NEW FEATURE ON OUR BLOG! We love reading magazines, and especially when they're smaller interesting independent ones which help signpost us to new and exciting people/products/ideas/writing/etc. We figured in our trawling of print publications, we'd make a feature of it every Monday where we'll review one of the magazines we've been reading lately. As Kirsty and I Don't always agree on everything, we might have different opinions and will - in our usual way - be completely honest.
So: This week we're looking at Caboodle Magazine.
They describe themselves as:
“Caboodle is a bi-annual print compendium of all the wonderful things in life. More than ‘just a magazine’, it offers inspiration, attainable aspiration and information for those with a sense of adventure and a curious spirit.”
Sounded like it would be something we'd love, so we bought a copy, and when it arrived Adrienne got very overexcited as it came in a bright pink envelope!
It only arrived 3 weeks ago, but apart from the quick skim read, we hadn't had chance to give this delightful magazine the time it deserved.
This £7 piece of loveliness is well worth the paper it's printed on. As you gingerly open the cover you feel as if you are invited into a new friendship circle with the warm welcome from Caboodle's directors, Amy and Kayti, as you embark upon the perusal of their first print issue.
If you are a fan of illustration you will love the hand drawn and painterly touches that lead you on a visual narrative throughout each feature. Your wallet on the other hand will not love the shiny items, both old and new to you, that the team highlight for inclusion in your life, house, wardrobe, and walls. Adrienne was squirming as she flicked through and when asked why she said, 'I WANT EVERYTHING IN HERE - it's like someone made a magazine totally targeting ME!'
For each magazine review we'll be picking out our favourite things. We won't tell you about everything, as we don't want you to miss out on the joy of buying and opening your own copy.
Adrienne's first pick, unsurprisingly, was the interview with photographer Gez Gethings. Whilst the name may not be familiar, his dog portraits certainly will be. All the dogs, and great insights into the process of an incredible photographer and his harnessing of social media. We certainly envy his dog wrangling skills. And, as Adrienne said, "SQUISHY FACE!" (She often makes a mantra out of this statement when cuddling Louis.)
Gez Gethings assaults us with equal measures of art and cute in one hit
Kirsty struggled to pick between the war of the clubs. Here at Frilly we love Lucky Dip Club and are currently eagerly awaiting our Gemma Correll 'Raining Cats and Dogs' April box. On this occasion though it was the Cute Club that won out. As a fellow OCD collector of stuff, it was the shared collecting addiction that won out. Jess Reeves' love of vintage cat ceramics and Kewpie dolls was the perfect affirmation for Kirsty and her growing TMNT and Designer Vinyl collections. Never mind the enabling of the Star Wars, WW2 collecting other half. (Adrienne is desperately trying to avoid being sucked in and much prefers to focus on Marie Kondo's approach to life.. This will probably feature in a future post!)
Kewpies and Blythe, where do I sign up? Oh yeah that link above, best go buy that zine. And where is my Panda Blythe Doll? Must remember to look.
Despite all the other fun features in this issue we both picked the same best feature. Hands up who had a penpal as a kid? We both did, and this feature on Snail Mail instagrammers has us lusting to be penpals again. (Not with each other though, obviously!) Any volunteers out there? Please send us some snail mail and we promise to reply with fun!
Never will you feel so much envy as seeing the shiny packages this group of women receive, if you find yourself lusting but don't have the time to respond to a pal then Lucky Dip subscriptions are the next best thing. Whilst Adrienne couldn't get past the urge to write to someone, anyone; it was the awesome instagram recommendations that this feature provided. In a world where magazines will tell you which latest celebrity child to follow it is great to feed the soul and eyes with creative candy.
We want penpals too!!
What makes this magazine awesome is the spotlight on independent makers and artists. In a world where a day can easily be wasted rabbit-holing on Pinterest and trawling through Etsy this is a great magazine for feasting your eyes. In the same breath though, it is for this reason that Kirsty was disappointed by the fashion features. In a magazine whose advertisers are all independent makers and small businesses it was a shame to see big brands like Topshop, Zara and Primark litter the fashion spreads. As an infrequently published magazine we would love to see more aspirational clothing from the likes of their advertisers and their top picks, or random small makers we've never heard of. This small tweak would really make this mag stand out across the board from the sea of samey recommends you find on supermarket shelves.
Would we subscribe? Yes! (Though it's not yet an option as they're so new!)