Layer by Layer

Issue #28

A weekly note from the studio

Oh hello!

This is a big week! My Creative Studio is celebrating it's 1st Birthday!

I’ve stepped a little outside my usual creative lane and I’m loving it. A local medical practice approached me to design their full brand identity: logo, business cards, email signatures, outdoor signage, the whole ecosystem. It’s a different rhythm from textiles and interiors, but the challenge feels energising. A reminder that saying yes to something unexpected can open doors you didn’t even know were there.

What have you said yes to in your business that surprised you?

A personal note

This year, my husband and son committed to a monthly Robot Wars competition. Every four weeks they build a tiny 150g robot and battle it out with other tech enthusiasts. It’s chaotic, nerdy, and very them.

Usually I’m the cheerleader on the sidelines, but this year I wanted something special for my daughter and me. Something that felt nourishing rather than noisy. So I reached out to a few friends and started a small art club at home.

The idea was simple: create a safe, gentle space where women and girls could work on their creative projects, rest, and forget about the world for a few hours. No deadlines. No critique. No pressure to produce anything “worthy”. Just creativity for the sake of breathing.

And the response… was wild. Within minutes my house was full. Women craving connection, softness, creativity, and a place where progress didn’t need to be measured.

These Saturdays have become magic. We celebrate wins. We hold space for tough weeks. We share tips, tricks, and tiny joys. It feels like community in its purest form.

If you’ve been longing for connection, consider starting something, anything. An art club, a personal finance circle, a business meet-up, a robot-building crew. When you create a safe space, you end up serving people more deeply than you ever imagined.

Talking about personal finance

I wouldn’t have been able to leave my toxic sales job and build my business without Alan and Katie’s personal finance training. Their course is free, practical, and genuinely life-changing. No upsells, no hidden agenda. Just solid financial education that helps you make decisions from a place of confidence rather than fear.

Do the course with a friend. Share the link with family. Everyone deserves financial clarity and the freedom to chase their biggest dreams.

On the Blog This Week: Beyond Pretty Pictures, why creative work really matters

My latest blog post was sparked by some antagonising comments I saw on LinkedIn under an artist’s post. It pushed me to dig deeper into the economic impact of creative industries, and the numbers are staggering.

Creative work isn’t “just pretty pictures”. It fuels global economies, shapes major industries, and drives retail. Shops literally cannot exist without products people want to buy, and those products come from artists, designers, makers, and creative thinkers.

I’ve personally experienced many of the issues I wrote about: exploitation, undervaluation, and the assumption that creative work is somehow less legitimate. It’s time we demand respect, advocate for fair treatment, and recognise the true weight of our contribution.

If you’re curious, you can read the full post here:

As always, thank you for being part of this creative world with me. May we continue to serve generously, support each other wholeheartedly, and stand tall in industries that forget how vital our work truly is. We make beauty, meaning, and possibility.

And that matters.

In creativity and community,

Nelléne

See you next week!