Fringe Hours Collaboration with Jessica Turner

We're so excited to have been able to collaborate with Jessica Turner, a woman who wears many hats, including wife, mom of three, marketing professional, author and blogger. If you aren't familiar with her site, The Mom Creative, where she's been blogging for nearly a decade, you'll find a host of inspiration for everyday crafting and gift ideas.

In February, Jessica released her first book, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You. Like many women, Jessica is busy, but she doesn't let that busyness prevent her from practing self-care. The impetus for writing her book stemmed from her belief in the fact that in order for women to thrive, they must take time for themselves, and that little pockets of time can be redeemed each day. According to Jessica, "It's a book about empowering women to do more for themselves," which is an idea we've been focusing on here at Studio Calico through the month of May - thinking especially about moms who juggle so much without leaving much time for themselves.

The Fringe Hours is an awesome resource for any woman who feels like she has time for everything and everyone except herself. In the book, readers will discover how to overcome that feeling along with practical ways to make themselves and their passions a priority.

For the next week, Jessica will be taking over our Instagram feed, sharing inspirational bits and encouraging advice (along with a giveaway or two!). We hope you'll keep an eye out for her posts and interact with her online before she joins us for Reveal chat on May 27th, where she'll be giving away a signed copy of her book to one lucky chatter.

Jessica also collaborated with Studio Calico on some gorgeous Fringe Hours journal cards you can download for free from our shop. Along with the cards, you'll get The Fringe Hours Manifesto, which is an inspiring declaration for women to embrace regarding passions, time, and self-care.

It's so important to take time for you. To take time to create, to dream, to read, to dwell on or plan what you want to do, what your goals are, and what your passions are. We're so happy to be able to share this week with Jessica, are so thankful for her commitment to encouraging women!

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Tell us about yourself

Thank you so much for inviting me here! Like many women, I wear a lot of hats. I am a wife and mama to three little ones, Elias, Adeline and Ezra. I also work full-time outside the home as a social media and content strategist for a children’s hospital. On the side, I write the lifestyle blog The Mom Creative and just released my first book, The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You.

Amidst all of that, I love to carve out time for memory keeping, reading and throwing fun parties. Two of my kids have summer birthdays, so I’m in full party-planning mode right now. If anyone has fun fairy or monster party ideas, please share!

You wrote a book called The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You. What inspired the book?

Women often ask me “how do you do it all?”

The truth is, I don’t. My life is busy and my floors always have cheerios on them. But, I do make myself and my passions a priority – and that is really what women were asking.

The Fringe Hours is my love letter to women everywhere who have pushed aside their own needs for the needs of others.If we could sit down and share a meal, it's what I would tell you. That you matter. That you shouldn't feel guilty. That pursuing your passions is an important way to live wholly. That in the fringe hours, you can find joy.

You surveyed more than 2,000 women as part of your research for The Fringe Hours. What surprised you?

I was surprised by the litany of reasons why women don’t make time for themselves. It wasn’t simply busyness.

It was feelings of guilt and comparison.
It was the struggle for finding balance.
It was self-imposed pressures.

I was also surprised – and saddened – by how many women couldn’t identify their passions because it had been so long since they did something for themselves.

In The Fringe Hours I equip women to overcome theses feelings, connect with lost or unidentified passions and find time. I truly believe that when we invest in ourselves, we are better wives, mothers, colleagues, co-workers and friends.

How can women make time for their passions?

My best advice is to track your time for a week. Similar to tracking what you eat or how many steps you take, in this exercise you track where your time goes. (Download a free time tracker). After doing this for a week, ask yourself these questions:

What items are non-negotiables (i.e., work, taking kids to school, etc.)?

What time was wasted?

What activities could be streamlined in your schedule?

Are you doing too much? Do you need to say no more?

Did you do anything just because it would have made you feel guilty to not do it?

Would it be helpful to ask for or hire help for any of
the things you spent time on during the week?

Did you take time for yourself? If so, how
much time?

Overall, how did you feel this week?

Once you go through this exercise, you can clearly identify where your fringe hours can be found.

What is your biggest tip for finding fringe hours?

Be prepared! On average, we wait 45-60 minutes a day. This is a huge opportunity to do something for you during those minutes. You can read, do some Project Life journaling, write a card, knit, etc. But you can only do those things if you have your items with you. Never leave the house without something for you. Waiting will go from being wasted time to time you look forward to.

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Thanks so much for spending time with us, Jessica! We hope you've enjoyed getting to know Jessica and will continue to keep an eye out this week for more opportunities to interact with her on Instagram and during Reveal Chat on May 27 at 11pm EDT.

Head over to the digital section of our shop to pick up your free The Fringe Hours Journal Cards, full of inspiration to get you motivated and be sure you're taking some you-time!