Table of contents for Issue 3 in Project Calm

Now is the time to bring our awareness back to the natural world around us, to go outside, to explore – and to appreciate the life that’s there. With Scandinavian traditions in mind, we take a refreshing stroll on a spring day and find all our senses are stimulated. Our love of birds and flowers cajole creative ideas out of hibernation and on to these pages: paper feather decorations, anyone? And our desire to be more green-fingered starts us asking questions about what we’d like to grow.…

“Peace of mind fosters creativity and innovation. This is when things happen within. This is when I do my watercolours. Brush in hand, I lose all sense of time and space and can barely stop painting.” The more I travel the world, the better I understand how alike we all are, wherever we come from. Another thought that preoccupies me is our strong connection with the natural world in spite of the fact that so many of us are city dwellers. Personally, I always find peace and rest in nature; I have always done so, and I’m always on the look out for the wonders of nature even when visiting the urban jungle. It’s everywhere: in the budding greenery, green-fingered growers, sunflower farms, natural diversity, crystal clear water! My hopes…

Natalie’s beautiful marbled artworks are never the same, relying on serendipity and the unique qualities of her natural, botanical dyes. Tell us how you became a book and textile artist… I came to book arts after studying illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design, where I was lucky enough to take a few classes on bookbinding. Books are such a haptic experience, and working in the book arts requires a deep appreciation for their materiality. While I was studying advanced techniques at the Center for Book Arts in New York after college, I became more interested in creating my own materials. This pushed me further into textiles, where I can play with natural dyes, embroidery and marbling techniques to develop an array of surfaces. You describe yourself as ‘a…

To grow in ourselves means to learn, to experience new things, to develop our thinking, emotions and relationships. Exploring this, we’re eclectic in our coverage this issue, discovering that the advantages of bringing a dog into your family are both uncomplicated and unexpected: unconditional love, a renewed joy of walking, as well as easy new friendships with like-minded folk. We learn that surprise benefits are also present in practising yoga; its way of focusing the mind and opening the heart encourages the flow of creativity. While yoga of a different kind – the yoga of tea – teaches us how to blend the perfect balanced brew for calming, healing or energising – in fact, anything you want it to achieve.…

1 NATURAL DYEING MADE SIMPLE Rebecca Desnos is a natural dyer whose passion lies in sharing her surprisingly simple methods for natural dyeing. Well known on Instagram for dyeing with avocado skins, Rebecca shares her daily experiments with thousands of crafters all over the world (@ rebeccadesnos). Due to much demand, she embarked on a journey to bring her popular eBook Botanical Colour at your Fingertips to paperback. Rebecca has a varied background in linguistics and interior design, and has been a crafter since her early childhood. Now, as a mother, she finds that plant dyeing is the perfect antidote to a busy family life. Experimentation is at the heart of her textiles practice and she dyes one-off garments with new plants along the way. Find her ebook, collections and…

TAP HERE FOR YOUR PRINTABLE BIRD ART TAKING IN SPIRATION FRO MNATURE Illustrtor BeckiClark created this issue ’s bird are two rk . He re’s some of the other work she’s been busy wi th recent ly. . . 1. Wrapping presents in the illustrated wrap I created for @noisemakers.club, complete with a brush-lettered gift tag. 2. Working on a new pattern today with blush tones using my new gouache paints. 3. Picked up some mini envelopes and brush-lettered numbers onto them to make a homemade advent wall. 4. I‘ve been working on a new venture, Olive & Bramble, a wedding stationery company inspired by my love of nature and painting. Becki Clark is an illustrator who works from her cosy home in Bristol. Usually found with paints in hand,…

Spring: a fresh promise of things to come. A walk across the nearby park suddenly holds pops of colour as winter begins to release its sluggish hold and our thoughts turn to new growth. This is not the busy days of summer with blooms and ripening fruits, but the first flush of sunny days. It’s time to return to the garden. For dedicated gardeners, winter doesn’t mean a pause, just a slowing. For many of us though, spring is the time we begin to notice the containers are looking a little bare and yearn for lush green foliage on the window sills. It’s the time we begin to miss getting our hands green (or simply dirty!) and look forward to getting stuck into some gardening again. But why do we…

Paper marbling is a centuries-old craft long prized by bookbinders and bibliophiles. Once the closely held secret of master marblers, only trusted apprentices were taught the strange alchemy of pigments and the complex patterns they create. The process requires a vat filled with gelatinous size, made from water thickened with carrageenan or tragacanth. Paint sprinkled over the surface of the size spreads with the aid of a dispersing agent, historically the treated bile of an ox. The paint is then manipulated into patterns with a stylus or series of combs. When a sheet of alum-treated paper is gently laid on the size, it picks up the pattern, which looks as if it were still dancing on water. The craft of paper marbling gradually spread through Europe until it was common…

How many times have you asked how a friend is getting on, only to hear the reply, “busy”? Busy has become the default answer and finding the time to learn new skills, feel uplifted by good conversation or dive into a favourite hobby can feel like an impossible task. We know that these are things that make us feel grounded and more fulfilled but between school runs, long commutes and chores, when is there time? In a world that places a lot of value on being busy, finding an hour in the day to pause and reflect can seem like an indulgence few of us can afford. For many though, podcasts have become the answer to finding the time to invest in ourselves a little more. A podcast can be…

Kara’s teapots are glazed in a glossy transparent glaze to allow the beautiful speckle of the ivory stoneware to show through. Her little bowls are glazed in subtle turquoise and oatmeal. Pottery is quite meditative… when you’re making a piece, you need to prepare the clay – it’s called wedging and kneading and is a bit like making dough. The repetition and physicality of it is quite mindful; you have to put a lot of effort in to get the clay to a decent texture to throw with. That’s especially true if you are wedging a large amount of clay, you use a lot of body strength, you work up a sweat, and often you get lost in that – it’s a great way to release aggression or frustration! With…

“To me dogs are not the students, not the ones that need training. To me a dog is a teacher of life, who teaches us the principles of the most important moral values: honesty, integrity, loyalty, trust, respect and love.” So says self-proclaimed ‘dog whisperer’ César Millán. Indeed, raised lovingly, a dog will also teach you to slow down. To be more in the moment. To be forgiving, reliable, patient and kind. I came to canine ownership late. My first dog was Tank, but sadly he wasn’t really mine – a basset hound puppy belonging to the family I stayed with as an exchange student in the US. Tank was short, boisterous and incredibly smelly. His legs were too little to get up on the sofa and he would leave…

I bought my very first tarot deck in my late teens. The mists of time have blurred the circumstances but I do know it was the Aquarian Tarot because I still have it. I remember sitting on my bedroom floor with the cards, scribbling endless questions in my journal and pulling cards to try to figure my life out. The booklet that came with the deck was vague and not particularly helpful, but regardless, each night I’d pull more cards, hoping for a flash of insight. More than 20 years later my passion for divination cards has evolved and become a key part of my creative practice. They continue to be insightful companions to my journaling and a reliable ally in harder times. I don’t do readings for other people…

“HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS THAT PERCHES IN THE SOUL” Emily Dickinson Step 1 Gather together your tools: a pair or two of sharp paper scissors, a small pair of pliers, white floral wire, craft glue to stick the floral wire to the paper, a paintbrush and a piece of white tissue paper. Step 2 Use both sheets of feathers on pages 12 and 15 (for the front and reverse of each feather). Cut out all the feathers. Ensure you use nice sharp scissors to get clean edges. You may find it easier to roughly cut out each feather first. Step 3 Place the front and reverse of one feather on your table. Pour a little glue into a bowl and, using a paintbrush, paint one of your feathers…

I am a twitcher. There, I’ve said it. I’ve confessed. Do I feel better? No. Why would I? I know you’ll be judging me. It’s not cool. Not urban. Not metrosexual or arty or down-with-da-kidz. I’m not watching an installation of a dead cow in a white gallery in Soho, I’m watching blue tits nesting in a suburban magnolia. I’m not – OK, you get it. Birds. I’ll watch anything. A thrush, her throat speckled and pulsing, warbling in the dawn light. A buzzard gliding on a hot air current rising from the city. An opportunistic crow feasting on roadkill. I like – well, do you want to know what I like best? An avocet. When I was very small my father brought me home an avocet. It was a…

When once-beautiful bouquets and garlands begin to wilt, make use of their natural colourants to dye notecards in swirling botanical hues. Many flowers and herbs such as marigold, coreopsis, tansy, and deeply-hued roses and dahlias yield rich natural dyes (in sometimes surprising colours) when simply steeped in hot water. Preparing the paper with an alum mordant will fix these fleeting colours, making the perfect remembrance of a gift or event. To dye your own paper you will need heavy watercolour paper or notecards, aluminum sulfate (alum), masking fluid (optional), shallow tray, gloves, and flowers, herbs, or foliage. 1. Use a watercolour brush or calligraphy pen to draw a message or design with masking fluid on each card. 2. Dissolve 1_ teaspoons of aluminum sulfate in a pint of water and…

Home is wherever you leave everything you love and never question if it will bethere when you return .…

I ’m in love with cities I’v enever been to and people I’ve never met.…

Elevated across the streets of Manhattan’s West Side, nestled on a historic freight rail line, lies a 1.45-mile-long linear oasis of calm. Surrounded by flowers and foliage all year round, here you’re transported to a place of nature and solitude floating above the hubbub of the bustling city below. The High Line is an inviting green space within an urban landscape, connecting nature with the city streets. With sleek wooden benches along the way there’s plenty of opportunity to take in the views of the Hudson River or the skyline of modern skyscrapers mixed with Gothic and Art Deco architecture. Each time I’ve walked the High Line I’ve noticed something different: the striking graffiti murals on the walls change frequently, skeleton structures of new buildings appear in the skyline, and…

The yoga of tea is all about the perfect cup of tea. This will probably be different for all of us, but for me the perfect cup of tea needs to tick three boxes: it has to serve a purpose (do you want something calming? A pick-meup? Or a digestif?), it has to be of exceptional quality and it has to benefit people, plants and planet. Making a tempting tea that is good for you is a bit like cooking a healthy meal: you need to combine a range of textures, tastes and experiences to create something that is nourishing and delicious. It helps to have a clear idea of what purpose the tea will serve and who you want to benefit from drinking it. I always take time to…

MELANIEBARNES Freelance writer, photographer and blogger Melanie wrote our Travel and Mind & Body news pages. She creates the lifestyle blog Geoffrey & Grace, which focuses on slow, wholehearted living. Melanie lives by the sea in Sussex with her husband and daughter, and you’ll often find her down by the shore. geoffreyandgrace.com R O S E E WO O D L A N D This issue, Rosee writes about her family’s delight at owning a dog (page 115). She’s a freelance journalist, knitwear designer and an outdoor swimmer who lives in Bristol with her husband, daughter and dog. Read about Rosee’s swimming adventures at iswimlikeagirl.com and see her work at roseewoodland.com A L I S O N P O W E L L Alison Powell is a writer and yoga…