catmothcrow chronicle – april 2026

This month’s snail mail society envelopes are on their way to mailboxes all over the world! As I checked off each address from my snail mail planning spreadsheet, I noticed that this month’s newsletter is the twelfth I’ve sent since starting this project… the snail mail society is almost a year old, y’all! To paraphrase Shania Twain, “looks like we’ve made it, look how far we’ve come now zinesters” (I rewatched I ❤️ Huckabees for this month’s star-exclusive mini, so Shania has been top-of-mind.) I can’t believe almost a year has flown by since I started this series of newsletter zines. I’ve gotta plan something cool for May because a year is a milestone worth celebrating!

Anyways, here’s what snails can expect in the mail this month:

⋆｡°✩ April’s newsletter is collaged on top of scanned pages from my bullet journal and it’s easily one of my top 3 favorites that I’ve put together, looks-wise. I printed it on some salmon paper that I found at Magpie Collective, our local craft supply thrift store (ahem, “creative reuse center”) and I hope I can track down more of this stock because it is such a lovely spring color. The contents of this month’s zine are a buncha life updates — glasses, and bikes, and workshop reflections — plus the usual section of current reads/watches/plays. Which, PS: the 3 books that I mention are all so good, so def. check those out if you need a reading rec.

⋆｡°✩ Everyone is getting a sticker this month! I made these snail mail society membership stickers to giveaway to folks new to the club as part of their first mailing. Aren’t they cute? I’m putting one on my water bottle.

⋆｡°✩ And Snail Stars are getting an extra “send more snail mail” mini-bumper sticker! I’ll also be adding these to the shop as soon as I have a moment to photo them and and type up a description. I wanna make a few more stickers in this size with some other slogans… they’re the perfect size for a bike frame, and I like the idea of only having bike-sized bumper stickers in my shop, since I don’t drive and have no use for a larger bumper stickers meant for a car.

⋆｡°✩ And, of course, Sustainers and Stars are getting the password for this month’s playlist! I’m realizing now that I totally missed an opportunity to put some Shania on it… damn! While she doesn’t make an appearance, a lot of other great artists do, including some of my perennial faves (Gladie, My Chem). If you liked March’s playlist, you’re gonna love this one.

⋆｡°✩ Finally, Stars are getting the aforementioned I ❤️ Huckabees review zine. I think when this project is over, I’m going to collect all these reviews into one big ol’ compendium zine. Is that something folks would be interested in?

And that’s it for April! To paraphrase Shania one more time, “the best part of being a zinester is the prerogative to have a little fun” — I always have a great time putting together each month’s mailing, and collaging the newsletters gets me inspired and really flexes my zine-making muscles, letting me try new techniques to keep things fresh and fun. Thanks for coming along the ride with me!

Local folks: this March, I’m teaching a free, four-part workshop series and the first session starts this Wednesday! Tell Your Own Story is an interactive writing workshop celebrating perzines: handmade magazines featuring personal memoir writing. Through guided free-writing exercises, word mapping, collage, and word games, I’ll guide participants through writing and assembling their own 8-page perzine. If you’re in Kansas City, come hang out with me at the Public Library’s Plaza branch on Wednesday evenings, from 6:30pm until 8pm. Everyone has a story to tell — make your voice heard! While participants can choose to attend some but not all of the sessions, you’ll get the most out of the workshop […]

Hey y’all! We’re almost halfway done with February, which means that another batch of snail mail society goodies are making their way through the postal system and to mailboxes all over the country (and one’s even traveling all the way to Switzerland!) ⋆｡°✩ I think this month’s issue of the catmothcrow chronicle looks especially lovely, as the collages have a sort of grunge-y fairytale feel to them. The newsletter features my picks for the Oscars, a spotlight on one of my favorite artists — you’ll have to read the zine to know just who it is that I’m spotlighting, but I’ll give you a hint: I think of them as my […]