art, news, book recs, and more!
Play as a dog in the new game
Dog Park Discovery
comics.
All sorts of comics from fiction to non-fiction, from “silent” to hybrid.
prose.
OK, so there might be some illustrations or photos, but these are mostly text.
crafts.
Let’s make things together! Sewing, embroidery, knitting, puzzles…
games.
For a good time, find these games to play solo or with friends. (Or family.)
comics
collaborative and beyond
short fiction
bitty fiction
nonfiction
Hmmm . . . some sort of not-really-secret non-fiction project? What could that be?
prose
prose: a literary medium distinguished from poetry especially by its greater irregularity and variety of rhythm and its closer correspondence to the patterns of everyday speech
—M-W
Booklets
These stories are long enough that they begged me for design work to turn them into pretty little PDF booklets.
Anticipating a Blind Date
Abe and I recorded an episode critiquing each other’s stories, both based on the same prompt: Show your character’s personality in how they get ready for a blind date.
Hamish Rose Garden
While it’s never fun to be trapped in your house due to circumstances beyond your control, doing so in a new city, during lockdown, when you don’t have a job? These are the circumstances that can make or break a couple.
Very Short Fiction
These stories are so short that downloading a PDF would take longer than the act of reading.
Darwin Lampoon
I wrote this for an assignment in my humor writing class. I picked Pliny the Elder first but would have needed more research to get beyond: “Pliny the Elder was a boon to his time and centuries after. What a useful thing to have someone around to decide all the facts needed.” So I quickly switched to Darwin, who I know a lot more about off the top of my head.
Ranjam Curio Cabinet
This cabinet of curiosity was custom-made following an occult theme. I made a booklet to go with the cabinet so they would know exactly what they were looking at.
crafts
things to do with your hands and eyes and brain
Tapirus vellus: a felt toy
And since I went so far as to make that cute felt tapir, I also had to make a realistic one. I mean, I don’t think there is actually a species that comes in red like this, but it is a more realistic shape. And he can sit up!
Worky Turkey:
a cross-stitch
This cross-stitch pattern was originally featured in Angela Boyle’s short story “Hamish Rose Garden,” which is also available in her store.
The chart comes in color, color with symbols, and only black-and-white.
Home Sweet Home:
a cross-stitch
This cross-stitch pattern showcases the best of any home: the monsters in the attic.
The chart is 28×42 stitches with measurements for 18- and 14-count Aida. Includes a tentacle border inspired by blackwork.
Bubble Tea for Me:
sewing felt
This felt-sewing pattern includes a ridiculous number of customizations including expressions and different colors for different flavors
Tapirus cutieus: a felt toy
You will find, if you know me for long, the tapir is one of my favorite animals. I wanted to sew up a felt toy and couldn’t find any. So this was the first! A sweet, round guy, there are options for embroidery as well as felt color suggestions.
Merry Reindeer: embroidery
This embroidery pattern includes a quick stitch guide and thorough instructions on the easier order to complete the pattern.
And here’s a couple oldies from the way back machine:
Alia, fancy knit spats published on The Anticraft
Gertrude, knit fingerless mittens
Art Dolls
Old Gnome
Based on a pattern by Aimee Ray of Little Dear, I heavily modified this fella who originally was designed with a sweet little felt face and felt beard. I didn’t have enough of the colors I originally wanted so ended up using stripes of two colors I did like. I used turkey knots to add his lucious hair and beard using at least two colors of embroidery floss. And I embroidered around the bottom freely, with ferns and mushrooms and flowers that I often made up on the spot.
Rainy Squatch
I like me a slow bigfoot. So slow that moss starts to grow on them, like a sloth. This is another pattern adopted from Aimee Ray of Little Dear. Again, I replaced the face with Sculpey bit this time I also replaced the feet. She also has a messanger bag and in that messenger bag is a stick that she perhaps uses to write with and a nature journal.
Flying Tapir
Based on my own pattern! The flying tapir has shown up on my websites, invoices, and resumes over the years and now I have brought it to life. I love it dearly. The plant is sort of something from South America where three of the four extant species live. I apologize for being such a fool: I didn’t write down the name of the species! And yes, there are wires in the wings so they are posable, too.
Punch Sheep
My first punch needle doll. Wow is punch needle fun. This little lady was made using a bunch of scrap yarn. I adore her luscious curly locks. I made them pretty long and super dense.
Crows from the Rafters: a hanging felt toy
My partner’s favorite animal, at least for a while, was crows. A few times, I would walk out of our apartment to find him sitting on the pathway with about 50 crows hunched in the grass and on the wires, on the trees and houses. But I also remembered, I like things a little weird.
games
games to play by yourself or with others
Copse Caretaker
a slow roll-and-draw, print-and-play game for 1 person to 8 billion
For every age and drawing skill level, this game is about having fun and building up a little forest all your own.
Hint: Copse means a stand of trees.
components: PDF with rules, map, and score sheet; 3d20; drawing tools
Dog Park Discovery
a solo roll-and-draw, print-and-play, map-making game for 1 person
For every age and drawing skill level, this game is about having fun as a dog visiting a dog park.
components: PDFs with rules, play sheet, and quests; 2d6; drawing tools
coming soon(ish).
Fragility of an Egg
a short visual-novel game
When you meet a chicken, and she lays and egg, what will you do. (Note: When I say short, I mean less than 5 minutes but with a bunch of alternate endings.)
components: PC
game terms.
This is all stuff you can find elsewhere but these are the important terms that you might not know that I have used for my games.
Roll-and-draw: You roll dice, make decisions based on those dice, and then draw (or write) the result.
Print-and-play (PnP): You get the files to print the game and then create it yourself. Some PnP games have additional components, such as dice (like this one).
#d# (as in, 3d6 or 2d20): [Number] of dice with [Number] of sides. So 3d6 means three 6-sided die and 2d20 means two 20-sided die. If you don’t have physical versions of a die, you can always find them online.
about Angela Boyle
I am a creator skilled in art (both comics and natural science), writing, crafting, and more. I received an MFA in cartooning from The Center for Cartoon Studies in 2016. The Brazilian tapir is my favorite animal, only partly because it has a mohawk.
I am the author of Maker Comics: Live Sustainably out from First Second in 2022, and run the natural science comic anthology Awesome ‘Possum (four volumes so far). I currently do freelance proofreading for Chelsea Green Publishing, and freelance graphic design work for First Second (including the Clash of Clans series). I am available for commissions, book coaching, proofreading, book layout, writing, and illustration: see my portfolio site.
Get in touch with me directly!
interviews
Ben Wright-Heuman
“Gnife with a Silent G” in What the Gnomes Know – Nov 2022, 1:28