Exciting things are happening!

Some more of the studio was recently cleaned out. While cleaning it out I was thinking on ways I canbring in new products and what they would be. I've decided to go through my supplies and take inventory. What does this mean for you? It means that I'm now going to be offering jewelry making supplies as well as the finished pieces I've always sold. I was finding things that have never been opened. I also decided on a few new product ideas, that I've never sold before but that are all jewelry supply related. Once I get some of these exciting new items made up I'll post pics and link everyone to them.

I've also been registering for shows to do. I can't wait. I'm waiting to hear back on a few of them now and as soon as the dates are confirmed I'll post an events schedule. These shows are ones of all kinds, some bridal some small school fundraisers, some HUGE craft shows. This is going to be a fantastic year!

Remembering Tabby

R.I.P Tabby Cat. You will be missed. I love you! 12:33am 3/21/10

Craft Studio News

Ok so I finally started going through my stuff in my room. Some things I realized this morning were that my room is actually a bit smaller than I realized, I have a paper rack that I forgot about, I have more shelving than I realized so I'm actually off to a better start than I first thought! I also managed to purchase a few small items all on clearance, which is always a plus! I purchased a medium sized white and clear storage drawer for $7, three shallow long storage boxes for $2.88 each, two new chairs (finally threw out my old ones that were broken and ripped), and some pink gift boxes that I can use for both gift wrapping and backgrounds in pictures. They were a steal at 88 cents each!

I got rid of a bunch of un-needed items that weren't upto my quality of standards anymore. I only worked on the room for about an hour but it's a start in the right direction. Of course after that hour my allergies kicked into high gear so I knew it was time to work on something else. I also purchased some pink paint the other day to work on some of my show displays and give them a new face so to speak. Perhaps I can start that next weekend but we'll see what happens.

craft room continued...

So I haven't had time to start the renovations on the craft room yet. With that being said I have been making lists of all the storage option I already have, a wishlist of things I need, and a wishlist for things I'd like to have as well. Once I decide what to sell I'll post it here with prices. I'm still trying to figure out how to maximize the small amount of space I have to fit the most of my supplies comfortably without looking crowded.

I have some shelving, but I need to paint it all to make it match and help brighten up my workspace. I want to get paper trays or build them. Whichever is more cost effective of course. I'm still trying to figure out how to make use of my pegboards. They are huge so I believe I'll have to cut them down but I think it would be beneficial to not keep them big.

I think I might use my 3 tables for craft shows in my room though I'm not sure I'll be able to fit all of my other fixtures in the room. I really wanted to get alot done on the room this weekened but with being on call, there isn't alot I can get done. I'm planning on trying to start getting some things done Wednesday night but we'll see what happens. I already know this is going to take longer than I would like it to I'm sure, but it will be worth it.

Hopefully this week I can start sketching out some ideas for the workspace to help give me a better idea of what to put where. Well I'm off to a local superstore to get more ideas. I'll post an update very soon!

Craft Studio Renovation

So I've decided to renovate my craft studio and make it functional once again. At the current time it's being used as a storage room, and it's not so pretty. It's actually a bit disorganized and just not appealing to the eyes. I've decided that 2010 is a time for change. I'm going to go through all of my old displays, packaging materials, fixtures, furniture, and everything else being stored in my studio and a few other rooms in the house and get rid of things that are no longer functional for me at this time.

For inspiration I searched for pics of other craft studios and I must say I was quite impressed with the looks of what I found. Some even took the trash to treasure approach literally and reconditioned some old withered pieces into practical and functional storage and displays. I'm not at the point in my life where I want to go out and spend a ton of money redoing my studio so the trash to treasure idea is working in my favor.

A few ideas I picked up from other sites were old cassette tape holders used for stamps and ink pads, a piece of sheet metal and some trim made a magnet board, an old window with 3 panes removed and replaced with corkboard made into a bulletin board. There's other ideas as well and I acutally think I might use a lil of them all, putting my own twist on things of course. I even had the pleasure of coming across decorated soup cans on pegboard to hold different writing utencils and small tools. It's a cute functional and simple idea that recycles as well as saves money versus buying commercial displays that just blend in and cost ALOT of money.

I'll get some pics up as I am able to take them. I'm using materials and displays left over from when I had my lil shop in the amish market. I have slat board, pegboard, pegs, gondolas, and some other items. I can't wait! I hope to be able to fit multiple work stations into my studio. Some of these will be jewelry making, scrapbooking, repairs, completed orders, ceramics, sewing, photography, gift basket making, artwork, and general crafts.

I also need ALOT of storage options for everything I have including items already made ready for sale. I'm going to see what I have available for use now and then make a wishlist of things to buy once I'm ready to go shopping. My wishlist grows every day of course. I'm not sure how much will be bought versus made though. I do plan on making paper trays if there's not enough space to have plastic storage bins for paper and small supplies.

I have alot of ideas to implement and not alot of space to do it in but I always appreciate a good challenge and this is definately going to be a work in progress for quite some time. I do wish the ceiling was higher but I'm just glad I have a space I'll be able to escape to where I won't be sidetreacked so easily and can actually get much more done in the short amount of time I have to work on things sometimes.