From the Compost Heap header. A pencil style illustration of a compost heap with flowers and plants growing around it. A bee buzzes by and a white rabbit hops by.

  • “How to Make a Zine” ✂️

    Black and white photograph of Make a Zine zine using vintage text and an illustrated pointing hand. Visible text reads: What is a zine? A zine is a handmade magazine. Usually about a specific topic. Say Something. Share it. You can share physical or digital copie. Post on a blog or make photocopies to trade or sell. Leave copies in little free libraries or send to zine archives.

    I made this zine for the NWA Maker Faire earlier this month. It’s a single sheet monochromatic zine that tells you how to get started if you’re brand new to zines.

    You can download a copy and print your own here.

    If you’d rather order a copy they are also stocked in my shop.

    August zine subscribers will be receiving a copy of How to Make a Zine along with September’s Hope zine. Thanks for your patience while I took compassionate leave last month.

    Read more: “How to Make a Zine” ✂️

  • Free Printable – “How to Make a Zine”

    Share far & wide to forge a new generation of zinesters.

    You’re free to share digitally or print your own copies to give away.

    Download

    This zine is designed to be printed double sided on US Letter paper and folded in half.

    Every printer is different so you’ll have to investigate how to print double sided on yours.

    If you’d rather order a copy from me I have several zines in my shop.

    Read more: Free Printable – “How to Make a Zine”

  • Hope Zine

    Thanks to everyone who contributed their art and words to this issue.

    Last month we had a death in the family and I took compassionate leave. I’ve been planning to do an annual collaborative zine so I opened up submissions to my newsletter subscribers.

    Artists are credited below. The cover photograph and stamped letters are my own.

    Half page zine with stamped letterpress title: Hope. A photograph of a delicate dried yellow leaf stem lays across the cover.
    Sunset watercolor painting with red, yellow and blue across from p poem. Sunset Walk To Holy Island After Megan Fernandes Late May. The damp North-East. Honeyed sun coming to rest along the sea bed. Sapphire skies impasto dried, supported by clustered clouds. Light curling around my heart, along with the galumping cries of grey seals gathering - gathering with light in my heart. dr.sheree mack

    dr. sheree mack (UK)

    livingwildstudios.com

    Nicole Madonna (Pennsylvania, USA)

    IG @nikkymadonna

    Illustration of a shovel hovering above ground with a red ribbow around it reads: Dig deep and trust there is something worth finding. Across the page is text: Growing up we always used to wish on seeds because when they blew in the wind they would go to the fairies to make the wish come true. At some point when I was little I thought the seeds were fairies. Either way, seeing them now still makes me feel hopeful because it feels like a chance for something new. And a colored pencil illustration of a closed dandelion seed head.

    Gracie Klumpp (Maine, USA)

    gracieklumpp.com

    Ashley Smart (San Francisco, CA)

    IG @questioninglines

    Blue and pink texture fill the left page in an abstract artwork. The right is a poem. The Table A woman puts her hopes on the table The horizon goes next to her keys A dash of lemon, a squeeze of lime A first German vowel She puts on the people she has loved The contours of a map On goes the pencils and books she used earlier in the day She catches a glimpse of the sun And that goes next to the warmth of the ocean current She puts on a bun and some honey Some fresh tea from the pot She sits next to a window, next to an oak tree Her hopes came back As the blackbird sings

    Emma Del Ray (South Carolina, USA)

    emmadelrey.substack.com

    Dionne Lackey (Edinburgh, Scotland)

    vivienstudio.blog

    Sticker laying on back of zine depicts a drawing of an inch worm. It says seasons change an inch at a time. The zine itself says Kindle Curiosity Zine. sarahshotts.com

    Devon Bennett (Colorado, USA)

    pencilsnparsley.com

    Because of the collaborative nature of this zine this is a limited run only available for zine subscribers during the month of September.

    It will not be added to my shop.

    Read more: Hope Zine
  • Read more: untitled post 156079561

  • Maker Faire, Autism & New Books

    Maker Fair Check In

    Last weekend I ran a “Make a Zine” booth at the NWA Maker Faire.

    I brought supplies to make zines and also had a display of zines and books for sale. Lots of kids made zines! Three teens. One friend I invited.

    And one college student who made this zine. (I have permission to share.)

    Collaged zine cover reads A thousand miles from nowhere. Handwritten text with dates marked out in red are overlaid with a red flower in a vase surrouned by a handcut white border.
    Handwritten text reads: Ever since I started attending college I knew I didn't fit. I felt like a different species." A collage of bright yellow daisy type flowers is overlaid with a six petaled flower in a peach color. Handwritten text continues: Even now, teachers learning my face first feels like a confirmation, I trample through grass and mushrooms carving desire paths in my wake to get around people moving differently to me. A collage shows a path and yellow flowers, a cup of tea, and a tall glass window with lots of overlapping lines. Text continues: I'm always trying to make space. Space is glued in from a magazine. Writing continues: in a place not meant for me and for a goal I don't yet have. A gift tag is glued in: with love from blank to you. A math equation that means a line rising (I had to ask) points to the back cover.
    Back cover. Handwriting reads: But at the end of the day I sit in chemistry class with a friend. A black and white silhouette of a figure before a window is glued to the page and below it a rainbow.

    Thanks to everyone who dropped by my table.

    The whole event was a great experience.

    Full transparency: I didn’t make any money. I lost about $27 based on the table fee alone. But the money goes to a good cause. I’ll participate again next year.*

    The Autism Spectrum

    The zine that was picked up most often during the Maker Faire was my Spectrum zine about neurodivergence. While our goverment leaders are spreading such harmful misinformation about autism it feels more important than ever to do the opposite.

    You can read (and share) the blog version of the zine here.

    Two zines and magazine clippings on a wooden desk with scissors, gluestick and pencils. Both zines titles are cut out magazine letters: Chaos Gardening with leaf rubbings and Spectrum with a hand painted watercolor color wheel.

    I have a few misprints of my Spectrum zine printed on the wrong paper. Completely readable, but the images bleed through more than I like.

    If you would like to distribute Spectrum zines (either publicly or to friends and family) let me know and I’ll send you a stack of misprints for free.

    You can also browse my library of resources for autism & neurodivergence.

    Whatever our world leaders say we are NOT a horror show.

    Our brains are sensitive, but powerful when given needed supports.

    What is a zine?

    I made a special zine for this event (and September’s zine subscribers) called “How to Make a Zine”.

    And a brand new blog post called What is a Zine? where I share resources on making zines and a peek at my own zine collection.

    Read it here.

    Zine collection spread on table. Visible titles include: Offline, Taking Care of Yourself as an Artist Publisher, Practicing Microresistance in Conversations, Tea, Reality Has, Motherlore, etc. Zines are various sizes and colors. Many have black sharpie on white paper appearance. Others are typed. The most visible are a bright neon risograph texture of seaweed (on the artist publisher book) and a composition book style (the microaggressions book.) Links to each zine are listed below.

    New paperbacks!

    I’ve been working for months on a second edition of Discover Your Creative Ecosystem. And the Maker Faire moved up my timeline.

    This second edition has minor edits (most notably an expanded section about purpose), my new headshot, updated bio, and they/them pronouns.

    These paperbacks are printed by 48 Hour Books and live in my closet. They will each be packaged and mailed by me personally. So I’m happy to sign and personalize them if you like.

    Buy a copy here.

    They are $15 – which is the lowest my book has ever been available for purchase.

    Tap below to watch me flip through the spacious full color interior.

    If you’ve bought the original edition I’ll be sending an ebook version of the updated text soon.

    There was a printing issue with the hardcovers, but I should have those back in stock before the end of the month.

    I’ll be updating Self Publishing 101 soon. I’ve nearly finished testing several Amazon alternatives. They all have pros and cons so which printer is best for your book depends on your goals and budget.

    An invitation to draw together. 🍉

    I’m sending this email earlier than usual because there’s an event this week I want you to know about. Hanna Keiner and Logan Juliano, PhD are hosting a meditative drawing livestream on Thursday, September 11 called Where Do You Draw the Line?

    The event is free, but everyone will be invited to take action from my Palestine Advocacy page in lieu of payment. (There are many ways to make a difference even if you don’t have the budget to contribute financially.)

    I’m really grateful for my advocacy library to be used in this way.

    If you host a similar event or link to it please let me know.

    Ink drawing by Hanna Keiner. Sinuous lines that evoke smoke or waves.
    Image Credit: Hanna Keiner

    That’s all for this week.

    Take care of yourselves. I appreciate you.

    Sarah signed with a swoopy S
    FOOTNOTES

    * I enjoyed meeting the other vendors so much I’ve logged in to Instagram after 8 months off social media. I’d like to be able to more closely follow local events and those I met at NWA Maker Faire. This is a trial period to see if curation, boundaries, and tweaking advertisements can make it a more positive experience. I much prefer RSS, but when there is to RSS feed for certain groups and events I am just missing out.

    Read more: Maker Faire, Autism & New Books
  • The why cheap art manifesto. People have been thinking too long that art is a privilege of the museums and the rich. Art is not business! It does not belong to banks and fancy investors. Art is food. You can't eat it but it feeds you. Art has to be cheap and available to everybody. It needs to be everywhere because it is inside of the world. Art soothes pain. Art wakes up sleepers. Art fights against war and stupidity. Art sings hallelujah! Art is for kitchens! Art is like good brea! Art is like green trees! Art is like white clouds in the blue sky! Art is cheap! Hurrah! Bread and Puppet Glover, Vermont. 1984.

    Purchase this print from Bread & Puppet.

    Read more: untitled post 156079424