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Give your heart…

After last month’s postcard project, a good friend approached me to create another postcard as a culmination of their community project in Wolverhampton.

A5 Thank you postcards…

Residents of a couple of streets in Wolverhampton were invited to add a heart to a frame set out in the street, to say “thank you” to everyone who’s work and contribution has been helping people through the pandemic. Despite lousy weather, a love-filled selection was collected from neighbours.

I have to say what makes this project is the wonderful hearts that people have created by people in he community, and given, to say thank you.

I have always struggled with the cultural concept of our ‘hearts’. Our culture flippantly uses the heart symbol daily, and the heart can have a saccharine sentimental significance.

But the notion of our hearts being ‘the core of us’, is a definition that holds true with me. We cannot deny that we have ‘a core’, an essence. That thing that brings a tear, a chill, a smile. We do have hearts.

The A5 cards I’ve designed using photos of the gifted hearts, will be sent out to local schools, shops, GPs, care homes and the like to say ‘thank you’.

The cards read: “Thank you to everyone keeping us healthy, safe, supplied, connected, educated and cared for. To say thank you for all you have done and are doing to help us through this pandemic. We made these hearts for you.”

This project was created and organised by Rachel Parkinson, as part of a wider initiative by the Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury District of the Methodist Church, encouraging people to bless their communities around Valentine’s Day. You can see more about this project here: God is With Us: Valentines Project

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Spring back

Last spring (2020) I took a lot of photos of nature in our garden and on walks. So we thought we’d celebrate this spring by sending a quick printed* message to some friends – A celebration of spring and all that this time of year freely gives us. #print*

Forget-me-nots from out garden being tended by the gardeners’ friend Mrs L. Bird.

Alongside the sickness that the media have relayed recently, I’m reminded of John Steinbeck’s words ‘a sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ’.  Thankfully positive energy is contagious also!

Infused with metaphor, folk tales, and traditions our springtime is full of energy. Whether it’s Creme Eggs, cake, and daffs on the window sill, or seasonal TV drama, religious reflection, and recollections of a horrific old rugged cross, it’s a season full of spirit; new things, awakenings, warmth, light and yes revitalisation.

Hopefully our springtime allows us to reconnect. We can feel the warmth of the light coming through the kitchen window, and see verdant velvet buds shooting from the grey-brown dormancy of a passing winter.  You can really feel it. There’s an energy, some might say spirit, that brightens the shadows and eases the strains. A new realisation of our humanity, our breath, our connection.

There ARE flowers everywhere, for those that want to see them. Happy springtime.

In 1947 Henri Matisse published ‘Jazz’, which included the words ‘… Il y a des fleurs partout pour qui veut bien les voir.’  This has been popularly translated as ‘Happy are those who sing with all their heart, in the forthrightness of their heart. Find joy in the sky, in the trees, in the flowers. There are always flowers for those who want to see them.’ A more literal translation ‘…there are flowers everywhere…’.

*If I can help you realise an effective creative print project, just send me a message. #print #julesprichards

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Remember me…

I was asked to create an Easter card for a local Methodist Church Circuit and thought others may like similar.

Below is the A5 card I created that Borders Methodist Circuit will be using to share Easter greetings and resources with their friends.

A5 Greetings Card – Easter 2021 ©julesprichards

I have also created a generic A6 postcard. If you’d like some for your organisation just let me know.

A6 postcard – Easter 2021 ©julesprichards
Easter 2021 ©julesprichards

I can arrange delivery of A6 (148x105mm) postcards using the above design.

Printed in colour on both sides, on special 300gsm TruCard; coated on the outside and uncoated the reverse so it’s easy to write on. Price includes delivery to one UK address.

50 A6 Postcards £32
100 A6 Postcards £37
200 A6 Postcards £47
300 A6 Postcards £58
400 A6 Postcards £67

If you’re interested in this or similar just send me a message: Jules P Richards

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January February

Argh!!!!!!!!!* I woke up this morning with a Boyzone song in my head!? “No matter what they tell us…“ What!? Where did that come from? I don’t even know who Boyzone are!
Sensing an intoxicating earworm, after six words, my wife said “No! Stop!”… it was too late we were both infected.

Alas here’s another one for you. This post has nothing to do with Babs Dickson but it’s titled January February which, if you are of a certain age, is probably enough to trigger another earworm…
You’re welcome.

As you know I create images, it’s what I do. Recent morning exercise before work has seen me passing the local allotments at sunrise. and this quick post is just to share two of the unplanned encounters.

January and February at the local allotments:

As I have mentioned before, I often find the vibrancy and intensity of the world around me so strong I have to stop and acknowledge it… Stop. Pause… breathe… to quote Ezra Bayda “What happens when we slow down and pay attention?  Everything! Innumerable delights are right at hand.” 

*how many exclamation marks are appropriate?

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Educational printables

Over the years, I have created a lot of educational tools, initially in the form of the handy bookmark.

But, there’s still a place for the poster on the wall, the reference in the hand, and the printed resource.

“…print is superior, particularly for learning…”

So I thought I’d share some more of the work I’ve produced before here. 

Matters and Measures A4 PDF for printing
Initially created to help with my kids homework – download the A4 sheet here

Multiplication Grid A4 for printing
and a handy ‘Multiplication Grid’ resource –  Two on an A4 sheet here, or Six on an A4 sheet here – print on card and laminate?

Fractions and Percentages
Find out more about and download a printable A4 PDF of the Fractions bookmarks here.

Simply here for you if you want it. Just say thanks if you find it useful, or send a message if you want something developed.

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Peater Butnut Cookies

We like to mix it up a bit.

Covid, kids, broken doors, antibiotics, chalazion, wall papering! argh!…
I had to take my mind of things for a bit…

There’s been a jar of peanut butter in our kitchen for months, and it’s usually only me that eats it. But for some reason even I’ve gone off peanut butter sandwiches!

So, as I say, I needed a distraction – hence Peanut Butter Cookies.

The easiest! Four ingredients, 15 mins.

  • about 200g or peanut butter
  • about 200g of caster sugar
  • about 100g of breakfast oats 
  • 1 egg*

*incidentally, I can recommend the double-yokers from Sunrise Farm Seagrave!

  1. Heat oven to 180C.
  2. Mix the peanut butter, sugar, oats, and egg until smooth.
  3. Place balls on a baking tray – I used an ice-cream scoop.
  4. Flatten each ball a tad.
  5. Bake for about 12 minutes, until just starting look brown*.
  6. Cool on a baking tray.

Don’t over cook them or they will be hard when cooled. If you take out when just turning brown, they should remain chewy on the inside.

Enjoy!

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Seafood Linguine

This is so simple it’s silly. We tried this a few months ago – trying to vary from the lock down staples. It’s become a regular favourite for me and the boss, though the kids are still at an “ick, fish” stage.

You do really need to be a chilli fan but do it to your liking. Again, it’s so simple – initially you think basic/bland – but, if you get the mix just right it’s delightful and filling.

  • Enough pasta for two: we use linguine.
  • olive oil
  • Lazy garlic, or finely chopped fresh if you have it
  • Lazy chilli, or finely chopped fresh if you have it
  • 200ml dry white wine
  • cherry toms whole
  • white fish like cod, and cooked large prawns or anything you fancy.
  • parsley if you have it.
  • A lemon

Pasta: A pasta of your choice – make your own if you can, it’s so much more tasty – there’s some nice ones if you just look above the basic pasta, and I think it’s worth having a nice one. For this dish try a nice linguine. (Digression: I do keep looking for Orzo, not tried it yet, but once we’re out of lock down I intend to track it down)

  • 1. Chilli, Garlic and White Wine
  • 2. Reduce and add Toms.
  • 3. Add white fish and cook.
  • 4. Add cooked prawns
  • 5. Add cooked pasta
  • Cook you pasta accordingly…
  • While the pasta’s cooking, in a large pan heat up a dash of olive oil and add lazy garlic and chilli (you decide quantity!) and heat for no more than 1 minute – just until it starts to colour. Then pour add the white wine, and bubble until it’s reduced by half.
  • Once reduced by half, add the cherry tomatoes and heat for cook for 2 mins. We like keeping cherry toms whole, as when you eat them they are really juicy – boom!
  • Then add your white fish and cook for ~2 mins – Your white fish should break up in a few mins. Use the pan lid to retain heat and moisture if needed.
  • When fish is breaking up, add your drained cooked pasta to the fish and toms – you may want a bit of pasta water if you’ve over reduced the mixture too much. Also add your precooked prawns (things like precooked prawns just need to warm through, not too long or they’ll be chewy)
  • Mix it well, and serve with parsley and a good squeeze of lemon.

Again, it’s so simple, but if you get the mix right it’s delightful and a small amount can be filling.

Other recipes: Recipes

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Signs of hope, love, and… resilience?

Still seeking signs of hope, love, and… (perhaps the word of the year) resilience?

It’s a difficult time – for some it’s almost impossible, for others it’s unimaginable, for many it’s just cancellations, restrictions, and extreme limitations… life on pause?

However, the recent newsletter from the kids’ school was packed with great ideas, enthusiasm and vibrant activity! Lots of people are doing a great job! Relaying that to the teenagers is another matter, but there’s a lot of work being done and positive energy being shared by many people at this difficult time.

I recently pondered ideas for a ‘print project’ touching on Spring/Easter/Lent and the coming festival time of year. By ‘print project‘ I mean a printed visual design, that can be shared with others to engage thoughts and feelings; a tactile card that can be placed on the fridge, mantelpiece, desktop… it’s what I do.

What’s so important, valuable or helpful about the coming Spring/Easter/Lent festival/tradition? Daffodils, bunnies, eggs, and traditional rituals… humm…?

As might be expected, talking about ‘hope’ recently, the Arch Bish of Cantaloop suggested ‘resurrection’. Within the horrors of our world, after death and emptiness, eventually we return to life. He suggested that signs of that eternal life is to be found all around us; shared and passed on given away by people every day. With this hope comes an energy to be and do things better. Though real, awful and debilitating “grief and death lies to us, and says there is no future…”, but a spirit of good resides…

In response to cancellations, restrictions, and extreme limitations, a good friend of mine said recently “Hope and Grace explode through time and space…”

Back to the a possible word of the year: resilience…

The dictionary says of the noun resilience, meaning ‘the act of rebounding’, from the Latin ‘resilire’, ‘to recoil or rebound’, ‘to jump again’ to ‘spring’. First recorded in the 1600s, the usage and meaning of the word has evolved, to describe being resistant or not susceptible to something. So it infers strength. The dictionary defines the word as “the ability to quickly become healthy, happy or strong again after an illness, disappointment or other problem. Or, something able to return to its original shape after being bent, stretched or pressed.” However not always a return. At the Stockholm Resilience Center, Director Lisen Schultz describes resilience as “a capacity to persist, adapt or transform in the face of change.” To adapt, transform and spring forward.

I wonder if the idea of ‘strength’ is unhelpful. An integral strength in humanity… perhaps not a ‘strength’, but an integral ‘spirit’ which is so much more than ‘strength’, that enables us to rebound. Yes, ‘spirit’ is a controversial term, so an integral ‘breath’ in humanity that enables movement. We breathe, we sigh, we shout, we cry out, we moan, we sing, we laugh, we talk – with an ongoing integral breath. Whether we feel strong or not, beyond culture, beyond language, beyond our understanding, we have an integral resilience.

So what does Spring/Easter/Lent look like in the light of lockdown, death, limitation and disease?

I hope that alongside impossible, unimaginable, cancellations, restrictions, and extreme limitations… we are able to breathe and find a recoil, a rebound, an unfurling, an opening-up where Hope and Grace might explode, and jump again!

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Five mindful mins…

‘Five Mindful Minutes’ bookmarks… #printables

Here’s a reminder of the bookmark design I revamped last year.

The bookmarks were originally created to be left in public places like airports, railway stations, waiting rooms etc.  They can be given out, or made available, where people might benefit from ‘taking time out’ of their busy lives.

These new down-loadable bookmarks are now designed so that it can be easily printed at home on your desk-top home printer.

They are designed without bleed, so you can simply print on A4 paper (or preferably card), and then cut it into five bookmarks.

These new bookmarks read:

  • Sit down comfortably, feet flat on the floor.
  • For one minute, just be still: Deep breath in… slow exhale… Relax your muscles, calm your breathing… listen…
  • For one minute, remember something you are grateful for. Say thank you for it, and know that gratitude is good.
  • For one minute, remember something you regret. Say sorry for it, and know that you are forgiven.
  • For one minute, think of some good things you would like for another person. Be hopeful for that person.
  • For one minute, think of some good things you would like for yourself. Ask how will this help you?…and listen for an answer.
  • For a bonus minute, pause again, and be still… Deep breath in… slow exhale… Relax your muscles, calm your breathing… …try a smile.

 

Feel free to download the #printable PDF from here: Downloadable PDF ‘five mindful minutes’

If you need them changed for your purpose – logos added etc. just get in touch.

I can also arrange bookmarks to be printed professionally in larger quantities if required. Just contact me…

I first produced a ‘God-based’ version of this back in 2014, you can see this here.

If you’re interested in these or perhaps something similar – just get in touch…

 

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A covenant…

An agreement between people to do or not do something specific.

I’m currently reading ‘Logging Off’ by Nick Spalding, where midlife man ‘Andy’ starts a sixty-day digital detox. Andy sort of makes a covenant with himself to do stuff differently. It’s amusing, I’ll let you know if it’s life changing.

But, it’s the subject of renewing a Covenant, that Methodist people entertain once a year, usually in January.

I recently produced some postcards for the Borders Circuit of the Meth Church, an idea from Rev. Pete Taylor.

The postcards show a reminder of the traditional Methodist Covenant Prayer on one side and a revised newer version on t’other.

If you can make use of some, I’d be happy to edit the artwork with your details/logo etc and supply a cost effective print quote. Or I could send you the artwork if you’d like to print them yourself. Just send me a message.