Sewing, Archaeology & Slow Art 🐌
P.S. Crowdfunding 101 is now FREE!
The Key to a Gentle Launch
This week I've been putting the final touches on the crowdfunding campaign for Entwined. Which you will hear about soon enough.
For now I wanted to share some of strategies I am employing to take care of my nervous system in what is typically a high intensity process.
Strategies to self regulate before and during the launch
Slow mornings (outside when possible).
Airplane mode. (So my motor memory doesn't open the Internet before lunch.) I need this so I don't compulsively check the crowdfunding campaign and social media all day. I'm trying to figure out if I can automate it.
Gardening when I can (depending on the weather and pain flares.)
Analogue art. (Making things with my hands is very regulating.)
In the Studio ✂️
Part of preventative care for my almost mental breakdown was making more art with my hands. I've pulled out my soft sculpture brain - which I've been working on for 3-4 years. It's taking AGES to finish because I do a bit each year, my finger splits, and then it takes ages to heal due to a connective tissue disorder.
I recently discovered this needle puller from Mx. Domestic on Instagram. They demonstrate the tool really well here:
I finished half of my brain earlier this summer when my mom was having back surgery. Now I'm hand sewing the "brain noodles" I made last week into the second half.
I recorded another process video here:
Home Ed 🍎
We've been getting our hands dirty this week with this Real Fossil Dig kit that includes 12 actual fossils. There's an ammonite, a real piece of dinosaur bone, a fossilized sea urchin, shark teeth & more. I can’t believe this only cost $15 dollars. (This is not an affiliate link, but it probably should be.)
And (of course) we're reading Magic School Bus to study dinosaur fossils.1
This is a brand new (used) Magic School Bus book for our collection. We found it at a local bookstore called Once Upon a Time.
Here are out other finds.
We've also been watching BBC Gardener's World and learning about pollinators this week. Did you know that flower petals have textured surfaces like climbing walls? 🐝
Digital Foraging 🍁
Some bits and bobs I've collected for you this week.
Pseudonyms lets you practice agency by Henrik Karlsson
Hank Green on AI, "We're using this word to mean everything right now."
The world is museum of passion projects. (via
)
And this.
This time last year...
I wrote My creative process is slow. Considering the soft sculpture I wrote about above there's a real connection here. I'm fascinated to see seasonal rhythms in my own creative process with this time travel feature.
And I almost forgot!
I spent ages earlier this week unlocking every lesson for Crowdfunding 101. It's now completely free! Self Pub 101 will be too, but there are SO MANY pages to unlock it might be a while until I get to it.
The Compost Heap is free to all. Thanks for exchanging your time and energy. If you’re feeling particularly generous here are other ways you can lend your support.
Leave a comment (it’s free!)
Share on social media.
Forward this email to a friend.
Buy my book.
Pledge $3+ on Patreon (or upgrade to paid) for a letter from me each month. Here’s a peek at August’s letter going in the mail tomorrow. (Yes, I’m talking about spirals again. Get used to it.) 😂
Psst... Would you be interested in going completely screen free? 🐌
I've been wondering about adding a new Patreon tier where you can subscribe for my newsletter to come to your actual mailbox. Would anyone be interested in that? (I'm not sure what it would cost especially if I include color photos, but if there's interest I will consider it for 2025.)
The Internet is like a tin can telephone. It’s just a rusty can until someone talks back.
What are you making? What are you growing? What are you finding inspiring?
What do you think of the idea of an analogue newsletter?
The obvious downside is that it can’t include links so I’d need to shift the format slightly. But it’s something I’m interested in exploring if you’re into that idea.
Let’s chat in comments.
This newsletter is a curated collection of tidbits from my overgrown Compost Heap (or digital garden.) You're welcome to rummage around, turn the heap, and see what you can find for yourself. 🪱🐛🌱
Illustrations are by Gracie Klumpp of Leave the Fingerprints.
I still owe my international friends a post introducing Ms. Frizzle. Do y'all have Magic School Bus on your Netflix or no?
I just read your letter so I'm coming back to say I really love receiving them. I'm really interested in talking more about art, per your letter, but I wasn't sure where you'd rather talk about it (here, patreon, email, snail mail ?). I'm so excited to hear more about your novel!
I like zines, so I love the idea of an analogue newsletter! I like it when things are objects rather than sheer 'information'. Something about the ability to hold and play with an object to get settled into the frame of mind to learn rather than just consume. Like I rarely have the energy to cook atm, but when I do, or when I go out to an actual resturant, the food always tastes better because I'm in the frame of mind to engage with it.
Perhaps, as suggested, you could do that quarterly, so it would save on postage for people.