My Second Zine

The second issue of my mixed media art zine Paint/Paste is hot off the presses. The theme for this one is Scraps. My zines describe and show some of my favorite mixed media techniques, and are completely handmade. When I thought of the Scraps theme, I knew that I would use some kind of a scrap, or re-used paper, for the cover. My first issue, which had the theme Words, had a hand-painted cover, and each cover was different. This time, I used the pages from an old mixed media calendar. I gave credit to the artist who made the calendar page on the inside back cover. I also cut and paste papers onto it and jazzed it up with paint pens.


I've called my zine Paint/Paste because I want to focus on painting and collage techniques. With the theme of scraps, I used a two-sided scrapbook paper for some pages, and old green ledger paper for another, and old maps for another.


I showed examples of different paint techniques over scraps, and different adhesives you can use for scraps.


I included a how-to for making a mini-book out of a single sheet of paper, and included an example of a book made from a magazine page. I also included a bonus handmade book in a little pocket. By the way, I always use old envelopes for pockets. I try not to buy too many brand new art supplies, and re-use things as much as possible. I grabbed a stack of large flat mailing envelopes, cut them in two lengthwise, and used half an envelope per zine. The envelope is folded in half and stitched into the binding. If there was an address on the envelope, I obscured it with a rubber stamp or sticker.


I cut cardboard boxes to use as bases for ATCs, handmade books, or other art. I included some examples, cut from a mac and cheese box, moon pie box, Christmas cards, and photos. (Sorry, but I very much enjoy the Christmas photos I get from friends, but I don't save them. They're nice sturdy pieces for art.)


I also included some obscure scraps that I've collected over the years. Stationery from hotels, recipe cards, old over-sized photo negatives, really old photos, bingo cards, dictionary pages.


The planning and construction of a zine is a challenge you should attempt. Pick a theme that goes with the type of art that you do. Don't be stingy with your inserts -- what are you saving all that stuff for, anyway? I'll be announcing another zine swap in this blog soon, so stay tuned.

If you'd like to buy one of my zines, you can find them in my online shop here. I have a few left and will sell them until they're gone.

Future blog posts will tell you about all the other zines that I received in my recent swap. You'll be amazed by the creativity of the other ten artists!