July Team Challenge: The Great Outdoors

Welcome to RNEST's May Team Challenge! The theme for this month was 
"The Great Outdoors"

Summer...the season we seem to enjoy the "Great Outdoors" the most! Picnics, cookouts, campouts, hiking, gardening...all that fun stuff we do outside!  Earlier this month, we asked our RNEST members to get creative and make items representing an interpretation of the theme...and now YOU, our loyal blog readers, get to pick the winner!  Here's the list of our contestants!

Red and Blue Cotton Napkin Set For Two by MFcrafts

Cowboy Journal Tote by Turtlefly

Retro Gardener Hair Bow by OldFamiliarWay

Miniature Garden Mini Terrarium by k5art

Cast your vote for your favorite on the poll in the upper, right corner of the blog! 

(Deadline to vote is by midnight on Wednesday, July 11th)

Wednesday Wellspring: Turtlefly

Congratulations to Marija (#2) for winning Buenahelena's giveaway!

Bubbling up from the well this week, Turtlefly offers up some colorful whimsy to brighten your day! Today, one lucky winner will receive "The Molly Purse". This is an adorable little purse made of 100% cotton fabrics and western snap closure. Fully lined in purple on white polka dot fabric and has a small yellow and multi color polka dot 1/2” ruffle.

Perfect size for a little change purse, tissues, special little toys or small notebook and pen or crayons to have on the go.

Excellent party favor option and can be custom made to suit your party theme (discount given for a party orders). You can see more of the artist's lovely creations at her website.

And now for the rules (This giveaway is open to everyone):

MANDATORY ENTRY #1: Go to Turtlefly, heart the shop, and then leave a comment here telling me your favorite item.

MANDATORY ENTRY #2: Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment letting me know- or if you are already, leave a comment saying you're a loyal follower.

BONUS ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each):
1. "Like" RNEST on Facebook.
2. "Like" Turtlefly on Facebook. 3. Tweet and blog about this giveaway and leave a coment here with the link.

The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, September 7th and will be announced in the next Wednesday Wellspring.

Make-it Mondays: Studio #5 Turtlefly

Here is another sneak peak into the creative habits our street team members. This week's studio visit is with a member I just met at this month's meeting, Jennie Fox of Turtlefly. Be sure to visit her shop and check out the super cute turkey bibs she has designed for Thanksgiving :) Thanks, Jennie!

Buenahelena: Where do you work/where is your studio?

Turtlefly: My studio is in the attic of my home in West Irondequoit.


B: What is your medium or product?

T: Mostly I create clothing and accessories for women and children as well as
home accessories such as pillows, quilts and table runners. All items are
created using new, repurposed and scrap fabrics.

B: What is the biggest challenge about your space and how have you worked
through it?

T: The biggest challenge for me is that I have allowed some space for my
children to play up there too. If this was not the case it would be great to
have an area dedicated to displaying some of the work. I love being in the
attic because it is like working in a tree house and very bright no matter
what the weather is. I used to have a basement studio and that was not a
very enjoyable space! The only perk to a basement studio is the ability to
bring people in for open house or fittings without having to go through my
whole house to get there.


B: Describe a typical day at the studio.

T: A typical day in my studio is usually made up of a few shifts whenever the
kids allow me to work. If I can engage my daughter in an activity or if the
baby takes a nap, I get more done. It is very hard to spend any length of
time in there. Usually I will set up all the parts of a project and work in
an assembly line manner. I like to get things all cut and ready to sew
during the day. The sewing gets done on the weekends or in the evening when
my husband is home. There is always music playing in the studio, the type of
music is usually influenced by the project at hand.

B: What do you love the most about being a crafter/artist/etsy seller?

T: The thing I love most about being an artist/crafter/etsy seller is that I am
doing what I enjoy first and foremost, but I am also doing what I went to
school for which isn't always possible. I think that I love being at shows
the most because I think that the work I do is appreciated so much more when
people can touch it and see it up close. Etsy is great though because you
can reach so many more people and your work can go all over the world!