I recently designed a banner and a few avatars for a close friend who is opening an Etsy store. She makes super cute headbands and clips out of zippers! So smart! Pockets O’ Posies is having a grand opening sale until August 20th! You can get 15% off of your order by using the code Posies15 when you check out. So go check it out

This was my second year going to the Portland Zine Symposium and I came away with some pretty amazing stuff! I was so glad to see so many people still self-publishing and printing even though everything seems to be digital these days. There is something so majestic about holding and thumbing through the artwork, stories, and how-tos, that someone took the time to make. I am very inspired by people that make zines and I really want to start making my own soon!

The first thing I picked up was Arts & Crafts Revolution Vol 1-3. It is filled with tips and tricks for all kinds of artsy things, even how to dye your hair! Then I bought this little book that was filled with circle designs that someone drew with pen. I fell in love with it right away because circles are my favorite shape, and it was a great example of one color design work with texture added as well. Finally, my favorite find of the day, was Vain. I had actually seen these on Etsy for some time. I purchased the newest issue, which actually came with two zines. The first was about nature and the second was on machines. One thing I did not know is that with every issue of Vain you also get a mix of music! So awesome! I was also surprised to see that one of the artists in the zine just happened to be a teacher I had in college. Small world right!

There is also a great article about the symposium here that can give you some journalistic coverage of the event!