Making Zines with My Daughter

This weekend, my daughter and her friend asked if we could make zines together.

For 90 minutes, the three of us sat around the table—my daughter, her friend, and me—folding paper and creating whatever felt good. I showed them how to turn a single sheet into an eight-page booklet, then we all disappeared into our own worlds.

I didn't film the process. I didn't create content.

I just... made things. With them.

There were stretches of comfortable silence. The kind where everyone is deep in their own creative world while still being together. We talked about random things. We got lost in our work.

Here are some photos of her story unfolding. She created the background with a gel plate on a copy paper discard of my edited manuscript page and went on to embellish it with rub on transfers, washi tape and magazine cut-outs. I love how minimalistic she went.

I didn’t complete mine in the 90 minutes we had together but that’s ok. I’ll get back to it at some point.

If you attended the last Ripple Room, you might recognize that I used the portrait sketch from that session as the base of my zine.

I made monochromatic watercolor flowers and collaged them along with some pastel coloring, rub-on transfers and stenciling. I also scribbled on some pages, unfiltered thoughts in the moment.

As you can see, we both did very different things … things that called to us. Finishing was not the goal. Having the curiosity and courage to begin, was.

So, whether or not you can come on Saturday, I want you to know: You are, and will be, part of this community regardless.

This is what I'm hoping to bring to Saturday's Ripple Zine session—not instruction or outcomes, but that same sense of creative companionship.

The permission to follow your instincts, make something that's entirely yours, and do it alongside others who are doing the same.

Sometimes the best creative experiences aren't about what you make. They're about how it feels to make it together.