Due to social distancing and lockdown in the UK my face to face tutorials and workshops have had to sadly stop.

During these strange times many of us of are still trying to adjust to this ‘new normal’ way of living, I know I am anyway. My child and I are isolating as much as possible whilst my partner, his dad, continues to work.

Not being able to leave the house, like many, has pushed my creativity to the limit. Some days are easier than others, we have a very basic routine scheduled around my toddlers afternoon nap.

This time period gives me the chance to work on my art projects and business. Unless my anxiety has gotten the better of me due to general worry in which case I spend the time relaxing and doing self hypnosis.

To ensure my confidence and drive for my teaching stays in tact though the concept of pre recorded tutorials is working quite well.

I have weekly projects that are sent out to the children’s class I taught. Theses topics are accompanied with an art pack they have been provided with.

I will share a few easy tutorials for free during this period of isolation though. Giving myself plenty to do is a good coping strategy and hopefully it will inspire others to create lovely things.

A few topics will be child friendly and mostly aimed at families, these will be shared on this Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/childrensartclassderby/

Those tutorials will be done with my toddler assisting to demonstrate how easily they can be achieved. The first one is a quick and easy way of creating prints with a pizza base.

My first demo without my toddler assisting is how to fold your own zine. A zine can be made by anyone, an activity to do as a family or on your own. The video can be watched by following this  link https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethBladesArtist/

I have also created Illustrated instructions that can be accessed here How to make a zine Instructions

The video also gives you ideas on what you may want to put into your zine once it has been folded. Pictured above are a few designs created from the group of children I taught in my children’s class.

Contents of a zine can be any topic you like from storytelling to silly and random or topical. Zines are a great way to spread news. Sending a zine to someone who is in isolation at the moment may be a lovely way to spread some joy and bring comfort. It is something that is more than just a card.

Simply put a zine is a self published book which is easily reproduced via a printer or photocopier. If you create a zine after following my instruction, I would love to see! Please tag me in your photo’s if you share on Instagram @elizabethblades.