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An arty-crafty zine!

Launch gallery slideshow

Swap Coordinator:TangleCrafts (contact)
Swap categories: Crafts  Art  Zines 
Number of people in swap:7
Location:International
Type:Type 3: Package or craft
Last day to signup/drop:August 18, 2009
Date items must be sent by:September 21, 2009
Number of swap partners:3
Description:

Do you like to make stuff? Tell us about it! Make a zine with an art-y or craft-y theme. You could:

  • show pics of your creations - tell us where your ideas and inspiration came from, what techniques you used etc
  • give project suggestions, with your own instructions (& patterns/templates, if relevant)
  • share your tips for a particular technique you use
  • include materials or a kit to make something you have mentioned
  • include small samples of something you have made
  • talk about why art or crafting is important to you, and what inspires you
  • or tell the story of your first, mis-shapen stuffie

These are just suggestions: you can write your arty-crafty zine about anything that you like and extra inclusions are not essential (just nice!). You could theme your zine (eg recycling, mail art, ATCs, sock monkeys), or you could focus on a particular technique (eg needlework, mixed media, printmaking, wire jewellery), or you could make it a crafty mish-mash of allsorts – whatever gives you enough material to work with!

Please use a minimum of 3 full sheets of A4 (/letter-size) paper, but you can present in whatever format you like. The easiest is just to fold your pages in half for a 12 page half-size zine, or fold in half again for a 24 page quarter-size zine.

You will make 3 copies of your zine, and send 1 copy to each of your swap partners.

Ratings of 5 or just below only, and at least 5 postal swaps. I will check through participants & remove people I think are a potential risk, so please PM me to explain any unjustified comments or ratings, and I will take that into account. There is quite a lot of work involved with this swap, and I don't want to see anyone disappointed in return. The sign up period is 1 week, and the sending period is 4 weeks, to give you plenty of time to work on your ideas, so get creative, and have fun!

P.S. For anyone unsure about how to make a zine, or what one is, check out this link P.P.S. If you tried this link before & it didn't work, please try it again - I've updated it, & it's very helpful. :-)

Discussion

melissableuz 08/11/2009 #

watching sounds interesting!

secretterrabite 08/11/2009 #

Oooooo.... nice swap. Watching for now, to see if I have time to do it!

Kugusch 08/11/2009 #

I don't know a thing about zines, did some reading about them yesterday...it does seem both color as well as black and white copies are allowed in zines, right? I'm not into cartoons etc., and didn't find any crafty-zines, which is exactly what I was looking for. I'm watching, will have to try to find out more and see if I can gather the nerve to join...

TangleCrafts 08/11/2009 #

Yup, Kugusch, it's entirely up to you whether you print in colour or black & white (just bear in mind that a b/w photo will need to be quite clear with good contrast to reproduce well). Zines are traditionally handwritten & then photocopied. I create mine on the computer using different fonts, & sometimes some handwritten bits, then print on my home printer. But I only do it that way because that works out easier/cheaper for me than getting to a photocopying place. Pretty much anything goes in terms of style & reproduction, really.

TangleCrafts 08/11/2009 #

P.S. A good crafty zine is available from Craft Leftovers and there are quite a few around on Etsy - they can just be tricky to locate through the search function. Try clicking here then defining the search using the left hand menu - art zines and howto zines are probably your best bet :-)

Spencerette 08/11/2009 #

Looks like fun :) Watching for now.

MistiKo 08/11/2009 #

Well, I just have to join this one - even though I just left a message saying that my time is limited right now!

I need (want) to make a new zine for my Re:Art series, and this would be a good kick in the pants. M

TangleCrafts 08/11/2009 #

Excellent, Misti - can't wait to see what you do next! :-)

namesarefun 08/11/2009 #

I will offer a scrapbooking secrets zine! Sounds like a blast!!

namesarefun 08/11/2009 #

Whoops, I didn't realize that it was international, maybe you will run this in USA sometime?

TangleCrafts 08/11/2009 #

I'm in the UK, so I can't actually set up a USA only swap, as I would be ineligible to join! But everyone in the USA is welcome to join this swap - you need to be willing to ship overseas, but the majority of swap partners are usually USA-based, anyway...

FOOF4E 08/12/2009 #

Something as light as a zine won't cost much to send, so not a biggie for international. Am watching right now.

somethingblue 08/12/2009 #

I have a question about copying your zine...

Do you need to have the pages unassembeled, take them to the copier, and then fold them individually?

TangleCrafts 08/13/2009 #

Darn - your message alerted me to the fact that the link I posted in the description wasn't working. I've now updated the link: if you click on it, it will take you to a really helpful Wiki article about zinemaking that explains how to layout & number your pages, and the pros & cons of how to print (although I disagree with the expense of printning from home).

To actually answer your question, if you are planning to photocopy your zine, then yes, you will need an unassembled mastercopy to reproduce (it's important that you've got your page numbering & layout right when doing this, so do check out the article, or you will be wasting your photocopying time & money!). Then you fold the pages, and usually bind them (hole punch or stitches or staples or something else arty & clever/decorative!). Have fun!

TangleCrafts 08/14/2009 #

Just wanted to quickly mention a new group I have just set up: Zines, Mail Art & other cool stuff - please check it out! :-)

Melas 08/18/2009 #

It's me again, with my out-on-holidays-and-not-being-able-to-send-right-on-time-problem. I don't dare to ask again if you would extend the deadline...? coughing On the other hand, this swap seems to be a "professionally-made-zine-swap", and I never did one before, not really (just goofing around), so it would be better to get good at making zines (or even START making them, coughing again) and then join. ;-) But a little bit of sighing on my side cause it sounds like fun. Next time probably, when I don't feel I would disappoint my swap-partners. :-(

TangleCrafts 09/11/2009 #

A week added to deadline for various reasons - but can't wait to see everyone's zines! :-)

MistiKo 09/12/2009 #

Yeah on the extended deadline. There was one thing I wanted to add to the zine (like a cover), but I didn't think I would have time to do it. Now I'm pretty sure I can get it together to send out a pretty "professional" looking zine.

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