Creating a Zine with StencilGirl® Stencils by Marsha Valk

Hi there! It's Marsha here today with a new column!

When you read this, I will be a couple of days away from finishing my '100 day project'.

#The100DayProject is a global art project. Every year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of creating. Anyone can participate. The idea is to pick something creative, work on it every day for 100 days and share your progress online.

I did not make a big deal out of starting. I did not announce it on social media, and I did not use the hashtag. I did one week of testing on a couple of my close friends, and then I just started posting.

What did I start posting? Little one minute Instagram TV videos of my daily life. I call them 'mini vlogs'.

Remember what people shared on Instagram when the platform just started? That's the best way I can think of to describe it. It's like old school Instagram: all the things I like, plus snippets of my daily life, however, in video format.

I did not think I would be able to keep it up. However, I did! Now, it wasn't always easy. There was one week where I barely left the house because I had so much work to do. And on other days, I felt I had walked around the same block for the seventieth time.

The mini vlogs did motivate me to keep going outside and to keep looking for things to capture. From the middle of winter all the way through spring. Around the neighbourhood. Around the city. On bike rides. In the woods.

I documented lots of things I had never noticed before. Small things. Like the way the sun sets outside my studio window. Or all the birds that like to hang out in the tree in the front yard.

And, I learned a lot about the history of the city I live in.

I'm sure my mini vlogs would have looked totally different if we had not been in lockdown for nearly all of the 100 days. On the other hand: maybe I would have been way too busy to take on a project like this if it hadn't been for the lockdown.

Anyway. What does all of this have to do with art or printmaking, you ask?

I don't know yet. However, I know it will have an effect. Or maybe it already has. Because this is the longest time in years, I haven't travelled, visited other cities, visited museums, or saw family and friends. I haven't read much in the past three months. I haven't watched a lot of films or TV either. I was just concentrating on my work and making the mini vlogs.

It's amusing to me to hear from viewers that they enjoy watching them so much. Because to me, what stands out is the lockdown routine: coffee, work, a walk, more work, dinner and then maybe some more work or a Zoom event or watching something short on YouTube.

So that's what I decided to document in a zine—my current daily routine. Watch the video to see me create the tiny booklet with the help of all the stencils in my stash that I felt needed a little love. Perhaps I can inspire you to make one too!

Enjoy your day! Until next time!

Marsha Valk

StencilGirl® stencils used:

ATC Mixup #1 Art Marks by Rae Missigman 

Spoked Wheels Collage by Jennifer Evans

Signals by Nathalie Kalbach

Planner Words 4 by Mary Beth Shaw

Planner Spiral Notes 4 by Mary Beth Shaw

Exploded Fan by Mary Beth Shaw

ATC Mixup by Mary C. Nasser

Impressionist Water Lily Background by Margaret Peot

New Orleans 4 by Nathalie Kalbach

Noodles by Daniella Woolf

Moroccan Doily Stencil by Maria McGuire

ATC Mixup #2 Botanical by Rae Missigman

Trapezoid Squared by Mary Beth Shaw

Tapestry by Kristie Taylor