Staplers gave me freedom

(I've shamelessly stolen this plea for submissions from Kari's blog. 'Cause 1) no one says it like Kari and 2) I'm sleepy and need to get off the computer. Kari, my apologies for only being creative enough at the moment to at just come up with a different post title.)
---------------

My friend, Kari, has hustled me and some friends into helping her start up a zine. We're going old school - Kinko's, staples, glue sticks, the works. What we need now are submissions.

So, without further ado, please let me introduce you to:

Aprön

Aprön needs your stuff. We’re a brand-new quarterly zine searching for esoteric crap to fill our inaugural edition. Short fiction, non-fiction essays, chunks of dialogue, weird and exciting recipes, knitting ideas and instructions, photographs, collages, comics, stain removal tips… whatever you’ve got, we want to see it.

The only requirement is that your piece evokes a feeling of affection. The same kind of affection you feel for your crazy aunt and her askew lipstick. This is a quirky comfort zine with a pinch of Schadenfreude. It mixes media and metaphors all while leaving you with a pleased bloated feeling.

Email submissions to apronthezine AT gmail DOT com. If you need to mail something, let me know and I'll send you the address.

Also, we can’t pay you. Yet. We will give you free copies of the zine, though, so you can brag to your friends. Sometimes ego is more than important than groceries.

Aprön. Tie one on.

PS. If you know anyone who wants to advertise in the zine, please email me. The rates are obscenely cheap.

PPS. If you want to subscribe to the zine, or be informed when its published, or just get lovingly spammed by me and my crazy friends (kidding. kidding.) send a note to apronthezine AT gmail DOT com and we'll add you to our email list.

Spaceboy, stockings and other things to get the creativity flowing

So I'm still in a bit of a rut, just 'cause I've got so many things floating around in my head at the moment, but I'm happy to report I've still squeezed in a little time for crafting here and there. My stinkin' camera is still out of commission, and there's no chance of remedying that until Christmas (at least). So for now, all I've got is my laptop camera. Apologies for the crap-a-liscious pictures.

I started a Spaceboy this weekend. I got the pattern last month at Maker Faire (my first Wee Wonderfuls pattern!) and have been itching to make one for my friend's son. I got the pieces cut out and embroidered the face, but he's still in pieces. Hopefully I'll be able to stitch him over the holiday break.

And in the "I actually get *paid* to do this!?" category, I made a stocking last week as a sample for Leslie's Stockings class. No picture for now (see first paragraph) but Leslie let me raid her stash of amazing wool felt and vintage sequins, and I came up with an owl design based on an Enid Collins purse. Gah! Why am I doing an owl ... again!? I don't know. I get sick of seeing them around, but still find some strange desire to craft with them. Who knows why.

And, again in the "I actually get *paid* to do this!?" category, I've just started on as a contributor at BurdaStyle. I'll be supplying random sewing news feeds just about every day. Victory! I have a "valid" reason to justify my blog addiction! And I'm already feeling the crazy urge to sew an entire wardrobe. Between new Project Runway and spending loads of time on the BurdaStyle Web site, I suddenly feel like I need to buy/make a dress form! (On a side note, if you have an favorite fashion/sewing/pattern blogs or web sites you want to share with me, please drop me a line at averagejanecrafter at gmail dot com. I'm subscribed to a million,and have loads of Goole alerts set, but don't want to miss anything. Send! Send! Send!)

And, finally, as though the creative opportunities weren't flowing fast enough (one of the manymanymany things I'm thankful for this holiday) my friend Kari asked me to help her launch a new zine called Aprön for the spring. Leaping Lizards! Finally! My high school dream of working on a zine is coming true! Fifteen years later ... but still. Best of all, Kari makes me laugh like crazy, and understands (nay, *encourages*) my random spewing of Annie quotes. I'm going to make a separate post with all the details and call for submissions. I'll be working on the production end of things, and contributing a craft column called, "Toast is the New Squid." Funfunfun. Serious. Fun.