Thanks for joining me for another month of Stef Makes, my art/creativity newsletter. I appreciate your support!

I recently had the opportunity—after seven sun-soaked Florida winters—to shovel snow again. I recall enjoying this activity (and I even carted my favorite snow shovel across the country twice, finally throwing it out in Florida only because it had rotted with age and disuse). But the rage I feel when I’m pushing snow across the sidewalk and suddenly jam the shovel on a bit of crooked pavement isn’t normal. So it’s best I stay indoors, crushed beneath the weight of a snoozing cat with no regard for my personal space while waiting for it to get into the balmy 30s so I can swim at the rec center without turning into an icicle woman.

In the meantime, I’ve created two tutorials for DIY stickers and felt fortune cookies. I’ve also written another review of a book from a bonkers creativity series from the 1970s. AND! I’m doing some other stuff that fits more neatly into titled sections, so let’s hop to it!

An Instagram scroll-fest led to the discovery of a couple (@craftylumberjacks) who, for Valentine’s Day, sat opposite each other and made portraits of each other out of snips of paper. Seeing as I have heaps of paper snips thanks to my decorative paper pack addiction, I loved this idea! I asked my honey if he’d be interested, and he was. Here’s how they turned out:

I adore them! I appreciate that I’m a mystical goddess with a third eye and beestung lips in his rendition of me. I was straight-up giggling when I made his portrait. Even though I gave it a trim, his hair still turned out too voluminous; thus, I had to go for a landscape orientation.

10/10 would do this again! It was incredibly simple, and the supply list is short: scissors, glue, and paper. If you’re unlike me and able to resist hoarding scrapbook paper, you can use pages from magazines or books. (My kaftan is from a book about Native American rugs, and the bears and my honey’s nose were crafted from a 500-page catalog of fancy and expensive furniture that we once received in the mail.)

If you have a sense of humor, these portraits will always turn out amazing!

To read this section, join the Newsletter tier or Newsletter + Annual Kit tier on Patreon.

To read this section, join the Newsletter tier or Newsletter + Annual Kit tier on Patreon.

I’ve served up a fresh batch of mini collage/tiny zine kits in my Etsy shop this month! These kits are full of paper ephemera that I’ve collected during my journey through this thing called life, and I’ve packaged them so you can use them for all kinds of creative acts…like making mini collages and tiny zines. (Every kit comes with a piece of recycled cardboard and a prefolded blank zine, so you can grab a glue stick and a pen and dive right into making stuff.)

(A zine is a publication you create yourself. Zines arose from punk-rock culture: fans would create their own magazines, make a bunch of black-and-white copies, and then distribute them at shows. But you can make a zine about anything and with anything. Example: my first-ever zine titled “Pure Mourning,” in all its angsty glory!)

Each kit is totally unique—no two are exactly the same. And I absolutely love putting these together, so snag a kit for yourself and a friend so I have an excuse to make more!

You’ve reached the end of this month’s newsletter. Thank you for reading, and I’ll catch you again in March!

Stef Mates

Image by Demii Whiffin