My Sexy Studio Space...

This is my entry for the Clean-up, Fix-up Challenge Blog Hop sponsored by Sharyl's Jewelry. I made it! Woo!

I didn't get everything done that I outlined in my previous post, but I made some pretty amazing progress after spending all of this morning fretting over when the UPS guy would arrive with the storage bins I ordered. They say the last minute is the best...right? Let's take a tour!

Remember my really gross closet? Now it's home to almost all of my art supplies, my photography equipment and the books that I'm not putting on the shelf in the living room because there's naughty pictures in them. *gasp of horror*

I'm pretty jazzed about how the big black wire shelf of doom turned out. This is where I spent money, and it was worth it. I now have a happy home for all of my shipping, sewing and tool-related stuff!

I'm also thrilled with this part of the room. I think I'll celebrate by starting a massive sewing project later.  :) I didn't get a chance to raise the table yet, but I have all of the parts to do it!

 

The fancy-pants gold silk curtains came with me when I moved. I have red ones, too. They were a steal at $1.80 a panel, and they're probably the best bargain I have ever scored in my life. I love how they warm up the room. I will probably be buried with them, I'm that smitten...
 
Here's the before shot of the bead table in all of it's sloppy glory...

And here's the after! I cleaned a bunch of stuff up, put things away and amazingly, found a table under there!

A few months ago, I scored a massive vintage lot of 700something unused vintage guitar strings on eBay that have been underfoot, driving me batty. I conquered them with plastic storage tubs that are tall enough to keep the strings in their original envelopes. There's useful information on that envelope! :)

I've let my hoard get away from me. My day job is really busy during the summer/fall, then we went on vacation for about half of December, then I had the plague for what seemed like an eternity. That's a long time to not put things away! I have a nasty habit of buying all kinds of really awesome stuff, and then forget what's there when I find another fantastic deal. It's gotten a bit out of hand.

When it comes to storage, I use every clear container I can find. I need to be able to SEE EVERYTHING! 

I've got some stuff in Talenti gelato containers. I love their shape. Perhaps two pints of turquoise might be a little excessive. Then again, so might one pint of copal, or ammonite. Everyone's got their guilty pleasures. :) Mine might be too much gelato...or too many beads...or...

I even used something I'm not fond of -- those darned divided boxes -- to corral my pearls and artisan-made bits and other funky baubles that keep getting lost in the shuffle.

 I guess they're okay for bigger stuff, but trying to scoop anything small out of them is infuriating, so I kept them out of my life. These particular boxes were already here. Free is good!

And that's all I've got! Thanks for sticking with me!

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Go visit all of the other prettied-up spaces in this blog hop! :)

Host: Sharyl McMillian-Nelson … http://sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com

Donna Millard http://fyrebeadz.blogspot.com/

Beda Hendrix ... https://www.facebook.com/SasijuhlsThings

Ann Schroeder… http://www.beadlove.wordpress.com

Pamela Rachelle… http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com

Kristin L Oppold… http://www.yayjewelry.blogspot.com

Heidi Kingman ... http://heidikingman.blogspot.com

Andi ... http://strungoutjewelry.blogspot.com/

Patricia Buchanan Click “Blog” on the menu bar at http://www.braceletstoo.artfire.com

Helen Simon… http://helensharvest.com/

Kashmira … http://sadafulee.blogspot.com/

somethingunique ... http://somethinguniquebylana.blogspot.ca/

Renetha ... http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com

Kathy Lindemer ... http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com

Swapna Dinesh … http://www.swardaa.comLinda Landig ... http://lindalandig.wordpress.com/

Ann Schroeder ... http://www.beadlove.wordpress.com/

Beti Horvath ... http://stringingfool.blogspot.com/

Sam S ... http://samsbeadshopandjewelry.blogspot.com/

Christina Miles ... http://wingsnscales.blogspot.com/

Islandgirl ... http://islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.ca/

macmillanmarie ... http://www.macmillanmarie.blogspot.com

Emma Todd … http://www.apolymerpenchant.com

Neena Shilvock …
http://www.capriliciousjewellery.com/3/post/2014/02/neither-ship-shape-nor-bristol-fashion.html

Dee Clark… http://biz-e-bead.blogspot.com/

motidana ... http://kalaabhushan.blogspot.com/

Here Bead Dragons ... http://beaddragons.blogspot.com/

Carol D. ... http://dillmansdallies.blogspot.com/

Pam Sears ... http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Nan Smith ... http://wirednan.blogspot.ca

AliMc ... http://northwoodscreativestudio.blogspot.com

Kari Asbury ... http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com

Shirley Moore ... http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com

PyxeeStyx ... http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com/

Jayne Capps … https://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com

Louann Elwell ... https://plus.google.com/117746558861718110652/posts

Rain ... http://honeyandollie.com/

Lori Bergmann ... http://www.LoriBergmann.blogspot.com

Helen Simon… http://helensharvest.blogspot.com/

Arlene Dean ... http://aglassbash.blogspot.com

Sandra... http://city-of-brass-stories.blogspot.de/

Alicia ... http://www.allprettythings.ca

Natalie Pappas ... http://blog.nkpdesigns.com

Mike Flint ... https://www.facebook.com/bagomag

Studio Shaming:

In a fit of clutter-induced rage, I signed on for Sharyl's Clean-up, Fix-up Challenge blog hop. It's a nice way to share my hot mess of a studio with the entire planet -- hey everyone, look at my grossness! :D

About a year ago, I moved from a really BIG house into a really tiny shoebox of a house. I did a lot of downsizing, but I had to hang onto a lot of stuff -- mostly fabric stuff -- and art supplies. What? That stuff is expensive! In the 10 years before I found my current job, I made costumes, corsets and did custom seamstressing, with a bit of photography here and there. The room I used as a studio in my old place was easily 2.5 times bigger than the room I am using now.

I am going to start my journey to a happy, usable space by shaming myself into action. Here's some before shots of my workspace:

I have a jewelrymaking area overflowing with pirate treasure, a microscopic closet fitted with a bookshelf crammed full of books, art, art supplies, fabric, empty storage containers [?!], my studio lights and other photographering junk...and tons more random homeless stuff. I'm a Tetris master.

This 3x6 worktable is currently my command center and unfortunate catch-all space. It's supposed to be where my big anvil and soldering stuff lives...as well as the cutting table for sewing shenanigans. There are more totes full of fabric, patterns and notions chillin' under the table. I want to put wheels on this table to raise it up above knee-trauma height.

This huge wire rack is great for holding totes full of fabric, but not much else. I keep all of my plants in the studio because cats. This is also where my printer, shipping stuff, camera gear, sewing machine and serger hang out very awkward and inefficiently.

Because I like to think I'm in a much bigger room, the sexy industrial sewing machine that is technically the property of my boyfriend's leatherworking business lives in here, too! I need to put a tool magnet for leather-specific tools on this wall, and some shelf space for storing all of the bits and baubles that come along with making leather stuff. What I really mean is "Wow! That wall is naked! That can't happen!" :)

So there you have it. My huge new project that will hopefully make every other project in my future happen! Wish me luck? :-\

Ohai!

Happy winter, all 1.5 of my readers! :)

I wanted to pop in and leave this here for posterity -- I was one of the cool kids to get interviewed for the latest issue of Bead Chat Magazine! The whole darned thing is a good read with tons of eye candy! Take a peek! :)