You have two choices. Spend 11 minutes watching this (NSFW):
Or spend a little bit longer reading this (PSFW):
Hot off the presses!
Goodnight & God bless, peeps!
publishing. 2 things:
1.
I wrote a piece at Underbellie: “what you could stand to know about addiction”. My brother sent me an email response that read, in part: “Holy F that is well written. Can you please get that published somewhere? I barely relate to the subject and was still nearly moved to tears.”
Welp. Of course I am published. On my site. I think he meant publish in a way where I get paid? (or maybe read by more than twelve people?) #LOLsob because I think it is my destiny to be a largely-unpaid writer. I’ve been doing this since I could write, so there’s that.
2.
Speaking of my writing, for pay or otherwise, I have had only six customers purchase the new Tumblehome. That’s like, SIX. This kind of response is obviously not adequate for me to continue the work needed to curate, write, design, edit, print, assemble, and publish. However, I know I could make a little more effort in trying to distribute and get word out, and I am willing to do so.
In the meantime, after two printing mishaps (and therfore a late send-out), here is an alluring picture of the hand-assembled option. The zine is available in paper, or for a $2 download.
Our next issue comes out in April.
Family life: the other day Nels found the first crocus bloom in our neighborhood. He made me come take a photo, and he has been watching it every morning.
Yes. Spring is really going to happen.
No, seriously.
OK, the new issue of Tumbleho.me rocks. Specifically: Ralph’s piece on children and gaming (which ended up longer than he intended and is the better for it!), my how-to on sewing a swimsuit, the graphic artwork, some great local writing from poet and bibliophile Dwight Johnson, and three delicious recipes. There’s more stuff of course, these are just kind of the crown jewels of the business.
The zine will be available gratis in April, when the next issue publishes. I adore, adore! receiving writings, poetry, artwork, media reviews, and photography from committed and talented individuals. Please consider contributing!
$1 off for my homies
The new Tumblehome ships out, via mail and download, tomorrow. Please hop on over if you want some homemade zine goodness. All previous copies, GRATIS
I’m also, newly, on Tumblr. A couple friends & I are doing a little blog project, LE CREEP MAMA. If you’re on Tumblr, please submit or email me for the blog password for the latter. kelly AT hogaboom DOT org.
splish splash
Swimming, today. Below: Nels is a “shark”, scooting along his bum with a (hand-) fin out the water, to get me. I waited until he got close enough I could kiss him.
A new suit. I started it yesterday and finished it up this morning; I am featuring a few tips on sewing swimsuits in my next zine (February 2013). So I won’t chat much about methodology here.
I am pretty pleased with how this garment turned out. I got to make length alterations for my daughter’s very tall, weasel-belly body. As you can see here, making length alterations is not super-straightforward with all those curves in there.
But far better than my relative success at a challenging project – my daughter loved the suit and praised it vociferously. She put it on immediately and I grabbed a photo. She wore it around the house all morning.
When we went swimming she showed it to the lifeguard, telling the woman her mother made it.
EAGLE-EYED VIEWERS WILL NOTE I lined those stripes up LIKE A SIR
The suit is fully-lined. I sewed via a narrow zig-zag and finished on my serger:
After this garment with its fussy little pieces, typical – and simpler – suit designs will be easy! I’m offering custom builds of the suit on Etsy, tailored especially for those who need a performance suit and don’t want off-the-rack sameness. At any rate I’ll offer them there until my mind feels bored at the thought of sewing another one. However at this point? I’m wanting to make another one right away!
This was the second project I finished on my Pfaff. I found this machine in a new sewing shop in Mason County this summer. I purchased it via layaway for about half the going price and it feels like forever I’ve waited to bring it home! There were a few hiccups in the aquisition of the machine, once because I couldn’t make a payment, around Christmastime, and then due to tech problems in the shop – the shopkeep is new to selling older equipment. However, I am grateful to be able to use a layaway program as, let’s face it, otherwise I wouldn’t be bringing home anything at all. And so far, I am very pleased with the machine’s performance and all its cool bells and whistles!
A bit about my equipment while I am on the subject. This Pfaff is the first sewing machine I’ve purchased that wasn’t under $20 from a thrift store (I have had my go-arounds with thrift store machines and, now, I am quite wary). It is an early-80s machine. My other two working machines were gifted to me; one, the Singer 15-91, was built in 1950 and originally belonged to my grandmother. The second, a Juki, came to me as a birthday present from my mother five years ago. So if you’ve lost count, I can tell you I am doing my work on three sewing machines and one serger (a White 534 superlock I purchased on eBay for $100); I also have two machines I don’t work with, both 1950s Singers, one a treadle. They each need a tune-up so they’re waiting until I can afford one. I am actually willing to give up the treadle, but haven’t put any time and effort into finding it a good home.
My long-winded point is: if you’re a new crafter or want to learn to sew, you do not need a $2K (or more!) machine nor a bunch of fancy shit to sew amazing stuff. But the truth is, time and experience provide the right equipment; so does community and family support. Many years’ at this craft has yielded friends and family who provide encouragement, equipment, and materials –
And for those parties, I am so grateful.
get your Hoquiam aweomesauce here!
My new issue of Tumblehome, our third publication, is available online and in print. Anyone buying a print version or donating more than $6 gets entered into a drawing for a hand-sewn pincushion.
Additionally: archives are free. You can download a pdf for your own printing, or visit my profile at Issuu where I’ve posted the July and August issues.
It is a lot of work to envision, draft, write, edit, publish, staple, stamp, address, email, etc this zine. It helps to have feedback; particularly if anyone experiences technical difficulties, which can be tricky to troubleshoot given my resources and home environment.
And of course, I’m happy to hear about content and what you might like to see in future zines.
Thank you for your support!
in my hot little hand
Very limited-edition. Only a few left, already. I don’t need to hustle to sell them right now. Up next: August’s issue, themed “Perspective”. I hope readers will contribute works. #w00t
my mouse hand hurts
NEWS! My zine is ready! Yay!
The pdf version is $2 and the limited edition, hand-assembled print version is $6. I think the print versions are going to sell out super-duper fast. I only hope I have enough to sell on First Thursday at my kids’ lemonade stand.
Lots of hard work. I hope readers here consider submitting their own works, especially writings or photography of their living area. C’mon I may be cool but it doesn’t need to be The Kelly Hogaboom Show all the time.
Thanks, darlings!
inch by inch
I currently have received about a third the budget for my first zine printing. I’m trucking along, keeping records and updating my addresses. I hope to not spam the zine here (or on Twitter) too much, but I also want to give people an opportunity to know the whole thing is live and can use support of any kind.
In other news. Kinda big news. For me. Kind of a big deal. I think I am actually going to put in an application for a paying job. This is… kind of huge. I haven’t worked for pay, at all, in any consistent way, since 2003. I won’t be taking anything more than part-time hours at this point, but I’m ready to apply, selectively. I’m also ready to abandon the pursuit if it doesn’t work for my family.
Anyway, this is kind of a major thing, which is why I’m outing myself here. And of course, as competitive as all jobs are at this point, I have no idea what the future holds. Probably no job. This is what happens when I make plans.
So anyway. When I have to go out. I leave notes:
Phoenix makes sure to check off her housework. LIKE A BOSS. She is awesome at it. I think she enjoys having time in the house, to herself. Scratch the word “think”. I know it.
Happy Friday, m’lovelies.
printing pretty paper
Welcome to our new paper zine, tumblehome! I am pretty darn excited. I am also pretty darned determined to do something even simpler than previous zine efforts, as zine-ing is kinda a one-woman show around here and I have other responsibilities and, dare I say, a limitation or two.
On the note of previous self-publishing experience, several years ago about a dozen readers paid for a year’s subscription to my previous almanac, “Hoquiam Sure Nail & Fire”, and four times as many more supported that particular publication in a variety of ways (per-issue, submitting content, etc). Anyone who was on the SN&F email list will receive an email over the next day as I go through these records. If possible, I would like to zine them all up! 🙂 Since the SN&F project is a few years old, doubtless some email addresses will no longer work. I ask anyone involved to please bear with me. If you think you should get an email and you don’t, let me know.
For now, please cross your fingers I will have everything ready and a few awesome little booklets in my hot little hands, come July 1st!
