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!

Hi kids!  the Feb/March Issue is finally out and rarin’ to go.  Click on the pdf link below!  And remember, if you think you could do better, you’re welcome to show us what you’ve got. Submission deadlines for next issue will be March 20th.  Happy reading.

issue3.pdf

For more money saving secrets, read Pack Rat Magazine

I love the Public Domain. For those of you who are perhaps not acquainted with it, let me explain. The quick definition is that it is some body of work that no one can claim the legal rights to and that you can use freely. This can happen for a number of reasons. Copyrights and patents all have expiration dates and when one of these expires the work becomes part of the public domain. Also, the creator of the body of work can choose to leave their work in the public domain (look into Creative Commons for more interesting stuff in this field). But the long and the short of it means that the internet is housing a lot of free content that you or I can access from any computer.

Love books? Check out these sites that offer the full text of all the old classics for free:

Project Gutenberg (which also has free audio books for some of the titles)
Read Print
The Internet Public Library

Need some free images?  Wikipedia has a pretty comprehensive listing of public domain images.  Also try:

PD Images

The Springfield Township High School Library

Burning Well

That ought to get you started.  Use these resources to make your own artistic masterpieces!

Need more craft? Check out Pack Rat Magazine

All too frequently, I think, boys and men are shut out of our alternative crafting revoultion (perhaps voluntarily, more often than not). Our crafty talk is maybe unself-conciously femme, and the by-products of our labors are a bit more “frou-frou” then meet the taste of many men. I, personally, am all for any type of craft. I tend to lean toward things that are traditionally “pretty,” and “cute” but that’s just me. There’s a whole world of understated crafts out there and I like the idea that more points of view means more diverse, more inspiring crafts. Anyway, to make a short point long, check out this back issue of the free knitting ‘zine, Knitty: The Man Issue for patterns and articles all geared toward the more “masculine.”

I’ve been so all over the place that I’ve forgot to tell you guys that if you haven’t seen it for yourself already, Issue #2 is up and running. I would be ever so greatful if you checked it out and emailed some feedback. We’re always looking for ways to make it better, so your suggestions are more than welcome. Happy reading!

Looking for more crafting goodness? Check out Pack Rat Magazine, Issue #1!

All of you who work in publishing crafts (you know, books, ‘zines, etc.) get ready to get excited. I found some wicked awesome free fonts at TypeNow. They are based on movie logos and I LOOOOOVE them. My favorites are Apocalypse Now, Bewitched, Dark Crystal (natch), Mars Attacks, Ren & Stimpy, The Simpsons (obviously), Star Wars (of course), Spongebob Square Pants, and 28 Days Later. Plus they have fonts from band logos and video game logos, and really all the awesome, pop culture fonts you could ever possibly want. Be sure to bookmark this site.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Oh thank the Lord. The wait is finally over. Issue #1 of Pack Rat magazine is here. It is ready and eager to be read by you. All thick, juicy, meaty 28 pages of it. So go ahead and sink your teeth in. Just click HERE. And when you’re done, drop me a line and let me know what you think.

Eeep! Ohhh! And other squeals of delight. Since Pack Rat is ostensibly a crafting magazine, I often use this blog as a vehicle to let you all know about the many cool craft and d.i.y things I come across. But my other, not-so-secret love is the peanut butter to crafting’s jelly, the hot fudge to crafting’s Forbidden Chocolate Explosion ice cream, the mango to crafting’s eel maki (can you tell I am hungry?) and that is thrift shopping. *Sigh* I just love thrift shopping. The search, the thrill of the find, the quiet moments when you are pawing through the racks, eyes, mind, and heart open to whatever might cross your path. I won’t say that it’s spiritual, because I know you will laugh at me. But I’m thinking it very hard. And so, to the rest of you enthusiasts out there, I say you need to checkout The Thrift Shopper. Oriented towards non-profit thrift stores, The Thrift Shopper offers a national directory of stores, a forum for all of us crazies to share our love and newest finds, a daily blog, a section for members of the non-profit thrift store industry, and (drum roll) an online magazine. The magazine, called The National Thrifter, is my favorite part (big surprise), as editing team Cookie and Michael focus not only on thrifters and their finds, but also such interesting topics as the history of common thrift store staples like carnival glass and view finders, an interview with a media relations rep from the Goodwill, and how-to tutorials to help you clean up, fix, and revamp you thrift store finds. This is a true resource for both the novice and the expert thrifter alike.

I love magazines, especially online magazines (go figure, right?). And I love indie crafts. And I love d.i.y. And I love thrift shopping. And, because it includes all of these things, I now am completely in love with N.E.E.T. magazine, the online style baby of one super cool Brit, Stephanie J. If most fashion magazines cluttering up the news racks are tall, ridiculously thin women with $200 hair, Marc Jacobs bags and Jimmy Choo shoes, then N.E.E.T. is the second-hand Converse wearing, hand-made hand bag toting, curvy babe riding by on her Vespa, flipping those other women the bird. Chock full of hip articles and punch-you-in-the-face vibrant photo shoots, you totally get a lot of bang (a.k.a. a ton) for your buck (a.k.a. $0). I especially loved the d.i.y. bangle in this month’s issue. Plus its a great spring board to finding out about more indie business that you will luuuuuuv.