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

...so honored... thanks Where Women Create

I am truly honored...

I was in the very first issue of 

Where Women Create magazine 10 years ago...

and this month...I'm in there once again sharing how my business has changed and grown over the years...I am so grateful.

The article is a whopping 10 pages and laden with peeks at the new space and my comments on being in business -- starting with my first show as a hobbyist in 1994 -- to going full time, to finally finding a space (a very BIG space) of my own...
 

 A huge thanks to Jo Packham for once again acknowledging me and including me among the many and talented women in business who are among the pages each issue....

 And a heartfelt and HUGE thanks to Ben Ashby for the images that provide the backdrop to my story...

I have a limited number of copies available on my site... HERE

or you can subscribe and order it HERE

xo Jen

...do you believe in MAGIC? I do...peek at the new issue and see why...

...I was with the kids at NY Comic-Con when we spotted her artwork...we talked about Where Women Create...and next thing I knew I was standing with Letty outside her London store in the snow last February waiting to do a photo shoot.

Fast forward to this month and the new issue of Where Women Work...and there she is...on the cover....

Miraphora Mina of the House of MinaLima design studio and retail experience...

I am so grateful that that small conversation led to my first published magazine cover.

Thanks to all who made the journey possible....most of all to Miraphora Mina for sharing her talent with us all...

(...read more about her and her partner Eduardo Lima here...)

...and WOO HOO...do NOT miss this one...it's packed with fab stories, tips and wonderfulness for all working creatives...

You can buy the new issue on the Where Women Create site.

xo Jen

...just cooked up! TAKE NOTE a SPECIAL EDITION of Where Women Cook

...I am thrilled!

There's a Special Edition for FALL from Jo Packham and her editorial staff...

Where Women Create has just announced a special FALL -- aka my very favorite season -- ISSUE OF WHERE WOMEN COOK called

OUR TABLE AUTUMN...

and it's available on their site....

Take a peek at these images from their recent newsletter...

sooo honored and thrilled to be included in their seasonal picks!  

See here for a link to the 

FALL & HARVEST paintings FEATURED...

 A total YUM of a concept and congrats to all included...

Don't miss celebrating the joys of the season...in print!

ORDER IT HERE

xxoo Jen

NEW ISSUES

...have you READ THEM YET???

 Jo's new issues are out... 

SHOP THEM AT 

WHERE WOMEN CREATE

Thanks to Jo and her writers and contributor for all they do to inspire me everyday....

...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

paying the bills with your passion...part III..take note of you're a creativpreneur!

Some of you have been following my column in Where Women Create: BUSINESS

 called...

"Turning Your Passion into Your Paycheck"

If so -- TAKE NOTE -- Part III has just dropped onto the newsstands and it's packed with tips and tools for MARKETING YOUR HANDMADE BUSINESS...

...many of you don't know that my formal training is in Urban Planning -- yep -- even have the Masters and the Professional License (AICP) -- 
but that may not seem to match with what I do everyday with Earth Angels Studios...

But it does! It does!  Why??? 

My specialization in Planning is in small business economic development... that means, I know how to help business grow through garnering sales, how they market and how they position themselves within the economy as makers and manufacturers...

So now -- instead of working with food and fashion liked I used to in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn when I lived in Queens -- I work with handmade and have since I started my dabbling in 1994 as a hobby business...

I went full time into Earth Angels in 2000 when I had my first kiddo and have not looked back.... Soooo it' really nice for me to have the opportunity to come full-circle and share my business development know-how in this four part series called 

"Paying the Bills with Your Passion"

(you can catch the prior columns -- Parts I & II --

 in the July and October issues...)

 
A big thanks to Editor in Chief, Jo Packham, for the opportunity to share my experience and know-how in this column...

It's been a joy for me to work on these articles to encourage artful entrepreneurship.

You can order copies of the magazine HERE

And thanks to all for your support of my work at Earth Angels...

xo Jen

Dolly Treasures! A total wow and congrats to Eileen Lam!!!

The new issue of Where Women Create BUSINESS is out and I am totally thrilled to share the news of talented Eileen Lam's feature...

 Eileen's artistry is noteworthy...she photos her beloved Blythe dolls in the most charming of settings and streetscapes!

She's built a beautiful business -- and published two books -- of her photographs...

I was honored to photo her at work and share her story in a feature I produced...

Thanks to you Eileen, for sharing your style and talent...your work brings me such joy and it was an honor to share it!

And thanks to Jo Packham for the opportunity to celebrate Eileen and her work!

You can read more about Dolly Treasures on her WEBSITE

AND do follow Eileen on Instagram at 

@dollytreasures

or on Facebook!

 

xxoo and enjoy a browse of her images... 

they are a hoot!

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

...my column is on the newsstands...are you an Artful Entrepreneur???

...many of you don't know that my formal training is in Urban Planning -- yep -- even have the Masters and the Professional License (AICP) -- 
but that may not seem to match with what I do everyday with Earth Angels Studios...

But it does! It does!  Why??? 

My specialization in Planning is in small business economic development... that means, I know how to help business grow through garnering sales, how they market and how they position themselves within the economy as makers and manufacturers...

So now -- instead of working with food and fashion liked I used to in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn when I lived in Queens -- I work with handmade and have since I started my dabbling in 1994 as a hobby business...

I went full time into Earth Angels in 2000 when I had my first kiddo and have not looked back.... 

Soooo it' really nice for me to have the opportunity to come full-circle and share my business development know-how in a four part series called 

"Paying the Bills with Your Passion"

A huge thanks to Jo Packham of 

Where Women Create: BUSINESS 

for the opportunity to write this new column on artful entrepreneur....

Part I is on how to turn a hobby business 

(yes, just like I did) into a legitimate one...with research and evaluation of the market and your goods!

You can read the entire article in the July issue... 

get the mag on my site or at WhereWomenCreate.com

 

....and the October Issue has just hit the newsstands with Part II  of my column -- more on that soon

...and hope you can catch these pieces if they are relevant to you as you start or grow your own handmade business....

xo Jen