Let's make an easy collage mini-zine

This minizine is filled with magazine cut-out collages.

1) Make your minizine from one sheet of colored paper, A4 (europe) or letter-size paper (USA), as shown in the tutorial.

How to make a minizine

2)Make a template for backgrounds, that fits on the pages of your minizine, and that leaves around a little border of the color of your minizine. Make the template from stiff paper, so you can use it again and again. I measured 6,8 x 10 cm (= 2,7 x 3,9 inches). Please, check your template before using. Perhaps it must be a little bit smaller of larger.

See this background example

Now you have a background template, you can make 8 backgrounds for your minizine. This can be white paper if you want to draw something. If you want to make collages, you can also use wrapping paper, wallpaper, insides of used envelopes, scrappaper, bookpages or photo's in magazines.

4) Start decorating your backgrounds. You can use cut-outs from magazines or books, borders of all kinds, stickers, die-cuts from craftmachines, used postage stamps, and so on. While you are creating, you might suddenly want to draw, stamp, color, ink, or sew. Any technique is allowed.

examples of cut-outs

examples of usable borders

this is the swap-image

You can write a few lines, a poem, some facts, or a quote.

When your backgrounds are ready, you can glue them inside your minizine in right order. The first page should be the cover, and the last page the backside.

Fold your minizine, and send it to your partner. Before sending, you can scan your minizine for your own administration, if you like.

Try to make your minizine in one subject. The subject is sender's choice, and can be for example aninals (or more specific: cats or elephants), recipes, vintage, garden, bicycles, or anything that brings you joy to work on for a couple of hours.

No unexplained 1-ratings, and newbies only with at least 10 5ratings. You can add a little note with your name/swap-bot name and the name of the swap. You may also write/print this information on the cover of your minizine.