Wild Seasons Kent

28/11/2025

Today Mandy and I set up our trees at Ospringe Church’s Christmas Tree Festival - what a lovely, jolly morning!

This festival always heralds the start of Advent for us. It’s beautiful, bonkers, and comes with seriously good home-baked tea and cake.

Mandy brought along the beautiful tree her Junior Herbalist Club cohort created, while mine is orange slices glowing with fairy lights, paper stars folded from my great aunt’s music books (she played the organ at Faversham parish church - feels right reusing them here), pomanders, and all compostable natural decorations.

Plus “Sasquatch” & Mandy’s mums “feed the birds” trees…all 4 happily nestle together

The festival is open Saturday 29th November 10am-4pm (with live carols by Vicky from 1:30) and Sunday 30th November 12-4pm.

And our Pomanders & Natural Christmas Decorations Workshop is on Friday 12th December, 4-5.30pm at Ospringe Church - link in bio or email [email protected]

25/11/2025

Friday 12th 4pm.
Come get festive and creative with Mandy and Vanessa - suitable for all abilities 😍 it’s our favourite workshop & this time of year…with a few extras!

Pomander & Natural Christmas Decorations - An Evening of Seasonal Making with Wild Seasons Kent

03/11/2025

November Making: Press Autumn Leaves

On your next walk, pick up a few fallen leaves - the ones that still hold their colour.

Tuck them between the pages of a heavy book with some baking parchment if you're protecting the pages.

Leave them for a couple of weeks.

You'll have perfectly pressed leaves - beautiful just as they are, or ready to become cards, bookmarks, whatever feels right. Or if you're like me, you'll forget about them and find them unexpectedly one day, remembering this time, this walk, this November light.

Simple making. Quiet pleasure

25/10/2025

Late autumn light through Ospringe Church’s medieval windows, lavender rubbings finding their way into French fold zines, Mandy sharing herbal knowledge while we all slowed down and made something beautiful.

Creating together in a space that’s held 800 years of stories.

Connection through creativity, calm through making. 💚

Trina for the beautiful selfie!

25/10/2025

Curiosity sparked…yesterday morning’s children’s Plant Potion & Creativity workshop was everything we hoped for - foraged leaves & bark in the churchyard, frottaged textures, made zines,hapazomed lavender bags & created a clay talisman to take home, plus Mandy’s delicious colour-changing lavender lemonade.

Thank you to all our wonderful young makers! 💚🪾🧪🍂

21/10/2025

Press pause on life’s demands this Friday afternoon 🌿

Step into a space of botanical creativity, gentle making, and connection.

Our Lavender workshop is designed for busy people ready to restore themselves.

2 hours of wandering, gathering, creating - leaving with handmade treasures and a sense of calm you didn’t know you needed.

This Friday 24th October | 2-4pm | £40
Ospringe Church, Kent

🎟️ Book via link in bio or search Wild Seasons Kent on Eventbrite

21/10/2025

Plant Potions and Creativity

Children’s Workshop (Ages 7–12)

Children under 10 must be accompanied

Join us for a joyful, hands-on workshop designed to spark curiosity and creativity.

This Friday
24th October 2025
10.30am–12.30pm
Ospringe Church, Kent
£20
Mandy Rickard &
Vanessa Claridge
What to bring:
Comfortable clothes &
your sense of wonder!

17/10/2025

07/10/2025

24th October 2-4pm - our first workshop collaboration together - and it’s going to be relaxed and creative set in the beautiful Ospringe church Faversham.

Craving calm? Our seasonal workshops blend botanical wisdom with gentle creativity. Reconnect through mindful making and herbal rituals.

We can’t wait to see you
Mandy and Vanessa x

AR Herbal
V.O. Claridge



https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wild-seasons-kent-lavender-connection-creative-calm-tickets-1742264442849?sg=774844ef19452a8588d7c15d4f2bc946a713a94c73af1f9a9ba3f72b20e7ac7bd612b532ef0a735c109289fda77f2707b30c66520245ff14c80675711ffa5d1645a1b5c6421118a7363f4ef59c&aff=ebdsshios

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/plant-potions-creativity-childrens-workshop-ages-712-tickets-1742895470269?sg=774844ef19452a8588d7c15d4f2bc946a713a94c73af1f9a9ba3f72b20e7ac7bd612b532ef0a735c109289fda77f2707b30c66520245ff14c80675711ffa5d1645a1b5c6421118a7363f4ef59c&aff=ebdsshios

07/10/2025

I’m Vanessa Claridge V.O. Claridge and I’ve spent years wandering the wild edges of Kent with my spaniel, collecting stories from places where water meets land and wild meets cultivated.

My art grows from these marshland adventures - turning found bark into ink, wild berries into paint, fleeting moments into installations, textiles, and performances. But my real love is bringing people together through creativity. As an artist, I believe the best art happens when we slow down, get our hands dirty, and discover what the natural world has to teach us.

That’s how Wild Seasons Kent began. Together with my dear friend Mandy Rickard - a brilliant herbalist I’ve known for over 30 years - we create seasonal workshops that invite you to pause, breathe, and explore the creative magic hiding in every season.

Come make, share, and reconnect with us.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

www.vanessaclaridge.co.uk

02/10/2025

# 🌿✨ Wild Seasons Kent: Lavender, Connection & Creative Calm ✨🌿

**Join us for our very first workshop—a lavender-infused afternoon of calm, creativity and connection**

Craving calm? Our seasonal workshops blend botanical wisdom with gentle creativity. Reconnect through mindful making & herbal rituals.

# # What We’ll Create Together:

🌸 **Botanical Zines** - Wander, gather, and create beautiful nature-inspired art

💜 **Hapa Zome Fabrics** - Print fabrics from nature using this joyful technique

🛏️ **Scented Lavender Sleep Bags** - Take home your own calming creation

🎨 **Clay Keepsakes** - Craft seasonal treasures inspired by nature

**Where:** St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Ospringe
Water Lane, Ospringe, ME13 8XS

**When:** 24 Oct at 14:00

**Duration:** 2 hours

**Cost:** £40.00 per person

**Type:** In-person event

**About Your Facilitators:**

Mandy () and Vanessa () — friends since teens, now both in our 50s and still walking, foraging, making, and sharing adventures together. After 34 years of fireside chats, sea swims, creative play, and wild walks, we’re bringing our love of nature and handmade ritual into a new collaboration: Wild Seasons Kent.

📅 **Book early to secure your spot!**

🔗 **Link in bio**

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