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International Beauty Saloon 4: The Space Issue, is finally ready and available online, and I have to say: it really is the best IBS issue yet. We’ve finally mastered our bookbinding process, and our margins and gutters are looking better than ever. And to top that all off, our contributors submitted some top notch space related (or, interpreted) content. It was released at the Royal Bison Art + Craft Fair, and half of the IBS4 stock sold pretty much instantly. Get it while you can – it’s going for a measly $5 + shipping. As Jimmy Giegerich would say, NOICE!

Also, We Hate This Place Here: It’s Our Home is currently in the printing process, and they should be ready for purchase at some point in the middle of next week. SEE Weekly even interviewed David and I about it…

The past week has been bonkers. On top of having to complete a few illustration gigs on the tightest of schedules yet, e.g, above for The Globe & Mail, rush to get tons of books printed and bound for the past weekend’s Royal Bison Art + Craft fair, Genevieve and I also had to move into our new maison / studio. As of this exact moment, all that stuff is done and my middle name is now Serenity.

Anyway, Royal Bison was a blast. Our small first print-run of We Hate This Place Here; It’s Our Home sold out almost instantaneously, and over half of our stock of International Beauty Saloon 4, The Space Issue flew off the table.  Note: if you contributed to IBS4, expect your copy in the mail soon!

So now that costs are recouped for David Berry and I’s graphic novel, we have to get back to the printing and chopping block so that we can meet the demand. At some point by the end of next week we should be refilled, and the books will be available online as well as at a few other stores in town. I’ll tell you where when they actually exists. I’ll keep you posted.

Finally, I should not forget to mention that the (currently) last copy of We Hate This Place Here; It’s Our Home is up for grabs (and free!) on Raymond Biesinger’s The Daily Sentry if you can successfully guess his favourite single digit number. As of this posting, no one has guessed it yet…

International Beauty Saloon 4: The Space Issue, is near completion. It will soon see the light of day for the first time at the 7th Royal Bison Art + Craft Fair, next weekend. We’ve received some really good content from friends both near and afar. You surely won’t want to miss out on this one. Above you can see one of many of my contributions to the issue. We’re also upgrading our book binding process to ensure maximum durability. Yes, that’s right, staples! You better believe it!

Also, if listening to two nervous guys on the radio is your thing, tune into CJSR radio this morning at 11:30 am or so and hear David Berry and I get interviewed about our soon to be released graphic novelly thing, We Hate This Place Here; It’s Our Home.

International Beauty Saloon Four, the Space Issue, is slowly being put together. Submissions are coming in and it looks to be turning into a good one. The issue’s theme has been interpreted quite interestingly from most of the contributors, and we’ve even managed to receive a penis here and there.

One of my takes on the issue’s theme began with the idea limited space, so I created some pretty lo-fi faces in a space limited to 16 x 16 pixels. These small little guys will look pretty chunky blown up and in print. Also, I am a huge fan of pixel art.

Genevieve has been previewing some of her IBS4 contributions here and here, on her brand-new’ish SLOG (sketchblog).

Surprise! It turns out we have a very small handful of International Beauty Saloon Issue 2 zines left. Now that Story Motel is over – a zine show out in Scotland – the remaining zines were sent back home. There are less than 10 left, and they can be found on the online shop.

I feel like I’ve blogged about this zine a million times now, but I promise that this will be the last. I swear.

Noticing that International Beauty Saloon Issue 2 is now un-available / sold out, I decided to post one of it’s better parts on my website in digital form for your reading pleasure.  For free. It was written by my good pal Cole Kushner — supposedly while using the washroom while at work — and illustrated by yours truly.  Read it in it’s entirety HERE, or forever have small normal hands…

Now that the Royal Bison is done and over with, it’s time to unveil the new stock at the International Beauty Saloon Store.

Firstly, the brand new issue of our IBS zine, IBS3. It is more than twice as thick, and is jam packed with great content from about 11 contributors. It’s going for the same low price as it always has… $5 plus shipping.

I also made a few prints. One being this 2 colour Horse Coq print seen below…

The fine folks over at the Owl and Lion Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland, have recently opened up an exhibition called Story Motel where you can find a nice handful of various handmade zines from 2009. Genevieve and I were approached by the gallery to submit some zines as well, so we threw  a few copies of International Beauty Saloon, Issue 2 their way. If you live in Edinburgh, or are simply just passing through, swing by the gallery and check it out / buy all those lovely zines!

On a side note, the Royal Bison is coming up right away, which means new prints and a new, double thick issue of International Beauty Saloon with contributors from Vancouver to New York. You don’t want to miss this one!