Getting Crafty with Tessa and Julia

00:00:02: Julia Davis: Hello! Today, it's Julia and Tessa, and we're going to be talking about craft in Circle, and I think we're really well placed to do that, because I'm very uncrafty, and Tessa's extremely crafty, and we've had a lot of fun together.

00:00:18: Julia Davis: Creating craft in Circle, and I've become a lot braver.

00:00:23: Julia Davis: about doing it. So, I'm going to start by asking you, Tessa, a little bit about…

00:00:29: Julia Davis: The retreats that we've run together.

00:00:33: Julia Davis: And the crafts you've introduced there.

00:00:38: Tessa Sanderson: Yeah, okay, well, I mean, I've always loved making things, whether it's, sort of, embroidery.

00:00:45: Tessa Sanderson: I remember doing that before I left home, and…

00:00:49: Tessa Sanderson: all sorts of things that I've made over the years, and what I love about it is that it gives

00:00:54: Tessa Sanderson: people something to do, and their hands are busy and their eyes are busy while you're in circle and while you're talking.

00:01:01: Tessa Sanderson: So…

00:01:02: Tessa Sanderson: what I try and choose, to bring into Circle is something that's easy enough that people can still be listening and talking, and they're not getting too worried about what it is that the craft is.

00:01:17: Tessa Sanderson: So it takes some thought, and some preparation to do crafts.

00:01:22: Tessa Sanderson: So I'm remembering, one of the things that we made together was felt dolls, and I've made these lots of times in lots of circles, because I find people, tend to enjoy it, and they can be quite symbolic of what you're talking about in circle.

00:01:39: Tessa Sanderson: So…

00:01:41: Tessa Sanderson: because you have usually a limited amount of time in circle, then I'll prepare templates, and I'll… so, these are felt dolls, and I'll cut out in different colours, so people have a choice of color.

00:01:54: Tessa Sanderson: And then I'll have some that are partly made and completely made to show people the whole process, and I might take lovely sparkly beads along, it depends on the group.

00:02:07: Tessa Sanderson: For the felt dolls, maybe wool for hair, so people get really creative. I remember it the last time when we did this, somebody started making clothes for the doll. They were quite a quick crafter, and they managed to do all sorts of things in that time. But yeah, you need to be able to show

00:02:25: Tessa Sanderson: a simple version, and then you can have some more complicated versions. So that's one thing that we've done.

00:02:33: Tessa Sanderson: Okay.

00:02:33: Julia Davis: Yeah, so on that, on that, I quite like the fact that you've said, That… You pre-prepare.

00:02:40: Julia Davis: So, sometimes you'll actually cut things out beforehand.

00:02:45: Julia Davis: So that people are ready to do the thing.

00:02:49: Julia Davis: And it fits in with the time. And also, the fact that you've got a finished product. I think that's a really important point to make.

00:02:58: Julia Davis: that if you're doing arts and crafts, showing people what the end result is going to be at the beginning, especially for someone like me, is really important. So, I like things to be easy. That was one of the most challenging for me.

00:03:14: Julia Davis: But I had a lot of fun, even though I probably got halfway through one side of a doll. I really enjoyed it. And…

00:03:23: Julia Davis: the fact that I could see what the end product was.

00:03:27: Julia Davis: some of the difficult stuff had been done for me, made it feel like it was a more manageable thing to do. And I could take it home as well to finish it off.

00:03:37: Julia Davis: If I wanted to, if I didn't finish it during the time, I could complete it at home afterwards.

00:03:44: Tessa Sanderson: Yeah, I would always advise that people, who are thinking of taking crafts into a circle test them out, so…

00:03:53: Tessa Sanderson: you know, you're making sure that you've got all the… all the bits and pieces, the needles in this case, the different threads, enough pairs of scissors. It's quite a practical thing to prepare, and maybe…

00:04:06: Tessa Sanderson: You know, you get a friend who's never done that particular thing before to have a go with you, so you can try and gauge how long it's going to take people.

00:04:15: Tessa Sanderson: In my women's circle one Christmas, I remember in the December circle, we made some hearts that, again, were felt, and we sewed them. And everybody managed to finish those and stuff them with some lavender and be able to hang them up on their Christmas tree. So, as you say.

00:04:32: Tessa Sanderson: It was a really nice thing that they could take away and then have this reminder of the circle going forwards. But I've also done things like,

00:04:40: Tessa Sanderson: I'm thinking of the mum and daughter circles now. We've done things like, have clay, air-drying clay that we've taken, and we had a sort of theme around,

00:04:52: Tessa Sanderson: femininity in that particular circle, and people went all over the place with it. Some people made bowls, some people made little figurines, you know, it was completely up to them what they wanted to do. We've made cards, sort of cut-out cards with collage underneath, which have been really pretty to take home.

00:05:11: Tessa Sanderson: So…

00:05:12: Tessa Sanderson: You can get lots of ideas on places like Pinterest, you know, maybe it comes up in your Facebook feed, or wherever you tend to hang out, and I tend to take a photo if I see something really cute on my screen and think, oh, I could do that later.

00:05:27: Tessa Sanderson: I've also done things that are connected to the theme, so with the girls' circles, making bracelets, where we've had beads to represent days of the cycle, so different coloured beads, and they can choose how long the bracelet is, so… because our cycles are different.

00:05:44: Tessa Sanderson: So you can be really creative with it, but there is already a lot of stuff out there that if you're not naturally

00:05:51: Tessa Sanderson: creative and coming up with ideas. You don't have to reinvent the wheel.

00:05:55: Julia Davis: Yeah. I mean, even though you've given me lots of ideas, and I've been at lots of your circles, I've made… you know, we can talk about the things that we've made together.

00:06:05: Julia Davis: I don't… want to… host craft myself, but that doesn't mean that my circles don't contain craft.

00:06:16: Julia Davis: So… In my women's circle, I know of…

00:06:21: Julia Davis: three women that have… I've spoken to about…

00:06:25: Julia Davis: doing craft in my circle. So, one was on a retreat with us, and we just really noticed how amazing she was at every little craft thing we did, she created something really, really beautiful. And she's shown me handmade birthday cards that she's made for her grandchildren, and all sorts of things that she's done.

00:06:45: Julia Davis: And I'm going to invite her to do something at the Women's Circle. But what I'm going to do first is

00:06:54: Julia Davis: have her send her ideas to me, spend a bit of time seeing whether it's something that I'm capable of doing, make sure that we've got all the content that we need, and that we'll time it right, and it's something that's easy enough for me to do while talking.

00:07:11: Julia Davis: So…

00:07:12: Julia Davis: Well, because she could do something that is really difficult, because she's got such a high level of ability herself.

00:07:20: Julia Davis: That she could make something that looks really easy for her, but I can't do at all. So I'm gonna make sure it's something that we can do. And then they've got another couple of people who've said they'd like to do things who aren't…

00:07:32: Julia Davis: brilliant arts and crafts people. And one said she'd love to make bracelets with beads, and that's… basically, that's…

00:07:40: Julia Davis: threading. So, so long as we remind those people who need glasses to bring them. I mean, that is something to say to people, is that, you know, we're going to be threading, so you probably need to wear glasses if you need them so you can see the beads. It's a really easy thing to do.

00:07:57: Julia Davis: And the other said she loved the idea of, using magazines, and just cutting out loads of magazines, but mine often go into recycling, so I'll need to invite a load of people. If you've got magazines and you don't throw them away, bring your magazines to the next women's circle.

00:08:16: Tessa Sanderson: Yeah, that's a really important point, is planning ahead, because you could spend a lot of money on materials, but often we can

00:08:25: Tessa Sanderson: Recycle things, or… cycle. So… Yeah, I've done…

00:08:32: Tessa Sanderson: collages with people, that can be such a creative way of… if you've got… perhaps you're exploring intentions in a circle, to have a more visual component, rather than…

00:08:43: Tessa Sanderson: journaling about it, or just talking about it.

00:08:48: Tessa Sanderson: But I think, I wanted to give you another example. So I've got a group coming up in a local community center, and it's drop-in. That's what the community center wants, so I don't know in advance

00:09:00: Tessa Sanderson: how many people are coming, or who they are. So that makes it a bit trickier to prepare, to make sure you've got enough things, and one person that I think is going to come, has said that she's neurodiverse, she finds crafts quite scary, because she's afraid of doing things wrong.

00:09:19: Tessa Sanderson: And so what I was planning is to have the main activity, but also, she said she's happy with mindful colouring, so I'll have that as an option. But also to say, you don't have to take part in the craft. You know, you might be…

00:09:33: Tessa Sanderson: very happy to be there with a hot drink, enjoying the conversation, and that's enough. It's like anything in a circle, it's always optional. It's like with talking, we don't say everybody has to talk.

00:09:46: Tessa Sanderson: It's if you want to, so it's an invitation to join in with the crafts. And I find most people, even if they're a bit unsure to begin with, when they see other people interested and enjoying it, and they'll say, well, let's… what have I got to lose? Let's have a go. So maybe having multiple options can be a good idea.

00:10:07: Tessa Sanderson: But yeah, making sure… obvious things, like, have you got enough felt-tip pens, or colouring pencils, if people are going to do it? Have they got somewhere to actually lean on? Not everybody might be comfortable sitting on the floor, leaning on the… on the.

00:10:20: Julia Davis: Yeah, that's one of the things I've been thinking about with my circle, because,

00:10:25: Julia Davis: I was very used to having everyone sit on bolsters, and…

00:10:30: Julia Davis: blocks and on the floor, and now, every circle, I always make sure there's chairs for everyone to sit on, because I know there's people who would much rather sit on a chair.

00:10:40: Julia Davis: And now I'm thinking with the arts and crafts, historically, I've always done the arts and crafts on the floor. We've kind of just all got down on the floor, and we've scribbled, or whatever we've needed to do.

00:10:52: Julia Davis: And this time, I'm like, actually, if people are on chairs, I might actually need to bring a table into the studio, so that people have got a decent surface to rest on. And what's that gonna look like, and where's that gonna go, and…

00:11:05: Julia Davis: Do I put my circle on one side, and then have a trestle table down the other side? I know you've got quite a big venue that you've used when I've been to circle with you in Caversham, where there's been plenty of space to have the circle, and then in one corner have an outside grass table.

00:11:23: Julia Davis: But, you know, we need to think about those kinds of things if we're bringing craft into a circle.

00:11:30: Tessa Sanderson: Yeah, and I also wanted to widen it out, because we're talking about craft here, but I know there are projects around the country, which have a focus on men, and it might be like a repair club. So you might take along things to repair, or there might be facilities to do carpentry, and

00:11:47: Tessa Sanderson: you're making things in that sense. So it doesn't always have to be… pretty things.

00:11:55: Julia Davis: I know.

00:11:55: Tessa Sanderson: And another option that I've seen is where you do work over a number of circles on the same piece. So there's a… an organization, when I spoke to one of the founders on a previous episode, it's called Becoming Mums, and they particularly work with mums to help support their mental health.

00:12:14: Tessa Sanderson: And they had a beautiful project where they were making a quilt over a number of weeks. So there was… it was spacious enough in the circle that if somebody didn't feel confident in sewing, that they could have some help with doing that.

00:12:28: Tessa Sanderson: And they created different patches that then were all sewn together into this beautiful, really large piece.

00:12:36: Tessa Sanderson: That…

00:12:37: Tessa Sanderson: You know, I think they all felt such a sense of achievement at the end of it, and they had a sort of opening, at a local art center where people could come and view the quilt, so…

00:12:48: Tessa Sanderson: they had this really tangible thing that they'd created together while they were busy talking about their lives and their experiences. And they had an artist, the people who run it,

00:13:00: Tessa Sanderson: I think they're both very creative in their own ways, but not particularly with crafts. Like, one does a lot with dance, and another one is a photographer.

00:13:07: Julia Davis: So they got an artist in to help.

00:13:11: Tessa Sanderson: facilitate that project. So, again, you don't have to do it yourself, you can liaise with other people, to make these amazing things happen.

00:13:21: Julia Davis: Yeah, that reminds me of, when I did my TEDx talk.

00:13:25: Julia Davis: There was somebody else who was doing one, and he was a woodcarver.

00:13:29: Julia Davis: And… He set up his wood carving workshop to help people Carl things in wood.

00:13:37: Julia Davis: That's why he set them up, because that's what they were planning to do, and what he found was that the benefit of

00:13:45: Julia Davis: The wood carving session was much more the connections that were made between the people who attended.

00:13:52: Julia Davis: And yes, it was brilliant that they all carved something, but actually what he took away from it was the relationships that were built between different generations, different types of people, parents and children, from

00:14:06: Julia Davis: sitting in a circle and learning a craft. And another circle, this was one that I saw on the news, actually, was a men's circle that was all around baking pies. So every time they met together, they would…

00:14:24: Julia Davis: Make and bake a different pie, and at the end of the circle, they would eat the pie together.

00:14:31: Julia Davis: And I just thought, oh, that's such a lovely idea.

00:14:35: Tessa Sanderson: I love that. I was just about to say, actually, you know, making food together is a wonderful thing.

00:14:41: Tessa Sanderson: So, for example, somebody was asking me whether I'd consider doing a circle around menopause, and we could make, sort of, healthy snacks and healthy treats that are helpful during the perimenopausal journey. So we could be making those while we're talking about

00:14:56: Tessa Sanderson: you know, what's happening. And I have something delicious to share at the end, so…

00:15:02: Julia Davis: Yeah. I was at a… I was running a Narrative 4 training on Wednesday.

00:15:08: Julia Davis: And, someone from India was at the training.

00:15:12: Julia Davis: And she told a story about food.

00:15:16: Julia Davis: And where she's from.

00:15:19: Julia Davis: at lunchtime, everyone would share food. That's their cultural way of being, is that everybody brings food to work for lunch, and then everyone would put their food on the table, and everyone would share it.

00:15:33: Julia Davis: And that's so… and she was so surprised to see the cultural difference of the UK, where people would come in with their lunchbox, eat their own food, and feel that they were almost stealing from someone else if they were taking food from them.

00:15:49: Julia Davis: And it… it just made me think that some cultures just naturally bring circle into their way of being.

00:15:56: Julia Davis: And… Our culture maybe needs…

00:16:00: Julia Davis: to create ways in which we can be a little bit more communal, because I thought, oh, wouldn't that have been lovely if…

00:16:08: Julia Davis: Everyone, when they start work, had the opportunity to get to know their colleagues, because you'd all bring sherry food in together, and put it all out on the table, and that was a natural way of being.

00:16:21: Tessa Sanderson: Yeah, I think that's a really good reason to bring in making food together, or crafts, that way of connecting people. And what I see, if a craft is maybe a little bit more complicated to do, what often happens is people who

00:16:36: Tessa Sanderson: are, you know, have more experience at doing, will help those that have less, and that can be a nice opportunity to… to share and make connections.

00:16:46: Julia Davis: Yeah, one of the things that I love, is there's, a practice that we've done a few times together, which is creating a mandala. And one of the things that I love about it is how easy it is, and how accessible it is to people who aren't crafty. So I know that when we're doing that.

00:17:06: Julia Davis: practice, I don't get stressed, I don't worry about whether I'm capable of doing it or not.

00:17:12: Julia Davis: I can follow the pattern, and I also don't have to go first. So, maybe you could explain a little bit more about what a mandala is, and how you prepare when we do… it's with the things that you can eat afterwards, and then we put it in a little pot, and then we can cook them. So, you tell… you tell the story.

00:17:32: Tessa Sanderson: Well, the idea came from Jane Bennett, who is the founder of Celebration Days for Girls.

00:17:41: Tessa Sanderson: So, I'll just say a part of it, rather than all of it. But, you have a cloth laid out, and it's divided into quadrants, and that's important, because

00:17:52: Tessa Sanderson: When you ask people to do a little design in each quadrant, it…

00:17:57: Tessa Sanderson: tends, not always, but it tends to be symmetrical, and it very quickly looks beautiful. Everyone is completely unique. So you can have a range of different things, so I often do it with beans, lentils, different colours, you can have rice, so you build up this beautiful picture. You can also do it with other things that you've found outside, like

00:18:18: Tessa Sanderson: acorns and fircones and flowers and leaves, so…

00:18:23: Tessa Sanderson: Shells, whatever you've got to hand.

00:18:27: Tessa Sanderson: But if you've got a larger group, it's really important that you say just two people at a time, because you don't want this lovely design to get knocked.

00:18:36: Tessa Sanderson: And so whatever design you create in one quadrant, you're going to repeat, so you have to actually physically go around the circle. And that's also nice, because you get into contact with other people, rather than just sitting in your one spot. And then once you've done a little design, you hand over, somebody else comes in, and slowly, this picture emerges.

00:18:57: Tessa Sanderson: So, it's… it's really lovely for keeping people busy with their hands, they're looking at what they're doing, but they can still very much listen, they can talk, and it's very good if you're…

00:19:10: Tessa Sanderson: Talking about something that might be a bit sensitive or a bit taboo, where if you were eyeballing somebody and, kind of, they were having to look directly at you, they might feel awkward, but because they're busy, you can…

00:19:23: Tessa Sanderson: talk about… things, and it's more easily digested, I think.

00:19:28: Julia Davis: Have you got a favourite craft that you can remember?

00:19:33: Julia Davis: Being part of, or running yourself?

00:19:39: Tessa Sanderson: One that I always enjoy doing… the last time I did it was with a group of mum and teens, and there was a little bit of, sort of, menstrual cycle awareness in the workshop, but it was mainly around self-care and having time to, kind of, just hang out with your mum.

00:19:56: Tessa Sanderson: And we did, little sachets, either to go in your bath, if you like baths, or to go in a foot bath. And I took in different herbs and oats, and I had little labels describing what the qualities of those things are.

00:20:13: Tessa Sanderson: And then some muslin to hold it all together, and some really pretty ribbon.

00:20:17: Tessa Sanderson: And so, they were making up these little sachets that they could then put in and,

00:20:24: Tessa Sanderson: I think there were rose petals, and…

00:20:28: Tessa Sanderson: There was something definitely that when you put it in the water, would make this really beautiful pink color. I can't remember what it was. But they… they loved it. They were very happy scooping away and putting different combinations, different amounts of the different herbs and oats.

00:20:43: Tessa Sanderson: So…

00:20:45: Tessa Sanderson: Yeah, that was such a simple thing to do, that everybody could join in, but it gave an opportunity to talk about how we can look after ourselves through the whole month, and…

00:20:58: Tessa Sanderson: Yeah, I could see them going home and then being able to use that and remember the time that they'd had with their mum, so…

00:21:07: Julia Davis: Oh, that's gorgeous. And if you were… if someone was…

00:21:11: Julia Davis: concerned, I think, I'd love to do arts and crafts, but I'm really not sure whether I'm brave enough to. What would you say to them?

00:21:21: Tessa Sanderson: I think… Find something that you enjoy doing.

00:21:26: Tessa Sanderson: The…

00:21:29: Tessa Sanderson: Yeah, you can try and see that actually you personally get enjoyment from it, because then it's easier when you try to share it with other people.

00:21:39: Tessa Sanderson: And…

00:21:41: Tessa Sanderson: You know, if you're really stuck for ideas, maybe see if there's somebody where you live that does do some crafting, that you could go and…

00:21:48: Tessa Sanderson: try some things out. It doesn't have to be something you do immediately, it might be something that you want to incorporate down the line in your circle. But I think it's a great idea, Julia, what you were saying about inviting somebody else in who has that passion, so it becomes a collaboration.

00:22:07: Julia Davis: Yeah, we haven't done… well, we haven't done any crafting at all in the last year and a half in our circle. We've done journaling and all sorts of other things, but we haven't done crafting, and now I've got 3 people lined up. I probably won't do it one month after the other.

00:22:21: Julia Davis: But I'm just slowly, like, you know, there's the person who wants to do the collage, there's the person who wants to do beading, there's the person who wants to do things involving cutting up different pieces of paper, and I think now I'm gonna go to them.

00:22:34: Julia Davis: individually, and see whether I can spend an hour with them each, so that I can learn how to do what they've got planned.

00:22:44: Julia Davis: And then that'll make it easier when we actually come together as a group, rather than have them turn up at the women's circle to do this thing that I haven't experienced yet. That seems like a really sensible next step. I actually hadn't thought about… I don't know why I hadn't thought about it, but it's a really logical thing to do.

00:23:02: Julia Davis: to practice beforehand. And the other thing that you've made me think about is,

00:23:07: Julia Davis: when I was at school, every year we used to do something called the Dorcas Blanket. I've got no idea why it was called Dorcas, I can look it up. And, every child in school made a square, a knitted square, and then we would sew the squares together, and it would go to some charity.

00:23:27: Julia Davis: And that… I mean, a square of knitting is totally doable, and if you…

00:23:34: Julia Davis: connect them all together, you make a blanket. So that's potentially something that could be done…

00:23:39: Julia Davis: In the women's circle.

00:23:42: Tessa Sanderson: Yeah.

00:23:42: Julia Davis: So, I'm not quite sure what we'd do with the blanket, but we could give it to somebody afterwards, or just have it as the women's circle's blanket. But, you know, that's quite a doable thing, and I… I love knitting as a… as a practice. There are quite a few knitting circles, I think.

00:23:57: Julia Davis: Around the country. So that's another option.

00:24:02: Tessa Sanderson: Something that's coming to mind, though, is just to be aware of the cost, because some crafts can be quite expensive. I was thinking of the bracelets. By the time you've bought the beads and the wire, and maybe you need, you know.

00:24:16: Tessa Sanderson: maybe you don't have any pliers at home to cut the wire, so you have to buy pliers. It can start to add up, so another thing I'd recommend is… is really go with something simple. I love the idea of the magazines and creating a collage, because

00:24:29: Tessa Sanderson: You can ask in your circle, keep hold of magazines, bring them on this particular date, so you're minimizing the cost.

00:24:37: Tessa Sanderson: So…

00:24:38: Tessa Sanderson: Yes, every so often in the circle I'm doing at the community center, I probably will do a slightly more expensive one, like bringing the clay in.

00:24:47: Tessa Sanderson: But generally, thinking of low-cost things that then people can also do at home, if they really enjoyed the…

00:24:53: Tessa Sanderson: the session.

00:24:55: Julia Davis: Yeah, get everyone to bring a, some flour and some something. I mean, it's actually amazing how…

00:25:02: Julia Davis: You can do cooking with very, very basic, simple ingredients, like 3 ingredients, and it isn't expensive to do.

00:25:12: Julia Davis: So I remember making, I think it was flatbread once, and I was amazed at, like, there were, like, 3 ingredients, and it was really easy. So it's like, how easy can you make it?

00:25:21: Julia Davis: as well.

00:25:23: Tessa Sanderson: And also, the other practical thing is to think about reminding people. If they are to bring something in.

00:25:30: Tessa Sanderson: remind them repeatedly, because sometimes in Circle, we've asked people to bring in, say, a photo of them as their younger self for something that we want to talk about.

00:25:41: Tessa Sanderson: So there'll be a reminder in the joining instructions, and yeah, as many reminders as possible, because somebody, you know, will be very busy, and at the last minute rush out the house and have not thought about it. So, I always…

00:25:58: Tessa Sanderson: Excuse me.

00:25:59: Tessa Sanderson: I always bring spares of things as well, so if I'm asking people to bring flowers or pebbles, I'll always have quite a few spares, so that if somebody's forgotten, they're not going to be left out. They'll still be able to join in.

00:26:13: Julia Davis: Yeah, that sounds like a very sensible thing to do.

00:26:16: Julia Davis: So, we would love to hear from you. If you use arts and crafts in your circles, do let us know, and let us know what you do. Maybe we've mentioned something that you do in your circle already, or maybe you're shouting at the

00:26:30: Julia Davis: podcast, what about this? And we've left it out completely, and we would love to hear from you if that's you. And you run a circle that is around an arts and craft, and we haven't mentioned it.

00:26:41: Julia Davis: So, thank you so much for joining us today, and we look forward to hearing your stories of using craft in Circle.

00:26:49: Tessa Sanderson: Yeah, I encourage you to be brave.