Handmade Journals with Ali Manning

Prefer to listen? (Click here to have this email read aloud.) Hi Reader, This week’s newsletter is coming to you while Ali is very deliberately not at her desk. 🤭 After two years without a proper vacation, she and Andy have finally escaped for a little time away... starting with a quick stop in Lisbon, then heading to southern Spain to meet up with Andy’s mum. Which feels like a pretty good reminder that sometimes the most useful thing you can do for your creativity is go somewhere else...

Prefer to listen? (Click here to have this email read aloud.) Hi Reader, Do you remember that back in August I told you how nervous I was about teaching in person for the first time since the pandemic? Well, I survived, and it was an incredible experience! Not only was I pushing myself outside my comfort zone, but so were several students who had never made a book before.There were 20 students: some from the Handmade Book Club, a few I had met at previous retreats, and some complete...

Prefer to listen? (Click here to have this email read aloud.) Hi Reader, I’m sitting outside a local café, writing this newsletter, surrounded by what Christine Valters Paintner would call “the extravagant gifts of nature.” The hickories glow yellow, the air is cool, and I feel the sun on my back. And I can’t help noticing the orange maple against the cloudless blue sky—it doesn’t get much better than this. {I’m also hearing the extravagant sounds of leaf blowers, but I’ll try to ignore...

Prefer to listen? (Click here to have this email read aloud.) Hi Reader, I’m so glad to be back. It feels like I’ve been away for a long time, but it’s only been a couple of weeks. Andy and I had a great time in Spain with Andy’s mum.But I have to tell you—I fell in love with our first stop, Lisbon.I can sum it up in two words: pastries and patterns.While the delectable pastries satisfied my sweet tooth, the city itself was a feast for the eyes: the black-and-white mosaic pavements, tiled...

Prefer to listen? (Click here to have this email read aloud.) Hi Reader, One of the hazards of being a creative person is that one little “I’ll just try this” can escalate rather quickly. Lately, our customer support extraordinaire, Abby, has fallen hard for needlepoint. And you know how that goes. One minute you’re just trying a few stitches, and the next you’re visiting your sister in another state and making sure there’s an embroidery shop on the itinerary. 😁 Meanwhile, everything else you...

Prefer to listen? (Click here to have this email read aloud.) Hi Reader, We have lost some beloved artists in the past few weeks, including one of my favorite poets, Wendell Berry. I wandered through the pages of a collection of his poems on my shelf and came across this one that I had dog-eared. I want to share it with you today as a reminder that a flourishing life is not necessarily an unharmed life and that our scars become part of our beauty. New on the Blog Want your handmade books to...

Prefer to listen? (Click here to have this email read aloud.) Hi Reader, I feel like the universe is trying to keep me accountable. During my sabbatical, I dreamed up ideas and made plans, but the real takeaway from that time was a desire to slow down. I pledged to slow down not just by taking time off, but by reducing the pace of my days and being more mindful of how I fill them. I realized that I talk fast, eat fast, make fast, write fast, and 99% of the time, there’s no reason for the rush...

Prefer to listen? (Click here to have this email read aloud.) Hi Reader, There’s something special about the objects we choose to keep. A scrap of paper. An old photograph. A ticket stub. A bit of fabric. On their own, they may not seem like much. But gathered together, they can hold a surprising amount of memory. That idea came up again and again during the Handmade Book Club's recent Artist Spotlight with Jane Chipp. Jane shared how she uses found objects and fragments to tell stories......

Prefer to listen? (Click here to have this email read aloud.) Hi Reader, I’m back from my 6-week break, and I have so many interesting ideas and insights to share with you; I really don’t know where to begin. So, I’ll begin by just telling you how I did and didn’t fill my time. I didn’t set any goals or give myself an assignment for this time; I just allowed it to unfold organically. And what unfolded was reading, writing, rest, and play.I read poems, fiction, and short stories, books about...