I am now free from debris...........pleasantly organized.......silly with stuff.......although admittedly my work table has a few fall out items to yet put away (thus I did not photograph it). My back hurts from toting and pushing and moving things from here and there but hey, it at least has order. Hmm, now if I had a dollar for every time I thought I had my studio just right......! Click to enlarge all images. (my lighting today wasn't so good I'm afraid) The table not seen can be brought out to the middle of the room or set back against the front window, it depends on what I am doing.
I moved the blue dresser from the living room to my studio. Above it I hung an old curtain rod for the ribbon I had on spools. The blank space above that is waiting for either a really wonderful mirror to come along or a really wonderful wall shelf unit.
The white book case there has my tools for various things as well as rubber stamps, stamp pads and more. This way if I want to do wood burning or solder or heat something with an applique iron and so on....it's all there.
Everything has a place with easy enough access that I don't have to move things to get to other things. One thing that may change is if I can find the right size table I want to take out that white dresser and put a table there. I need a place where I can have my sewing machine up and ready at all times which I don't have now. I'll be looking for that this weekend. Where the white dresser will go is a whole other thing.
My laptop sits here and the printer is on the shelf under the TV, there is also a DVD player.
That big fuschia board is a giant piece of homosote that I covered in silk dupioni and G hung for me. I can use it as a bulletin board or a design area as I want. Push pins, regular pins and thumb tacks go in to it easily.
Again, everything in its place....including Coco. She is currently sporting an apron I am making from a skirt that no longer fit right. It's very girly and has a white layer underneath with a white ruffle that hangs below the top layer. The glass doored cabinet has jars of buttons, some of my favorite tea pots and my clay Lullaby Fairies I made that will one day be in my Etsy shop.
I try to have all my treasures, memorabilia, gifts and more around me.
The blue dresser again, you can see the ribbon rod better in this photo. I went through EVERY single bit of trim and ribbon I have and carefully wound and pinned each one. It fills the bottom drawer there, all the others I had that were on spools I hung on the rod. The small drawer on the right has things that cut or measure. (scissors, craft knives, rulers) The top left drawer I am reserving for junk jewelry and sparkly things and the first large drawer is empty waiting for whatever.
The rod brackets are adjustable as to the distance from the wall, this made it perfect so the larger spools don't hit the wall and can move freely. The rod just lays in the u shape on each end so I can lift it and add as I need to.
This tall cabinet started life as a basic MDF shelf unit that G added hinges and doors to and a bit of molding at the top then I painted it. It's been in our bathroom for years for towels etc. (we have no real linen closet). Recently I moved another kind of shelving unit to the hall closet and put all the towels and things in there. The other night I couldn't sleep and it came to me that I should measure that cabinet so I did, it was a perfect fit next to the front window and WOW, storage galore. So the next morning I moved it.
I am going to repaint the doors as it use to say(In FRENCH) "towels for the bathroom. Hotel Swifka and Rue (our street name)". I gessoed over that and now I will take my time as to what I want to paint on them.
All my paints of various kinds, pastels, colored pencils, clay and it's tools, melting pot, waxes, glitter, gel mediums, gesso and on and on (you get the idea). I don't have to worry about things tumbling on my head or having to move 2 things out of the way to get to 1 thing. When I start a project I can simply go "shopping" in the cabinet for the things I will need. And the former hook for a towel now becomes a place to hang my aprons and there's display space on top.
Again, it's very important I keep treasures around me. Art from others is also very important.
Oh dear, Joy Ride seems to have put The Muse in a cage. I wonder what she did to warrant incarceration
So there you have it..........I truly believe the key is trying to keep like things together so when you start a new project you aren't hunting for all the bits and pieces. If you put things in cardboard boxes or decorative boxes and stack them you best be sure those aren't things you'd readily want to get to. Plastic isn't lovely but you CAN see what's inside. It can be quite an unpleasant experience to have to take them down to get to the one on the bottom (or even the middle) everytime you want to use what's inside. I also have a wooden tray (not shown) that I will use to go "shopping" around the room for needed items....this way it will stay on the table. when I am done I can use the tray to go around putting back those items I am done with. Things like brushes, drawing pens, pencils, erasers....all those sorts of things stay on the work table in various vessels.
Now the closet in here.........well that's a whole other can of worms. That's next time.
I wanted to share some lovely and wonderful gifts I've received lately from some OWOH participants. I am truly humbled by the show of affection as gifts are so NOT necessary.
Look at that array of yumminess.
Right to Left:
The beautiful Mona Lisa pendant on the velvet ribbon is from Anita at Vie Chaotique. I've already worn it and it's just so lovely!
The ocean colored handbag and is from the one and only Constance at Rochambeau!! I feel so blessed to own one for her beautfiul handbags, it is simply scrumptious!! Her work is amazing and so is she!
The delicately beautiful necklace with the blue heart came to me in that fabulous fabric pouch with Frida on the front. I am going to use that pouch as my cell phone case. Also in the parcel was the house shaped collage. I've also worn this necklace and it's pure femininity! This all came from Lorraine at Love of Collage. (from the UK)
Sharon of Chaos Ranch sent me that sweet fabric ATC and the quote on it just happens to be a favorite of mine. It will go with my other treasures here in the studio for sure.
The collage with the heart was actually emailed to me (I printed it on cardstock) from someone who does not have a blog but had a wonderful time finding so many wonderful people on the list. I hope she now decides to start one of her own.
The oh so pretty collage with the word dream on it is SOOOO lovely, she sports feather wings and has bits of lace at the bottom and the top. I just adore the image. She came wrapped in a page of sheet music tied with the green ribbon from Joy at Joy to the Blog.
The red and white fabric collage art is filled with lace and bits of shiny fabric and lots of wonderful winding thread work. It says LOVE in the center and believe me I feel it. This winged its way to me from Martha at Destination Unknown.
I know I have already thanked you gals but I must say it again.........thank you from the bottom of my heart!!
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Tonight at 10:00 PM PST my giveaway will be closed to comments....be sure to get your name in before then. Tomorrow the 4 winners will be announced along with ALL the winners of the 911 participants!! Watch your email as YOU could be a winner!!
(HA! that reminded me of those sweepstakes commercials)
Love,
Lisa
XOXO
