23 Jun 2016

Sweet Paul - a Pretty Lovely Mag!

There has been a quiet revolution out there in the lifestyle press, led by a 50-year-old Norwegian-born gentleman named Paul 'Sweet Paul' Lowe who lives and works in New York City as a food and craft stylist, and looks like a bearded teddy bear 'chasing the sweet things in life' - and yes this might as well include honey and hives of habitation...




Welcome to the world of Sweet Paul, a digital and print magazine that is creatively revisiting lifestyle, and where - refreshingly - normality is the new luxury. There is an honest, authentic love for the home in Sweet Paul's approach that has been honed and crafted over the last six years, with a consistent attention to detail and an eye for beauty in the everyday. There is a thoughtful art direction to the modern home with enough nostalgia and countrified hands-on approach in the homemade and handmade that makes us want to cosy up on our sofa with the mag like a family member to soak up some inspiration, before cracking on with the new projects!

DIY Rubber Stamp

Sweet Paul's honesty verges on humility in its approach to recipes, entertaining, DIY, kids or pets that truly makes this magazine an inclusive family-focused, family-friendly publication that involves everyone in. It celebrates the lifestyle without the drama, the lifestyle that lives in or near the city or further afield, and yet the city's noise is pared down of its hustle and bustle.

Glitter Acorns
Angel Chocolate Easter Eggs

Family gatherings and other joyful celebrations of life are given centrestage. Everyone is truly invited here, in a rare balancing act! There is no poncey editorial tone, no political message, no megalomaniac overpaid chefs dishing out impossible recipes, no pretentious interior designers talking down to us readers; no intimidating displays of lavishness or brash. Everything is at its place. Everything is paced, measured, tasteful and tasty! Sweet Paul gently nudges us to bring in elegance into the every day, in a sweet and pretty lovely way! Sweetness has never tasted so good!

Lunch Bowl with Cauliflower, Avocado and Eggs

Sources: The publishing adventure of Sweet Paul quarterly magazine kicked off in Spring 2010. If you are a late starter, Sweet Paul's got it all covered for you! Thus do rest assured that you won't be missing out as all of Sweet Paul's back copies are still available to purchase here. And why look back when you can look forward? Purchase an annual print subscription of Sweet Paul magazine (4 issues) via this link or a digital PDF subscription via Gumroad. Meanwhile (1) Sweet Paul's latest edition, Issue 25/ Summer 2016 is available to read online, via Issuu, the digital magazine platform. (2) DIY Rubber Stamp by Sweet Paul. (3-4) There is Sweet Paul inspiration for every season and holiday under the sun: (3) Glitter Acorns for Christmas and (4) Angel Chocolate Easter Eggs. (5) A quick bite with some bite: Lunch Bowl with Cauliflower, Avocado and Eggs by Sweet Paul. (6) The print version of the latest magazine issue may be purchased here for a cool $18.00 and the PDF version via Gumroad for a sweet $2.99. It's your call, folks! And for that extra generous dollop of sweetness, you have 280+ pages of it in a book, as Sweet Paul Eat and Make: Charming Recipes and Kitchen Crafts You Will Love! We just can't get enough!

6 Jun 2016

The Garden Beckons

A garden is Man's vanity project, a reinterpretation of nature for our own comfort: growing the edible and cultivating the eye-pleasing. It is an extension of the home, a solace, a place where we unwind and kids play safely. A space where we surrender our thoughts; we let our mind wander and there it takes us down its wondrous pathways... There is the private garden and the public garden, and off the charts is the secret garden, a personal host to the unkempt thoughts and the ordered ones, the wise desires and the wilder ones.

A vegetable and fruit garden is a practical way of attending the land and yields crop to our labouring hand. The practical garden certainly was so for our elders living in rural communities and to which land had to be productive, not stand idle. What else is a garden? A garden is a place of observation - an observatory of sorts - where the little seed we planted rewardingly comes to be, and the pruned shrub has been lent a hand so it shall draw the vigour that will make it strong and prosper. A garden is a testimony for oneself and others. There is nothing more satisfying than to be the custodian of a plant or shrub or tree that an elder lovingly put into soil and nurtured, for future generations to enjoy and care for in turn. For I do believe strongly that there is a little of us that lives on with each plant that we commit ourselves to.




Sources: (1) Where to start? Garden inspiration might nudge you down the local flower shop, or it could just be a walk in the countryside or a spot of sunshine... The Little Potting Shed of Tarporley, Cheshire, is the little sister of The Potting Shed of Alderley Edge, an exclusive leafy Cheshire town south of Manchester. (2) There is a lot of action going on in horticulturist, writer and BBC presenter Alys Fowler's garden and its size (20ft. x 16ft.) debunks the assumption that one shall need ample space in order to grow a wide variety of plants. Alys's compact garden is a punch to the senses; it is packed-full with colours, textures, aromas and edible plants! Her facetious Jack Russell Terrier Isabelle lends a hand, oops a paw! Photography via Pinterest and believed to originate from BBC. (3-5) Britain has some of the most inviting nurseries/ garden centres in the world, replete with oodles of style and Venusian charm, an effortless romantic inclination, and an attention to detail and presentation. This craftsmanship comes together as a living Liberty pattern (or other favourite British florals) or a canvas to a poem, that distill your experience as quintessentially British! And wait a minute! Those nurseries also cater for the palate (oh, the plump freshly-baked Victoria sponge cakes!), and the home in equal measures of style. Petersham Nurseries, Richmond, Surrey is one example of that very British quintessence. (6) Wispy Verbascum like this one pictured by Norwegian lifestyle blog Roser og Patina will be noticed in the cottage garden and stand its own amidst lupins, foxgloves and delphinium. (7) Digitalis purpurea, Foxgloves, Ibid. (8) What came first, chicken or the egg? No worries, a hen is always the bearer of good news: fresh eggs! And it gives the garden and the owner a little company, and a country feel. Hens are friendly, social and curious. Photography by Ali Harper in Georgia, USA, to illustrate the Dandelion Greens and Pepper Omelet recipe designed for Kinfolk magazine. (9) Flowering right now in the wild, on the shaded roadsides of northern Corsica, the elegant and statuesque Bear's Breeches (Acanthus spinosus) can also be grown from a packet, from an online place like Crocus. (10) Pink Sunday Sage (Salvia horminum), a heritage seed by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Co. (pictured below).



Further Inspiration: Find out more fascinating facts about Alys Fowler's life, from BBC Countryfile. Also catch an episode or two of her BBC TV series, The Edible Garden, from Archive.org. Alys's eponymous book, The Edible Garden may be purchased from Barnes & Noble.

'If I had a magic wand, I’d like to see what would happen if we’d never had the Enclosures Acts and still had small-scale subsistence farmers, where the land was not owned by the few but by the majority. It would be interesting to watch how that played out and whether our lack of understanding about food and where it comes from has partly been caused by the fact we have capitalised the countryside for the benefit of a few individuals.' - Alys Fowler interviewed by BBC Countryfile

P.S: More garden inspiration from Mirabelle, Mirabelle's Secret Gardens, and La Baguette Magique!
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