CraftSanity Magazine – First issue!

by Linda | Dec 1, 2010 | my creative journal

Hi folks!  I just wanted to take a moment to mention the CraftSanity Magazine… the first issue is available for preorder and I am so honored to be a part of this new crafty publication. I created some illustrations and printables for Jennifer at CraftSanity and so excited to see it all ready now! There are so many great contributors and I can’t wait to dig into the magazine.

Check out the preview post about it on CraftSanity and order you copy today!

Let’s Make A Moveable Paper Doll

by Linda | Sep 14, 2010 | my creative journal

Babysitting my niece is always a joy and an adventure in crafting. She’s in that wonderful creative stage of seeing something and asking if we can try making it, straight away. Just like that, no thought of it being too hard or if we might not have the supplies.

Let’s just do it because it looks fun! I absolutely love the enthusiasm.

This time around we saw a segment on TV on how to make a moveable paper doll which can be very easy for kids. You’ll need some paper, a marker, some scissors, a hole puncher and those bracket thingies that I can’t seem to think of the word in English… fermacampioni in Italian.

This is the easy way to do it, without having to print anything out, but I will be coming to the template soon…

The coolest thing that I learned, is how simple it is to draw the parts of the body freehand. It’s all about proportions and in presenting to the kids, we were told to draw two eggs, then a head with neck the same size as the two eggs. Then 8 big sausages and 4 little sausages.

How funny is that? It made complete sense to my niece, so I guess sometimes you just have to put things in perspective for kids. Totally easy peasy.

I cut out all the pieces and at this point I had to help my niece out a bit for the smaller pieces. Depending on the age of your kids, you might have to help out!

Now you can see the doll coming together, even though we just had simple ovals shapes. You simply connect all the parts together by punching little holes and attaching with those bracket thingies. You don’t want to secure them too tightly though, otherwise the parts won’t move as easily.

When you put it all together, you’ve got yourself a little moveable doll. Pretty cool, huh? The bracket thingies I had on hand were really large, so you can see them sticking out all over… but it still works for positioning the doll.

I remember creating a template for dolls before, but this way is so much easier, completely freehand! [Note: I created a brand new printable doll template – check it out here]

I thought this was a really fun exercise to learn about proportions of the body and drawing the figure as well. You can use your doll as a tracing template, putting it on top of paper and creating a pose. Then just trace!

This is especially cool with kids because it’s easy for them to put the doll into different positions and trace for a variety of images to color up.

Wah-lah! Just like magic, huh? You can imagine the possibilities!  It’s like a paper version of the dummy that you usually buy in art stores for drawing.

So the process of creating the doll was pretty fun in itself, but it’s cool to play with it afterwards, too. We found that if you throw or drop the doll on the table, you’ll end up with some pretty funky positions.

Just hold it up and let it fall on the table… you never know what position you might come up with! You might have to loosen the brackets a bit if your doll doesn’t move enough.

My niece was playing and having fun for a while and she came up with some cool dance move positions. After making this little version, I realized it would be even cooler if we went bigger! You can use some cardboard and make a larger doll to play with!

I hope you enjoyed this idea – enjoy!

All About Zines – Inspirations and Resources

by Linda | Sep 6, 2010 | my creative journal

Happy Monday to everyone and today I’m officially starting my every weekday blogging schedule, with each day dedicated to a particular topic of interest. I’ve decided to continue with Monday inspirational posts. I’m going to add more resources and links as well though, because I naturally do some research whenever I get enamored by a subject, so why not share the knowledge? BTW, how do you like my cute little banner for Mondays?

This week I wanted to talk all about zines. I most recently created my very own first handmade zine called Pensieri and received some questions about zines and making them. I wanted to share the inspiration, resources and links that I came upon through the process of creating Pensieri. Perhaps you have the urge to get into the zine making scene as well? It’s really just a another vehicle available for all of us to share with each other.A zine is a mini magazine or fanzine, usually created through photocopies and constructed by hand, thus circulated in low quantities. Ultimately it’s self-publishing that started back in the day before you could order just a few professionally bound books online. It’s very indie and reminds me of cool interest clubs from back in high school. I love the freedom we have these days to spread our ideas and zines seem to fit right into the handmade touch and crafty community.

I’ve come across really simple zines before, like Eraserqueen’s printable one-pager that folds up about color. The first zines I bought were Craft Leftovers and Mixtape. They are pretty established publications in the sense that there’s a huge following and people subscribe to them like any other magazine subscription you can order. There are still limited quantities and it’s more about the content, not the paper or such. From there I learned about many more zines through Crafty Pod’s All About Zines podcast. They really can be anything, running the gamut from simple photocopies stapled together to full-blown graphic designed books. I personally like the handmade, old school type a bit more… they just seem so much more interesting and fun to read through. I suppose the important thing is if the content is capitivating. I’ve also bought iHanna’s Mettazine and her mention of I Heart Zines and their zine swap really pushed me to create my own zine. I didn’t make it for the 2010 zine swap, but really looking forward to continuing my Pensieri zine into a series and joining in next year to swap zines with other indie makers. Swapping is a great way to make one yourself and then get to enjoy a whole variety in the end. Just like regular magazines out there, zines are fun to have, informative and sort of cool, too.

Creating a little book really forces you to synthesize your thoughts on a subject into a cohesive, finished presentation. So zine making helps you to analyze more deeply a topic you are interested in and then you are able to turn around and share it with others. The interactive zines with little bits to play with or draw in really interest me as well. I always liked those types of books from childhood. You learn something new and you have fun at the same time. That seems like an ideal situation and fun times. Maybe a word game, a pullout or some tactile item included? If you are up for a real challenge, I did come across a 24-hour zine creation challenge, but I don’t think I could ever accomplish that! Takes me a long time to create just one. Perhaps because I’m still a beginner, but I’m already hooked. I have ideas slated for my second Pensieri zine and you heard it first – it’s all about pockets, secret hiding places for your art journaling, scrapbooking and crafting. Oooo!!! I hope you’ve been inspired and please feel free to add your thoughts, ideas and resources to the comments below. Ciao ciao!