Vox populi, vox Pack Rat!

Good Monday morning to you all! When I was little, I used to be OBSESSED with Garfield cartoons. Garfield, as some of you may know, hates Mondays. They are the arm pit of the week. So I don’t know if it’s being an adult and having to go to work on Mondays, or whether that fat orange tabby predisposed me from a young age, but Monday is my least favorite of the weekdays. Fortunately for me, I am super lucky and managed to snag a job at a super awesome school that let me have TWO WHOLE weeks off for the holidays. Boo-yah! So today isn’t as much of a drag as normal. But just in case, here’s a little pick-me-up for you and me both, in the form of today’s internet discovery.

We all need to spend plenty of time at Leethal.net reading, watching, and absorbing creativity via osmosis from Lee Meredith. This young lady is a whirling dervish of activity, be it knitting, sewing, screen printing, or ‘zining. Her latest ‘zine, Do Stuff, is dedicated to her favorite things, including an incredibly cute monster hat that she provides instructions on how to create. She is such a flurry of activity and ideas that I feel all motivated to get going on my own projects after reading one of her blogs (note: check out her recent post about her new Bad Movie Bingo creation. Sounds like it could be a good drinking game :P). Read over her site. Gawk at her recycled fashions (love the tea t-shirts!). Buy the ‘zine. And get moving on your own creative cocktail!

Photo of Lee Meredith copyright leethal.net

Pack Rat Issue #6 is available now!

Hi friends! I hope you have all been, or are planning on going to the polls soon for this election day ‘08. There is some crazy excitement in the air today as everybody waits to see what the outcome of the longest race in presidential history. Make sure your voice is heard.

And as another reminder, we are now Yelping our way up and down the East Coast, bringing you the latest and greatest in one-of-a-kind, dollar-stretching finds. Today we review Papercut ‘Zine Library in Cambridge, MA. Visit the Yelp page for a closer look at this, and other Pack Rat friendly destinations.

Pack Rat magazine is back for more!

Yes that’s right cats and kittens. Over the weekend Issue #6 of Pack Rat hit the virtual news stands and lets take a quick look at what you can expect from this new issue. We’ve got recipes for tasty cranberry sauce and refreshing face toner, tutorials for a hot embroidery project, a classy bracelet, an elegant necklace, a look at the new Museum of Art and Design in NYC, a retrospective of our early work, reviews, contests and so much more! Download it for free, give it to your friends and family for Thanksgiving, wallpaper your home with it, and just go buck wild!

As you look the new issue over, remember that we are always looking for more writers. If you have a craft project, article idea, or review that you are just dying to do, check out our submission guidelines page. We would love to have you contribute.

 And wait, there’s more! To celebrate the magazine’s first birthday, we invite you to be part of our Birthday Scavanger Hunt. All through out the new magazine issue , we have hidden hyperlinks that lead to other fun websites. By hidden, we mean that they are disguised as regular old text, no highlighting, and no underline. The only way to tell that they are links is to hover your cursor over them. If it is a hyperlink in disguise, your cursor will turn to a pointed finger, and a box will appear with a web address. Go through the magazine and try to find all of the hyperlinks (there are 11). Once you’ve got them, send us an email at info at packratmag.com  (choose “Birthday Scavanger Hunt” for the subject line) and let us know what page they’re on and to what website each one links to. On December 1st we will have a drawing and the contestant’s whose name is pulled out of the hat will win a free copy of Handmade Nation: The Rise of Art, Craft, and Design by Faythe Levine and Courtney Heimerl. We’ll be notifying the winner via email. Please, only one entry per person.

This is all very exciting! And as always, check back here often for more of the best money saving and craft advice available.

Heeey-yooooh! It’s magazine time again. Welcome to Issue #5 of Pack Rat, where the fun never ends. This issue we bring you fashion, art, and more crafts than you can shake a stick at. (Well, maybe you can shake a stick at them. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions about your ability to shake sticks at things.) Marvel at the creative prowess of Valiant clothing designer, Mykel Walker. Wonder at the thrifty chic fashion we found, all in the ballpark of $30. Thrill at the grotesque beauty unearthed at the Museum of Bad Art. Plus, we have some cool craft tutorials too.

It’s Pack Rat Magazine, b*tches!

Okay, so I know I’ve been awol recently and I’m sure you’ve all be struggling to find the will to live without my sage words of advice (JK) but I’m back and the reason for my prolonged absence and subsequent return is that I’ve been working diligently on producing for you all (or y’all where appropriate) issue numero quatro of Pack Rat. This issue we help the Earth in the spirit of Earth Day by doing what we do best: recycled crafts and lots of them. We also talk with jewelry designer Becky Houle, a.k.a. The Vicious Kitty, look into what this whole letterbox craze is all about and, with the help of Cat Morley from Cut Out + Keep make our own letterbox stampers, hit the thrifts for some inexpensive crafting supplies, and just about a zillion things more. Head over to www.packratmag.com/zine to get in on the action. I missed you all and I’m glad to be back. Happy crafting!