Studio Update

A

new year

&

a new work space!

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At last

JOY STUDIO

is complete!!

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1 year ago,

we were

insulated, waiting for drywall and

Still Seeking Light.

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Time capsule.

 

 

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Well, we found it.

Windows on every wall, eight skylights and two sets of French doors with connecting elliptical above each one.

At most times of the day, the room is flooded with a generous amount of natural light.

And I love it!!!

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Builders on the project couldn’t understand the need for so many windows and I was questioned from every tradesman.

I stuck to my (never enough light) priority and it turned out to be the right decision, no question.

So, beginning 2018

Joy Studio

is completely finished, furnished and finally, ready for (hiding out) creative action.

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A

Mini photo tour

 

As you enter:

The large Staircase Reclaim workbench:

 

 

Drawing/painting station one:

 

Drawing/painting station two:

 

Sewing station and supplies:

Large desk:

Everything maker, supply cabinet:

Coffee station:

&

Sitting, thinking, dreaming area:

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It was a long, extremely tough journey but worth the effort.

Every time I enter the new studio space, I feel like a kid.

Curious,

and still hard to believe.

Thanks for visiting.

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Meet Me In St Louis

At

Q U I L T   M A R K E T!

I could not resist giving it all I’ve got for the upcoming

2017 Spring

International Quilt Market

this year since it is in my home state. And it’s the first time since I’ve been designing fabric.

May 19 – 21

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So, we are taking full advantage of the no travel by bringing my scoop to nuts display furnishings along with all the usual Joy Studio trimmings. Fun but tiresome.

We will post a full quilt market report after but here’s a tiny preview!

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So, have you guessed the theme of our new fabric collection? I hope it is your cup of tea!

btw – Close up face is a large patch from our “Queen of We’en” collection.

Gram’s cream & sugar made it into the display, and on the fabric. I love when that happens!

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& an antique shoe cushion!

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” H A T T E R ‘ S    T E A    P A R T Y “

from Quilting Treasures

Ask your favorite quilt shop.

Fall delivery.

New Product Announcement

We are sew very excited to announce a

NEW

“She Who Sews”

product line from

LANG!

These beautifully made products were chosen for an exclusive program

&

will soon be delivering to select JoAnn’s stores.

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It is a continued privilege to share the art and the positive messages that have come to be associated with the Handmaids® series. Absolutely loving these sewing inspired items!

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The collection includes

Bob’s (nesting) Boxes . . ,

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boxed note cards, note pads, planners . ,

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journals and lots more!

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See them all in February 2017 at participating

JoAnn’s

stores. Comment with your state, for the location nearest to you.

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Our LANG (mug) cup runneth over.

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Still Seeking

Happy New Year!

Still seeking light. And still hopeful,

in more ways than just a bright, well lit work space of course.

However,

I decided to share the Joy Studio portion and progress on our big project, to start out the blog year.

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If you’ve been following us in the past two years you may remember that as we outgrew our work space it was necessary to rent additional office and Etsy shop storage areas. This was working out nicely until our shop managers MOVED! So, everything came back to the home studio causing quite the challenge in 2016.

Here’s the timeline in a photo nutshell.

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Moved From The Rental

Dinning Room Designated for Drawing

Made A Plan for On Site Studio

With the former home studio now full of fabric, office and Etsy shop we (I) decided to build on our home site. A scary project but a long time dream that I never thought would be realized. Still waiting but it’s looking like in 2017, it may really happen!

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Broke Ground Early July

Poured Foundation

Floor Went On

Walls Went Up

Roof Went On

Wrapped While Waiting for Windows

We were told the wait for windows would be five weeks! Then they came, in a big storm. Windows were wrong. It was then we discovered that two of the four walls were also, wrong. So, they came down and we waited for windows. And waited. And waited. It would be another five weeks. Second try, they were wrong again. Windows held up the studio project until December.

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Windows Deliver During A Storm

Walls Torn Down

Wait for Walls & Windows

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We kept going luckily, wrapping walls, running wires and having HVAC installed.

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Electric And Furnace Installed

Shake Siding

We couldn’t leave out a fireplace of course. Built by family and friends. Nice!

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Stone Fireplace

Insulated

As the new Joy Studio sits now, we are fully insulated and with the correct windows.

I am starting the new year working in the designated drawing station in the dinning room at my dad’s drawing table. I’m feeling snug and . . . GRATEFUL.

Dad’s Table & Palette Tin

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Looking forward to 2017 and I hope you feel the same.

&

I almost forgot! We are having a FABRIC special!!

Use Code: january2017 for 25% off at,

Great Joy Studio Etsy Shop

Through January.

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Seam-Stress

O C T O B E R

is a favorite month for me.

Whats not to like?

Cooler weather, leaves turning,

&

International Quilt Market!

So, it’s that time of year that many of us are beginning to feel the stress in

Seamstress

noun seam·stress \-strəs\

: a woman who sews clothes, curtains, etc., as a job

: a woman whose occupation is sewing

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Joy Studio is in the push mode of quilt market prep, again. God willing, we will be there with a new collection

&

some designs for a brand new product!

Booth #2534 with Quilting Treasures.

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A couple of sneak peeks,

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So why do you (I) worry ? Yikes!

Lots of work, never enough time.

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Stress reliever, reminder to self:

Matthew 6:25-34

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

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We still . . . are having fun though . . between the stresses of life,

wherever we can grab it.

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God bless.

 

 

The Process

For June,

my birthday month,

I’m sharing the process that I follow when creating art for product.

Here it is in a visual nutshell.

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The LANG 2017 “She Who Sews” calendar and related product.

Available on their site now!

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First, lots of sketches.

The mermaid was inspired by this cool antique, articulated fish needle case!

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When I am satisfied, I transfer the final sketch to watercolor paper and render in ink.

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Then I view on the computer to help decide on a color story.

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Next, I go to paint.

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After that it is scanned into the computer where the layout is refined.

At this stage I love to coordinate the image with encouraging verse content.

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Finally, the really fun part, seeing it on product.

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And who knows, maybe this could end up on fabric, eh?

You can watch for her later this summer at

Quilting Treasures!

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Lang Longings

Following Atlanta Gift Mart’s winter show in January, we made an announcement on Facebook about a new licensing partner.

This one just happens to be,

my first,

life as an artist,

lifetime goals.

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Our new partner for a calendar is with,

LANG Publishing!

&

It’s AVAILABLE!

It has been a full year since our initial meeting there before seeing it come to fruition, but well worth the wait.

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Initial Meeting with Lang Jan. – 2015

I have purchased their cards and collected their calendars for numerous years which I have kept as sort of a family record. They reveal the appointments, events and common notes of our everyday life as it was, in any given year. All are recorded in the grids of the artful calendar products. The images were simply too beautiful to toss.  I’m so glad to be able to go back over them now, as an actual member of the LANG family! Hard to believe, me.

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Our new LANG calendar is called She Who Sews for 2017 from the Handmaids® series. And today, my good friend and artist, Paula Joerling has posted about us in her seventh installation of,

The Story Behind the Art

on her studio blog,

Paula Joering Studio.

I invite you to hop over and check out our story.

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As an extra added treat,

during the development process additional art was also chosen from Handmaids® “Draw Near” group for the LANG spiral sketchbook products! I may need several dozen of these.

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We are over joyed for this wonderful dream partnership opportunity.

Thank you God!

And thank you Paula. 😉

To Err

‘To err is human; to forgive, divine.’

An Essay on Criticism, Part II , 1711 – Alexander Pope

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Please F O R G I V E me participants!

Intense focus on a new collection caused me to

F O R G E T

the Where Women Create Studio Giveaway drawing!

Deadlines are not my strength however, this is the F I R S T one I ever missed on the blog. 😦

So sorry.

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Seventy one of you wrote to us about your work spaces and it has been a delightful read. It seams we makers have such strong personal attachments to our work spaces, wherever they may be, that we are naturally interested in each others. And I am no different. I loved reading each one of your comments on one of my, favorite subjects, the studio!

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S

to the 3 winners! Picked at random:

1. Pamela Huntington
2. Barbara Struve
3. Carol Kussart

Please email us with your ship to info at janet@greatjoystudio.com to receive your prize!

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I sincerely appreciate all of you for sharing your creative retreats with us.

THANK YOU!

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Stay tuned, for the Handmaids® Challenge Giveaway 2016 announcement next month.

Btw~

Sometimes, especially during this freezing, snowy week in February, I actually like to work from my bed under a vintage quilt, as in this sneak peek on the lap top below!

😉

Resetting

Trying to reset!

Holidays, hospital & high water presented some creative challenges at our, year’s end.

Hopeful however,

for reaching new heights in 2016.

Time to stand firm . . .

&

get ready for taxes!

By the way,

don’t forget to leave a comment & tell us about your creative space on our

Where Women Create Blog Giveaway

on the post link below:

Joy Studio

&

we are still on news stands until the end of this month,

in the

Where Women Create, Winter Issue.

New Year Approaching

On the cusp of another new year.

2016

What’s ahead, what’s next, what’s this ole world coming to?

Anticipation, reflection and a time for start overs.

I’ve been receiving many FB ‘memories’ notices in my news feed over the past month. A few I’ve shared and some. . . I just take a peek at in amazement. Mine went back at least five years. Interesting, remarkable, some sad, etc. A whole variety of emotions are stirred up.

Likewise, here on the Joy Studio blog I can look into the archives to see what was happening a year ago, five years ago on any given month. Often either goals were being set, challenges met and times of grief, to overcome.

I didn’t realize when I started this blog, that it would serve as sort of a journal exercise for me, with an easy accessible record of the fun, the successes and the disappointments of this artful and life journey.

Where Women Create – Winter Issue 2015/16

Although I have not always held up so great, I’ve been very lucky (so to speak)/blessed and watched over. I know, that God has brought me through it all. I haven’t always seen or felt it and still have my struggles. However, looking back over the last four (tough) years, through my family, my friends (close that I’ve known for dozens of years & many of you I’ve never met) and my creative work, the love (His) and watch care is clear.

And I’m grateful.

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So, whatever God has planned for this new year, I’m going to keep trying,

to be ready,

be seeking,

be better.

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Thank you once again, for supporting my efforts with your heartfelt comments and interaction both here on this blog and on our Facebook pages and Instagram. It has been very encouraging.

I sincerely appreciate you! And I look forward to more creative fun and work ahead as we share our gifts.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Joy Studio on FB

Handmaids® on FB

Tidings of Great Joy on FB