A Spring Refresh
Just me talking about stuff and a NEW ZINE
Hello! I hope you’ve had a lovely start to spring, and April brought plenty of warm, sunny days.
I think it’s no secret I’ve been in a bit of a funk for the past... 8 months? But the warm weather and sunny days have done so much to help me come back to myself. And with that comes returning to some of my favorite things, trying out new hobbies and new crafts, and revamping my digital and physical spaces.
My Favorite Things
I’ve been in quite a reading slump lately, firstly, because there just seemed to be no time for reading during the move and holidays, and secondly, because nothing seemed to hold my attention. After reviewing my Storygraph, I realized I’ve been really neglecting the entire Monster Romance genre lately, and like, hello, that’s my whole brand?! So yesterday, I picked up Monster Pucked by Clio Evans, Ashley Bennett*. This one has been on my TBR since it was announced, and Ashley and Clio are two of my all-time favorite authors, so I knew it would be just the thing to restart my love of monsters. It’s already so cute, and I am loving Ehrokk. I’m so tempted to just stop writing this post so I can go finish it right now!
New Hobbies
At the ripe old age of 38, I’ve discovered a new love for TTRPGs….I like Dungeons and Dragons, damnit. There I said it. If you guys are interested, I can talk more about the unexpected pipeline that brought me here, but for now, I want to focus on the fact that I played my first session with my book club last week, and I’m still riding that high. I want to give a huge shout to my friend and DM (that means Dungeon Master), DJ/Meg (who also happens to have an amazing bookstagram so check that out here) without her offer to run a campaign for a bunch of newbies I don’t think I’d have ever had the courage to get started. She’s been so patient with all of us asking tons of questions, and it’s been so much fun to discover a new thing I love along with my friends. You’ll probably hear more about this as our campaign progresses, but suffice it to say, I think D&D may become a new obsession of mine.
New Crafts
I’m still on my zine kick! Over the weekend, I asked my Insta followers to help me pick a post to turn into a new zine. I was really surprised by their pick, the I Love Him, I Love Him Not post. But it’s the perfect little spring post, so I’m glad they picked it. I tried out a new collage technique for this zine by painting out large swatches of colors on printer paper and then cutting them into the shapes I needed. I think it turned out really cute, and I hope you all like it. As with all zines, the free downloadable PDF is below, and the physical zine will be included in my Quarterly Perks package. (More on that later in this post.)
Here’s a link to folding instructions and a great intro to zines.
Revamping My Digital Spaces
Monthly Musings got a little revamp! I’ve changed the way the free and paid subscriptions work. Now, all posts (past and future) will be free to view! This means you can now go back to read and comment on any previous paid posts. And all posts in the future will be fully readable and comment-able(?) to all subscribers no matter their subscription type.
Paid subscribers will now get access to a special “Perks” post with links to all previous and future perks. As well, paid subscribers can opt into the Quarterly Perks shipment at no additional cost. At the end of every quarter, all paid subscribers will receive a link to a Google form where they can supply their shipping address. By opting to share this information, they will receive a shipment of physical zines, stickers, and any other goodies I can fit into a normal flat envelope.
As someone who just cancelled half of their streaming services and paid subscriptions, I understand that the current economic landscape is not ideal right now. With that in mind, if you’re not ready to commit to a monthly subscription but still want to show your support I’ll be adding Ko-Fi buttons to all posts where you can “tip me.” It feels really weird to do this so please know that there’s no expectation for monetary support. I will continue to write posts and share my love of books for free. But if you are so inclined, here’s the link below.
Revamping My Physical Spaces
Look at the cute new bath mat I just got!!!
That’s it, that’s the whole section.
Find me here: Instagram / Storygraph / Threads
I love the duck butt bathmat 😍 And I have loved every lil zine you’ve done so far!
Okay the collage work that you did for this zine is straight up DELISH 😍