My zine about my grandma's garden got soaked in a sudden rainstorm at the park

I was trading zines at the little meetup in Greenfield Park last Saturday when a huge downpour started out of nowhere. My whole stack of 'Rosemary & Thyme', which is all drawings and stories from my grandma's garden, got completely soaked. I had to lay all 25 copies out on my kitchen table to dry, and the pages are all wavy now. Has anyone else had a zine ruined by weather and found a way to salvage it or make it part of the story?

2 comments

2 Comments

hollym121d ago

Oh man, "pages are all wavy" really got me. I used to think that kind of damage totally ruined a zine, but I had a batch get damp once and the crinkly texture actually made the handmade feel stronger. You could write a little note about the rainstorm on the first page of each one now.

sethk431d ago

Remember reading about how Japanese bookbinders sometimes purposefully expose paper to humidity for that exact wavy effect, @hollym12. They see it as adding character and a story to the object, not as damage. Your idea to add a note about the rainstorm is perfect because it frames the flaw as part of the zine's history. That shift in view, from ruined to unique, is what makes handmade items so special. The physical proof of its journey makes it more real.