PonyBoy Press

stand for every body

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:34:00 +0000

For the last few weeks I've been helping out, along with about 35 other activists, in creating images that are being created in response to a hateful childhood anti-obesity campaign that is being run in Georgia.

The campaign, called, Strong4Life, thinks images like the one below are somehow going to actually help kids.

All images and messages like this are going to do is create shame and self-loathing. Shame and self-loathing are the basis of so many disorders, including eating disorders, substance abuse and depression, something a campaign like this is sure to create. How can anyone think that this is a good way to make children or their parents create healthy self-esteem and healthy eating. It is tragically misguided and just infuriating.

Many people feel this way and a campaign was started by fat activist rebel Marilyn Wann. She invited anyone who wanted to to submit a photo and a statement about what they stand for in response to Strong4Life campaign. The photos came pouring in and she couldn't keep up. So, many photoshop users, including myself, happily donated our time to help get these images out there. You can see them all on the site I Stand Against Weight Bullying. Here are a few of the many that I adore:

Funds are being raised to buy billboards in Georgia near the billboards that the Strong4Life campaign is running. There is a donor who will give $5,000 of we can get 155 more donors to give $5.00. Over 10,000 was raised in one day on Feb 2nd, but more funds are needed. Please give if you can.

There have been many new stories and blog posts about the campaign. You can keep up on the facebook group page. Recently there have been article on Ms Magazine Blog and Salon.

You can also find lots of information on the Stand4Everybody site. If you would like to participate in the campaign. You can send a large image of yourself and your statement to marilyn at fatso dot com.

february

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:13:00 +0000

This is an illustration from a book from my childhood. This is the kind of illustration that made me long for "normal" weather as a child. Lakes never froze over in the Southern California beach town I grew up in. February of my childhood was actually not that much different than May.

This winter has been more like a So Cal winter than a Portland one. The last couple of weeks has been sunny and windy.

But, it is February (which I also have to look up each time I spell it) and that means Valentines Day. I just found this super sweet illustration and poem in the same A Child's Book of Poems.

Are you looking for Valentine inspiration? If so, I keep a list on pinterest of my fave Valentines ideas.

Happy February!

jan 31st

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:23:00 +0000

It's the last day of January. This month seemed appropriately long. What I mean is it didn't seem to flash by me like most do, but it didn't feel too long or anything. It felt like a month true to size (as they say in the clothing business). I was so looking forward to Winter this year. And of course, this year we have the mildest winter yet and I think it may never get very cold.

Here are a few photos I took with my phone while I was out this last month. I need to remember to take my camera with me more. Hope your January was pleasant and just the right length for you.

good reading

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:25:00 +0000

I am currently reading about 5 books. I'm putting off finishing them because I am enjoying them so much, so I read a little from one each night.

One of the books I'm upset that I am almost done with is The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. When I first heard of this book about a year ago I dismissed it as a fluff-kind-of- book-that-people-gush-over-but-when-I-finally-read-it-I-am disgusted-with-how-basic-and-condescending-it-is (I won't name names, because I may offend you, but this has happened to me more than once).

A blog I read mentioned that in her project Rubin gave each month a theme and focused on those things during that month. I love a theme and I need focus (so many projects!) so that was enough for me to check it out from the library.

I totally fell in love with this book. Rubin's story and approach was not what I expected at all. In fact I could totally relate to her. She admits her life is good, but felt like she could be doing life better and that was what the book is about. She did a huge amount of research on happiness and the reader gets to benefit from that when she throws in study statistics and quotes from other books on happiness.

For the month of January (do you know I need to look up that word every time I write it? Luckily there is a calendar near) Rubin focused on creating energy and had a plan for doing it with steps like go to bed earlier, clear out clutter and keep a food diary.

I chose to do the same thing for January and have focused mostly on space clearing. All month my day's focus has been on getting rid of stuff. Since I am currently unemployed I have the chance to really work on this full time right now. I have cleaned out clothes, books, cds, records, and ephemera (which was them listed for sale on The Cedar Chest. I have donated and listed things on Amazon and Ebay. I have gone through some drawers and tackled some things on my to do list.

I am however feeling antsy that the end of January is coming and I still have lots and lots of stuff that has not been gone through. Obviously a lifetimes worth of stuff can not all be gone through in one month and I need to remember I'm being unreasonable to imagine it could. Things are definitely more cleared out and will continue to be.

I really recommend this book, especially if you are the list making kind of nerd, which is totally her approach. Even if you don't do the project yourself, the book on it's own is valuable and can open your eyes to some things. She has a very full website, too, that can give you lots of ideas.

Another book I am putting off finishing is Wildwood.

Wildwood is a classic fantasy adventure book in the tradition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and similar books like that. Wildwood, however, is set in Portland and the magical woods that it takes place in are based on Forest Park. Wildwood is written by Colin Meloy of the band The Decemberists and is illustrated by his wife Carson Ellis. It's a very enjoyable read on a rainy winter night.

What are you reading?

january

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:35:00 +0000

This illustration is from A Child's Book of Poems from 1969. The illustrator is Gyo Fujkawa. I was given this book as a little kid along with A Child's Garden of Verse illustrated by Fujikawa as well. They were given to me by a man who worked with my dad making educational films.

I loved these books. Loved looking at the pictures and later when I could read, reading the poems. The images and style was really influential to me, which I didn't realize until 30 years later.

There are lots of poems in A Child's Book of Poems about the seasons. Many mention the things you do in winter, spring and fall and most of these things were completely foreign to me. I was growing up in suburban Southern California. There was no snow or ice skating (unless we drove 2 hours to Topanga Ice Rink). There was no nut gathering in fall or long awaited tulips in the spring. I don't even remember that many trees with fall colors.

I longed for these signs of the seasons, especially winter, since that seemed the most foreign to me. Building a snowman in your own yard! Incredible.

In my Southern California upbringing we would "go to the snow". Dad would announce, "Does anyone want to go to the snow today" And my sister and I would hunt down our seldom used scarfs and gloves (mainly brought out for birthday parties in Topanga) and we'd all drive for about an hour or more out to the mountains above Ojai.

Snow was something you went to, not something that came to you. At that young age I became sort of entranced and awed by these neat happenings that came along with the seasons. I still am. I love anything to do with seasonal things and winter is my favorite.

I moved further north at 18 and further more at 36. I wanted more seasons. Portland is pretty good when it comes to seasons. You get the feeling of each season without extremes. This year the winter has been very different - dry and sunny. It's been nice. I love sunny cold days, but it isn't normal and it feels more like March than January. The plants have begun to bloom even, thinking spring is on the way.

Today it's raining and I'm loving the sound. I have the windows open so I can hear and smell it better. I did miss the rain. Tomorrow it may snow! Still so excited when I look out the window and snow is falling.

I love the winter more each year. The quiet of January and February. The bare trees and crisp air. I think this year I will finally do my winter zine. I hope you're enjoying January, too.

remaking yourself

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:40:00 +0000

Christmas is over and 2012 is right around the corner and like many people out there, I am having dreams of redoing my whole life. I want fresh starts and clean sheets. I want to look at the world and my life in a new way. I want to be more of the me I know I can be and less of the me I am when I'm motivated by fear or insecurity. I want to try new things and make different efforts. I want to narrow in my focus and get more done - and do less multi-tasking.

If you're like most people you are probably thinking of ways to make 2012 a better year. I love this part of the new year. I like making lists and assigning areas of focus. Unfortunately this fresh start feeling we all crave always results in millions of messages about how you need to lose weight to be the best you.

This intense time of fat hatred focus can be a bad triggering time for lots of people. If your goal is to exercise more and lose weight that is your business, but don't let other people tell you what you need to be. This includes the media, family, boyfriends, workplace, ect. And it's not just about weight. I have seen many people over the years become less of themselves because other people wanted them to. They altered their interests or smarts because it made other people uncomfortable. This never works out. You can only be who you are. And in fact - you are the only one who can be that person!

If you want to change yourself for yourself that's different. That is life. We are all always in the process of changing and that's a good thing. But, don't alter or edit yourself just to please someone else.

Imagine what a better world this would be if people spent less time and money trying to change themselves and instead accepted and loved themselves. This would free up so much time and money for doing good in the world.

With this in mind I made this free printable 5x7 print. Print it or Pin it if you feel it can help you to remember. You're awesome! Thanks for being you!

Santa's on his way

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:16:00 +0000

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday to all of you. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I am posting my favorite Christmas song for you. This isn't the ultimate version of it for me, but it's the closest I could find.

Thanks to all of you for keeping up with me and this blog. Love to you all!

december days

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:33:00 +0000

Here are some images from my December so far.

Hope you all have a wonderful week next week. Happy Holidays to you all!

Vintage Christmas Tags - Free Printable!

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:37:00 +0000

I kind of love Christmas Tags. New or used. I have quite a lot (but frustratingly couldn't find half of them recently). Christmas tags are these sweet little pieces of illustration art that can be so perfect and festive.

It's kind of a shame they're thrown away, but that is the nature of them (and why they call it ephemera, right?). If you come across vintage Christmas tags you might have some trepidation actually using them, since they just end up in the trash bag. However, copies of vintage tags are a great option (especially if you only have one or two of a design). So, I took a handful of my favorite tags and scanned them so you can have a free printable from PonyBoy Press and The Cedar Chest.

How to use these:

1. Go to the original size link.
2. Save to your computer (this is a large file, so it might take a minute)
3. Open in a image program or print from the icon. It is made to fit a 8.5 x 11 page at 300 dpi.
You do need to change the printer direction to landscape or horizontal.
4. Cut out tags.
5. Have fun!

Happy Winter Holidays to all of you! Hope your enjoying the season.

Help Solve the Turko Mystery

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:03:00 +0000

This is a picture from my living room. This painting of Turko has been mine for 17 years and as you can see this month marks the 100 year anniversary of Turko. We wanted to do something to commemorate it, so I created a website and made some postcards that I sent off to people.

The website has a lot of closer images of the Turko Painting and a guestbook. I would love it of you would take a look and let me know if you have any theories about what this painting is all about and sign the guestbook to help celebrate 100 years of Turko.

Thanks for taking part!! You can learn more about Turko and Me on the site as well. Happy century to good old Turko!

zine gifts

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:56:00 +0000

I really need to blog about zines more on here. I think about doing it all the time, but then time passes and I forget the zine a bit (I have terrible retention) and then I don't. But, it's Christmas and I wanted to let you know that zines are a great gift for some people, especially young writers who may be inspired to try it themselves. I have met many friends through zines - all in the last 11 years. My life would not be as rich at all without zines and zine friends.

So, on to the zine gift ideas. Of course, we shall start with my zines. I created a size posi Love your Body pack with 3 zines and some extra fun stuff. Great for any friend who is struggling with feeling shame or hatred over their own body because they feel they are too big.

Lots of zines, especially perzines can be a little depressing (including some of mine), which can be a great read, but kind of not something you wanna give to someone. I find myself more and more wanting positive zines. Here are some that would make good gifts.

The Radical Uprise puts out some awesome zines all about how to keep a positive mental attitude. Some of the stuff in the zine can be pretty basic to me, but you never know what people are taught and I think all the zines they put out are great. I highly recommend them and the whole idea of Positive Mental Attitude being a "cool" thing. These zines might help some tweener see PMA in a different light.

In the same vein this zine Shit's Fucked is a great little zine, too. It has some good basic info about how to be a responsible adult and not screw up things for yourself.

This zine is availalbe at the zine distro Ms Valerie Park and there are some other good choices there, too.

Some other good zines to get for people are D.I.Y. zines. Do they wanna make their own cleaning products? Make Your Place is a beautiful little book which was based off of many zines.

Or maybe they wanna learn screenprinting. Many interests have zines about them and these zines often have tips on how to make these hobbies or do these jobs in a cheaper or greener way. Just go to a zine distro site or Etsy and do a search on the subject your friend is interested in. Maybe it's vintage postcards? Or maybe it's home fermentation.

Cooking zines are also a good option. Does your friend have a obsession with Nutella? Or tea? Lots of cooking zines out there.

One more kind of zine that is a fun gift is the fanzine. I'm gonna guess that there is a zine for lots of musical acts, writers, books, movies and actors. Like, um....Prince, Justin Bieber, Mary Wollstonecraft, The Golden Girls, Star Trek: The Next Generation....the possibilities are endless.

Zines are a great add-on gift for a theme present. Like a vegan cook zine with some measuring cups or a tea zine with some special tea and a mug.

Anyway, these are just some basic ideas and some zines I really like. Have fun!

christmas tags from family photos

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:51:00 +0000

I have to admit to myself that my vision is often bigger and better than my circumstance. I had a great idea of how these Holiday gift tags were gonna look, but due to my small space and lack of good lighting, these images didn't turn out like they should have.

I'm gonna share anyway, because I think it's a good idea. All you need is a color printer and some card stock matte paper (80 # is good). I used a 3" tag puncher that I just got and am pretty into, but you could trace a tag on the back of the image or just cut out in any shape you want. It's a fun idea to have the gift have an old picture of the person the present is for, but you could also use old found photographs.

I got the idea from Sweet Paul magazine. Here's what it looks like when a professional prop stylist takes the pics.

Here's how mine turned out:

You can use non-people images from Christmas past, too. These trees are old Christmas trees of my youth that I scanned from old slides. That's my sister above ripping open a KaBoom present and me in the white fur hat and muff (so necessary for Southern California winters. You never know when it'll hit 65!).

The black and white photo is a found one from my collection.

Hope these inspire you a bit. Next week I'm gonna have some free vintage printable tags. And check out the post on The Cedar Chest on using copies of vintage cards to make your Holiday cards.

scattered pictures

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:59:00 +0000

I've been taking picture of trees all over town like crazy for a month. They have been so pretty here this year. But, most of them just don't translate. The sky is grey, often it's late in the afternoon and well, I'm no professional photographer.

But, since Friday marks the beginning of the Christmas season, I figured I need to get these posted now. It kind of irks me that autumn is just dropped the day after Thanksgiving. I mean, there are 3-4 weeks left - one third of the season.

Oh, well, I'm sure I'll get all Christmassy on you soon. Here are some random autumny fall type pics I took over the last month (Oh, yeah, I had a birthday in there, too). Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!

up to the mountain

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:56:00 +0000

I have a few blog posts piling up in my head. I've been pretty busy working on The Cedar Chest blog and updates. I've added a lot of new postcards and photos in the shop recently (including some Christmas postcards) and started a Facebook page. I hope you will want to check them out.

I have also been working more on the website for my dad's film and have created a Facebook page for Gifts of an Eagle, as well.

I would love it if you "like" one or both of my new pages.

So, because of these things (and others) this blog has been a little ignored. But, I have posts and I need to get them out of my head and onto the computer. Here is a belated one.

At the beginning of November the mister and I went on a trip up near Mt Hood. There is a cabin we like there and we've gone to it a few times (if you're looking to go I highly recommend Mt Hood Rentals).

Here are some pics from a day that we went out for a drive. It was pretty clear weather when we were there, which was a different experience for us. It was neat to see it like that, but I kind of missed the snow.

First let's start with a nice breakfast at The Zig Zag Inn

Sometimes the Mountain would suddenly just show up as you turned in the road and it just took my breath away. So close and big. It was neat to see it so bare. We hadn't had much snow yet.

We came across this meadow as we were on our way to find a lake we never found. It was just so pretty. All golden and secret the way it just showed up. The whole time we were there no one even drove by.

There was this little cabin that just made the whole picture perfect. Just like a Bob Ross painting.

And more views of old Mt Hood on the way home. Nice.

This whole mountain is covered in snow now. There's been about 40 inches since we were there.

no pressure mini apple pies

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:40:00 +0000

I have always been intimidated to make pie crust. If I make a pie I usually buy the pre-made pie crusts. But, the other night I made two mini apple pies for me and the mister. I didn't even think about the fact that I had made pie crust until it was done. I think the fact that they were little and I could just patch it together made it a lot less intimidating.

I used this recipe. But, instead of making them in muffin tins I used ramekins, which are bigger. I then halved the recipe (because I was only using 2 ramekins). It turned out real good, but I needed to pack more apples in. They cooked down and we definitely needed more ( I used 2 medium and one small). The baking time was a bit longer in the ramekins.

I had a hard time getting the pie crust to not break up. Let me know if you have any tips on that. In general this was a really easy recipe and pretty fast - and no pie crust pressure!

There are so many apple recipes on Pinterest right now! If you are wondering what to make this weekend or for Thanksgiving, check them out. You can start on my Food and Drink Board, which has a lot of them listed, including the one I used here.

autumn walkways

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:34:00 +0000

I visited the Chinese Gardens here in Portland last weekend. It is one of my favorite places in Portland. I really need to go there more often. I think people talk about the Japanese Garden more in regards for tourists in Portland, and the Japanese Gardens are nice. But, the Lan Su Chinese Garden is such a more unique experience. I think I especially like all the open interiors - walkways, hallways, little buildings - all with pretty intricate woodwork.

There are lots of places that you can sort of hide or get out of the way.

Weekends can be kind of crowded. Weekdays off season are the best for taking some quiet time in the garden.

Today I have not been walking along pretty garden walkways like last Sunday. I've been on the computer way too long. But before I go I want you to know that I'm having a Free Shipping Sale at The Cedar Chest through Sunday the 6th.

I also just created a facebook page for The Cedar Chest. So, please check it out and "like" it if you do. I just posted a bunch on new stuff at the Etsy shop.

in praise of carnations

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:12:00 +0000

I love carnations. I think they are a highly under-appreciated flower. They have a lovely spicy scent and they look real friendly and pretty.

The mister and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary last week and he brought me these carnations. He has brought me many amazing beautiful flower arrangements over the years and I have loved them all. These sweet carnations are loved as much and look great in the vases I have.

Next time your at the florist or even the grocery store take a whiff of some carnations and bring them home.

October brings our anniversary and a mountain vacation. I am finally starting to feel better from my back injury. I hope your October is wonderful!

what hollywood will hopefully learn from bridesmaids

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 22:32:00 +0000

I'm kind of obsessed with the movie Bridesmaids right now. I never caught it in the theaters, so I bought it as soon as it came out., I knew I would like it and I'm already a big fan of Melissa McCarthy. I have had it for about two weeks and I've watched it 4 times since then. It is a very funny, well rounded and well done film. I love the friendship of the main characters in the movie and all the bridesmaids are just perfection.

If I had seen it earlier I would have written a big entry like this one. Melissa McCarthy almost steals that movie and you're so happy whenever she is on screen. She's the hero of the film, really. She's the one that comes through and wakes up the heroine. She is kick ass in every way. And I have totally known women kind of like her.

I think the main thing that needs to be said over and over again is that Bridesmaids is a movie with three fat characters (two are smaller rolls - the roommate and a stewardess - yes, a fat stewardess!) and there are virtually no fat jokes in the script - AND it was the blockbuster of the summer!!

Do you hear that Hollywood? Fat people were cast, were hilarious and were not used for cheap fat hating jokes - and the film was the biggest film of the summer! Please, please learn from this.

Some people might think there were some fat jokes in Bridesmaids, but they were small and subtle and and were in line with the characters. They weren't something I found offensive.

And then last week Melissa McCarthy does Saturday Night Live and kills it! I am so happy for her and her success.

I also secretly love that she has been smaller in the past, even losing quite a bit of weight at one time and yet when she really breaks through is when she's bigger. In fact, since she is so short, I don't really know if she could have been so good in the Bridesmaids roll is she'd been smaller. The character needed some physical heft to back up her personality.

I also watch her sitcom Mike and Molly where she pays a much more straight character. It's a good show, mostly. Her comic timing and reactions are just so good. Unfortunately, the mother played by Swoosie Kurtz is a mean-spirited fatphobic character and I find myself hating her and not wanting to watch Mike and Molly just for the way the mother character is written. But, my love for McCarthy wins out. She won an Emmy this year over some amazing people for her performance in the sitcom!

It is nice - finally - to have a movie like Bridesmaids prove what many of us have all been saying over the years. Fat jokes are cheap and easy and not needed for a quality film - or even a blockbuster film. Please folks, learn from Bridesmaids.

surprises

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 01:09:00 +0000

Today has been somewhat rainy and windy. Fall is now here and as usual I am happy to see it. However, I was not happy to have such early fall-like weather last weekend when the mister and I went to the coast. I was hoping for a little blast of last minute summer. I had visions of laying on the warm sand during the day and staring at the stars at night. Instead I got a grey sky that almost exactly matched the grey ocean and rain all weekend long. You couldn't even sit on the porch without getting wet.

It was still a nice weekend, though. There was lots of relaxing and one day we went into town, walked around in the rain and had some ice cream.

We also stopped by the smoked fish shop. I've driven by a few times and never could stop. We got the most amazingly good and still warm smoked tuna, salmon and black cod. I will stop there now everytime.

Karla's Smokehouse

We stayed in a kooky old run down house that hadn't been redone since the early 80's and is still filled with the owners things. The owners still come and stay there part of the year.

Down in their dark garage there's a little hallway to get to the washer and dryer area (everything else is behind plywood walls and covered in tarps). In this hallway I found a wall covered with clippings and old calendars and posters. I love finding walls like this. This one was especially exciting because the owner had a pin-up calendar from 1981 on Duane Bryers' chubby pin-up creation, Hilda. I have only ever seen these images on the internet. It was cool to see some in real life.

Everyone seems to be pretty excited about fall being here. I am already looking forward to some things. But, I'm gonna try and keep my preconceived ideas to a minimum about my plans. You never know what you'll really get.

Oilcloth Tote Bags and Mom

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:33:00 +0000

I've been meaning to post this for about a month. And now, with the symbolic last day of summer I finally get to it. In my defense this summer, especially the last month and a half has been pretty crazy. Between visits from family, making the zine, doing the zine symposium and then for the last month dealing with a really bad back injury - I've had little time to catch up. I'm looking forward to some cooler weather and stronger days ahead.

I've posted before about my mother and her amazing talents. She has been cranking out amazing quilts for the last couple of years. She never sells her work and it drives me crazy, because her stuff is so beautiful and well done. But, it takes a lot of work to do that and I can understand her not wanting to spend time on that. She'd rather sew!

I spent a couple of weeks at the beginning of summer looking for a good lunch bag for work. I wanted Mexican oilcloth because it's easy to clean and so bright and cheery. I looked and looked on Etsy and there was nothing like what I wanted on there. I finally settled on something that wasn't what I wanted. Then I thought about my mom and how she could probably make one with her mad skills. So, I bought some oilcloth online with contrasting gingham colors. So cute! I took it to her house with a placemat I liked, too. Hoping she could make me some customer round placemats as well (I forgot to take pics of those, but trust me they're awesome).

She was pretty unsure of working with oilcloth, especially since I wanted the liner to be oil cloth, too. I knew she would be able to do it and in fact she did quickly crank out some awesome lunch bags. She made them to my specifications, which were a little bigger than I probably needed. So, I use them more for picnics. And truthfully, they are so beautiful, I've been cautious about using them at all.

In her usual fashion she added lots of sweet little features, including pockets inside and matching placemats and coasters for the bags! She used this stitch for everything and it worked great. The cool, thing about oilcloth is that you can just leave the edges cut. It won't unravel.

She took some cardboard and covered it to make the bottom more sturdy and flat. You can also remove it if you want.

I can't offer you the directions for these bags, but something even better recently came out if you like the look of these totes. A new book called Sewing with Oilcloth is now out. And you can get free patterns for the tote bag and the table runner. This book almost makes me want to sew!

kid's drawings

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 21:44:00 +0000

One of my favorite things to buy at zine symposiums or comic shows is drawings that little kids are selling. There's usually at least one kid who's with someone selling and they have a pile of drawings or comics of their own to sell.

Last month at the Portland Zine Sympoisum there was an organization raising money for kids art classes by selling some drawings. I bought this for 2 or 3 dollars.

Here are some other drawings I got in the past, most likely from either the zine symposium or Stumptown Comicsfest. I've been meaning to post some of these for years.

This one above was a full comic series. I bought three issues, all full length and stapled in the corner. This was from at least 5 years ago at PZS.

This one above is my favorite. It looks like this on the page. The drawing takes up about 1/6 of the blank page. Here is a close up below:

Not only is this just a great picture of some kid that I am guessing has some serious braces. But, it always makes me hear a song in my head from a long ago Oakland band called Eskimo that I saw a lot in the late 80's.. They ended a song called Clark's Monkey calling out the name Clark, Clark?

These last two I think I got at Stumptown.

I'm betting I have more around. If I find them I'll post them. When you go to shows like this look for the little kids who has a mess of drawings on a small part of the table. You'll get some cool stuff.

august bounty

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 03:52:00 +0000

This year I planted only cucumbers in my 4x4 garden box. I planted 2 little plants around the beginning of July and they have really taken off.

I have harvested about 6 cucumbers so far and there are going to be tons more. The plants are so pretty with the little yellow flowers.

Tonight I cut up two and put in a bowl with rice vinegar. They are great on salads, cold pasta and alone.

Here's some more pretty pics of the "garden" tonight. Including a portrait of a very busy bee.

There are a few more on my flicker account. What are you harvesting?

Scenes from a Zine Fest

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 22:44:00 +0000

Last weekend was the annual Portland Zine Symposium. I have attended every one and tabled at all but the first. It's a fun, tiring and inspiring weekend. It's great to see zine friends from all over the country that you see every year. Some I've known for about ten years now.

Last weekend was pretty much as described. I came away feeling more inspired about zines, even though I walked away with less in quantity than before. What I did get made a strong impression. It was very hot in the room and that made it even more exhausting. I came away from the zine symposium with some great zines which I might blog about later, a renewed love of zines and zinesters, a summer cold, a completely wrecked house and a new zine of my own.

My new zine is Paper Crush #4 and it's about collecting vintage postcards and photographs.

100 years from now there will be much less paper correspondence for people to see and learn from. Through vintage postcards and photographs you get to read words from people's every day lives from over 100 years ago. You can see images of places that may or may not still be standing.

Each Paper Crush #4 zine comes with a free vintage postcard! You can find the new zine on my Etsy shop.

If you wonder what a zine symposium is like, this video is almost as good as being there. It's kind of long, but gives you the idea. They seem to have captured almost every table there but mine, but that's okay. I got some pictures to share.

One of the things I really love about the zine symposium is the creative things that people do at their table. Sometimes it's decorations, sometimes it's free stuff they offer. This video captures a good amount of that.

This year I made little postcards and gave them away so that people could leave notes on each other's table. it was pretty fun. I should have made more.

Here are some pics that I captured from my table.

This is before the doors opened

July 31st

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 19:39:00 +0000

It's the last day of July. That means the last day of International Zine Month. This would be a good time to check out Broken Pencil's site. Broken Pencil is out of Canada and is a great magazine filled with zine culture and independent arts. For the month of July they profiled a number of zinesters, myself included. You can see my profile and find out my answer to why I make zines.

It's the last day of July and that means only 5 more days till the Portland Zine Sympoisum! I am not nearly ready. The last few days have been spent on outings around the area since my sister is visiting. Now it's time to get this thing done. Hopefully in the next two days I can get it dialed in and copied. So, why am I blogging! Argh. I am hopeless. Well, here's some pics from the last few days around the Portland area. There were museum trips, lunches, lake picnics, kayaking and a trip out to Sauvie Island.

raspberry jam

noreply@blogger.com (PonyBoy Press) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:35:00 +0000

Today is a rainy day in Portland. Even though it's the middle of July, I don't mind. I like having some sun and then some cooler days.

Last weekend was a perfect summer weekend. On Saturday I went out to Sauvie Island and got a flat of raspberries. Kruger Farms had just posted the day before that the raspberries were in and showed a picture of buckets of raspberries. That was enough to get me there. I love any reason to go out to Sauvie Island. Below is a phone picture from inside Krugers looking out over their fields.

There were lots of people there, but plenty of raspberries and other great produce. I got a flat and some other items and then went out to the Blue Heron Herbary - one of my favorite places on the island.

The next day I went to my Mom's and we made Raspderry Jam with some of the berries. I've always been intimidated to make jam. Something about the special jars, sterilizing and pectin just seemed like a lot of work, especially when I can get super great and local jam pretty much anywhere. But, I found a recipe for Raspberry Jam that required no pectin and no special jar sterilizing and I wanted to try it.

Raspberries have natural pectin in them, so it isn't really needed when you are making raspberry jam. I learned this from the cookbook Foods to Live By, which is written by the folks who run Earthbound Farms.

I really like this cookbook and so did my mom, so I left it with her so she could try some things. Because of this, I don't have the exact recipe with me, but it was really easy and I read it over many times, so I'm pretty sure I have it committed to memory.

Basically it was this:

16 cups raspberries
8 cups sugar

Put in heavy bottom pot, bring to boil, then simmer for about 50 minutes. Spoon into any sterilized jars right away or wait to cool and put into jars.

We simmered for longer than 50 minutes because it didn't look like it was thickening. It looked more like a sauce. But, after it cooled down it did thicken up quite good, especially the ones with the seeds left in. We did some seedless and some with seeds. For seedless we put the jam through a sieve and then a strainer.

Let me tell you, it's delicious. Not too sweet and so fresh tasting.

I guess I better get back to working on my zine now. Zine Sympoisum is in a few weeks.....well, maybe I'll have a snack of toast and jam first.

Hope your all enjoying the summer!