Emma Cammack

Places going fast for Crafting Life - our three part event for the 2026 Cambridge Festival. Join us at Old Divinity School on 19 March from 5pm for a creative exploration of reproduction and women’s health. eventbrite.co.uk/e/198184511709… #CamFest #SciArt

@Cam_Repro Really looking forward to viewing all the pieces together.

What are you seeing? A taster of some of the extraordinary art pieces created as part of the SciArt project. 19 March @ Old Divinity School Booking required: eventbrite.co.uk/e/198184511709… 21 March @ Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology No booking required, drop in all day

Snow didn’t stop us today 🥶 @CotelheleHouse was absolutely fabulous. Mum got a bit emosh 😆 The flowers for the garland are grown, dried on the estate. 60’ long, 35,000 flowers used, 10 days to create by 20 volunteers. Isn’t it fabulous. More to follow 🤣💖

@silverpebble More trips needed!! Maybe Ely next?

Good things from today: 🌿went on a first trip out with a new friend. Been seriously reclusive for 3 years due to terrible mental health so this is progress 👍🏼 🪶went on a gorgeous walk with the new friend, found some very lovely acorns & made friends with a small frog 🍰had a small very delicious meal out by myself-more progress with the reclusiveness 🍅peeped at some properly beautiful tomatoes. This gratitude practice malarkey may sound all Pollyanna-ish but really does work on rough days…focussing on the good things rewires the brain & stops it focussing/ruminating on the scary difficult stuff 🪶

@silverpebble He has been sat stroking them like they are a Bond Villain’s cat.

@emmacammack How were those increds feathers received? x

Seeking out small beautiful things, especially in nature, is akin to gratitude practice with the positive effect it has on anxiety & mood. Some small beautiful things from the last few days, in case you’re scrolling & feeling low or stressed🌿:

@silverpebble She definitely sounds like a keeper!! And TARDIGRADES!!! Did you name him?

Here's a good thing I'm holding on to for dear life (the narrative arc of this tweet starts horribly but bear with it): In December ('24) my therapist started to behave in a way that made me unwell. She then questioned my autism diagnosis-said it wasn't valid ( I was diagnosed by a professor who'd been doing exactly that for decades). I had to end my connection with her. Change can be beyond difficult for those with autism & ADHD & as I was already really struggling this contributed to me having a full breakdown-she was my main source of mental health support. *BUT* I have a new therapist who is herself autistic & has ADHD. She's helping me face things eg. my divorce admin of dreadful doom. I managed 45 mins of said doom admin yesterday (bona fide miracle) & she emailed me a TARDIGRADE in celebration. A tardigrade, because they're extraordinary miniscule hoover bags. If you find folk who understand your wiring it can help you feel like maybe you are a valuable human and, in my case, feel like maybe you *should* stick around...

@silverpebble Hello from the long drive home. Keeping eyes peeled from the car for the blood moon.

@emmacammack Hello you xx

My collection of sea/river pottery👇🏼. When we look at an image we find interesting or lovely our brains release dopamine, lifting mood. To get EXTRA dopamine from my photo tho, look for (from easiest->tricky): dried larkspur, an acorn, a cherub, a lotus flower motif 🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷

@Feisty_Waters @silverpebble I love this so much, I have made Christmas tree decorations with much of my Grandma’s button collection as they get to be celebrated, but this is such a fab idea!!

@silverpebble Making my button dress in 2020 was similarly soothing and exciting, especially because a variety of people had shared buttons from their mothers and grandmothers and so it felt like so many of the buttons had a story.

I’ve been struggling to keep going due to severe PMDD, burnout, depression & anxiety in the past 6 weeks but have been trying to hold on to small good things. These are hand-carved Victorian & Edwardian mother of pearl buttons, some so tiny they would have been used for baby clothes (tip of pencil bottom right for scale). Like ink bottles they’re small beautiful pieces of social history. Arranging & sorting them gave my brain some precious dopamine. Hope they do the same for your brain if it’s anxious or low rn:

@silverpebble Wow these are exquisite! Amazing that things so small and so every day were carved by hand 😍

Zoom in to the details…it’s the imperfections, evidence of the hand carving skills of individuals from up to 180 years ago making objects that were used to fasten intricately sewn blouses & tiny handmade garments that makes these objects so moving & beautiful:

@silverpebble Lets do some painting soon. Not for the gram, just to enjoy it

When we create something & especially if we lose track of time while doing so, the levels of 3 brain biochemicals shift significantly, alleviating anxiety, lifting mood & conferring a gentle natural high. I filmed myself painting these before the pandemic👇🏼. Haven’t painted in years due to mental illness but my brain needs this…

@silverpebble Oh my goodness, my favourite flower!! Utterly gorgeous

Tens of thousands of cornflowers in a field in Wicken. Research shows that the sight of them will help you recover from sources of stress more quickly & boost dopamine release in your brain, lifting your mood…in case you need it just now:

@silverpebble And that was just the skirt!

@emmacammack 💯🍄🍄‍🟫🍄💯

Been busy making costumes for my bodypainting demonstration at Fantasy Forest. This is my Dryad, complete with fungi covered root skirt. I may have got a tad carried away with fashioning tiny mushrooms @silverpebble used some of the silver clay moulds I made on your class.

Happy 1st August or Lammas. Seedheads are now coming into their own and there are so many stunners. Wild carrot, honesty, poppies, cardoons…. What’s not to love?!

The gorgeous raven Keefe is a young rescue bird who suffered brain damage so will live put her life with the rescue. If you want to support her and her disability friends then visit flockwithhelen.com

Created this ghost of Katherine Parr costume from curtains for Fantasy Forest at Sudeley Castle where she is buried. Keefe the rescue raven kept us company.

@silverpebble Yes they are, as you can see I got a wee bit carried away…

@emmacammack Are these the little mushrooms you were talking about? x

@silverpebble Same, looking forward to catch up next week. Hopefully you will be fully rested!!

@emmacammack SO excited to create things with you…..🌿

Subtle little collar, something for the weekend…

@silverpebble What a treat! Utterly beautiful.

@emmacammack Emma it was medicinal for my brain-so so beautiful. A pretty longish drive so my brain’s tired today but a really special place. Here, have a red kite…

Spent the last 3 days in the truly beautiful Upper Gilwern Quarry shepherd’s hut with younger daughter. There’s a tiny private quarry containing tens of thousands of pieces of an Ordovician (510-430 million yr old) sea floor. We found TRILOBITES, immensely cute ancient marine cousins of woodlice-daughter (17) wants to be a geologist & is completely obsessed (as am I). The *most* beautiful fossils we’ve ever found, by far. This place is incredible… uppergilwernquarryhut.co.uk