Nestle and Soar Studio -- Early Monday Morning Choices

If there are benefits to being a light sleeper, being awake and ready to work in the soft early morning light is a benefit I enjoy. I like to roam around my studio and daydream a bit with that first cup of hot coffee. After I've touched the soft wool and made my rounds, I begin to feel excitement about which project I might pick up first. Here are my choices for today...

Soft Sunflower Pillow-- needs to have seed beads sewn by hand...

Folk Art Flower pillows need to be hand embroidered...

Coexist Wall Felts need to have details added, like the bird's eyes...

Which project would you choose to work on first? It is lovely having three great options! It may take another cup of coffee to really get going...but then...watch out!

Thanks for stopping by, Georgianne

5 Tips for your Art Studio Renovation

Nestle and Soar folk art studio is like many creative spaces...MESSY! It is my nature to have multiple projects in the works simultaneously, and so every horizontal surface is usually covered. I set things down to grab another item, and like a whirling dervish, the mess spirals out of control.

I am not complaining. I think that this is the best way for me to let my creativity flow!

I also think that a certain amount of calm has entered my life with the renovation of my studio, even though it is likely to be messy again in the near future. Here are 5 tips I would like to share from the past two weeks of serious organizational work.

1. Daydream about your ideal space before you begin. I don't recommend waiting the 14 months it took me to take action, but I do think a good planning stage is important. Sketch ideas, do your research of storage furniture, and think through your process.
2. Ask organized friends for advice. While I admit to having a creatively messy personality, I have several friends who are organized beyond my wildest dreams. Their input proved invaluable.
3. Purge like crazy! I made eight trips to Goodwill Industries and had to call my trash service to arrange for extra pick-ups. It was amazing to me (as well as to my family -- well, actually, they probably figured it out well before I did) how much accumulated, unused stuff I'd acquired.
4. Use your vertical spaces. Because I need to spread out projects on horizontal spaces to work with my fiber, I have learned to count on vertical spaces to store supplies and display objects. It has been such a blessing to have a dedicated pick/pack/ship area, for instance, that has wide-open horizontal space to work with shipping orders. Everything I need is within easy reach using the wall surrounding the space.
5. Add seating to encourage others to visit you in your newly organized space. It is great to have high functionality, but not at the expense of making the studio a cold, work-only environment. My family can come drink coffee or a glass of wine in my studio while I zip along on my sewing machine. My students sit around my ping-pong table to work, and later that day, a ping-pong riot breaks out when the fabric scraps have been swept away! Organizing is wonderful, especially when the end result fits into your whole life.

You can check out all that I make in my Nestle and Soar Studio here! I would love to hear about your organized creative space!

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Thursday's Stress Relief

Tension is who you think you should be.

Relaxation is who you are.

Chinese Proverb

Here's to all my knitting friends and cat-loving friends...a good chuckle is always a lovely stress-reliever! I do wish I knew the source of this photo...I am thinking the three kittens are sitting inside of a plastic shoe box, so they are tiny! And I do think that the kitten on the right thinks, "This is not who I think I should be!" The other two...they are fine with the situation.

I do hope that you can let go of what you are "supposed to be" and enjoy who you are, right now!
 Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Hand Embroidered Birds and Trees at Nestle and Soar

I am so pleased to pass along details about the wonderful hand embroidered scarves made by my fellow fiber artist, Jan Constantine, who lives and works from her studio in Cheshire, England! These scarves are a new addition to my Nestle and Soar Studio website where I feature artists like Jan who create handmade items with a bird or tree theme.

The fine handwork in these scarves, which come in four colors (red, grey, purple, and cream) are available for a short time only, while supplies last. They are made with soft wool and are lined with a silken fabric that is really uptown. They are almost 60" long, so they will wrap beautifully around your neck during the cooler months. I predict that most everyone who sees you wear this lovely scarf will want to touch it and will ask "Where did you learn to do such incredible embroidery? Did you make this?" It will be a smashing addition to a plain jacket or that simple black outfit that needs a pop of color. Enjoy!

The exciting thing for me about including other artists in my website boutique is that it adds to the places where artists can make and then sell items in limited quantity, items that are of such quality that they become, as Jan describes them, future heirlooms. The time-consuming process of hand embroidery is a needle art that sometimes gets one of two bad raps...it is old-fashioned women's work and not really an art form...or it must have been made in a foreign sweatshop, so I won't buy it. Neither of these positions feel great to anyone, so when I find fiber art of this quality, I am proud to put it out as an example of handmade that comes with nothing but good feelings attached.

If you haven't looked at my new website yet, I hope you will enjoy taking a peek there now to look at all of Jan's scarves. If you enjoy bird-and tree-themed art like I do, it will be a new favorite destination for you!

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne

Trees and Birds: My Photo Gallery for Today

Here is her Etsy shop

My first photo to share today is a whimsical tree that is blooming with buttons! I am always interested in seeing how other artists pay tribute to trees, which is one of my favorite things to do. This is a beautiful new work by Sascalia, a friendly artist I found on Etsy.com. It is fun for me to get to know this talented lady from Great Britain. The original work was sold so quickly, and I had my eye on it! I'm happy to own a reproduction that was applied to a wooden plaque. The colors are bright and the detail is wonderful. It is hanging by my work table and I enjoy it every day.

My next photo to share is from one of my favorite customers, Kitty, and the Freckled Bird Pillow I made for her bedroom...it looks smashing on her quilt! It was a fun project because it began with her sharing photos of her bedroom and a conversation about how she would describe the various colors she wanted me to match. We ended up calling the red wool I should use Tomato Soup, and doesn't that just conjure up a particular shade of red? I believe the results were spot on and I'm glad that Kitty is pleased with her new folk art pillow!

If you would like to arrange for a custom item from my Nestle and Soar Studio, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at georgianneholland@comcast.net.