Back in 2018 I was invited to co-create a Creative Playshop for The Body Now Summer Retreat. For that retreat the amazing Dodi Jackson and I crafted the HeArt Zine project, a mixed media and found poetry zine that anyone could create. The perfect project for beginners and experts alike.
I have been wanting to return to this project for quite a while and thought it would be a great project for this week's craft-a-long. Tuning into the Heart in times of fear and uncertainty is one of the many ways to turn back towards calm, to know one's inner strength, and to activate some joy.
Creating Playfully - The Making of a HeArt Zine
Zines have been inspiring me for the past few years. A zine is a self-created or self-published booklet. The topics vary wildly but often focus on topics outside of the mainstream. Zines are a great tool for bringing your unique worldview, opinion, or thoughts into the public awareness.
So what would a zine look like if created intentionally to share a message from the Heart?
What wisdom could be uncovered?
What Magick could this conjure?
These were the questions I was exploring when developing this craft. HeArt is a mix of Heart messages and Art Magick! The first step is to create an art landscape with paints, papers, fabrics, or in the case of this craft-a-long whichever materials you can find at home. The Heart message comes through the creation of a found poem.
In the Craft-a-Long I will walk you through how to craft the pages of your zine, fold it into a beautiful booklet, and then discover the magic of found poetry! I will share my techniques for allowing my creative unconscious thoughts to bubble to the surface, finding a creative flow that is restful and fun. See you tomorrow!
Preparing for the Craft-a-Long
To begin the process of attuning to the messages of your heart I have a set of simple sentence stems that you may wish to fill out. When answering these prompts sometimes a first thought best thought approach can be enlightening. Have fun. Breathe into your toes. Light a candle. Put on some joyful tunes and settle in.
My Heart Is….
My Heart Dreams of….
My Heart Remembers….
My Heart is Ready to….
My Heart Wants Me to Know….
My Heart Urges Me to….
Materials
The hope for these craft-a-longs is that you can begin creating without the need to order supplies or go to the store, since most of us are settled in at home. If you don't have a specific material I encourage you to think outside the box and see what else might be available to you.
A large piece of paper, ideally 11 x 17, but any rectangular paper that isn't too think will work. In a perfect world you want something a little thicker than computer paper to hold up to the materials, but thinner than watercolor paper, which can become difficult to fold. When we originally offered this course we supplied charcoal papers.
Scissors
Gluestick or Modpodge. If you don't have glue, tape would also work and give your zine a fun scrapbook vibe.
Paper and Fabric scraps. This will become the background for the words of your zine. The bulk of the Art part of HeArt Zine. If you have a stash of art papers like me you are good to go, but if you are starting fresh you can dig through piles of mail, magazines, birthday cards, or cut up some old clothes to generate a pile of materials.
Found words and poetry. I will also be posting a printable for patrons with a collection of heart quotes and poems that you could print. But words are bountiful. You could work from a book of poetry, collect words from old cards, or scry through a pile of magazines.
See you tomorrow! Can't wait to get crafty with you and see what our hearts want to speak through the magick of CRAFT!
No account is necessary to follow along, although if you want to particpate in the chat or ask questions you will need to create a Twitch account. It's easy and Free.
