Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 2 i Project Calm

1. A great gift for book lovers: book on one page print from hardtofind.com 2. If you can’t paint a portrait, create a collage; be inspired by Katy at collage-garage.com 3. Simple shapes layered make a conversation-piece lampshade; Zipper8Lighting.com 4. Magazines make colourful mats and bowls! Lots of ideas from tes.com 5. Cuttings are perfect for journal covers: candycreates.blogspot.co.uk 6. Use newsprint as a creative base layer for gift wrapping, stampington.com 7. Revitalise old book pages with your own art and templates like Vanessa at dans-mon-crane.blogspot.com 8. Headlines and spines make perfect lines for a fingerprint: cherylsorgstudio on etsy.com Pages from books, magazines or newspapers all make interesting coverage for a feature wall. Or buy yours ‘ready-made’ like this Biblioteca Wallpaper by Ekaterina Panikanova for NLXL.…

SMOKEY ROAD PRESS, ATHENS, GEORGIA, USA Margot Ecke, who owns Smokey Road Press, trained in printing in New Mexico and has a diploma in book binding. As well as producing a range of creative products and offering a custom service, Smokey Road runs residencies and workshops for all levels, providing time, space and a fully operational letterpress studio to artists and writers who are interested in printing a fine art letterpress edition. www.smokeyroadpress.com LETTERPRESS CENTRAL, PHOENIX, ARIZONA, USA Cindy Iveson is the founder of Letterpress Central and has been teaching letterpress since 2005. She has a passion for century-old printing presses and vintage metal and wood type. Cindy makes handmade paper and artists’ books, creates mixed media artwork and provides a custom printing service for all kinds of products such…

Before the invention of the printing press, books were not only handmade, they were handwritten (mostly by monks in monasteries) and so were rare and precious possessions. Books have remained unique and valuable, even today, with first editions achieving incredible prices and book cover designs being essential to a novel’s commercial success. We appreciate book cover designs of all styles and genres, and love the idea of having a go ourselves. But in a bid to keep our creativity away from our computer screens, we’ve explored how to craft covers and end papers by hand. Over the next few pages you’ll discover ideas for covering a book, drawing your own typeface (so you can name your tome) and designing your personal bookplate (or use the ones we’ve made) to label…

The endpapers or endsheets of a book are made from a double-size sheet of paper folded with one half pasted against the inside cover and the other serving as the first free page (or the final free page at the end of the book). Bookplates usually come in the form of a small print or a decorative label pasted into a book, often on the inside front cover. As well as the book owner’s name, traditional bookplates would typically include the owner’s motto and crest or coat of arms, although today the designs are simpler and often more graphic in their design. Bookplates are also known as ‘ex libris’, a Latin phrase meaning ‘from the books’ which is often used to indicate ownership or the source of a book, as…

What is life without a gathering? Whether with family or friends, getting together with the people we love brings connectedness and company. Occasions like these can create special memories that you want to re-live. Photos of gatherings provide visual souvenirs that enhance our overall happiness by helping us remember the good times. They sway our memories to the fun and meaningful moments and help keep them vivid in our minds. We all know that photographs speak a thousand words – they can tell a story that everyone will appreciate for years to come. Photos can evoke emotion, inspire remembrance, and allow us to relive experiences, so of course we enjoy taking them – and in this digital age, lots of them! Compared to the days of expensive film when each…

TAP HERE FOR YOUR PRINTABLE PAPERCUTTING TEMPLATE Simple techniques are the most effective: use the template to cut the marks on the flower burst, then position over the blue and yellow graphic circle and you have a work of art. Make it unique by painting or printing your own background, so your favourite colours can show through. There are three methods to try, each of which creates a subtly different effect. 1. Scored flower On all of the petals, the whole of the petal is cut around. 2. Partially cut flower On a third of the petals, cut along each petal leaving the tip attached. And on one side of the petal, cut just below the dotted line, as marked on the template. 3. Flower with rolled petals On all…

The different processes to linocutting make it an interesting artform – from drawing your design and cutting the lino, to rolling on the ink and finally that magical part when you stamp your image to see it replicated on your card. Plus, the beauty of printing is that you can use your design again and again – perfect if you want to whip up a batch of cards in one go. It’s worth taking some time to practise using the cutting tool on a piece of lino so you get the feel of it and how much pressure to apply. You’ll find that holding the tool at a bigger angle will create deeper cuts. To make our leaf linocut, you will need: a rubber ink roller, piece of lino, lino…

HELLA, CORNWALL Wake to a view of the rugged Cornish coast and let the sea air revitalise and refresh you (www.hiddenhideaways.co.uk). SHEPHERD’S BOTHY, IONA Find complete peace and quiet on the Hebridean island of Iona in this compact, cosy shepherd’s hut (www.ionahostel.co.uk ). BLUE CONE, SWEDEN Enjoy luxurious seclusion at the Blue Cone cabin, one of several unique rooms at Sweden’s stunning Treehotel (www.treehotel.se). GLASS HOUSE, USA In the woods of Wisconsin you’ll find Candlewood’s glass-walled cabin, for a back-to-nature moment (www.candlewoodcabins.com). PERMANENT CAMPING, AUSTRALIA Tucked down a 7km bush track, this copper tower is a unique remote retreat (www.permanentcamping.com.au).…

NATURALLY CORNISH CHRISTMAS ‘Feel good about what you wear’ Luxury Loungewear and Well-Being Gifts by EKO www.earthkindoriginals.co.uk ECOYOGA ecoYoga Ltd has been manufacturing in the UK since 2003 providing standard and lightweight mats in various colours, including their unique colourfree. The aesthetic of jute was the inspiration to create mats made from 100% natural rubber and jute fabric. Motivated by their own practice and awareness that most yoga students will acquire a mat, ecoYoga believed it a paradox that a yoga mat be made of an oil-based material i.e. plastic of any form. For stockists, sales and information: www.ecoyoga.co.uk t: 0131 220 0999 LIMBER STRETCH Cotton Yoga Harem Pants, £25 Available on Amazon.co.uk www.limberstretch.com hana@limberstretch.com HOOGLY TEA 16 luxury tea blends to choose from, £1.65 – £5.25 www.hooglytea.com LITTLE SOAP…

YOU WILL NEED 3 [4] rolls of WATG’s Mixtape yarn 1 pair of 8mm (US11) knitting needles and 1 sewing needle You will also need an inner cushion: Lil’ Pillow Talk: 35cm x 35cm / 14” x 14” Pillow Talk: 50cm x 50cm / 20” x 20” This pattern includes directions for two different sizes. When instructions differ between sizes, they are given for the smaller size first, then for the larger size inside brackets. TENSION To ensure your knitting has the same measurements as the pattern, it is a good idea to make a tension swatch before you start knitting your project. A tension swatch is a small sample of your knitting where you count the stitches and rows and check them against the measurements (cm/in) given in the…

We all say we want to be happy, but for many of us it’s equally true to say that we want to be unhappy; we are addicted to our unhappiness. We cling to what makes us unhappy because we are afraid to let go of the familiar. Happiness is our natural state. It happens when we stop making ourselves unhappy by believing the stories the thinking mind throws up. Want to be happy? Then let go of its opposite. Happiness is the absence of unhappiness – it is not a thing in itself. Happiness happens naturally when we cease our addiction to living in the future and past, which are full of promise and anxiety on one hand, and regret and longing on the other. When we cease getting agitated…

Assembling a self is a tricky business, and, often at times, a thankless one. It’s risky, and reckless, a whole-heartedly, non-negotiable chore of being human. The penalty for not doing it is that it will happen anyway. Other people, other circumstances, lightning-chance happenings will decide for you. And trust me, it’s not ideal. Horrendous consequences, please steer clear. Sometimes you feel like Alice, as you fall past (what feels like) every element of the living world; you just have to choose which haphazard beliefs to snatch on to as they hurtle past. Which memories or fables or allegories to clutch to, and which to let the wind sweep up and away. Sometimes you might feel more like a professional selector, than a creator. Assembling yourself can feel much more like…

For as long as novels have existed, there have been moralists to warn of their dangers. Late Victorian educationalist Charlotte Mason chided that “the girl who sits for hours poring over a novel, to the damage of her eyes, her brain, and her general nervous system, is guilty of a lesser fault of the nature of suicide.” Recent research, though, has claimed that rather than inducing a slow death, reading books can actually keep you alive: a study in the journal Social Science & Medicine found that those who read a book for 30 minutes a day had a 23-month survival advantage, regardless of their wealth, education, health or sex. And fascinatingly, this advantage was specific to books. No other reading material did so much good for its readers. The…

When researching for our ‘Love of Books’ theme this issue, we came across David Wardle’s work and knew we had to get him involved. David is a designer, illustrator and typographer who creates hand-drawn, contemporary book covers, lettering and typography. Recent works include illustrations for a series of Paul Hollywood cookery books and a Le Creuset book. He has also penned a new typeface for the original queen of cookery, Mrs Beeton, in an updated guide for the 21st-century kitchen. The books, their covers and imagery within, are beautiful and are of the highest quality. But that’s the only way David works, as does Bold & Noble – the company he founded with his wife, Jane Tobbitt. Jane and David are joint creative directors, sharing the design work, along with…

The modern day resurgence in the popularity and visibility of letterpress printing is driven by the scores of women learning the craft and putting together one-woman letterpress shops from equipment abandoned and rescued from the scrap yard. One reason for the preponderance of women printers today is that the new letterpress revival is social, and depends on the digital equivalent of word-of-mouth - social media - to establish a presence and a community. The ease of creating instant communities online helps support these new printers. People also long to use their hands. Skilled handiwork is the antidote to looking at a screen; to office work of all sorts. In this digital age, we find ourselves using buttons and staring at screens, losing the haptic quality that comes from connecting our…

Flash fiction is a popular form world-wide. In Latin America it’s called micro; in Denmark, kortprosa; in Bulgaria, mikro razkas. One thousand words is the usual cut-off point, with many stories often 300 words or less. It’s not just about the word count though. “Flash as a discrete form has to do something a traditionally longer story does not: it has to be just as satisfying in a smaller space. It has to hint at the larger picture where it cannot sustain lengthy descriptive passages,” says writer and editor Michelle Elvy. And we love this metaphorical comparison of different fictions from Argentinian novelist and short story writer Luiza de Venzuela: “I usually compare the novel to a mammal, be it wild as a tiger or tame as a cow; the…

1. Turn a tree trunk into corner bookshelves (or ask a carpenter!) zelfmaakideetjes.nl 2. Bring the woodland inside with simple tree branch candle holders, worleyslighting.com 3. Transform a room into a forest with trees wallpaper, wayfair.com 4. Get creating with vintage botanical ephemera from etsy.com/shop/DeanandCo 5. Try your hand at illustration, like these, facebook.com/ WoodfortheTreesPrints 6. Handstitching is so effective, learn more at annascottembroidery. com.au 7. Sit among the trees; tree hut by Tom Gilbert at thepalletproject.blogspot.co.uk 8. Use your fabric scraps to appliqué leaf motifs on linen like rebeccasower.typepad.com…

If I think back a few months, my garden in the south west of England was gasping. It was a dry summer and the grass in the park was the colour of a lion’s mane. Papery leaves crackled on the young apple tree outside my house. We needed rain. I have forgotten how to spell the word petrichor countless times, but I can never forget the moment it describes – the first scent of the earth after the rain. It is the smell of dust instantly lifting, of air clearing, of the smog which envelopes my home city being blissfully banished. I longed for it in the summer. Despite the UK’s tendency for the heavens to open when it’s least needed (Wimbledon, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, my daughter’s school sports…

BEREAVED H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald Devastated with grief after her father died, Helen Macdonald did an extraordinary thing: she bought a hawk. As she tells the story of training Mabel, she explores the relationship between humans and nature, and writes about the pain and rage of loss with utterly moving precision. UNCERTAIN Middlemarch by George Eliot Just don’t know what to do with your life? Nor does Dorothea Brooke, whose quest for purpose takes her into an unsuitable marriage with consequences that ripple and rebound through the whole of her provincial town. Detailed and engrossing, every trip back will tell you something about how you’ve changed since last time. ANXIOUS How to Cook a Wolf by MFK Fisher When the wolf is at the door, the enterprising…

HOW DAVID CREATED THE LETTERS “The first part of working on the illustration is to try and find some relevant source material, in this instance vintage letterpress ornaments and initial caps for each letter. I’ll then start to look for references of the other elements, people reading, reading lamps, etc. “After the initial research I’ll make rough sketches of the elements I want to incorporate, scan them and then start to arrange them over the shape that I eventually want to create, in this case an initial cap. I look at where each sketch might fit and roughly drop them into position, I’ll then print out the outlined shape and the rough sketches. At this point I’ll work into the gaps between the drawings with line, shape and decoration to…

“I live and work in a very tiny town 10 minutes from Amsterdam Central Station. The backyard of the city. We (my boyfriend Dirk and our daughter Vosse) moved here two years ago and lived in the shed for eight months while renovating the ‘big’ house. Now we rent out the shed as a tiny bed and breakfast house and I also use it as my workspace when there are no guests (airbnb.nl/rooms/12193209). “Remember when you were a kid and someone asked you what you wanted to be? We’re sure your answer wasn’t ‘Whatever I do, I want to sit behind a computer. All day, every day.’ But think about it – that is what most of us do. From bankers to designers. That’s why we loved the idea of…

TAP HERE FOR YOUR PRINTABLE BOOKMARKS 1. Print the bookmarks onto thick paper or thin card. Cut out the front and back of each as one piece, then fold down the middle and glue together, plain sides facing. 2. If you’d like to add string, ribbon or thread to your bookmark, you’ll need to punch a hole near the top. Make sure it’s not too close to the edge of the bookmark. 3. We used string, but you can choose something more fancy such as velvet ribbon or fabric binding. 4. We like the idea of doubling-up the use of the bookmarks as gift tags, inserting them into a book you’re giving as a gift and writing a loving message on them. But, of course, you can keep them just…

Anyone can select a typeface, change the size and add colour. With the style set, the type will be uniform and consistent. However, if you take the same piece of text and hand letter it, it’s unique. Hand letter it again next week, and again it will be equally unique. That’s what so great about hand lettering – and it’s totally yours, and creatively speaking it will always belong to you. Of course, you can go on to scan your hand-drawn letters to use again and again, but the process of drawing each character and learning about typographical shapes and details is fascinating and a wonderful way of learning a new creative skill. A good way to start is to try copying – not tracing, but drawing what you see…

1 Take online courses with Kathy Fish (www.kathy-fish.com) and Word Tango (www.wordtango.com) in the US, or attend face- to-face workshops and live events. If you’re near Bath, UK, Bath Flash Fiction Award runs regular flash fiction evenings. Read guides – The Rose Metal Press (www.rosemetalpress.com) in the US has produced some excellent books on the form including a brilliant how-to guide with essays and exercises from many different writers. My Very End of the Universe, published by The Rose Metal Press, is a book on writing the novella-in-flash. Bath Flash Fiction Award (bathflashfictionaward.com) has a new contest for those who are interested in writing the flash-novella, a sequence of very short pieces with a narrative arc. 2 Why not enter a few of the many world-wide competitions online? Read the…

Flowers IN THE HOUSE We all need some flower power in our homes and, while it’s harder to achieve in winter months, it’s not impossible. As well as planting bulbs to bloom and add scent (see our hyacinth how-to on page 71), we’ve collated a few ways to be inventive and creative with florals that will last. The best bit is that some ideas are simply about shopping – selecting or collecting floral accessories and arranging them creatively can be a great way of giving your home the colourful bloom- boost it needs. Make time, too, to dry flowers for long lasting arrangements, that can be refreshed with your favourite room freshener or perfume. Hydrangeas are extraordinary flowers that just keep on giving all year long. Watch the colours fade…

We have been observing trees a lot lately. Autumn’s rich, colour statement, a release – letting go – of leaves made us watchful of the trees changing around us. And now that golden season is behind us, our stirred-up feelings are still active, our senses connected to trees and we find ourselves enchanted. The way a tree bends in the wind, or stands proud, defiant of its environment; the shape of leaves, the tones and colours that appear at different times of day; the texture of bark – smooth or rough; trees are all so individual, so unique, yet also the same. Like us, we think. We find ourselves reminiscing childhood stories on the Tree of Life and how it has always been a powerful symbol through the ages and…

“Then the rain eased and the reflected heavens were full of tiny dancers: water sprites springing up on tiptoe like bright pins over the surface.” I would have loved an actual moat to swim in, but second best were rainy rides to the local quarry lake on my bike after school, spray flying from the mudguards. As a new mum many years later I quickly realised my daughter had inherited my love of the rain. When the heavens opened we would pull on our wellies and go out to jump in as many puddles as we could find. Stepping out of the front door with the intention of getting completely drenched was an adventure she never tired of. Even now, she insists on leaving her hood down to give her…

1. We love the simplicity of Stephanie Lapre’s geometric mountain embroidery 2. Make your shelves mountain-shaped, various styles from Parkin Handmade 3. Cut your photos into triangles for a mountain-themed collage; find inspiration from art books like Cutting Edges by Gestalten & James Gallagher 4. Try your hand at tapestry like WillowBrookeDesign/Etsy 5. Wear a mountain scene patch with pride (or embroider your own); hello DODO. 6. Make a montage of your mountain holiday photos like Liesl Pfeffer at lieslpfeffer.com 7. Try your hand at string art - or ask Crooked Tree Traders to make one for you 8. Learn to use a Rotring pen like Derek Myers: derekthedeliman.tumblr.com…

For a shed, cabin or hut to be truly hidden, it has to be apart and out of view of the outside world. There is a need and a desire to move from the busy world to tranquility, especially in the city where the cars, the people, the intensity and the noise can become too much. Some may love city life, but even they look for an occasional respite to modern living, for green spaces, walks on the heath or the beach, and it is this desire for refuge from chaos that attracts us to hidden places. When we go to that place of retreat, there is space for us to slow down and process the complexities of living, to be inspired and find ourselves – creatively, maybe spiritually. If…

I also recommend shorter practice sessions: I feel there is a notion that people think they have to be doing an hour-long yoga class at a studio, as that’s the norm and so they feel like they have ‘achieved’, but this really isn’t the case. Just 5–10 minutes a day, of either a little yoga or meditation can make all the difference. Even if that’s just one session in the morning, it’s a huge benefit. Or you can break up the day into small 10-minute chunks: morning, lunch and the evening. This ensures you don’t feel overwhelmed by time and that you keep yourself feeling refreshed throughout day. There are many different avenues that can help break down both meditation and yoga. Apps such as Headspace 1 It’s not easy…

TAP HERE FOR YOUR PRINTABLE GIFT BOX 1. Print the template onto card and carefully cut around the box outline shape using a sharp craft knife and ruler to ensure you keep the lines straight. 2. With a bone tool or flat edge of a knife, score along the lines where the box edges will need to be folded to create a box shape. Apply glue to each of the four corner flaps. 3. Fold along each of the scored sides to form the box, carefully holding the glued tabs in place until they feel secure. (It’s best to leave it for a while to ensure it’s totally dry.) 4. Fold the box lid along the scored line, so the tab can be tucked inside. Now your gift box is…

We have got together with Wool and The Gang to offer Project Calm readers the chance to win all the patterns and one complete knitting kit from their brand new Homeware Collection. Twelve lucky readers can each win one pattern of their choice and one extra lucky winner will be sent an Impossible Baby Dreamer cushion kit worth £49.95. Simply go here https://goo.gl/I1mL9H and follow the instructions. ATMOSPHERIC CANDLES Making your own candles is n’t as complicated, or messy, as you think! Candles are the ultimate in relaxation, creating a soft and atmospheric light. And those that burn clean, filling our home with rich aromas, are always best. Even making your own candles can be therapeutic and gives you the chance to fill your home with a unique scent of…

Whatever job I do I’m always creating something on the side; I just don’t seem to not be able to do it. If I don’t get time to be creative, I get stressed. I always thought I’d have to have a creative job to be happy, but it’s not just about the job – as long as I can create (and share my creations) I am fine. My new job at The Telegraph as Business Development Manager is very analytical and mainly about numbers, but I can still be happy because I have the headspace to be creative in my free time. This means I can produce better work that’s more authentic because nobody is defining what I’m doing or telling me what to do. I like to share my…

I imagine we have all experienced those days where some random passerby feels the need to inject a “cheer up” or “smile, it’s not that bad” comment as you cross paths. If we lose our smile, our whole demeanor can often come across as slightly unapproachable. If you carry yourself with a sense of joy, it is infectious to those around you, because you are not only reflecting a demonstrable smile but an inner smile, which radiates from within. It may sound a little odd at first but it actually works in practice; when we feel a sense of happiness and joy we carry ourselves with confidence. We gravitate to people who radiate this smile and we try and avoid those who don’t. A genuine smile can resonate from a…

It’s around this time of year that words like ‘goals’ and ‘resolutions’ start getting thrown around because who can resist the promise of a fresh new year, but do you know anyone who’s kept a resolution beyond January? I’ve always viewed New Year’s resolutions as a recipe for future guilt. I don’t have that sort of A-type personality that responds to structure and planning. I need more freedom. I want to be inspired not instructed. ‘Get fit’ sounds like a sensible goal to have, but it doesn’t feel very inspiring. Even the more specific ‘Go to the gym twice a week’ has failure built in. I either go to the gym twice a week or I don’t, there’s no room for any other outcome. So instead of writing a list…

SARAHDITUM Sarah wrote our ‘reasons to read’ feature on page 11. She reviews fiction and non-fiction for the Guardian, New Statesman and Literary Review, as well as being a columnist and feature writer. She lives in Bath with her family and too many books. Her website is sarahditum.com and you can find her on Twitter as @sarahditum JUDEHIGGINS Jude wrote our bookshops and flash fiction features on pages 21 and 44. She has been published in National Flash Fiction Day UK anthologies, Flash Frontier, Halo and Severine literary magazines, Visual Verse and New Flash Fiction Review among others. Jude is the founder of the Bath Flash Fiction Award and is planning an International Flash Fiction Festival in Bath in 2017. judehiggins.com KATEO’ SULLIVAN Kate compiled all our news pages this…