! Thank you for reading and being a subscriber. At this point I plan to drop into IG (on the computer so as to not fall into the scroll trap on my phone) once in a while to share stuff that’s important. And if anything’s pressing, I do want to make small posts here with announcements as well. Talk to you soon.
Appreciate you,
Kris (they/them/theirs)
