Wednesday, March 25, 2009

zines and books



Susy from NSW stocks mixtape and has just opened a big cartel store, check it!

I came across this sweet looking zine and organised a trade. They came in the mail yesterday and I was not disappointed. Full of great music articles, nicely designed and I love the blue paper. The girls sum it all up better than I could:

Shebang is a light blue homemade zine crammed with music features, travel guides, artist profiles, craft tutorials and any other fancies that catch our eye! We believe that the simple things in life should be celebrated and shared; the new favourite record you've found for pennies in a charity shop, the cake recipe your nan passed on or the gig last night that made your heart skip...

I also picked up a copy of Meet Me At Mikes new book. A few years ago I got The Crafters Companion and devoured it, it was so nice to see bloggers I read now in print. Well that's how I feel about Mikes book and the 26 crafters that submitted their work, except this time I know most of them or have worked with them in some form.
So to sum it all up, "Hallelujah!! Praise the Craft Community". Art/Craft/lowbrow/punk/ whatever your scene, it is all encompassing for me. I am a part of our craft community and I am proud. I know seeing "Handmade Nation" made me get tears in my eyes and wanna fly the flag!!!!
You know there has been a bit of discussion about the whole art/craft thing which I choose not to get involved in. I can sew, just sweet basic stuff, I can write but I am not a writer (spelling and grammar help!!) but the thing is I give it a go. I love stuff, I love sharing stuff so maybe that's why mixtape works? I don't know? but my point is we only have one chance at this life so "Life, Be In It!! There is so much good out there and that's what I focus on ;)