Covered

After so very long I think I have finally finished the drawings for my op shop zine, and these 70s cups are going to be on the cover.  I've only taken slight liberties with the colours...the middle one I got in Thames many years ago for 40 cents I do believe and the others are recent additions from Mayfield.  Years ago my friend told me about a wonderful op shop in Mayfield with rack upon rack of velvet jackets - it achieved a sort of mythical status in my mind.  Finally I got to go there while we were on tour with The Bitter Years and it did not disappoint.  Crown Lynn room, what more can I say!

Brown paper zine pages

 

Finished off the drawings for a couple of pages of my zine tonight...more pictures of things I didn't buy at the op shop.  That thing at the bottom of the top picture's a banana protector, in case you're wondering!

Whew, getting there!  I think I'll need to make another zine just to fit in all the things I didn't buy from the op shop today...a whole lot of creepy dolls, knitted cushion covers, a decanter in the perfect shade of mint green...

Left behind

With changing work hours and the need to declutter my house my op shop trips have been few and far between lately - I haven't had much of a chance to draw what I didn't buy!  But I want to get my "Left Behind" zine finished off so I popped up to the local St. Vinnies on Thursday and jotted down these things I left behind.  Looks like today's edition is brought to you by the colour purple!

Fossick

I was working on Saturday so I didn't get to go to the Zinefest, but I was lucky enough to stay at the Leigh Sawmill on Saturday night, where Mr. Millicent Crow was playing with Great North.  And seeing as we were driving through Matakana, we decided to take a look at Fossick.  Fossick stocks my zines, but I had never been to the shop before, and was excited to find it filled with beautiful taxidermy, maps, glittery cardigans and miscellaneous animal skulls.  They describe it as "A little bit vintage, a little bit gothic, a little bit industrial, a little bit Golden Girls" which is a good combo!   

Here's my zine, tucked away in a beautiful set of drawers

It also had coffee to fortify us for the drive back to town, and a good selection of magazines, very important!

So although I was sad to miss the zinefest, it turned out to be not an entirely zine-free weekend for me, and if you ever find yourself in Matakana and  in need of a copy of My Magpie Eye then head for the old dairy factory!

On brown paper

 I've finally gotten around to starting my "things I didn't buy from the op shop" zine.  I've been redrawing images from my sketchbook on brown paper and I'm going to paint over that.  Here are the ones I've redrawn so far:

 And you can see them in my sketchbook here, here, and here. 

My creative space: loot

After drawing so many pictures of things I didn't buy from the op shop I thought I should show you some of the things that have made it home with me lately.  Here's some of my op shop loot:

Hmm, two of those things haven't been worn yet...I might have to be ruthless with them.  The polka dotty dress has had plenty of wear though!  I'm thinking about redrawing my op shop sketches and maybe turning them into a zine...it might help to convince me to bring home fewer treasures!

Joining in with "My Creative Space" over here today.

Happy Thursday to you!

My Creative Space: stealing time for bits and pieces

Today my creative space is about stealing time.  Stealing a bit of time to jot down some "Things I didn't buy from the op shop" ideas.  The only paper I had in my bag was a scrappy old envelope.

 I'm hoping to turn that series of drawings into a zine full of things I didn't buy from the op shop (and maybe some that I did).

I've also been stealing some time to work on a blanket label painting.  This is my second version of this particular label in progress...the cross hatching has been taking aaages.  

And stealing time for a coffee, because, as they say, a day without coffee is like something without something...

Joining in with "My Creative Space" over here today. 

Happy Thursday!

Jetsam

 The crab claw that I was working on the other day was part of a little collection I've been drawing:

It's a few things I found washed up on this beach in Napier:

 

It's for my zine I'm working on...which I think I have nearly finished the drawings for.  Now I just have to work out how to draw a magpie for the final page!

Button collection

Here's another watercolour for my new "Collections" zine. Some of these buttons and the old button packaging are from my nana's sewing box, but I took a few liberties with the colours. Next up is a shell collection...some of the shells are proving a bit of a challenge to draw!

Seedpods

Finished another page for my new zine the other night...seedpods are one of my favourite things to draw and paint at the moment. This one's done in watercolours, on watercolour paper. I've got another waterlily seedpod that I bought at the op shop (seems like a strange thing to buy for some reason) but unfortunately it was too giant to fit in this collection. I must put my Dunedin photos onto the 'puter...we had a great time roaming around that lovely city last week!

Works in progress

Here's what I'm working on this rainy afternoon...
This dress:
with this homemade bias binding. I'm hoping to get it finished in time to wear it out tonight...story of my life!

And this watercolour painting:
It's for the new zine I'm working on, along with this painting I did the other day. Speaking of zines, I got Stolen Sharpie Revolution out of the library yesterday...there are lots of good zine-making tips in there.

How about you, what are you up to on this rainy afternoon?

Collections

This is an illustration from the new zine I'm working on...it's going to be about people and the things they collect. This little collection of weeds is done in pencil and watercolour - I'm hoping to turn it into a gocco print too...

Giveaway winners

Wow, thank you for all your name suggestions, they're fantastic, and very appropriate for the fellows in question! My old-fashioned gentlemen will be so well-named. Tonight I reached into a hat and drew out five winners.

They are:

Congratulations! Email me your address to
millicentcrow at gmail dot com and I'll pop a zine in the post for you!

My creative space and a giveaway

For my creative space today I thought I'd have a bit of a giveaway. I'm always looking for good old-fashioned names for the characters in my drawings and paintings, so my giveaway today is very similar to this one I had earlier in the year.

This time I need some names for some gentlemen I've been drawing, so if you'd like a chance to win a copy of my new zine, Denizens, all you need to do is suggest a name I could give each of the numbered dudes above. You can use the numbers to show which one you mean, e.g. 1. Albert, 2. Eustace, 3. Ormond, 4. Jasper. I've got five copies of the zine to give away and I'm happy to post them anywhere in the world.

I'll draw five winners out of a hat next Wednesday evening.  Good luck!

To see lots of other creative spaces, pop on over to the "our creative spaces" blog...

Happy Thursday!

My creative space

 Remember all those drawings on brown paper I was doing?  I've turned them into a zine about the secrets of the inhabitants of the town of Ruby, on the South Island West Coast, not on any maps...

Here's a preview of what's inside:

I had lots of fun making it...I now have plans for a giant drawing done on brown paper.  I'll have some copies of my zine to give away soon so stay tuned!

What have you been working on?

To see lots of other people's creative spaces pop on over to the "our creative spaces" blog.

Happy Thursday to you!

My creative space

An unexpected day at home means I've got some time to work on my zine, so I've got some characters for that in my creative space today.

Here we have Dulcie, who frustrates photographers no end with her insistence on posing with her prizewinning runner duck:

And young Claude, whose interest in the occult is beginning to worry his family:
For the next drawing I need some beans, so I'm hoping to sit in the garden and draw the neighbours' bean plant without the landlord noticing. Funny old day!

Hope you're having a good Thursday; to see lots of other people's creative spaces pop on over to the "our creative spaces" blog.