Affordable and ecological hand-made gifts

A few days ago was Buy Nothing Day and while I fully encourage buying less stuff any day (certainly when it’s made by eco-system destroying and workers exploiting capitalist companies), you may still want to give presents to friends or family for the holidays or for another occasion. And that can be a nice thing! So why not support some small independent creators this season? But first, if you like creating stuff yourself, go ahead and make your own gifts. Self-made presents are always the most precious and unique! But you can also offer hand-made goodies made by others and at the same time support independent creators. Take a look at our webshops, websites, or social media. Some of us may even be into swaps! My creative project Echo Zines is one such independent art project and I have several gift ideas available for you:

Continue reading “Affordable and ecological hand-made gifts”

Marché créatif féministe + Coin Operated Christmas Zine Fair starting this week!

Exciting news: I’m participating in two online zine/craft fairs! There’s the Marché créatif féministe organised by Poisson Sans Bicyclette (last year I tabled at their offline event in Brussels) and the Coin Operated Christmas Zine Fair by Coin Operated Press. Follow them on facebook or instagram to find out about what’s happening and how to buy from the participating zinesters and creators.

What I’m selling:

How to order? Send me an email with the items you’re interested in and your address and I’ll get in touch about how you can pay. Also let me know if you have any questions.

Poisson Sans Bicyclette

This online feminist craft fair started today and will continue until December 16th, so plenty of time to discover and order from a variety or great creators!

Coin Operated Christmas Zine Fair

This virtual zine fair happens in the weekend of December 5th-6th and will introduce a bunch of awesome zinesters and their work.

Hand-made gift ideas by friends (part 2)

Hello, welcome to part II of showing you what some my creative zine friends make! I won’t keep you with a long intro and would just like to encourage you to take a look at the amazing things they all make and if you like what you see, buy some of it as presents for people you know or for yourself (support artists and small shops while boycotting Amazon and multinationals).

(For more hand-made gift ideas, check out part I here).

Continue reading “Hand-made gift ideas by friends (part 2)”

Looking for presents to give to friends or family? Here are some ideas…

Normally around this time of the year I would be participating in craft fairs and Christmas markets but that’s not possible due to Covid-19. But then, let’s do a giant online craft fair, right?

If you’re looking for presents to give to friends or family (or yourself) or postcards to surprise them or wish them well, I have some options available for you: original gift ideas hand-made by yours truly including postcards, zines, and music. Take a look at my table: 🙂

 

 

Continue reading “Looking for presents to give to friends or family? Here are some ideas…”

Winter holiday zine gift packs

Because the winter holidays are near, ECHO presents two zine gift packs:

Winter zine pack I:

  • Same Heartbeats #7:
    IMG_9801webThe most recent issue of Same Heartbeats, a personal-political feminist zine that was started almost a decade ago, delves into the world of DIY feminism again. It contains comics about going to Ladyfest Brussels 2014 and going on tour with the feminist punk band Vagina Dentata, analyses the pros and cons of women-only spaces, talks about feeling part of the feminist scene in Brussels and Ghent, reports on Queer Zine Fest London and the event against violence against women called Doorbreek de Stilte, and interviews British zine maker Melanie Maddison. The cover is a reprint of a lino cut.
  • Same Heartbeats #6:
    IMG_8304webSame Heartbeats #6 is a return to the travel stories and ladyfest experiences that were so present in the earliest issues of Same Heartbeats. Here, those travel stories include visiting Ladyfests in Berlin and Amsterdam (or LaDIYfest as they call it) and the Queer Zine Fest in London. But there’s space for local stuff as well, with a DIY tour guide to Ghent, mentioning various interesting spaces and projects (inspired by the zine DIY Berlin: Be Your Own Damn Tour Guide). Furthermore, there are tips on how to play drums and learn self-defense. As ever, lots of collage art, comics and drawings.
  • Same Heartbeats #5:
    IMG_5027webConsciousness-raising, a call for action, questioning academic/post-modern feminist language, zines and libraries, non-hierarchical feminist ways of organising, crafty recycling ideas and lots of drawings on herstoric and contemporary feminists (Anneke Van Baalen, Bunnies On Strike, Pussy Riot, Famba, Vagina Dentata…): you can find it all in this issue of Same Heartbeats, published in July 2012. This 5th issue concentrates on the activist part of the feminist movement, whereas #4 is more about feminist theory…
  • Same Heartbeats #4:
    IMG_1288webPublished in the autumn of 2010, the 4th issue of Same Heartbeats focuses on feminist theory (strategies for a feminist revolution and a critique on academic/post-modern feminism) and history (about the Dolle Mina action groups and the women’s liberation rock bands, both from the 1970s). Of course there are also some reports of feminist events: _fest in Cologne and Take Back The Night / Heksennacht in Ghent. The cover is decorated with a hand-made lino stamp making each copy of this zine unique and the back cover is the now notorious “So what? I don’t shave my legs” poster.

5 euros + postage

Winter zine pack II:

  • Same Heartbeats #7:
    IMG_9801webThe most recent issue of Same Heartbeats, a personal-political feminist zine that was started almost a decade ago, delves into the world of DIY feminism again. It contains comics about going to Ladyfest Brussels 2014 and going on tour with the feminist punk band Vagina Dentata, analyses the pros and cons of women-only spaces, talks about feeling part of the feminist scene in Brussels and Ghent, reports on Queer Zine Fest London and the event against violence against women called Doorbreek de Stilte, and interviews British zine maker Melanie Maddison. The cover is a reprint of a lino cut.
  • Space Invasion:
    IMG_1091webSpace Invasion was hand-made in a few days time, a weekend full of die-hard zine-creating, during the 24 hour zine challenge that took place in October 2014 in Ghent. As the title says, the zine focuses on space in different meanings of the word. Inside you’ll find pages dedicated to space camps, lesbian feminist haunted houses, squats and women’s peace camps. The zine also talks about reclaming the streets, adbusting / street-art, street harassment and taking space as a woman in public places. In the centerfold you can see a map of autonomous feminist projects and groups in and around Belgium.
  • CuNt & Paste:
    IMG_9800webCunT & Paste was made in exactly 24 hours during 24 Hour Zine Day in Juy 2014, mostly by hand, drawn, cut and pasted, with a hand-printed lino stamped cover. This zine tells the writer’s personal story of discovering the zine world, listing zines that made an impact in her life, telling short herstories of  zines and feminist posters and explaining how to make your own poster. In other words: a zine dedicated to feminist zine culture and graphic art.
  • Scissors & Chainsaws:
    IMG_7567One month of drawing comics, that’s the idea of this zine that was made for International Zine Month in July 2014. Each page is a day of that month, telling what happened. It ranges from work-related stuff  to zine adventures and playing live for the first time with Vagina Dentata. And of course Chainsaw Bunny plays an important role! The zine has a green recycled cover. (Foam bunny book marks are sold out).
  • DIY or die:
    IMG_1205A how-to-make-stuff zine that was collectively made and co-edited with Coco Riot, full of DIY guides to a great variety of things! This includes making candles and anarchist flags, organising DIY days and home parties, fixing flat tires and building a greenhouse for your plants. At the back there are collectively-made comics too! This zine was made during Buy Nothing Make Something, a day full of DIY workshops organised by the Riot Grrrl Collectief in Hasselt in 2008.

5 euros + postage

Offer available until January 31st 2014.

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