Hi folks,
Welcome back to my newsletter! I hope everyone is winding down from a dynamite summer, I know I am. I got to go to the beach with my partner in August, and overcame my fear of the ocean. Hurrah! It felt truly spiritual to be held by her, feeling weightless and enjoying the swells, all while quoting I Think You Should Leave on a loop.
I also spent time at the local public pool this summer, so I was really feeling a return to my water baby roots. A gender affirming swimsuit helps, too! One day while sitting by the pool, I decided to put my phone down and take a look at the reading material I’d brought. As I flipped through the latest issue of Broken Pencil Magazine, my jaw literally dropped. They reviewed my Front Bottoms anti-fanzine I’m Never Wearing These Socks Again!
I had no idea that was going to be in there. I rode that high for a few days and made my first meme before finding out that the magazine’s founder had recently made a tweet denying the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Suffice it to say, I’m no longer a subscriber of Broken Pencil, but I suppose I can still be proud of getting that review. (Scroll to the bottom of this post to read a nice review I got on Etsy.)
In other news, my collage minizine kits have been a big hit online as well as in person, and I just got around to restocking them. I love when someone comes up to my table and buys multiple kits to give to friends or family members. What a fun way to spend time together with loved ones, cutting and pasting and expressing your creativity! I wonder if I was a kid or teen these days, if I’d appreciate getting a zine kit in the mail from a relative. What do you think? Leave me a comment!
So, although I’ve never partaken in Minizine July, I felt like joining in on my friend Miquela’s Zine Camp in August! Historically, I am not a huge fan of working from prompts, but I was proud of myself for sticking to this challenge. I did four out of the five prompts, only skipping the week I was away. I went in knowing I wanted to practice quarter size zines, and made Dado’s Summer Vacation in that format. I should have made Summer Memories But Make It Literary a quarter size, but hindsight is always 20/20. It got away from me and ended up being a double legal mini. If you’d like to read about my favorite summer reads, that one’s available in my shop.
I also made my first printed flexagon; I’ve only ever made them blank and collaged onto them before. It was for the Arts and Crafts prompt, so being artsnfartsnkris, I obviously had to highlight the scene from Wet Hot American Summer that gave me my namesake. If you’ve never seen Bre’s flexagons, check them out! I learned how to make flexies from a Zine Lunch workshop Bre taught.
Speaking of workshops, I’ve got some exciting things in the works for this Fall, so stay tuned…
Thanks so much for reading, and here’s where you can catch me tabling next! Stay safe, friend.
Love,
Kris (they/she)
