Subscription offer - FREE Beefayre Wild Fig tea lights, lip balm and greeting card (expired)

Take out a subscription to The Simple Things today - pay just £11 every three issues, save 26%, and you'll get these lovely free gifts!

These glass tea light candles are scented with sweet, earthy fresh figs, with top notes of grape and vanilla, part of Beefayre’s new Autumn/Winter range. You’ll also receive a lip balm and greeting card with a design inspired by nature and a packet of seeds inside. Beefayre’s homeware, fragrance, beauty products and gifts are made from the finest natural ingredients, inspired by nature and the plight of the honeybee. The people at Beefayre are passionate about British wildlife and conservation – they put 3% of their profits back into bee and bug conservation. For more of their beautiful things see beefayre.com.

Please quote BEES15 or enter code online to receive your gift*. Very limited stocks, so don’t hang around!

To see all our offers for UK and overseas subscribers visit:

WWW.ICEBERGPRESS.CO.UK/SUBSCRIBE

(or call 020 7415 7238 – we are a small team so at busy times we may be an answerphone – leave us a message and we’ll call you back)

*Terms and conditions: Closing date Wednesday 30 September 2015 or until stocks last. Allow three weeks after the offer has closed for delivery. Saving compared with buying 12 full-priced issues from the UK newsstand. This offer is for new print subscribers only, check online for overseas prices. You will receive 12 issues in a year. Prices correct at point of print and are subject to change. For full terms and conditions, please visit: icebergpress.co.uk/tandc

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Reader events

Simple pleasures - the joy of a long hot soak

Enter our competitions

September's The Simple Things is on sale today - buy, download or subscribe now.

Event: Thornback & Peel screen printing workshop (closed)

Want to get into print? Come and learn screen printing at a special workshop hosted by Thornback & Peel at their London shop. You'll print your own mixed box of Christmas-themed hankies.

If you’ve ever fancied giving screen printing a go, here’s your chance. The people at Thornback & Peel are offering the chance to print your own mixed box of festive hankies, at a special workshop evening.

You can take your efforts home, so you’ll be ahead of the game when it comes to getting organised for Christmas. It’s an intimate event with just 12 places, so hurry to book yours.

About Thornback & Peel

Thornback & Peel was established in 2007 by Juliet Thornback and Delia Peel (Delia’s home is featured on the previous pages). They celebrate the quirkiness of British humour and design by borrowing imagery and combining modernist geometric patterns with 19th-century wood engravings. Their work is inspired by an eclectic mix of Victoriana, Mrs Beeton’s household management, Mr McGregor’s garden, 17th-century microscope imagery of the natural world, and Norfolk and Devon.

The Simple Things screen printing workshop

All equipment will be provided, just bring your enthusiasm. Enjoy a glass of fizz to get you into the festive mood, then pop on a pinny ready to screen print your very own Christmas- themed hankies.

Date: Thursday 12 November 2015, 6.30–8.30pm
Location: Thornback & Peel shop, 7 Rugby Street, London WC1N 3QT
Price: £25 per person
To book: Contact Emma on emma@thornbackandpeel.co.uk
Find out more thornbackandpeel.co.uk 

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Enter our competitions

Another reader event

Ready for Christmas?!

September's The Simple Things is on sale today - buy, download or subscribe now.

Carefree: August cover reveal

Open one eye. The sun streams through the curtains. And, sigh of contentment, it’s another lazy, hazy day of summer. Pop on a kaftan or a cool Hawaiian shirt and pack the picnic hamper. Seek out water – ocean, river, lake or lido – and let your cares slip away. Sip fresh lemonade or bright juices. Soon it will be time for an afternoon nap or to seek shade, time to learn the lingo or read a poem. Shall we come back every year? Enjoying The Simple Things, it’s what summer is for. 

August's The Simple Things is on sale today - buy, download or subscribe now.

Meet the bloggers: Lottie from Oyster & Pearl

In the May issue we introduced you to four bloggers on The Simple Things team. In the second of a series of guest posts, Lottie Storey, Digital Editor and author of Oyster & Pearl, shares a blog post describing her first Airbnb experience.

Travelling may be one of life’s greatest pleasures, but feeling like a traveller? Not so much. Standing on an unfamiliar street, squinting at a map, the realisation it might be time to croak out a few words of GCSE-learned language to ask a passerby for help. These are the things that make me cringe a little. I’d much rather appear effortlessly native. Who wouldn’t?

Last month, when in the capital for Blogtacular, the Mollie Makes Handmade Awards, a Team Simple Things planning meeting, and a rather exciting craft workshop (more to come on those!), we chose not to stay in a hotel. Although there are many wonderful hotels in London - more than 700 at the last count - we were staying for a long weekend and it felt like the right time to pop our Airbnb cherry.

Airbnb is an absolutely brilliant idea. Seriously. Over a million properties all across the world are up on the site allowing you to stay in a real home rather than a hotel, wherever you may be visiting. The place we chose was a boho cottage in Bloomsbury owned by Ben (I’m a sucker for alliteration; it was fate). As you can see from these pictures, it’s about as far removed from a sterile hotel as you can get.

My parents are big fans of house swaps, meaning we travelled a lot as kids and stayed in countless real homes. The thought of sleeping in someone else’s bed is not so Goldilocks to me. Just to make us feel extra welcome, Ben was there to hand over the keys, show us round his abode, give directions and recommendations for local cafes and restaurants, and he’d even stocked up the kitchen for us with basics like bread and milk (and a bottle of wine - definitely a basic in my book). After he left, we got a bit giddy exploring this delightfully decorated little cottage.

The ground floor - an open-plan kitchen/diner and living room - was comfy and cosy, books covered most walls and a turntable and stack of vinyl was left out for us to peruse. The sofa and armchair were large and squidgy, various knick knacks adorned the mantelpiece. But the most fascinating thing for me was Ben’s collection of art. Classic oil paintings were hung alongside music memorabilia and pop art prints. I loved his style.

Upstairs, the bedroom felt grand, with its heavy mustard velvet curtains, antique furniture, and doors through to the adjoining dressing room (which also has a pull down bed to allow the cottage to sleep four). A stack of old suitcases were stuffed on top of the chinois wardrobe, a dressmaker’s dummy wore a bowler hat, and a beautifully painted screen made me want to have packed an impractical nightdress and fluffy mules. Elsewhere, two tiny bathrooms were cleverly fitted into otherwise unusable spaces - up in the eaves and under the stairs.

And the neighbourhood? Well, if I were to move to London, all things being equal I’d pick Bloomsbury. The cottage was a few minutes from Kings Cross and Russell Square stations, but an easy walk from Oxford Street, Soho, or Tottenham Court Road. On the night we arrived we headed round the corner to a pub that served amazing tapas, and further down the road was a Waitrose and many other lovely shops and caffs. After the tapas, we went for a stroll to see what we could see, and stumbled on the Foundling Museum. I’ve always wanted to visit this London institution. It tells the story of the parents who left children they weren’t able to take care of, along with a trinket by which they hoped to identify them when they returned. Sadly, we didn’t manage to visit this time but I hope to go back.

By the end of the weekend we were exhausted but didn’t want to leave. The little cottage had begun to feel like home. Without an inflexible checkout time, we were able to pack at our own pace, which removed some of the stress of travelling back to Bristol. But not the sadness. Airbnb is such a reassuringly easy way to travel. I can feel plans brewing already… Here’s to adventures ahead!

You can find details of the boho Bloomsbury cottage here. This property worked out at about £195 per night for two adults. If you are new to Airbnb then you can sign up here and you will get £16 off your first booking.

Read the rest of our Meet the bloggers series.

Meet the bloggers: Louise from Buttercup Days

In the May issue we introduced you to four bloggers on The Simple Things team. In the first of a series of guest posts, Louise Gorrod, Wishlist Editor and author of Buttercup Days, shares a blog post outlining her party planning for daughter Lily's tenth birthday party.

On Tuesday of this week Lily turned 10. A whole decade. To celebrate reaching double-figures I laid on an after-school afternoon tea for her and six close friends. It was relaxed, fun and I hope memorable. Celebrating such moments in life is time well spent in my book.

So I set to work making tiny cheese & cucumber rolls, filling pretty striped paper cups with chipsticks, baking sausage rolls and filling cocktail sized vol au vents. Then there were mini strawberry & cream meringues, individual coconut & cherry loaf cakes, mini chocolate cakes, mini orange & almond cakes and paper cups filled with lemon cupcake popcorn, berries and chocolate discs and to top it all off a 'fox' birthday cake.

It's the decorations and tableware that also make a gathering an occasion and, in this case, turn one of the most special days of the year into one of the prettiest. All the decorations and tableware in this shoot are from My Little Day, a French online boutique that sell all the kit required to host the most beautiful children's birthday parties. From bunting, confetti-filled balloons and tassel garlands to paper plates, cups, straws and napkins in contemporary patterns. I even made party bags using the paper bags and mini paper rosettes  - they were the icing on the cake.

Journey: July cover reveal

Let’s take a journey together. Where the lavender hums with bees and we can gather seashells. Where there is street food for the soul; empanadas, sweet drinks from Persia and fruity Caribbean barbecue. We’ll learn to dive and play croquet properly. We’ll jump on a bike or take a bus, packing a good read for the open road. Then we’ll head home to eat cake and pod peas. Because journeys can be big or small, real or of the mind. They are about the moment, about The Simple Things.

July's The Simple Things is on sale today - buy, download or subscribe now.

Magical: June cover reveal

The night is young, the stars are old. Tell us a story, gathered around the fire, with the scent of the night garden all around. Will it be a fairy tale, folklore or a bedtime story? An observation from nature, perhaps. Or we could just talk till dawn and watch the midsummer sun rise over a meadow. The day stretches ahead, full of possibilities; Wimbledon and strawberries, cake and lollies. Summer is sure to make you smile. Summer means there’s always time for The Simple Things.

June's The Simple Things is out today - buy, download or subscribe now.

Life in colour: FREE colouring card download

Grown-up colouring is having something of a moment; colouring books for adults are currently rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mary Berry in the bestseller charts and this month, The School of Life and the Tate launch a range of eight grown-up colouring posters. Colouring is an absorbing activity that forces you to focus – an alternative to mind-numbing flicking from electronic screen to screen.

Download our free design now, and ready those pencils, felt-tips and crayons. And – you know what? – we really don’t mind if you go over the lines.

Share your coloured-in design with us via Twitter or Instagram – use the hashtag #simplecolouring and we’ll show-and-tell our favourites. And in the next issue you can see how some talented designer-maker types did it, as we feature their designs.

Want more colouring cards?

Buy June's issue of The Simple Things and get a set of colouring cards free.

 

READER OFFER

Mindful colouring needs mindful pencils. Those nice people at The School of Life are offering readers 20% off their ‘The Psychology of Colour’ pencil set (usually £18). Along with musical notes and the letters of the alphabet, colours provide the building blocks of our emotions. An accompanying booklet reveals your inner qualities through colour preference (red: adventurous, witty, a little heartless?) and each pencil is stamped with a defining characteristic (Violet: ambiguity; Light blue: clarity). You get the gist. Use the code ‘SIMPLE’ at www.theschooloflife.com/shop 

Offer closes 24 June.

If you get the colouring-in bug you can buy The Mindfulness Colouring Book (pictured left, Boxtree, £7.99). 

June's The Simple Things is available from all good newsagents, supermarkets and our official online store. Sold out? Download it from Apple Newsstand or subscribe now.

New app for Apple Newsstand

At last we have a new Apple app!

‘The Simple Things – Taking Time to Live Well’ is available to download here

We’ve got a very nice special offer to new subscribers:  If you take out a year’s subscription to The Simple Things Magazine digital edition through Apple newsstand between 29 April and 25 May, you’ll receive 12 back issues (May 2014 to April 2015) FREE on 26 May. 

A year’s subscription costs £44.99, saving 26%. 

Already a subscriber? Our old app is now closed, however you can continue to enjoy the magazine through our new app. And as a thank you for staying with us, we’re giving you the special offer of 12 back issues for free too!

Full details of how you can get a refund for any remaining issues on your subscription are posted on your existing app. Note that you will still be able to read any issue of The Simple Things that you have already downloaded on the old app. However, if you change devices or delete the app then you may not be able to access it again.

Grow: May cover reveal

New shoots abound. Not just in the garden and the forest but in our daily lives. Enjoy a leafy brunch with friends and let the wisdom of others inspire you to grow tall and strong. It's a time to plan your weekend over a morning cuppa, then pull on your wellies and be outdoors. Fling open the French windows, peg the washing on the line and head off to find a wild garden. There are tomatoes to grow, cow parsley to gather and tents to pitch. Life's good when you remember The Simple Things.

May's The Simple Things is out today - buy, download or subscribe now.

WANT TO INTERN AT ICEBERG PRESS?

Iceberg Press, home of The Simple Things, is a new independent publishing company that does things differently (read more here).

There’s an opportunity for someone to intern with us as a Publishing & Editorial Assistant. For now it is a jack-of-all-trades role with a huge learning curve. As we grow, we want to you to grow with us. We can promise you will learn a lot.

The internship is full-time for an initial six-month period and based in our office in central London. It includes handling reader enquiries, managing our subscription database, dealing with magazine orders and payments, organising renewal campaigns, general office admin, and helping to deliver our digital editions. 

Interested? You’ll need to be organised and good at managing your time; a self-starter and problem-solver who is technically competent and meticulous; a friendly communicator who can help our readers with queries and information; a creative thinker and curious researcher who is active on social media and interested in digital marketing. And most of all you’ll need to have a real feel for The Simple Things and what it stands for.

We’ll pay you a salary (it’s not huge though) but we are a fun company and you’ll learn about the business of running a magazine, have the chance to widen and sharpen your editorial skillset and get the satisfaction of being a key part of a much loved, beautiful, useful, quirky and fun magazine. We’ll even give you your own desk and Mac!

If this sounds like a role you could enjoy, then drop us an email with your cv and tell us why. We want the right person to join us as soon as they can, so get in touch before the end of April.

We're looking forwards to hearing from you.

Subscription offer - FREE Seasalt socks - offer expired!

Take out a subscription to The Simple Things and pay just £11 every three issues. Save £26 and get these Seasalt Floral Feet socks (worth £23), inspired by Cornish gardens, free when you take out a subscription to The Simple Things.

Very limited stocks, so don’t hang around! 

Seasalt’s Floral Feet socks are made with bamboo, are beautifully soft and breathable and will keep your feet warm in winter  and cool in summer. In two colourful floral styles, these Floral Feet socks come as a  set of three in their own pretty gift box,  which can also be kept to look after all  your keepsakes and jewellery.

Seasalt is a family business based in Cornwall with studios looking across Falmouth Bay to St Anthony’s lighthouse, a daily inspiration to the team to design garments that represent the locality. With ranges of homeware, womenswear, accessories and Seasalt Rain® outerwear, Seasalt is famous for its quality, unique textile prints and nautical stripes.

Please quote SEAOFFERBL15 or enter code online to receive your gift*.

To see all our offers for UK and overseas subscribers visit:

www.icebergpress.co.uk/subscribe (or call 01342 859002 – we are a small team so at busy times we may be an answerphone –  leave us a message and we’ll call you back)

*Terms and conditions: Offer open until 4 May 2015. Saving compared with buying 12 full-priced issues from the UK newsstand. This offer is for new UK print subscribers only, check online for overseas prices. Socks will be sent by Royal Mail. Seasalt Floral Feet Socks are available in the following colours: Assorted Boom and Assorted Ditsy. Colour selection will be made at random. Stocks are limited and will be distributed on a first come first served basis. No alternatives, cash or otherwise, are available. You will receive 12 issues in a year. Prices correct at point of print and are subject to change. For full terms and conditions, please visit www.icebergpress.co.uk/tandc.

Curious: April cover reveal

The circus has come to town. Let the show begin! Top of the bill is Easter: bake a pie and rabbit  biscuits. Put on a record, hang the Alice in Wonderland bunting and throw a tea party. For the grand finale, take a walk, be curious. There are primroses, and is that a bird of prey high in the sky? Feel the sun on your face, play cards around a campfire and potter peacefully in your shed. That's slow business. That's The Simple Things.

April's The Simple Things is out today - buy, download or subscribe now.

A thank you...

To all our digital edition subscribers.

A very big thank you for your patience during the change of ownership of The Simple Things.

We have been as frustrated as you with the complications and delays in publishing The Simple Things as Iceberg Press on the various digital platforms.

We are getting there but, ironically, it turns out to be a slow business setting up new apps in the fast-moving digital world of Google and Apple.

The good news is that our March issue is now available on Apple, Zinio, Press Reader and Amazon newsstands – see the links below. The exception is Google, which is still testing our app, we will post again as soon as it is available.

Apple users should note that our new app should be ready for when we publish April issue later this month. We will post instructions of how to make the switch on this blog, on social media, on the old app and via push notifications.

Thanks again for sticking with us – as a new indie company we really appreciate your support.

If you need to contact us about your digital edition please email subscriptions@icebergpress.co.uk

LINKS FOR DIGITAL SUBS

Apple

Zinio

Press Reader

NEW Amazon edition for Kindles! You can buy single issues or subscribe here.

Fresh: March cover reveal

It’s spring. Time to blow away the cobwebs with fresh air and new thinking. Feast on fresh fish Japanese style and taste sea salt as it melts on your tongue. More daylight says bring daffodils into the house and get out on a boat trip. Or sink into a big old armchair and learn about libraries, cameras and Cape Town. And look, here’s the tea trolley, piled with iced buns for mum. Spring clean your mind, think afresh. Think The Simple Things. 

March's The Simple Things is out today - buy, download or subscribe now.