Category Archives: Organization

My Bead Table Chaos

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Ah, bead table Wednesday! I’d done so well the last month, neat studio, clean desk and tables. Then the down-to-the-wire crunch came on. I opened another table in here and now all 4 horizontal surfaces are covered in clay, beads and show product!

Desk Edge

Since I like working at my computer desk best it tends to accumulate the active mess pile.

Production

Some pieces I finally scrape off one table and baked. Soon, they’ll get to the staging area.

Staging area

Product that’s sorted or bagged to go to the shows. Yay!

I’d love to say there’s some order in the chaos… but right now, it’s hard to see.

Redoing my Booth Part 1

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Most of the shows I do are small, indoor shows with a table based setup – usually 1 8ft table, sometimes an 8ft and 1 or 2 6ft ones. I’ve cobbled together quite a collection of display items, table coverings and random STUFF in the last 12 years!

This year I decided I wanted a more custom and cohesive look. I wanted it to fit with the brand I have in mind – to use more of a clean but also nature inspired theme.  I started by making notes of how I could do that using what I already have and adding a few pieces.

Table Coverings

I kept my old table coverings but plan on editing how they are used a bit as I accumulate more of them. I’d like the green to get draped and mounded a bit on the table tops to make more of a grass or forest floor feeling. In their previous lives, these were clearance queen sized flat sheets and inexpensive fake satin drapes.

Display Trees

Speaking of forest… these are probably the biggest change. I had been experimenting with wood cut outs of trees to hang items on and finally drew up plans. My dad visited over the weekend and cut a TON OF THEM out for me so away I go. I have two sizes here and they will be excellent for hanging jewelry, ornaments… you name it. When not in use, they pack flat and they are super light.

Next up is swapping out some of my other fixtures for easier show items!

My Clay Table

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Indulge me in a little creative procrastination. Or productive avoidance. Anyways. I’m avoiding a bead order I should be working on by taking pictures of the clay table in my office. It’s a 5 foot by 2 foot counter top on trestle legs. I’m hoping to have it be white soon because the blue of it is harsh on colour picking.

The Clay Table

If you click the picture, I have notes on the Flickr image. But mostly it’s crowded on the one end because that end is where my chair and computer desk are. So I tend to work where I can swivel back and forth. The far end has my shelves, organizer and my pasta machine. If I shove the chair I can roll right there.

Current Project Ongoing Project

These are the projects on the go: beads in progress for the order and for my shop. Beads that need holes made from the last of a cane by the fabulous Kathi Gose.

Blend Inspiration

And some clay that needs to be tucked back in it’s home and blends that need to be caned ASAP.

The Shelves

These are over the far end of the table and are currently in a sort of ‘See if it works’ arrangement. The very top shelf will hold jewelrymaking supplies as I use those less often. The two below have tubs of cane pieces, various clays, tools, wraps, tiles, glass, cutters… you name it. We see my little Atlas and the green rolling cart in the lower right. The cart has the sort of random additions you can’t live without: more cutters, molds, stencils, sandpaper, pointy things, paints, inks, chalk, brushes, glitter, mica and general chaos.

OK, confessing to this insanity has cured my absent motivation. I now want to go hide and finish the dang beads.

September Ambles In

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School started last week which means that we are struggling to get back to the regular routine. Of course, with the move from the city to here, from primary to middle school, the new bus route, we have the next set of challenges. So far, so good though!

September didn’t seem to rush in but more of a leisurely ambling walk in. I’m starting off the fall with a final mad organization and cleaning run in the studio as the season kicks into high gear. First off, my shelf with labeled tubs (I can’t really justify all the pretty brightly coloured boxes and cute vintage tins I see – little plastic containers are my budget) for beads in ‘process’ and the ones that are listed for sale on Etsy and Artfire. Elsewhere in the studio are other tubs with other Me labels… Ship Me, Make Me, Order Me and so on.

Labels

This last flash-arific picture is a DVD rack I grabbed at the thrift store. I think it’s a wall mount rack. I’ve repurposed it into an earring rack on my jewelry & shipping table. The little silver one beside it is a CD rack that was damaged in the move. I may finish damaging it and turn it into another rack.

Recycled Racks

How’s everyone else’s September starting out?

Other People’s Studios

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Since I moved from a small apartment to a house at the end of June and picked up my own office-studio-cave in the process, I’ve been a tad obsessed on how it should get set up.

Part of that obsession has resulted in me stalking the studio, home office and craft room groups on Flickr. And then there’s the results for a simple Google image search on ‘craft room organization’.

book on womens work spaces

I found a book in the library – amidst the other house decorating books – called: Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces of Extraordinary Women by Jo Packham.

Overall, the studios are overdecorated and cutesy for my taste but you could easily just pick and choose ideas to take away. I was happy to see a whole, contemporary, book devoted to professional craft artists work spaces.

I have to admit that I haven’t got my little space quite how I want it yet – it will require some more TLC and different wall shelves but it has gotten good use even as it is. I am hunting up textiles at the local thrift shops after seeing a few of the amazing simple sewing projects Lisa has done with such the last two years.