My Jewelry Studio

I realized I've never ever shared my current studio space! Frankly, that's because it is usually in such a disastrous state that I wouldn't wish to show anyone on a good day. Last weekend, I received a much needed reprieve when the grandparents took Nora for two whole days. What did I do with my rare freedom from motherly duties? I cleaned out my whole studio from top to bottom. Obviously, you can clearly see where my priorities lie. As soon as I get a moment to myself, I go straight to fixing up my studio! Oh, and deciding to take on that task was not that fun, mind you. There were huge boxes upon boxes of stuff piled up under the desk, items and paperwork that I had been avoiding dealing with for over a year and a mish-mash of beads and findings in every corner that had been thrown every which way. In my defense, I did have some help with the beads going everywhere part. There's a 2 year old around here that loves to play with Mama's beads. ;) Even with all that work, there is plenty more I would love to do with my space, but at least it is clean, the top of the desk is clear and I can work in there once again! It was well worth the effort.

This is the top of my main work surface where I keep some of my jewelry and favorite displays, a few bead storage units, my essential jewelry-making tools and some bead bowls and baskets. I love the art piece on my wall. I need to hang more pictures and art!

My materials wall. This wall is directly behind the desk and chair. The pegboard expands across almost the entire length of the wall. Over the years of making jewelry, I've learned I work most efficiently when I have my supplies out where I can see them all the time and can get to them quickly and easily. 

My pegboard wall holds materials and tools I use on a regular basis: metal gauge wire and beading wires, rulers and measuring tapes, scissors, hammer, metal and leather punches, bead stops and misc. tools, silk knotting cords, leather cords, suede lace, hemp, cotton and Irish waxed linen cord, silk cords, dupioni ribbon, sari ribbon and fibers, glass beads, gemstones and wood beads. 

Studios and organization is such an interesting topic for jewelry makers because anyone who works with beads knows the dilemma of bead storage and setting up a space that works. It is the bane of our existence! There seems to be no easy answer or solution for most of us. Ideally, I'd love to have absolutely every bead and finding visible at a glance. Just like when you walk into a bead shop, everything is out where you can see it!  

How about you? How do you like to organize your work space? Have you shared photos of your studio? It's always fun to get a glimpse inside any creative space! Please share with me by leaving me a link to your photos in the comments! Even if you don't have photos, I'd love to hear your thoughts on studios and organization.

Bead Studio-WIP

The bead studio is coming along! I have a few more things up in my room. 

I got this great pegboard installed! This is so functional! I love having everything out where I can see it all and just quickly grab any tool or supply I need. The pegboard comes as a kit with different kinds of hooks, attachments and accessories, like these clear bins and the cups. I found these pegboards on Amazon.com.  

Here's the link to the one I bought. The price on Amazon was a little cheaper than on the manufacturer's website. The pegboards are made by this company called Azar Displays. They make all kinds of pegboards and displays for retail stores. They have a variety of different accessories that can be used with the plain pegboards. Definitely check out this company!

I put these painted wooden drawers behind my laptop. They hide all the wires in the corner from my electronic devices. Plus, I can store a few things in the drawers. They also hold a few jewelry displays on top, which I hope to fill with newly made creations soon!

Here's my wall art for the room! Well, it's not really finished yet. lol. It will be a cherry blossom branch once I put the flowers up! But even just the branches are pretty! Can't wait to see it finished, it's going to be sooo pretty! It's a vinyl wall decal I ordered from The Kinky Wall Studio on Etsy. It is really the perfect solution for the slanted in walls in this room!

Here is more pegboards on the opposite wall. I started to put a few things up. These are most of my cords and ribbons. A great way to store and display these materials, don't you think? I just love this! Everything is well organized and each material has a place to live! I love it when things have homes.  As you can see, I'm a big fan of having everything stored out in the open. I find it much easier to design jewelry that way. If I don't see it I forget I have it. I can't take full advantage of the beads and supplies I have if I don't know I have it or I can't find it in boxes full of random things. Am I the only one with this problem? I think not.

 Well, gotta get back to this cutie right here.

I'll show more later! Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think of my space so far and the pegboards and wall decal!

Just moved!

Hi There, My family and I moved into a new apartment over this past weekend. YAY! I'm very excited about our new space. Here I am, sitting in the bonus room that will become my new bead and jewelry studio!

We had out grown our previous place quite awhile ago, even before Nora was born. It was a tiny one bedroom apartment. No room for Nora and no place to bead either, except for the kitchen table...and there's nothing wrong with that! Believe me, that was my space for a loooong time and that was fine, but it just gets to a point where that just isn't workable anymore. This is a BIG step up for me and I'm so very happy and grateful for this new place. I'm looking forward to sharing this space with you!

Sorry for this crappy quality video below. It's from my camera. This is the first time I tried using the video function on it.