Meeting Joanne . . .

Hi and welcome back, Several months I had the pleasure to work with a wonderful lady who has a unique talent. She is a seamstress who makes these wonderful shawls and scarves that are called Soul Stoles. These stoles are beautiful and truly an inspirational creation by her. So I decided to talk with Joanne and share a brief version of her story with you. This all began when she was living in New Mexico. She was making quilts and showing them at art shows and while at the various shows became friends with several women who are also artists displaying and selling their creative talents. During this time, Joanne realized that she needed to move on beyond making quilts, but wasn’t quite sure yet what would evolve. She made a shawl as a gift for one of her friends who used it as a backdrop to display her jewelry. At that particular art show, her friend sold $400 worth of jewelry and had many people inquire about the stole. As we all know, life takes us on many journeys, some of these are physical trips and others are the changes we make in our lives. In Joanne’s situation, she took a journey that included both; moving to a new place and changing to a new creation of her talents. As she was preparing to leave her wonderful friends, there are 3 of them, she wanted to give them a special gift, something that represented their friendship and that was unique to each of them. Thus, Soul Stoles began. I encourage you to go to her website www.soulstoles.com to read and hear more of Joanne Osburn’s story and view some of her beautiful stoles. But before you do that, there are a couple of other things to tell you about Joanne. One of the things Joanne learned as she was trying to figure out what to do as she was moving on from quilt making, was to trust her gut. Trust her intuition to move forward and not be afraid. She also learned the importance of surrounding yourself with people who will support you as you follow the inspired guidance. Joanne’s friends totally supported her in her new venture, not just because that is what friends do or because they had received one of the wonderful creations, but because they believed in her and what her mission / purpose is in this part of her life. Folks, would we all love to have that kind of support? We can and do; sometimes we just have to ask for it from the people we know will help. We also need to be aware that we may have friends who may be naysayers, who haven’t yet learned to trust their own “gut” or intuition. My advice to anyone who experiences that, do not listen to them. They probably mean well, but you want people around you who support you, move on from those who do not. And by the way, sometimes we get the support we need from others that we don’t know so well, but just have to appreciate what we do in our creative venture. Which can be a total surprise to us, be sure to not them slip away! Remember, people come into our lives for a reason, enjoy them while they are here. Joanne is a joy and shares her creative talents well, I am grateful she came into my life. Feel free to contact her and talk with her more. And if you are looking for a special gift for someone, she can create just the right Soul Stole for you. Whether it is a light scarf that is so popular today or a wonderful shawl size stole, just let her know what you prefer. Okay, now you can go visit her site: www.soulstoles.com . Enjoy today, make it your choice to do so. Thanks for taking time to share some time with me today. Margaret