Q & A with NUNO Creator, Elizabeth Abernathy

Hydra Lamp from Star Gazing, Fall 2011 Nuno

Disclosure: I'm partnering with the eco-publication NUNO Magazine to spread the word about it. As part of that, I will be benefitting financially from any sales of the electronic magazine that I play some part in. 

The fall 2011 issue of the eco e-magazine NUNO "Star Gazing" is out and available for download!  

I was thinking it would be really cool to do a brief interview with one of NUNO's creators to catch a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the magazine. I've never conducted an interview before but it seems to me that'd be a fun thing to try.  So I asked them if they'd be interested. They said yes, and I said yay! Here are the results of that Q & A with Nuno co-founder/creator, Elizabeth Abernathy.

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Michele:

I'm interested in the history of NUNO. How did you get started creating it, and what meaning does the name have for you?

Elizabeth: 

I was inspired by other e-magazines (many of which have sprouted up only in the past two years). There was not, at that time, an e-magazine devoted to craft how-tos. My blog focused on ecocrafts, so that was a natural choice. 

Nuno is the Japanese word for cloth. It is also a variation on the words "No New" (referring to the fact that we use almost 100% repurposed materials in our projects).

Star Pillow from Star Gazing, Fall 2011 Nuno

Michele:

The three of you - your sister, your husband and yourself - work together to bring NUNO to life. How do you do it? 

Elizabeth:

Rachel and I toss around ideas for a theme. When we've chosen our focus for a given issue, we come up with appropriate projects. I do the layout, and Rachel looks it over for errors and understandability. Royce (my husband) helps by taking some of the photographs.

Michele:

Your love of nature is very apparent throughout NUNO and all its issues. Can you tell me where that stems from?

Elizabeth:

I am very inspired by nature. I was a biology minor in college and a lot of my free-time is spent doing things outdoors like hiking and camping. Rachel and I traveled a lot with our family as children to places that our professional landscape photographer father wanted to take pictures of, so I guess love of nature is in our blood.

Field of Stars Envelope Bag,  from Star Gazing, Fall 2011 Nuno

Michele: 

I know it's hard to pick favourites but... are there a few Star Gazing projects that you're particularly proud of?

Elizabeth:

The felt cloche really stretched my pattern drafting skills. I like to challenge myself a bit in the design phase without making the actual project too difficult for the end user. I also really admire the knitted Hydra light project Rachel made. She covered a string of fairy lights with knitting and it's lovely!

Michele:

What material/recyclable do you return to again and again, you know, to make stuff with?

Elizabeth:

I love felt. I started out being enamored with sweater felt, but the size of the pieces can be limiting. My latest thing is thick felted wool blankets. Whenever I see one in a thrift store, I snatch it up. For the Star Gazing issue I made three projects out of blanket felt (the cloche, the envelope bag, and the star pillow).

Felt Cloche, from Star Gazing, Fall 2011 Nuno

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I'd like to warmly thank Elizabeth Abernathy for taking the time to answer my questions about NUNO and "Star Gazing". If you're at all curious about the e-magazine, click HERE to have a gander. That'll send you over to the NUNO website where you'll be able to preview several of the projects included in the fall issue. Enjoy the beauty!

All photos in this post used with permission.