Jessica Peill-Meininghaus
Make Art Always
Practice IS Perfect
About I’M A GNOME!
Fans of Mo Willems and Dev Petty’s I Don’t Want to Be a Frog will love this humorous tale about one gnome’s journey to prove he is unlike the other magical creatures in the forest.
Join Gnome (that’s spelled G-N-O-M-E–don’t ask why the G is silent!) as he travels through the magical forest to attend the annual Gnome Festival.
Along the way he encounters elves, dwarves, trolls, and fairies. But don’t be mistaken. He is NOTHING like those magical creatures. Well, maybe he is . . . but only a little bit!
When Gnome finally arrives at the festival, he realizes that all the traits he thought made gnomes different from the others actually made them alike–and that’s just fine. - PenguinRandom House
You can see the book and find out more (and even pre-order!) here:
THE GNOME PROJECT: One Woman’s Wild and Woolly Adventure
WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT?
Who thought that one small, seemingly innocuous thing could change a life. It can.
At the beginning of 2012, after a lifetime of being unable to follow through on pretty much anything, I challenged myself to make one gnome every day for an entire year to engage in a daily practice. To support my venture, I created a blog that helped me see progress as I made it- which I definitely needed. During that year, great changes took place and through relocating my family and starting an entirely new life, I made those gnomes!
When I reached 2013, I stopped making a daily gnome to experience a year of absence from the project and to get perspective. I endeavored to choose a new practice and experience what it would be like to be without that gnome of the day helping me keep pace and keep peace. What I discovered was that the absence of those little daily gnomes was disorienting. Still, I powered through and when 2014 came rolling in, I started back up with a sense of relief to be, once again, engaged in a rhythm I have come to love.
Available everywhere books are sold!
Book Reviews
The reviews are coming in!
“It’s far from a ‘ooh, crafting is fun, you can do it to!’ kind of book. She is an artist who sets out to make a gnome a day because she believes she is a person who never finishes anything. A gnome is something that she can actually complete. A gnome a day will prove that she can get things done. In the end, it’s not about the gnomes...”
-KJ Dell’Antonia, Motherlode, The New York Times
Read the entire review here
“This book is not simply about crafting gnomes. It’s a manifesto about the importance of daily habits and their ability to motivate, and it holds a powerful message to creative people of all kinds: don’t wait for inspiration to come to you; just do it!”
“The Gnome Project is the book equivalent of a supportive friend telling you, “whatever it is, you can do it.”
-Whitney Morton Woodcock, Portland Book Review
Read the entire review here
"This adorably illustrated book comes complete with a picture of each gnome created by the author and offers a unique approach to adopting a daily practice. There, in each picture, her gnomes repose in flowerpots, baby gnomelings hang from branches in their little felt bassinets and stealthy ninja gnomes peek out from behind trees.” “If needle felting isn’t your thing, that’s OK. Try another daily practice that suits you. If you enjoy making jewelry, why not try making one simple pair of earrings a day? If you love to cook, why not try out a new recipe once a week?”
-Amanda Harkness, BookTrib
Read the entire review here
“Author Jessica Peill-Meininghaus explores the act of creating a daily practice, using an intent to make a needle-felted gnome every single day for a year as her spine. During the process, Peill-Meininghaus worked through the challenges inherent in such a daily commitment, and eventually began to experience the benefits, as well.”
- Julie Finn, Crafting a Green World
Read the entire review here
“In one of the most unique approaches I have ever encountered, Jessica Peill-Meininghaus illustrates the powerful impact of adopting a daily practice. With every turn of the page, there was humor, meaningful insight, and inspiration to be found. Who knew tiny, adorable objects couch teach us so much about finding our life’s purpose and carrying it out? I am grateful that Jessica did, and you will be too.”
- Rachel Macy Stafford, New York Times bestselling author of Hands Free Mama
"If you like shaping wool into charming, crafted objects through the process of needle felting, or if you like gnomes, then Jessica Peill-Meininghaus’s book is for you. But it would be a mistake to think that it is only about needle felting, or even about gnomes. Because it is also, and even essentially, about getting unstuck from that stuck place in your life by finding one simple thing to do consistently and well. Because doing one such thing will almost always lead to a second thing, and a third. And then you turn around and find miles between you and the place in the road where you thought you were pinned down forever. And you will just know, somehow, you are not going back there again."
-John Kralik, New York Times bestselling author of A Simple Act of Gratitude
“If making felted-wool gnomes sounds like something you'd enjoy, Peill-Meininghaus includes step-by-step illustrated instructions. If you're looking for a graduation gift, this book would be a nice reminder to make time for creativity and relaxation.”
-Deb Baker, The Mindful Reader, New Hampshire Union Leader
Read the entire review here
News
“We have such a definition of what we think art should be. And if we don’t see ourselves as fitting into that definition we just write ourselves off,” Jessica Peill-Meininghaus tells me from her magical attic studio..... “And I don’t think it works that way. I think we are all artists but we just have to figure out what that art is.”
- Micky Bedell, Bangor Daily News
This interview contains video, audio and photos, you can see the entire interview here.
Do you have a daily ritual? Perhaps it’s waking up and immediately making coffee. Perhaps it’s morning yoga. Or maybe it’s texting that special someone to say ‘good morning.’
“Daily rituals can be anything … even gnome-making, as one Maine author did during a yearlong project that she’s documented in a new book....
Written in short, digestible chapters, this is a book that’s great for reading in those little pockets of time in the day — like while waiting for the school bus to drop the kids home, eating breakfast or while waiting for dinner to cook.”
- Sarah Walker Caron, Bangor Daily News Staff
Read the entire interview and article here.
The Gnome Project: One Woman’s Wild and Woolly Adventure was featured on May 9th, 2015 in The Sun Journal in their Weird, Wicked Weird section.
“When Peill-Meininghaus started needle felting gnomes — tiny, colorful creations with pointy hats and bulbous noses — she hoped they might teach her how to stick with something.
She vowed she'd make a gnome each day. For a year......”
- Linsay Tice, Staff Writer, Sun Journal.
You can read the article here.