The Making & Mending Podcast

In this episode I am chatting about a few simple ways in which I am staying connected with creativity while my brain is adjusting to the loss of my mum. In short, it's about lowering the bar, being realistic and appreciating a wider net of expression.

I hope it feels helpful!

Love,

Yarrow

This episode is dedicated to my mum Marina, who passed away suddenly at the end of July. She was incredible - resilient, creative, full of life and hands down the most loving person I know. She taught me how to live a good life full of pleasure and connection even in late stage capitalism. I had 38 years with her and am so proud to call her my mum. 

The wonderful Narinder Bazen joined me for this conversation to talk about grief after sudden death, saying goodbye in the best way we can and staying connected to the present moment in a mammal body while we have one foot on the other side. 

The title of this episode is a nod to one of my favorite books - The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Frances Weller. 

Thank you for listening and sending some love to my mum,

Yarrow

The world is a lot, but then what's new? In this episode I wanted to share a few ways in which I am staying grounded this summer, including excellent book selection, gentle rituals and activism that is doable and kind on my nervous system. I hope it's a helpful space for you to think about your own summer and orient towards the pleasure & joy that is available to you.

Here is info about the tech day I mentioned: https://pinkwellstudio.com/magic/

Thank you so much for listening!

Love,

Yarrow

Patient and appreciated listeners, I am bring you another wonderful conversation with Lara Irene Vesta. I hope this find you well, with a bit of sunshine on your face and a quiet moment to dive in. Here is some of what we talked about:

Lara Irene Vesta is a writer, artist and educator exploring sacred stories and lineage traditions. She is the author of the Moon Divas Guidebook, Wild Soul Runes and Year of the Dark Goddess: A Journey of Ritual, Renewal and Rebirth. Her current creative practice is reclaiming offline life, renewing faith and remembering ancestral crafts and skills. She shares this journey in the Olden Practice newsletter and through by-donation classes at the Wild Soul School.

https://www.laravesta.cohttps://www.oldenpractice.com Olden Practice Substack

Newsletter:https://laravesta.substack.com 

Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/larairene 

Year of the Dark Goddess Book Links:Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Year-Dark-Goddess-Journey-Renewal/dp/1578638275
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/year-of-the-dark-goddess-lara-vesta/1144014419 

Thank you for listening,Yarrow

This episode is such a heartfelt deep dive into grief, creativity & enchantment with the wonderful Narinder Bazen. Here is some of what we talked about: 

Narinder Bazen is an artist, death midwife, enchanted life guide and death midwifery trainer, living on unceded Penobscot land. (Maine, USA) Her greatest passions include helping to midwife new paradigm death care and grief care and living as a minimalist full of enchantment because of all of the bounty found in nature. When she's not guiding new death midwives, she's spending time painting with watercolors, writing, and playing with her dog Oak.

https://www.narinderbazen.com/

You can sign up for the next Spark session over here: https://yarrow.substack.com/

Thanks for listening!

Love,

Yarrow

I've been such a fan of Christi's work and especially her book Mystical Stitches for ages and so it's a real joy to bring this beautiful interview to you! Here is what we talked about: 

Christi Johnson's personal work combines cosmic visions and botanical beauties, a hypnotic dance of symbols stitched slowly and methodically into fabric. She is the artist behind Mixed Color, a textile studio based in the foothills of the Catskills, NY which provides functional pieces that are thoughtfully made, as well as educating others in creativity and textile arts. Through books, kits, and online courses on embroidery and garment making, Christi guides her students through the skills they need to embrace self expression through handcrafts. She is the author of, Mystical Stitches (Storey Press, 2021), which explores embroidery as a tool for personal empowerment and magical embellishment to bring more meaning into stitches. www.mixedcolor.net

Here is the ethical marketing workshop I mentioned: https://pinkwellstudio.com/ethical-marketing-workshop/

Thank you so much for listening! 

Love,

Yarrow

In this episode I am sharing five sweet & simple things I'll be doing to make the month ahead more beautiful. Think home spa, love letters, self-commitment and flowers. I hope you'll feel inspired! 

You can join my monthly Spark Sessions for extra ritual support via my Substack here: https://yarrow.substack.com/

and here is more info about the upcoming donation based workshop on ethical marketing: https://pinkwellstudio.com/ethical-marketing-workshop/

Love,

Yarrow

This episode is a dream come true for my nerdy heart - I had a chance to talk to Dr. Isabella Rosner, whose podcast Sew What? I've been a fan of for years. We talked about how she got into textile histories, her PhD research and work at the Royal School of Needlework, about what textiles can teach us about what it means to be human and making time to create. 

Dr Isabella Rosner is the Curator of the Royal School of Needlework and Research Associate at Witney Antiques. She recently completed her PhD at King’s College London, researching Quaker women’s needlework, waxwork, and shellwork circa 1650 to 1800. Passionate about schoolgirl samplers and early modern women’s needlework, Isabella hosts the “Sew What?” podcast about historic needlework and those who stitched it. She is a 2023 BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker.

https://sewwhatpodcast.com/

Thank you for listening!

This episode is my first interview with a guest in about eight months and I could not feel more excited & honoured to speak to Chaney Williams. There was so much in this conversation that was a balm to my soul - we talked about life-changing moments and accidents, listening to the whispers of your ancestors and our bodies, quiet spaces to create and dreaming new dreams. I hope you love it as much as I did!

Chaney Williams (she/they) is a full spectrum doula, ritualist, and writer. She lives in Kentucky and has been a southerner since birth. Chaney strongly believes that all people deserve access to trauma informed, intersectional, sex positive, reproductive care. For Chaney, writing specifically their poetry and creative non-fiction essays are confessional in nature because they create what they know and what haunts them because it is the way they make sense of the world they exist in. It is how she finds belonging in the universe and connects to her ancestors, future descendants, and the collective.

https://chaneywilliams.squarespace.com/ 

https://chaneywilliams.substack.com/ 

Stitching Together Community: https://www.yarrowmagdalena.com/stitching/ 

Thank you for listening,

Yarrow

In this episode I'm sharing more about an oral history project I'll be running this year - I want to find out how people with disabilities, like myself, used needlework to explore a sense of place and heritage during lockdown. I'm excited to explore topics like resilience in isolation, material and making vs consumption, connection with family stories and more. 

This of course relates to my Stitching Together project, which you can find out more about here: https://www.yarrowmagdalena.com/stitching/

Thank you, as always, for listening!

Love,

Yarrow