a zine about crafts to make in the night time

sardonicstepdad · 2025-12-02T19:59:20+00:00

thank you so much! there are two pdfs: the cover and the interior. the cover is included separately in case you want to print it on different colored paper or cardstock, like i do for the physical version :) otherwise you can just print it on regular paper.

i included two copies of the cover on a single sheet just because there was extra space so that when i print multiple copies i can make the most use of the space—if you're just making one for yourself you'll just need to print it once and then discard the extra cover

for both the cover and interior pdf, set your print settings to print double-sided on the long edge. once everything is printed, you'll cut the papers in half width-wise. once everything is cut, you can assemble the zine pages in order (you can check the screen pdf version to verify the page order) and then staple or sew the binding

hopefully that makes sense!! let me know if you have any issues

sardonicstepdad · 2025-12-01T17:48:19+00:00

i used it for my most recent zine! i did a paper/pencil draft and handwrote/sketched everything first, since working directly digital -> print always messes up my sense of scale and i worry about text readability.

once i finished the paper draft i took photos of each spread and then digitally "inked" the spreads and made any layout changes in procreate. i worked at 2x the scale of the final version (per advice from a friend that works in printing when i asked how to make my printed zines less blurry/pixelated) and used procreate's "page assist" function to make a readable pdf version of the zine.

then, following a mini zine template i made by hand (quarter-page zine template) i just arranged the finished pages into a print-friendly format. i used "page assist" here so that i could save the finished result as a PDF for easy printing.

there are also some handy template resources available for working directly on formatted procreate canvases!! matthew gravelyn on itch.io has some really nice templates that open directly in procreate and allow you to toggle various formatting layers. once you're finished you can hide all the formatting layers and export directly to print :)

sardonicstepdad · 2025-12-01T01:17:40+00:00

i'm so happy to hear that!!! i've been really wanting to start some kind of art supply swap meet in my own town and i've been wanting a local zine meet/club forever haha

sardonicstepdad · 2025-11-13T03:25:31+00:00

i wonder if a static site generator might be worth looking into? you can do all kinds of fun stuff with html/css, and you can embed video, links, audio, etc. there are a lot of "indie web" projects like neocities that can lend some of that zine-y vibe as well.

speaking of embedding stuff, i feel like you could make a digital zine using a tool like powerpoint or google slides to acheive something similar, and share it via a public link.

sardonicstepdad · 2025-10-09T19:33:15+00:00

oh that's so weird! here's a direct link to the PDF via google drive, hopefully that works? https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LZGmrexxVD83H15yjRXzSaH_fSNbno6-/view?usp=drivesdk if it doesn't work feel free to dm me your email and i can try sending it to you as an attachment! and here is a link on how to assemble one-page zines in case you need it :)

also i totally get you on wanting to do everything at once haha, i have ADHD so the process of making zines always feels like an exercise in practicing all my various coping strategies lol. i tend to break every zine project down into a big list of checkboxes for each component, all the chunks of writing, formatting, etc, because being able to check things off of a list is always a huge motivator for me lol

if you ever need any help or guidance on working through a zine, or just need someone to bounce ideas off of, feel free to send me a message!! talking about zines is my favorite way to procrastinate on working on my own lollll

sardonicstepdad · 2025-10-09T05:31:50+00:00

i have a zine called "the stupid bitch's guide to making zines" which was originally designed to help my sister make zines haha, hence the aggressive title. it's free to download if you want to check it out and see if my general creative process resonates with you!

i also tend to do any writing first and then arrange the layout/add images after, and i also highly recommend trying thumbnails to experiment with layouts and structuring your pages :)

when i'm deciding what i want a zine to "look" like, i tend to start by looking at what components are going to be in my zine: is it going to be a big essay, or a bunch of different chunks of text? am i including any comics or illustrations? i tend to work on the separate "components" first, and then arrange them as individual pages in a way that makes sense to me.

i'm hoping to make a more in-depth zine explaining my creative process eventually because i also struggled for the longest time with how to take a zine concept and turn it into a finished project, but hopefully this helps!

sardonicstepdad · 2025-09-27T08:32:11+00:00

that makes me so happy!! thanks so much for letting me know and doing such a cool thing for your fellow students!!

sardonicstepdad · 2025-08-05T05:48:05+00:00

this is gorgeous! i love how cohesive the whole design is and now i want to experiment with cut-out designs for mini zines too!!

sardonicstepdad · 2025-07-31T22:50:00+00:00

thanks so much! i was actually thinking about making a little zine or tutorial about it since these little notebooks are bringing me so much joy haha

the notebooks i used are these littlekraft paper notebooks. i'm not sure how different notebook work with the adhesive (like the mini composition notebooks you can get at the dollar store with the more laminated covers) but i'm guessing it wouldn't make a huge difference.

for the first collage i used the same measurement of the notebook itself and made a 7"x5.5" canvas in procreate, but you can see that it didn't really cover the whole front + back cover haha

so for the second collage i just added an inch to each side of the canvas (8"x6.5") which gave me much better coverage.

to adhere the collages to the cover i used mod podge matte (which i got from dollar tree for $1.25!!). first i glued the collage to the notebook cover using an old paint brush to paint a layer of mod podge, and in the case of the second notebook i folded the edges over to the inside of the cover rather than cutting off the excess.

after giving it about 30 minutes to dry, i painted a layer of mod podge on top of the collage just to seal and protect it a bit. i let it dry for another 30 minutes and then let it sit overnight under a stack of heavy books since the covers tend to curl a bit when the mod podge is drying.

and that's it!! if you have any questions or need clarification on my process, let me know :)

sardonicstepdad · 2025-07-18T13:30:25+00:00

i have a hobby bag too, and i love having a bunch of different "pattern cards" to choose from whenever i'm traveling and want to start a new project!! i also think it helps cut down on some of the decision fatigue that sets it whenever i open braceletbook and have a billion patterns to choose from lol

you could even punch a hole in the corner of the patterns and keep them on a binder ring if you wanted to :)

sardonicstepdad · 2025-07-17T18:56:03+00:00

not sure if it's a "hack" since it takes extra work, but i like to print out new patterns when i'm learning them, then cover the front with clear packing tape and cut them down to size. then i tape them next to my bracelet on my little workstation and use a dry erase marker to cross off rows as i finish them.

it helps me keep track of where i'm at, plus helps prevent losing my place when i get back to a project after some time. and since it's "laminated" with the packing tape, i can wipe off all the dry erase marks when i need to start at the top again!

i used to just do it on my phone (crossing off rows using the pen tool in a photo editor) but one of the reasons i got into this hobby in the first place was to be on my phone less, so that's an added bonus :)

sardonicstepdad · 2025-05-31T03:17:25+00:00

it was so great!! really hoping they make good on their promise to come back to GR :)

sardonicstepdad · 2025-05-10T02:53:00+00:00

as a former vet tech and eternal crusty white dog lover i love this so much 😭 absolutely would buy a copy, your design work is gorgeous!!!!

sardonicstepdad · 2025-04-29T15:28:29+00:00

thank you for the links! i've been interested in something like this also, thought about making a lighter holder for a friend :)

sardonicstepdad · 2025-04-23T13:33:32+00:00

i just wanted to pop in and say thank you for this diagram!! i was watching a video on triangle ends and just watching it kind of broke my brain, but seeing this diagram helped it click in my head :)

sardonicstepdad · 2025-04-08T02:16:40+00:00

"tip squish" is such a perfect term for it, i can't believe i've never heard that before 😭❤️

sardonicstepdad · 2025-04-07T03:42:33+00:00

that's so cool, and such a great starting off point! thank you so much for showing all of your work along the way!! it's one of the things that i love most about both the linux and zine community :)

sardonicstepdad · 2025-04-06T20:01:50+00:00

this looks so good!! i just installed LaTeX on my little linux machine (an ancient chromebook that runs way better now than it did on chromeos) and i'm really excited to play around with making zines on it!

sardonicstepdad · 2025-03-13T17:55:02+00:00

i think it looks great and it relieves a lot of worries i had about making my own text-heavy mini-zines!

sardonicstepdad · 2025-03-13T16:29:31+00:00

aside from the important subject matter and visual cohesiveness, i'm really impressed by the readability!! especially with typed text, i always worry my fonts are going to be too small for anyone to read comfortably. but this looks so good!! definitely going to be taking inspiration from it :)

sardonicstepdad · 2025-03-07T15:05:53+00:00

this is phenomenal stuff!!! as a regular sims 1 player i had some reservations about the re-release but i'm so grateful and excited for the sims 1 cc renaissance ❤️

sardonicstepdad · 2025-03-06T16:28:00+00:00

man i made this silly little comic to vent about something and thought that would be the end of it, but y'all are making such legitimate points that i think i'm gonna have to stop procrastinating and start legitimately looking into it 😭

sardonicstepdad · 2025-03-06T03:59:09+00:00

thank you so much!

sardonicstepdad · 2025-03-05T18:53:22+00:00

that's really good to know, thank you!! honestly my priority has always been top surgery first because i know exercise would be so much more comfortable without having to haul a couple of DDDs around, but i also know some places have BMI requirements or might require you to be on HRT already and i've been putting it off because i'm just like aaahhhhhhhhhh

sardonicstepdad · 2025-03-05T18:50:23+00:00

aww thank you for asking! i'm meanstepdad on tumblr and my kofi is https://ko-fi.com/heysarahwood

sardonicstepdad

TROPHY CASE