journaling
m e d i tat i o n
pa p e r c r a f t
calligraphy
yoga
EXTRAS floral posters paper animal kits travel stickers papercutting template printed papers gift tags
slow summer {take time to create}
Stroll on a beach, make paper gifts, watch your garden grow, express yourself in a hand-written letter, craft with herbs & flowers, enjoy new places & spaces, change your state of mind...
G e t i n to c r a f t
welcome‌ Thank you for taking the time to sit down with us and explore this special digital sampler of Project Calm. This is a magazine about pausing and rethinking how you want to spend your time. By learning new skills to create beautiful things we can all focus and enjoy the details, learning to be mindful through making. We hope you find something to spark your interest in the pages we’ve selected for you here. Turn to page 14 to find out about the amazing papercrafting gifts that come with the full print edition of the magazine, as well as details of where to buy your copy. Treat yourself!
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welcome... Thank you for taking the time to sit down with us and explore these pages. That’s what Project Calm is all about: pausing and rethinking how you want to spend your time, and discovering new ways to reap more pleasure from your daily routines. By learning new skills to create beautiful things we can all focus and enjoy the details, learning to be mindful through making. Small changes can have a big impact, and slowing down allows us to appreciate not only the people and places around us, but ourselves. So enjoy your time here – treat yourself.
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Ext ras in this issu E We ’ v e s e l e c t e d s e v e r a l d i f f e r e n t crafts for you to try your hand at. We h o p e y o u e n j o y t h e m . . .
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Paper folding bear kit
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Paper folding elephant kit
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Papercutting floral template & print
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Floral wreath prints poster
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Travel stickers to get creative with
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Co n tEn ts 06 Nature 08 Explore and gather outside 11 The healing power of herbs 14 Inspired by herbs 16 Artist Katie Vernon 19 Pressing dried flowers 22 Create a window garden 24 Love your inner weeds 26 A plant meditation 28 Encounter papercutting 36 Inspired by the beach
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38 Time to try photowalking 43 Camera art
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44 home 46 Serene living space ideas 48 Inspired by hammocks 50 Ready to try minimalism? 54 Press pause and draw 58 Meditative paperfolding 60 Wolfram Kampffmeyer 62 Make a bear or elephant 68 Multitasking: good for you? 70 Improve your handwriting 72 Why try calligraphy... 74 Learn calligraphy writing 81 The power of the diary 84
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88 Top places to getaway to 90 Inspired by maps 92 Make a travel journal 94 Get creative with gift tags 100 Mini travel photo album 102 Inspired by stamps 104 The art of letter writing 106 Libraries as a sanctuary 112 Artist Becky Bettesworth 114 miNd & body 116 Chill out choices for you 118 Yoga guru Kathryn Budig 120 Make an altar at home 121 Daily yoga practice 122 Retreats to escape to 70
126 Transform your mind 128 Coherent breathing
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I t ’s t h e s e a s o n t o ex p l o re everything around us, so g o o u t s i d e , j o i n i n , g a t h e r, share, relax and make while the sun shines...
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Photo: Kate O’Sullivan
N a t u r e N e w s
Photo: Kate O’Sullivan
Photo: Laura Pashby
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g o gat h e ri n g wi t h a bas k et With the rich bounty on offer as we roll into the golden months, it’s time to gather and feast. Online store Decorator’s Notebook seems to have just the solution for our gathering needs. These classic French shopping bags get a modern update with soft leather handles and buckle. Each basket is individually woven by hand from eco-friendly palm leaves. Brother and sister team Bethan and Joe have sourced a bag big enough to hold all our flowers, fruit and veg while keeping our consciences clear too; these bags support a fair trade artisan group in Morocco. Available in tan and sage at decoratorsnotebook.co.uk
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g o r g eo u s gardens Gardens are about to hit their abundant best and the National Gardens Scheme offers you an opportunity to peek inside some of the finest private gardens in England and Wales and help them raise funds for charities too. Highlights include Deans Court where visitors can take in ancient walled gardens producing organic fruit and veg for their health food café and veg box scheme, as well as beautiful cut flowers (deanscourt.org). Another event to note is The National Gardens Scheme Festival Weekend, 4-5th June with over 400 gardens opening their gates. Events are held year round – check the NGS Festival cycle and walking trails via the NGS app or online ngs.org.uk
Photo: Emily Quinton
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Fo od Fest i val s easo n is h e re ! Savour the best of what the season has to offer with the sights, smells and tastes of local produce. Food festivals
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provide new inspiration for our home cooking and showcase some of the best local providers. Highlights include the River Cottage Spring Food Fair (May), the Cheltenham Food and Drink Festival (June) and Grillstock Bristol (July). Check your local press to find out about the gatherings near you. Fa n cy som e Floral tat toos ? If you like your body art au naturale, try using flowers instead of ink, says blogger Danielle Chassin… 1. Gather fresh flowers and petals of all sorts. 2. Cut off the stems. For flowers with a thick stem, pull the petals off. 3. Lay the flowers/petals on a tea towel over a plate. Place another tea towel on top followed by a second plate. 4. Heat the stack of plates in a microwave for 40 seconds. Dry similar flowers together as they will require the same time. Once they’re flat and limp, lay them out to air dry. 5. Use homemade salves, honey, agave or syrup as a natural glue. Apply ‘glue’ to the skin and apply the flower. This idea was featured in hippieindisguise.com
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Fo rag e For g o rs e F lowe rs Why not use your wandering to gather edible flowers? Many flowers can be found in hedgerows and gardens and foraging can provide a feast when combined with staples from the pantry. Elderflower, violas and lavender are some native flowers offering colour and flavour to syrups, sugars or salads. For something wilder, how about a gorse flower cordial? This yellow bloom provides a delicate coconut flavour. You’ll need: 1 litre water; 300g sugar; juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon; 2 handfuls gorse flowers.
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1. Put the sugar and water into a saucepan and simmer until the sugar dissolves. 2. Add the gorse flowers, lemon juice and orange peel and boil for 10 minutes to reduce the liquid. 3. Strain liquid through a muslin cloth to remove the petals and fruit and pour into sterilised bottles. This recipe was featured in foreadventure.co.uk try Flow er arrangi ng It’s worth the trip to Dulwich in London to try your hand at arranging fabulous flowers on a course at The Fresh Flower Company. While you can learn how to arrange bouquets and sprays we’ve got the Floral Crown workshop on 28th June in our diaries. For information visit www.freshflower.co.uk
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ma ki ng me mo ry k e epsak es Some memories are just too precious not to preserve. Jewellery designer and craft teacher Emma Mitchell creates silver designs inspired by nature (“botanical silver fossils”) and also runs workshops on how to use clay to make beautiful pendants and necklaces “to give others the opportunity to rediscover the uplifting feeling that accompanies craft”. silverpebble.net
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stay cosy o n your p icni c National Picnic week is on 11–19th June, so gather your favourite feasts and head to local parks and beaches. For a dual purpose picnic blanket to slip around your shoulders as the evenings draw in, we love The British Blanket Company’s pure wool beautiful blankets and throws. Visit thebritishblanketcompany. co.uk to see their selection.
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is it healthier to take on single tasks? We f i n d o u t i f t h a t w e l l - k n o w n f e m i n i n e trait – multitasking – is doing us more harm than good.
Juggling parenthood, work and your personal life is the most difficult of all circus acts, yet probably the least impressive to the crowd. Surely the lion tamer who is holding the whip and focused on one single task is the one who gets the loudest cheer? According to a recent study in the BMC Psychology journal, multitasking is difficult for both sexes, but women still came out as better at it. Simply put, men are slower, but does slow and steady win the race when it comes to mental health and happiness? Often blamed for their ‘one-track mind’, this ability to maintain a singular focus could actually be more beneficial and healthier, when it comes to the accomplishment of daily tasks. Historically, men are more attuned to these linear tasks and have proved that eliminating, or at least filtering distractions, is the key to a productive day. But what about those times when multitasking is not a choice, but a necessity? When distractions are inevitable, in an open office environment or working from home with small children? Tackling a mountain of tasks forces you to prioritise your duties and organise your time, but this is something not everyone is good at. Does it all come down to who is better under pressure? According to Professor Keith Laws of University of Hertfordshire, it is. After conducting an experiment with both sexes, he found that women were more organised under pressure, because “they spent more time thinking at the beginning, whereas men had a slight impulsiveness, they jumped in too quickly”. Organisation of time seems to be a determinant factor to successful task completion, or perhaps it is just practice. But when someone as demanding as a toddler needs your attention, it overtakes any organisational structure you may have tried to put into place. At work, there is another tsunami of duties to navigate; between phone calls, incoming emails, meetings, project work and assignments, some days can feel like a storm with waves coming at you from every angle. Multitasking at home and at work are two different animals born from the same creature – pressure. To combine working from home is a new species altogether, one that requires much more patience and flexibility, without any rigid schedules. This is the current domain for many women of today who are ‘fortunate’ enough to work from home, yet are drowning in duties that are never completed, or completed well. And with our everincreasing digitally distractive world,
multitasking is being taken to new heights. But is all this device-buzzing, phoneringing, posting and pinging – this endless juggling of tasks – detrimental to our health? Probably one of the most damaging effects of multitasking is that you’re missing out on the ‘moment’. Whether it is of satisfied completion, emotional connection or pure enjoyment, you are losing the full impact of that moment because you’re distracted. Inner peace is never reached and we are in a constant state of pressurised flux. But what about those people with short attention spans who prefer to flit like a butterfly between tasks? Getting bored of one task and moving on to another seems like a haphazard way of doing things, yet many people prefer this approach. It can make us sharper, push our limits or even spur creativity. And in this fast-paced world of ours, we may not have the luxury of devoting a lot of time to each task. Take Kate, a writer who works from home on various projects and is also an English tutor, as well as mother of two, a volunteer, and homemaker: “I like the fact that I’m not chained to a desk and my life and work has variety. I loosely plan my day with chunks of time given to each task before I change to another one, whether I’m finished with that task or not. This way I don’t get bored and can go back to my original task with fresh eyes. I also break it up with some exercise, to get rid of that buzz in my brain for a bit and physically rejuvenate.” Whether you’re a juggler or a lion tamer, a butterfly or a tortoise, incorporate some quiet focus in your day. Next time you’re walking, in a car, or on a train and you think, ‘here’s a chance to catch up on emails, make phone calls, etc,’ put away your phone and try taking in the moment. Your mind and body will thank you for it.
f i nd t h e b est syst em for you KEEP THEM sMall & siMPlE Some people thrive on the ability to handle many things at once and tick all those boxes. With some mundane tasks, this is possible. Talking on the phone while cooking dinner and emptying the dishwasher – all these can be done successfully at the same time or in succession, and rarely does anything suffer (apart from the odd burnt pan). But incorporate reading an important document or writing an email to your boss and you’re asking for trouble. Basically, the normal human brain can usually handle two basic tasks at once (such as talking and walking), but add a third and things get tricky. You’re inevitably going to miss important details of one or both of the tasks at hand.
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lEaRN TO saY NO Prioritise, and say no. If you have an important email to write, tell your child, colleague or partner that you need a certain amount of time to do this, uninterrupted. Likewise, if a person needs your attention, give it to them fully and put your phone/ laptop away. Saying no to other tasks or people is not a crime.
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REWaRDs aND BENEFiTs Forcing yourself to focus on a single task isn’t always easy, so try to engage yourself completely and find the benefit of the task while doing it, or if it’s a truly mundane task then think of how you will reward yourself when it’s finished!
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quiET TiME Create healthy habits; if you’re an energetic person who can achieve everything by multitasking without being flustered or overwhelmed, then go for it. But if trying to do too much at once stresses you out, then it’s time to take steps to reboot and unplug with some ‘quiet focus’, as suggested by Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project. Set aside quiet time and make a conscious effort to divert those distractions before they happen. “In addition to feeling calmer and more focused, you’ll probably be more efficient too,” she says.
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Create a statement wall! World map decal by Home Art Stickers, homeartstickers.etsy.com
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i nsp i re d by Maps
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1. Use maps to line boxes, drawers & suitcases, thecottagemarket.com 2. Make your jewellery about where you live, allaboutyoucreations. etsy.com 3. Handstitch the route you took on a holiday, marthastewart.com 4. Butterfly cities! Cut shapes to suit like terrordome.etsy.com 5. Change your chandelier to suit your theme. Maps light, LolliePatchouli, flickr.com 6. Cover papier mâchÊ letters to spell out your favourite place to visit, makingitlovely.com 7. Cover an old school chair with maps, then varnish. inspirationsdeco.blogspot.co.uk 8. Forget wallpaper, maps are the way to go! This and more ideas at theinspiredroom.net
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Th e L e isu re Ly A rT o f Le T Te r W r iT in g A precious process, at once relaxing and meditative, cathartic and therapeutic, letter writing by hand is making a comeback.
New Jersey
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Remember those days when buying fresh new stationery used to be a thrilling experience? Feeling the crisp, new paper and putting pen to paper and letting the ink flow was oh so satisfying. The curve of letters connecting in a sublime stream felt like you were creating a work of art. Now postcards in shops are gathering dust, postbags are carrying a lighter load, and somehow we’ve replaced this precious process with the ease of clicks and hits. The leisurely art of letter writing has been crushed by computer generated captions and colours, with virtual postcard apps such as Touchnote which will do it all for you in seconds. Yet unlike messages received on a screen, handwritten letters are visual and tactile, which makes both writing and receiving one more pleasurable. The recognition of someone’s handwriting is almost as comforting as a close friend stopping by for a cup of tea. It is a way of connecting, and showing our vulnerability with how we express ourselves in the written form. From writing notes in class, to postcards, to love letters, handwritten communication was a daily, integral part of our lives. It was a pleasure to do, and there was always a jolt of joy when receiving something handwritten to you personally. Historically, penmanship evolved to become almost an art, and elegant handwriting became a sign of social status. Hieroglyphics morphed
into separate letters which eventually became connected in a cursive flow to make handwriting not only more efficient, but also more beautiful. Just the rhythm of handwriting – of pulling down and lifting up, the thick and thin strokes – and seeing your words flow and take shape is a cathartic process, especially when done to express feelings and emotion. Handwriting can also be relaxing, and even meditative. The intimacy writing a letter offers cannot be matched by blasting off a quick post update on Facebook. The process – sitting down with a cup of tea, putting music on, choosing stationery – all adds to the experience. Writing by hand also makes you ‘speak’ slower, allowing time to think before you write. How often have we fired off an email in haste, making errors, or just writing badly for the sake of sending it quickly? Conveniently, an immediate response isn’t expected with a letter, allowing the reader time and space for reflection. The whole process – from writing the first word, to envelope, to post box – forces us to decelerate our thoughts and actions, and allows us to simply look, feel, smile, touch. This process is repeated upon receiving the letter, reaching all of our senses in a way that online communication just cannot do. However, snail mail doesn’t have the same instantaneous effect our digital world now demands; the delayed reception of news results in a delayed
reaction. Yet isn’t it more genuine and touching to receive something someone wrote by hand and made the effort to post? Our current Generation X expects instant gratification. Thoughtfulness and consideration are dismissed for productivity and speed. Communication has become fleeting and ephemeral rather than impacting and meaningful. Perhaps that’s why the traditional pastime of writing to pen pals has declined so much in recent years. In the past, the benefits of writing letters to strangers in foreign lands included an outlet to practise reading and writing in a different language, to learn about other cultures, to improve literacy, but most of all, to make friendships. Writing to a pen pal can be therapeutic – like journal writing but with someone listening and responding. Creative types can take it a step further, turning letters into a work of art by using maps, doilies, decorative tape or vintage stickers to decorate the envelopes, transforming a simple letter to an art project. Today pen pal writing is seeing a revival with online organisations providing a platform for you to swap letters and postcards with like-minded people from other countries. Their ethos remains traditional; handwriting is essential, cards must be posted, and you’re guaranteed to receive one in return from somewhere in the world. A mailbox of surprises awaits.
PosTcArds
Le TT ers
T rAn s L AT e
P e nPA Ls
Use image of postcards from around the world. You can transport yourself to other places and receive real postcards from anyone in the world with Postcrossing.
The Letter Writers Alliance is dedicated to preserving the cultural tradition of letter writing, offering everything from stationery and stamps, to vintage postal items and even bringing embroidery to letters to create mail art.
Plan UK is a children’s charity that encourages oldfashioned letter writing with the child you’ve adopted. Even if it’s in another language they will translate it for you, again by hand.
The League of Extraordinary Penpals is a penpal club and supportive community where you can pay a small subscription fee to become a member and receive newsletters, plus, they offer a pen pal matching service.
postcrossing.com
letterwriters.org
plan-uk.org
extraordinary penpals.com
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the m i l e s.. s s o r c a . . . . N O I
a brand new magazine! journaling
m e d i tat i o n
pa p e r c r a f t
calligraphy
yoga
Welcome to a brand new magazine filled with quality writing, beautiful photography and new ideas to try. at home or away, indoors or out, discover mindfulness through making.
£9.99*
S u m m e r
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Four floral wreath prints
extras in this issue include...
Travel stickers to spark your creativity
Paper-folding bear & elephant kits
Papercutting template & print
order your copy today o r d e r o n l i n e w w w. b u ys u b s c r i p t i o n s . c o m /c r a f ts p e c i a l or call 0844 844 0388 and quote ‘mindfulness’ Lines open weekdays 8am to 8pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm. Overseas please call +44 (0) 1795 414 676. * EUR price £11.99, ROW price £12.99. All prices include P&P. Please allow up to 28 days for delivery.