In the last post I wrote in this series about landscape and creativity, one of the things I mentioned was how we can use our creativity as a way of exploring and expressing our connections with the landscape. One way is to use plant material found in the landscape as a natural dye. Using natural dyes has been on my list of things to try for ages. As part of my textiles course, I dyed some tiny bits of fabric with nettles, and I've dyed ... Read the Post...
How to Make a Waterproof Picnic Blanket
With warmer weather hopefully imminent, one of the things on my list of things to make was a waterproof picnic blanket. It's lovely to be out in the fresh air and the sunshine, but sometimes you have to sit down, and there isn't always a bench. I'm also thinking ahead to next spring. I'm determined to have a Japanese style cherry blossom picnic, and I will definitely need a waterproof picnic blanket for that! Our lovely temperate English ... Read the Post...
Landscape and Creativity Part 1: Hierophany
Recently I've been reading a book called Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Exhausted Age by Katherine May (this is an affiliate link). Both the title and some of the reviews make it sound like it's a book full of bonkersness, but it's not. It's a beautifully written book about the author's search for a sense of meaning that she feels has been lost. She describes it as something that lies at the edge of our consciousness and is only noticeable ... Read the Post...
Springtime Slow Stitching Craft Kit
You know when you have a crazy idea? Covid and life in general have meant that my poor old brain was busy with other things, but now, the crazy ideas are like the green coming back to the trees, like a fuzzy green mist of things to make and do. The Springtime Slow Stitching Craft Kit is a crazy idea that started cooking a couple of months ago. Similar in a way to the "Safe at Home" craft kit I developed during the pandemic, the ... Read the Post...
