Meet the Maker – Good News from Bad

For Bibi from Good News From Bad, craft is a form of therapy. When everyday activities are a struggle, making something with her hands helps distract and soothe. Hearing positive feedback from happy customers also brings meaning to long days of not being able to leave the flat and keeps her connected to the outside world. Bibi spoke to fellow maker Sejal Patel from Sejal Ceramics about the link between craft and wellbeing, and how by spinning yarn from old newspapers, she is able to turn bad news stories into something good.

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My craft is a therapeutic thing that helps distract and soothe. But more than that it allows me to connect with others by passing on my pieces to them and hearing back from them when they have loved them. That is a beautiful thing and brings meaning to often quite long days of not being able to leave the flat or do very much.

Helloo, Bibi it’s so lovely to be interviewing you! So, how did Good News From Bad first come about?
Good News From Bad first came about in 2010. I had become too unwell with long-term mental health and physical health issues and was struggling to do very much with my days. I was doing little bits of knitting and crafting as I found it therapeutic, but didn’t really have funds available for buying lots of craft supplies. Every Thursday a free local newspaper would drop through our letterbox and, for some reason – my memory is a little vague about why I ended up doing this – I decided to see whether you could roll newspaper into yarn. When I discovered this was possible, I thought very briefly that I had invented something new! A quick internet search revealed there is a long history of using paper for making yarn and that you can buy machine-spun paper yarn! Obviously paper yarn is not new, but it is still uncommon. I briefly experimented with using spindles but decided that using just my hands was the best way for me to get the fine texture I wanted.

The more I played with newspaper, the more I liked the symbolism of using bad news stories to make beautiful things that become part of other people’s new stories. We think of a newspaper as black and white but, actually, it’s full of colour, which also relates to the way news stories are often presented in black-and-white terms, with the complexities and nuances of the stories hidden away. I also liked the idea of using materials that would otherwise be recycled, and I loved the idea of commemorating special occasions with newspaper from specific days and using words cut out of the paper as part of the art.

The more I played with newspaper, the more I liked the symbolism of using bad news stories to make beautiful things that become part of other people’s new stories.

When did you first think of selling your craft?
My Folksy shop has grown along with my crafting from the very beginning. I started off making knitted recycled wool brooches but needed to sell them so I didn’t end up drowning in brooches! Later as the newspaper yarn idea developed, I started selling newspaper yarn cards and small newspaper yarn art pieces online too. Most recently I have also done some drawing and mindful photography card designs too. But my main focus is the newspaper. I just like the material, the simplicity of it, the process needed to create the yarn.

I like to try to create things that bring a little bit of light.

Is this something you do full time?
I carried on my Folksy shop part-time when I became employed again in 2011 but sadly since 2014 I have become too unwell to work again. At the moment ‘full time’ is not really a concept that makes much sense for me, as I am again in a period where I am very much concentrating on recovery and building up activity. Most everyday tasks are a big struggle and I spend a lot of time recovering from what little activity I do manage. Crafting doesn’t take up a massive amount of my time at the moment and is something I can pick up and do a little of while resting or feeling stressed out. It’s very therapeutic for my mental health, though the process can also sometimes make some of my chronic pain worse, so pacing (which I am not always good at) is very important. Creating things that other people enjoy makes it very much worthwhile though. I love hearing back from customers!

Every Thursday a free local newspaper would drop through our letterbox and I decided to see whether you could roll newspaper into yarn. When I discovered this was possible, I thought very briefly that I had invented something new!

I’ve never come across any pieces like yours before! I love the wedding heart you’ve done which is intertwined. Can you tell us a little bit about the process of making?
Thank you! The process does take some time but can be stopped at any stage and left for another day – the kind of craft you need when you struggle with fatigue, pain and mental health issues. I start by crumpling and softening the paper. I then cut strips of paper and twist them between my fingers and roll into yarn. Each strip can be ‘rolled’ into the next to form a ball of yarn. This means that you can use it to knit with it, so long as you have made it as strong as possible. For most of my pieces I glue the yarn to card to create shapes, not unlike quilling. The heart you mention is knitted from yarn, which can be quite tricky to do! I’ve often thought the process is quite a lot like therapy and recovery in mental health, with the need to soften and create safety before attempting to reframe and work through old stories to weave them into the life you are trying to build for yourself. You can’t change what’s written in the paper, but you can create more things than you would think from that paper. The process is also slow, tedious and hard at times but the results well worthwhile.

Because of my obsession with rainbows I started trying to find enough of each colour to create a rainbow, and now searching through newspapers for specific colours has become a part of my craft. I never add colours to the paper, all the colour you see was already in the paper. It means quite a bit more work as the colours you want are spread throughout the paper and you need to search them out and then try to get enough strips to make yarn with. It isn’t always possible to get a rainbow out of any given newspaper, sadly!

Because of my obsession with rainbows I started trying to find enough of each colour to create a rainbow, and now searching through newspapers for specific colours has become a part of my craft.

How long does it take to complete a piece made from your hand-spun newspaper yarn?
It’s very hard to answer as I work in stages, creating yarn in bits and pieces over many weeks and then using that for crafting. I guess creating yarn from a fresh sheet of newspaper would probably take me an hour or two if I did it all in one go. Then there is locating words or specific colours and creating the design itself. Once the yarn is done, the cards can be made fairly quickly – most of the time and work is in making the yarn and the design process.

I think my favourite pieces are the commissions. I have made a castle, a deer head, a Doctor Who inspired piece, a couple of giraffes and so many more, each with their own story.

Which pieces are your favourite to make and why?
I think my favourite pieces are the commissions. I never know what someone is going to ask for or what occasion people will want to commemorate. I have mainly done pieces for weddings, anniversaries and births but sometimes I’ve done a piece to remember the loss of a loved one or something sad. I often get anxious that what I make will not be what the customer has in mind but so far all have received great feedback. I feel like people put a lot of trust in your hands (literally!) to create something special with their story and I feel honoured by that. It also means I get stretched a little when I’m asked to make things I might never have ventured to try to make, left to my own devices. I have made a castle, a deer head, a Doctor Who inspired piece, a couple of giraffes and so many more, each with their own story.

What does your craft mean to you?
At this time, my craft is a therapeutic thing that helps distract and soothe. But more than that it allows me to connect with others by passing on my pieces to them and hearing back from them when they have loved them. That is a beautiful thing and brings meaning to often quite long days of not being able to leave the flat or do very much. It’s a way of feeling connected to other people as much as something I do hidden away in my flat!

I’ve often thought the process of spinning the newspaper yarn is quite a lot like therapy and recovery in mental health, with the need to soften and create safety before attempting to reframe and work through old stories to weave them into the life you are trying to build for yourself.

What or who is your biggest inspiration when it comes to making?
I don’t know if I can single out a particular person or thing as inspiration. I take in a lot of nature and science-related as well as mental health related stuff and follow a wide variety of other crafters and artists on social media. I also have a mindfulness practice. I think these things all sort of mix together and form little crystals of ideas in your mind. I am very much inspired by my own therapy, mindfulness and self-compassion journey, so I guess some of the credit goes to my mindfulness teachers and therapists! I know what it feels like to receive something special that gives you a little joy or a little light when you are in a dark place, so I like to try to create things that seem to me like they would do the same: create a little bit of light.

Sometimes I find mindfulness practice a difficult thing to do. Photography provides a little helping hand to single out tiny moments of beauty or interest or appreciation in the present.

Your mindful photography photos are beautiful! How important is photography to you on a personal level?
Thank you! Photography is extremely important to me. Sometimes I find mindfulness practice a difficult thing to do. Photography provides a little helping hand to single out tiny moments of beauty or interest or appreciation in the present. The days I have appreciated my camera the most have been the days I have been unable to leave my home but have spent some time in my garden photographing dandelions or taking photos of squirrels and birds through my windows.

What do you have planned next for Good News From Bad?
Last year I made my first art pieces for exhibition, one included newspaper components around a drawing and another was made entirely from my prescription medications leaflets that I’d spun into yarn. I would like to explore making more art pieces this year. I have no hard and fast plans for 2018 except to experiment a bit more! Hopefully something exciting will emerge from that.