one of my fave things I've done this year... meet The Spirited Stitch Workshop Women

One of my very favorite things I have done this year is photograph the SPIRITED STITCH workshop of  Elizabeth Duke & Nicolisa West 
 
 
-- featured in the Where Women Create issue  
celebrating Mindful Studios -- a must read!

My work for Where Women Create varies... but the best part is being a storyteller...being able to step into something and see that what's going on needs to be celebrated widely for its beauty, its gifts to those that partake, and it's inspiration quotient!

These women are inspiring, creative and utterly genuine... I was so grateful to connect with them...

You can read more about them in the current issue...but here are some of my fave chunks of the article...and lots of the captures that did not make the pages

Elizabeth Duke and Nicolisa West of Fairfield, CT will tell you that it was destiny that brought them together when they connected years ago at Nicolisa’s mindfulness meditation session at “Terrain,” her then workplace. It was instant karma for these creative women! A blending of kindred spirits, weaving and connecting in a way that would allow them to form a friendship and then to work together through their Spirited Stitch workshop retreats.  

Nicolisa, a Registered Nurse, and Elizabeth, a long time sewing teacher, make a powerful team, sharing their uniquely matched creative talents to inspire other women to make art as part of their wellness journey. 

We both love how mindfulness, meditation and slow stitching are so portable: you can take them wherever you go!  We often tell our students about the book by Jon Kabat Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are, and how it supports this belief. 

It’s our hope that through the sharing of our talents and skills, we can create stillness and inspiration for other women. We want women to feel inspired and confident to continue their creative and wellness journeys on their own, wherever they are, stitch by stich, breath by breath.

Elizabeth:  While much of my work has been published in trade magazines and has placed in national competitions in garment making and wearable art, it’s the things I stitch for pleasure that hold the joy of all my years of teaching and reflection.

Nicolisa: I want women to Pause.  A Pause can help ease the mind, bring clarity and lead to inspiration for the creative in each of us.

To learn more about The Spirited Stitch …sewing workshop and wellness retreats

edukedesigns.wordpress.com

Facebook Elizabeth Duke

Instagram @sewist44

Facebook Nicolisa West

Instagram @nicolisawest

A huge thanks to Elizabeth and Nicolisa for the honor of being there to 
absorb and celebrate what they do...

xo Jen

CONGRATS TO VAL... I am thrilled

I am totally thrilled to see Val's creative space in print...and 10 pages!!  

A total WOW...

What a treat to see "The Crib" featured in the latest Where Women Create magazine... 

A huge thanks to Jo Packham for the opportunity to celebrate Val's style and share her business story in my column "The Business of the Studio"...

You can read more about the mag and take a bigger peek HERE on the 

Where Women Create site...

And you can see Val's uber cute and totally fab, re-purposed creations HERE....

CONGRATS VAL!  So happy to share this great news of your accomplishment and I am thrilled and honored to have worked on this with you!

xo Jen

 

...a dolls' dressmaker...peek into her world

I totally adore Hilary Wagstaff and all that she creates...

 ...so what a true treat for me to dedicate my column to her in the latest issue of Where Women Create  

that's JUST hit the newsstands...

 Hilary has a 

finely tuned personal style... 

the clothing she creates for Blythe dolls shows that she's at the top of her craft -- with an aesthetic that makes her creations clearly identifiable as her art.  

Her story and style were a natural match for my 

"Business of the Studio" column...

 

...her wee fashions send me...

tiny embroidered details, finely fitting frocks.... but above all that...Hilary has a wonderful story of her business and how it happened...

how fab that she's shared her story!

A huge thanks to Editor in Chief, Jo Packham of Where Women Create for the opportunity to celebrate Hilary and her Moshi Moshi Studio 

in the new issue of the magazine....

 A peek at her studio space shows her empirical nature and her dedication to order, a love of vintage fineries,

and a nod to texture...

I was thrilled to be invited to photograph her studio space last year in Penarth, Wales.

 You can follow Hilary via her facebook page...HERE

and....you'll find a link 

to her etsy page there...

 she's on Instagram as @hilarywagstaff

Thanks Hilary for sharing your story and style! Your creations are fabulous, your business journey noteworthy and I am so grateful to know you through the wonderful Blythe community!

 xo Jen

...if you're a fellow artful entreprenuer...or want to be one...

...if you're a fellow artful entrepreneur...

or want to be one...

I hope you'll consider giving my column a read.

Jo Packham has another absolutely stellar magazine --  Where Women Create: BUSINESS 

...and I could not be more proud to be included...

Part II of my column 

"Paying Your Bills with Your Passion" 

is out on the journey of to artful entrepreneurship...

I hope you'll consider picking up a copy of the latest issue and reading it...

(find it on my site or Jo's site if it's not at your local newsstand or sold out in Michael's, Lowes, AC Moore, Hobby Lobby, etc)

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement to share my experience in the filed of handmade and my expertise in small business development...

Working on the column is pure joy for me...as is working with the many artists I have be fortunate to manage, coach, do business with over the years...

xo Jen

woo hoo Lucy! Congrats on piece in WWC

I am long overdue in saying a hearty congrats to LUCY her fab piece that appeared recently in Where Women Create magazine...

The days are escaping me, no the MONTHS are escaping me, and it seems like a forever ago that I met Lucy via phone when she reached out for business development assistance...

Her salvage business and re-purposed jewelry line were developing in multiple directions and she needed to focus, make some tough decisions and move forward in the right direction...

She surely has!

Love that she has made such great strides and loved that I could help celebrate this in print!

...Lucy has done incredibly things in sharing her style and her work goes so far beyond creating wearable art for her business, "Lucy's Inspired" 

It was great to be able to dedicate my column -- "The Business of the Studio" -- to Lucy!

 Her "Inspired to Give" project is explored in the article in depth and this brings me joy...hope you can read more about it in the magazine...

 Thanks Jo Packham for the opportunity to celebrate Lucy and her artful entrepreneurship...

You can see more of Lucy's creations on our site...

here's a link to her page.

Thanks Lucy...it's a treat to work with you

...and an honor to know you...

xo Jen

such nice news...Wee Forest Folk in Print

I love that I was able to feature the so well-deserving Petersen Family & Wee Forest Folk in my column "The Business of the Studio" in this issue of Where Women Create magazine...

 

I think it's incredible to still be an artful soul in old age, and to think and move creatively in business...

This was a special day...I went to shoot the story and found so much more...

 It's impossible not to fall in love with 97 year old founder, Annette Petersen when you encounter her, sitting and working with her was an incredible experience...

 Her family is everything and they create together...

three generations of artists with one vision...

I appreciate them all...Willy, Donna, Bonnie...

It's even more impossible not to fall in love with all they create....by hand...in Massachusetts...

 The new issue of  

Where Women Create is available HERE

...and to see what comes from the many hands of the Petersen Family...CLICK HERE

And a huge thanks Jo Packham 

for making this all possible...

xo jen

 

artful entrepreneur Clare Jordan...nice news

...I had so much fun with my column for the November issue of Where Women Create...

 

Thanks to Jo Packham for mailing it all possible and thanks and congrats to Clare Jordan for honoring me with the opportunity to share her wonderful business journey in my "Business of the Studio" column...

Clare you amaze me! 

YOU ARE A STAND OUT!

 The entire issue is a such a great read...

 ...you'll have to nab a copy of the mag to read Clare's entire story...and there are so many other fab features in this issue... one of my faves to date!

You can catch more of a view of Clare's art 

on her pages of the site...

Earth Angels is a retailer for her curios, baubles and cheeky buttons 

...these are usually our biggest hit 

at The Country Living Fairs!

Thanks again Jo & CONGRATS CLARE!!!

xxoo Jen