Tweet! : a ‘zine for summer is finally here. It’s chock-a-block full of beautiful images, cheeky sentences, and hidden surprises. Like her cousin Hiver, this ‘zine has a secret prize or two inside. (Mmm….just like Cracker Jacks at the ballpark!) Reach for the sun with this feminine tome to the loveliness of Summer.

See more pages and order via my etsy shop, or by emailing moi@magpie-girl.com with your snail mail address.
Price: $10, $2 ship/handling

- order 2-5 copies for no additional shipping costs.
- bulk prices available for orders of ten or more.

Although Paul and I have been trying for more than two weeks now, we cannot find a local printer who will give me a reasonable price on printing a small batch of my latest zine. Jen says I should ask the universe to send me a kind and affordable printer, which I am doing with all my heart. But I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask the blogosphere too. Does anyone have a lovely connection with a printer who might do a small batch full-color job for a reasonable price? Oh, do tell! Because this really should come to life….

Okay, so PMS and migraine hit last week and by Thursday I was cussing under my breath, throwing plates at the anger altar, and wondering WHAT ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE DOING IN MY HOUSE?! It’s been a hard week and week-end with a lot of pain, meds, and foggy headedness. Saturday we spent way too much money going to see Pirates of the Caribean III, which was totally disppointed followed by a long day Sunday doing absolutely nothing — just hanging around the house all the grey day, watching bad television and putting all of our CD’s on my Zune. Today is Memorial Day and a third blessed weekend-day when the sun finally broke though! In spite of the ongoing migraine, I put my dog on his leash and walked to my studio. I was grumpy enough to intentionally avoid the sweet developmentally disabled seniors who live in the group home between my house and my studio (they love Sam, Sam doesn’t love them), but shored-up enough by Paul’s willingness to let me spend most of the day away from the kiddos that I got my butt in gear in time to spend 5 blissful hours snipping and transfering and generally making a wonderful mess at my drafting table. I added several pages to the Summertime zine, including this one which confirms that yes, inspite of PMS and patriarchy, I enjoy being a girl. Hope it brings you a smile today.

P.s. A very BIG thank you to my long suffering spouse for his unwavering belief that I should “get thee to thy studio.” Your right Paul, I always DO feel better after I’ve been in the studio!

Much Love and Whimsy,

Rachelle

Ooooo…aren’t they so pretty? I’m having so much fun working on my next Zine! Though the pages might not look like much, it’s a long process as each page is features either watercolors, ink work, or image transfers. For instance, here’s the process for these two simple pages:

-journal for an hour about what you want to say
-edit it down to a pithy little opening salvo
-find a background image — in this case a photograph of handmade soap blocks in sherbert colors
-scan in photograph
-reduce to various sizes and adjust the colors
-cut large sheets of cardstock to zine-appropriate sizes
-use gel medium to transfer the image onto the zine page (spread gel medium. use brayer to remove air bubbles. burnish just the right amount. wait the perfect amount of ’set’ time. gently peel back the image paper. rub off excess paper pulp with your figure pads. repeat when it doesn’t work the first time.)
-pen out what you want to write on scratch pages to get the spacing decent
-look up various and sundry spellings
-resize summer photographs to be the right teeny tine “photo booth” size
-affix photos to zine pages
-hand-write text
-forget to leave enough margins for the binding. begin again at step one.

I know there are simpler ways to make zines. Ways that involve only a computer and a xerox machine at Kinkos. But I just can’t help it. I love the handmade-ness of it all. I’ve put at least 24 hours into this already and I’m only on page six! Paul says I can spend one day of the three day weekend at my studio, so I’m hoping to have them ready by the end of the weekend for June orders. Now all I need is a name…hmmmmm….

As you may know by now, Jen and I are constantly in the current of an on-going mutual love fest. Today she posted about the life-changing ‘writing’ retreat we embarked on last Summer. It’s fabulously written and you really must go over and have a gander. But the main reason I’m waxing poetic about Jen today is that I just got her amazing Zine in the mail. Beginnings is a full-color, hand-drawn, wisdom-and-wit-drenched glossy piece of goodness guaranteed to inspire the most stuck amongst us. Go order right now while you still can!

Without giving too much away, just let me say that one of the big themes in Beginnings is to dream big…Mondo Beyondo big. I tried very hard to be a good little girl and make my Mondo Beyond list last night – but I fear it might be a little tame in comparison to Jen’s heart-stopping list here. But still, it marks where my dreams are at in this moment, so I’ll Polaroid that here and now for future reference.

MONDO BEYONDO 2007

LIVE in Italy long enough that it feels like home.

TRAVEL each year to a far off destination until we feel like international pros.

SPEAK-TEACH in venues all over the place about art, spirituality, and all things Magpie-y and Urban Abbess-ish.

GET OVER my body issues and be at healthy weight once and for all. (actually this feels the most beyondo)

KICK ASS at being one or all of the following: Surfer. Pool Hustler. Yoga Guru.

SING my lungs out in front of a big crowd (and sound fantastic…maybe a little like her or her.)

GAZE out my apartment at Central Park before going to the Met to spend a day writing in the café overlooking the sun-filled sculpture garden.

FIND my long lost friend gay-best-guy-friend from college and be deliriously, platonically in love again.

INDULGE one week a year in a fabulous all-by-myself (or with one perfect partner) writing/creating retreat.

BE FEATURED in one fantastic interview with Ira Glass, or produce one fabulous story with him and the TAL crew.

EAT fabulous all-organic high-flavor food with Anne Lamott and a gaggle of girlfriends on a regular basis.

WEAR only handmade orginals like this, or this every day of my life.

ADOPT one fabulous child (or better yet a set of siblings) from anywhere improvrished and scary.

What are you dreaming about today? Put the link to your Mondo Beyond in the comments!

Oh my lovelies, it’s finally here! Can you believe it? After a year of waiting in the dark, my very first attempt at a zine has made it off the presses and can soon be in your warm, cupped hands! I’m holding my breath with the excitement and (small) miracle of it all!

Here it is, complete with ad copy!

This precious little ‘zine is hot off the xerox and ready to bless your wintry home. Make your hibernation place a sacred space with prayers, songs, and tiny rites. Host a mid-winter supper with comfort-food recipes and a list of tunes to defrost by. And best of all, there’s a take-away prize tucked inside! (Just like a box of Cracker Jacks!)

Twenty-four hand-lettered pages fill this 5inch ‘zine with homemade words and images. Yours for the price of a greeting card, and ever so much more nourishing!

To order:

Email moi@magpie-girl.com with your address and you’ll receive a paypal invoice.
$4.00 each (includes shipping)

(p.s. This is just the art for the cover. I’ll post a real photograph tomorrow so you can see the cunning Japanese style hand-sewn binding, complete with a twig from my Hawthorn and a tiny recycled glass bead!)