Wool Bird's Nest with Wooden Eggs

My Wool Bird's Nest is available on Etsy.

The flowers are peeking up in my flower beds. The bird feeder is full and morning bird songs help me wake up as I walk around my neighborhood. My most organized neighbor has already raked his lawn and is watering today, and his yard will be emerald green for St. Patrick's Day! It seems like the perfect day to share with you my wool felt bird's nest.

I knit this nest with wool yarn---it looked like a winter hat for a gnome! I felted it in the washing machine, let it dry stretched onto the bottom of an up-turned sauce pan, and then I added wool yarn and roving embellishment. The wooden eggs were fun to paint, and I probably went a little overboard on the freckles...oh well...happy spring-like day!

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Handmade Folk Art Pillows and Inventory Control

Pillows ready to ship, wrapped in muslin cases.

When I made the decision to reconfigure my Nestle and Soar Studio space, it was important to keep in mind that I create soft goods...pillows and wool wall hangings. These fluffy items do not stack neatly or have enough stability to stand on their own. My fiber folk art is very textural and while it is strong and stable, I want to keep it in pristine condition as it awaits its new calling in a new place.

The inventory methods I've devised with these elements in mind are working like a charm! My first studio photo shows finished designer pillows ready for shipment. I sew a muslin pillow case to house each wool pillow I create, and that keeps it fresh for my clients. It also protects the pillow during shipment inside of a heavy cardboard box. I have pinned an inventory number with a photo of each pillow to the outside of the muslin case, and when each item is purchased, I tie a pretty ribbon around it; I like to think it feels like my clients are unwrapping a gift! I place my pillows on their backs for storage, which keeps them from wrinkling, as many of my designs involve linen.

Design wall with pillow fronts ready for embellishment

Some of my clients, especially those living far away, choose to have their pillow shipped without a pillow insert. It saves on postage expenses, and it also gives the opportunity to put their new Nestle and Soar folk art pillow cover onto a pillow they already own. This dresses up their home without adding to their "stuff", no pun intended! One wall of my studio has been draped with flannel and it is there that I display pillow fronts that are in process. My second image shows this wall with pillow fronts awaiting a few more seed beads, some hand embroidered details, or a final pass at the needle-felting station. I will not sew these pillows together until they are purchased, as this way, my client can tell me "Insert" or "No Insert". It is easier to store pillow inventory that does not already include the pillow insert, as I could conceivable stack 100 pillow fronts in the space it would take to stack 3 finished pillows!

I really enjoy walking into my studio and seeing the inventory. I can easily pluck a pillow-front from my design wall and dive into the final embellishment. Or, I can stand in front of my wall of finished pillows, wrapped and ready, and feel a rush of accomplishment. I sometimes daydream about who will next hold and love these pillows, and sometimes, I wonder if I really want to see any of them go! Umm, yes, I do! Do you hear any of them calling your name?

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Dust in my Drawers

The lovely before picture...

There is dust in all of my drawers, and everywhere else for that matter, and I couldn't be more pleased! My eyes are a little itchy and the fumes of fresh paint are being carried away through the window flung wide into this 61-degree Colorado day. We are almost two weeks into a major home renovation and as I type, I hear the saws and hammers keeping time with country music. While I am looking forward to the final results in another week, I am just so grateful for the project to finally be underway! This is happy dust!

As I have been without my own bathroom for 2 weeks, I have reevaluated my morning and evening routines regarding rituals like a long hot soak in the tub and spreading out all of my miracle wrinkle-fighting products for hourly use. When one has to squeeze all of her gear into a much smaller space (and share it with a man), one learns to streamline. As it is soon to be springtime, I sense that lots of simplifying, organizing, and freshening up is going to happen in our household---and in our yard! The bird feeders have been full with happy visitors all week and the early spring flowers have begun to peek up through the hard, winter dirt. I need to make sure that all the fun and games going on in the house (and all the dusting that will soon take place) does not keep me from enjoying my favorite time of year in the great outdoors.

I hope you have big springtime plans, too! I'm off to "supervise" the installation of my new claw-foot bathtub. I look forward to reclaiming my most relaxing rituals in the near future.

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Journal Cover Competition from Nestle and Soar Studio

Redhead Journal

May I have your feedback? I'm placing cover art for my upcoming series of journals on this post and it is my hope is you will look at them all. The feedback I need is simple! As a comment posted to this blog, please tell me your top 3 favorites in order, beginning with the journal you'd love to have in your hands right now! On March 3rd I will tally everyone's opinions and post again with the results. A prize from my Nestle and Soar Studio of a free journal is up for grabs! Let me know your opinion and I will put your name in a random drawing. Fun? I'm having fun just looking at these images, and I hope you will, too!
Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Standing Sentry Journal

Freckled Egg Journal

Sweetheart Owl Journal

Penguin Family is my new "Cover Girls"

This charming photo will grace the front of a new line of journals I am creating for my Nestle and Soar Internet shop. When I came across this image, I had that female "Awww" response. The care shown by the adult (and it may not be the mom, by the way) is so tender. Dad penguins spend the coldest part of the year sitting on the eggs to protect them while the mom seeks food. It is a real family nurturing community. The looks on the faces of the two babies is what got my Awww going really good!

I remember thinking that penguins are mammals, but they are not. They are aquatic, flightless birds and live almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctia.  I will share some of my other journal covers with you in the days ahead. I'd love to hear quick votes on which image is your favorite! You can start now by telling me if you like this one. Awww!


Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Trees teach us and comfort us

Coexist, Georgianne Holland, 2010

"I am a tree of the field, and I honor that about me. I have been planted here in the earth to nourish, give comfort, and shelter other forms. I am a vital expression of support and supply." Paraphrased from Science of the Mind, January, 2011.

I often look for tree inspiration and these words speak to me today. When trees are a part of my life, I think it enhances my daily living. If I were to live on the tundra or any other treeless landscape, I would feel at a loss, even "un-comfort-able". Perhaps that is why I relate to the suggestion that trees offer comfort.

Many of my friends and family live in places that are currently being hard-hit by winter weather, with a few complaints about it all coming to the surface. When I am in a long stretch of snow and cold at this time of year, I think about how trees are quite active, or soon will be, running sap and preparing to move into the green part of the year. Not long from now, as time marches by quickly, the leaves will be unfurling and the days will begin stretching longer with light. Trees teach me to relax and rejuvenate in the winter--to stay inside and sleep a little longer. I do feel right about being a tree-like personality in this world, or at least, I aspire to this ideal. How about you?