Embroidered art for the Confined zines

You know how suddenly lots of people turned to baking bread during lockdown? Or other things they had never done before, either because they never made/had time for it or because they needed a new hobby to fill their time at home. Well, I also had a bit more time on my hands since lockdown started so I tried to take up embroidery as a new craft. I’m still a beginner, trying to find my own style and way of expressing myself in this medium. Over the summer I decided to embroider some “slogans” related to my zine series Confined, as part of the pre-order for the new issues, which I enjoyed doing a lot. I’m selling the embroidered artworks I made in my webshop. Take a look at all of them here:

From sketchbook to printed zine: the making-of Confined #3 and #4

From sketchbook to printed zine in 11 steps!

Two new issues of my diary comic zine Confined were just released (more info here) and I wanted to explain my process of making them so you might feel inspired to make your own zine!

New zines: Confined #3 and #4 – out now!

Confined #3 and #4 are out now!

Two new issues of my lockdown diary comic zine have just rolled out of the printers! With lots of pages full of lockdown stories and reflections, this quaranzine meets comic meets perzine will entertain you during the ongoing pandemic and beyond.

Both issues can be ordered from my Bandcamp webshop (or if you prefer, directly from me).

 

CONFINED #3

• Daily life in the pandemic from August 2020 till February 2021
• Comics, stories and reflections that mention my stuffed bunny aka room mate Chainsaw Bunny (and her increasing misanthropy), guerrilla gardening, the impact of the pandemic on my band Lavender Witch, surviving the heat wave, going to protests for care workers and for Mawda, being quarantined, things that offered me quarantainment, how to meet friends in lockdown, attending the International Zine Librarian UnConference online, ZineWriMo, music I listened to, (zine) mail I received, the mental impact of the pandemic, and more!
• Poster to protest the racism of Sinterklaas
• Collage about introvert privilege
• Photo album including photos of street-art

 

CONFINED #4

• Daily life in the pandemic from March 2021 till July 2021
• Comics, stories and reflections that mention the first anniversary of the start of the lockdown in Belgium, International Women’s Day, a covid-scare, the home-recording and release of Lost Luna’s EP “Shadow Play”, meeting friends, synesthesia, the advantages of face masks, how I celebrated my second birthday in lockdown, the ongoing mental impact of the pandemic and things that have helped me, (zine) mail I received, Virtual Swansea Zine Fest, Chainsaw Bunny’s washing machine adventure (or disaster?), visiting an exhibition about music and zines, visiting the Girls Go BOOM Clubhouse and their zine library, recommended podcasts, International Zine Month, getting vaccinated, and more!
• Interview with multidisciplinary artists Clémentine of MandApunk and Judith Judah and Shei of God Save the Queer about creativity during the pandemic
• Photo album including photos of street-art

 

Both zines: A5 size, 32 pages including cover, printed on recycled paper with the cover pages on coloured paper, and hand-tied with red cotton yarn

 

Quaranzine bundles

If you want to read my entire lockdown comic zine series, I recommend you don’t just get Confined #1-4 but Scissors & Chainsaws #2 as well which fills the gap between Confined #2 and #3.

You can also buy all the zines I made/published between March 2020 and September 2021 as a special “quaranzine bundle” that’s available in my webshop.

All Confined zine and merch orders on Bandcamp receive a digital download of Lost Luna’s “Shadow Play” EP.

Find the zines and the merch (see photos below) in my Bandcamp webshop. More info about the merch and special test prints in this blogpost.

 

 

Pre-order: Confined #3 + #4 (quaranzines)

The pre-order for the new issues of Confined launched today! Scroll down for all the zines and DIY merch that’s available…

Confined is the title of the ongoing zine series of my lockdown diary comics in which I document my daily life and reflections during the covid-19 pandemic. They are a mix of a quaranzine, perzine, and comic zine. I started drawing the first issue in April 2020 and am releasing two new issues on September 14th. Today I’m launching the pre-order of issues #3 and #4 of Confined. These two the diary comic zines continue telling the story from August 2020 until July 2021. Issue #3 has some collages as well and #4 contains interviews with two amazing creative friends: Shei of God Save the Queer and Clémentine of MandApunk and Judith Judah.

The Confined series is one of the biggest zine projects I’ve ever done. If you count all the pages of the zines of this series that I’ve made so far together, it can become one big comic BOOK! I’ve never drawn that many comics / comic pages in such a short time but I feel an urgency to document everything that’s happening at the moment. This also means that this zine series is not done yet and there will be at least one more (5th) issue that I’m already working on, and maybe more.

The pre-order helps me to print the two new issues of Confined and to re-print the first issues. To fund this big project I’ve also created some extra surprises: one-of-a-kind hand-made pieces of embroidery and a zine-themed button set, and you can even acquire a test print of Confined #3 and #4 (for the real collectors among you)!

 

So… how can you get ahold of the zines and merch?

HOW TO PRE-ORDER:

You can pre-order in my Bandcamp webshop. When you order any Confined zines or merch on Bandcamp you will receive a download of my Lost Luna EP “Shadow Play” as well! The home-recording process of this EP is mentioned in the zines.

(You can also mail me if you prefer to order from me directly – each issue separately costs 3 euros + postage. This will not include the Lost Luna EP.)

The release date for the zines and merch is planned for September 14th!

 

BANDCAMP OPTIONS:

Quaranzine Bundle:

Bundle of all the zines I made and released since March 2020 until August 2021. This bundle contains the diary comic zine series Confined (#1-4, each zine A5 size, between 44 and 32 pages), the second issue of the diary comic zine Scissors & Chainsaws (36 pages A5 size) the perzine Same Heartbeats #18 (a 24-hour issue of my feminist perzine, 32 pages A6 size), Do it Yourself Care #3 (mini-zine about self-care during winter holidays and family gatherings), Witches’ Brew #1 (mini-zine about herbs), and all three issues of Lost Luna Zine (mini-zines that accompany the “Shadow Play” EP). Plenty of reading fun! This bundle also includes a digital download of the Lost Luna EP “Shadow Play” to which I refer in the new issues of Confined.

• Confined #1
• Confined #2
• Confined #3
• Confined #4
• Scissors & Chainsaws #2
• Witches’ Brew #1
• Do it yourself care #3
• Lost Luna Zine #1
• Lost Luna Zine #2
• Lost Luna Zine #3
• Same Heartbeats #18

More info about each zine at: https://echopublishing.wordpress.com/zines/

€22 + postage

The two new Confined zines only:

This bundle contains Confined #3 + 4, the newest issues of my lockdown diary comic zine series. This bundle also includes a digital download of the Lost Luna EP “Shadow Play”.

• Confined #3
• Confined #4

Each zine: A5, hand-tied, 32 pages on recycled paper with cover on coloured paper

More info about each zine at: https://echopublishing.wordpress.com/zines/

€9 + postage

Test print of the two new Confined issues:

Test print of Confined #3 and #4 (only 1 available!)

I did three test prints of both issues of Confined, one for myself, one for a dear friend, and one for… you? This test print contains some things that were changed in the official release (from typos to a slightly embarrassing  mistake) so it’s really unique! You could also get the test print AND the official print and play spot the difference. 🙂

Each zine: A5, 32 pages

More info about my zines at: https://echopublishing.wordpress.com/zines/

€15 + postage

Embroidery:

I’ve made a few unique hand-sewn pieces of embroidery inspired by themes that appear in my Confined zines such as zine culture, self-care, the pandemic, and Chainsaw Bunny.

Available designs:

• “I’m conFINEed”
• “Take care”
• “Bunnies rule”
• “Hug hug”
• “I ❤ bunnies”
• “You rock”
• “Make zines”
• anarcha-feminist heart

(I may be adding more soon)

They are hand-embroidered and one of a kind! This embroidered art can hopefully offer some comfort and beauty in these difficult times.

Materials used: cotton fabric, cotton embroidery thread, polyester sewing thread (and felt in some designs)

€12 + postage

Zine-themed button set:

Button set that includes buttons/badges with the following designs:

• Echo Zines
• I made a purrzine
• Zine Queen
• Typewriter Octopus
• Make your own media
• Chainsaw Bunny with birthday cake

€10 + postage

❤

All pre-orders support me in getting the zines printed so they are greately appreciated! Thank you!

Pieces and pages from my Confined zines sketchbook

To get you curious about the upcoming issues #3 and #4 of Confined, my lockdown diary comic zine, I’ve collected some excerpts, photographed directly from the sketchbook in which I’ve drawn them. The sketchbook was a gift of Alison and Herb a few years ago (thank you!) and I’ve used it entirely to make the two new issues of Confined, as well as for a few illustrations.

I’m currently proofreading the test copies I made of the Confined zines… This is such a big project. I don’t think I’ve ever done another zine (series) that required as much time, effort, work, and dedication as this one. But I think it will be worth it!

NEWS: The pre-order for Confined #3 and #4 will be launched on September 3rd in my Bandcamp webshop! I will announce it on this blog (and social media) and you can subscribe if you want to receive the news via email.

Here are some sneak peeks from the sketchbook/zines:

Almost finished: 2 new Confined zines (pre-order will be launched soon!)

Big news: I’ve finished drawing and scanning all pages of my lockdown diary comic zines aka quaranzines called Confined #3 and #4! Now on to photoshopping, editing, writing the introductions, and laying out the pages… Still a lot of work before I can get to printing and binding…

In these new issues you can find what things were/are like for me during the pandemic (from August 2020 – July 2021), what happened during Chainsaw Bunny’s washing machine adventure, photos of street-art I saw during walks, an interview with two super creative people who share their inspiring thoughts about creating in lockdown, and more.

My plan is to have the zines printed within +/- 1 month. Because it will be quite costly for me to print 2 new zines at once, I’m going to set up a pre-order in my Bandcamp webshop where you can support me and my zine project. I already have some ideas for unique merch, bundles, and fun surprises. 🙂

This lockdown diary comic series started in April 2020 with Confined #1 + #2 and Scissors & Chainsaws #2 (the bridge between Confined #2 and Confined #3 so I guess you could call it Confined #2.5 🙂 ) which are all pictured in the photo above. Those zines will remain available to order but Confined #1 and #2 are currently low in stock so I will reprint them as well (the pre-order will also help me do that).

I’ll keep you up to date on my blog and social media about the progress I’m making with this zine series and when the pre-order will be launched!

 

International Zine Month 2021 – work in progress

How’s zine month going for you? I’ve been enjoying myself so far, reading and making zines, and posting about zine stuff on this blog…

I’m skipping today’s official International Zine Month prompt, “write a letter or online post about your IZM2021 experience” (see Stolen Sharpie Revolution), because I will summarise my #IZM2021 experience in a later blogpost.

So instead, I’ll give you some glimpses of the zine projects I’m currently working on:

• Do it Yourself Care #4
• Confined #3 and 4
• New buttons

Lost Luna mini-zines #1-3

I’m announcing a new mini-zine* series: Lost Luna Zine and as you may or may not know, #1 + 2 + 3 are already out!

Lost Luna is the name of my solo music project and I felt like making some zines to go along with the music:

One year since confinement – making quaranzines

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown several calls for contributions for quaranzines have been launched. While the pandemic keeps spreading and a lot of us are still (or again) in some kind of lockdown situation, making zines as well as reading about other people’s experiences can bring some relief. I’ve made or contributed to several quaranzines myself, which you can find below. I’ve also gathered some resources for online zines, creative ideas, and mental health support.

 

One year since confinement – crafty projects as a means of survival

It’s almost exactly one year ago that the covid-19 pandemic started being taken seriously where I live and that a (semi)lockdown was instated. So it’s a good moment to reflect on that past year. A scary year, a difficult year for most people, with a lot of loss, loneliness, fear, frustrations, sadness, anger, and grief, and some beautiful moments in between. I’m happy I decided to start drawing about what things were like more or less since the beginning because I tend to forget things so fast, like everyone else probably. So much has happened and so much has changed since then. It’s important to document this time for so many reasons. That’s why the “quaranzines” that were made all over the world are so valuable.

In this blogpost I want to focus on one of the positive things that happened to me during the past year: the crafty projects I created in the early days of confinement. Somehow I got really busy and energetic in the first few weeks/months of staying at home. Partly it might have been the stress of the whole virus and lockdown situation. I couldn’t sit still and just relax, I had to keep doing things. Even watching tv shows and films was hard – no worries, I’m back to normal binge-watching mode now 🙂 … In those first weeks and months I started writing several songs and worked on several of my own (quaran)zines as well as contributed to compzines (compilation zines: zines with contributions by several people) about the corona virus (I’ll write more about that in an upcoming blogpost). I also created fabric panels or curtains for some shelves in my living room, made face masks, and sewed patches on clothes. Finally, a bit later on, I made my own oracle card set. I’m so lucky that my body and mind reacted in this way in this scary, stressful, and sad time.

Read on to find out more: