Insanity is only one more Workman away...

Ok, I realise that I have no justification to complain, after all, at the end of all this, I will have a studio room just for me, (also a sitting room that will be a joy to sit in rather than the somewhat dark cave that we have been used to for the past 10 years).

It will be spacious, it will be to my design, it will have dedicated storage, for the few bit and pieces that my craft requires (ok, ok yes....for the huge amounts of absolutely essential, needed, have to have, necessary, I cannot live without, "things" that my craft requires).

It will be light, it will be airy, it will be nothing short of amazing (in my eyes anyway).

BUT.......I am at the point of meltdown here.

3 more weeks to go before the carpet goes down and then I can start making it into the sort of room I have only glimpsed in half forgotten dreams.

BUT..... I am not sure I will actually last three weeks in a state of normality....well what passes for normality for me. I am going ever so slightly crazy here with how we are having to live to get to that state of Nirvana.

The pictures speak for themselves......

Tiny Charms

I promised you another post today.

I have been thinking for awhile now about putting a range on my Etsy Shop that is different to my jewellery. I started with buttons and have now got the beginnings of a range of tiny charms.

I have been doing lots of experimenting over the past few months with antiquing beads with acrylic paint with varying degrees of success, well actually rather a large number of failures in fact! I could not get the look that I wanted, most of the time the beads ended up looking dirty rather than antiqued - not quite what I was looking for. I have also been experimenting with sealing the beads. Those of you who know my work, know that I sand everything that I can and then buff my beads and never, ever use glazes or varnishes. But of course, you cannot leave paint unsealed, so I had to find something that would work. I really hate varnishes and glazes, they always "gloop" or drip or just look wrong.






Anyway, to cut a long story short, I eventually discovered a way of sealing the beads that works, gives the look that I want, doesn't drip or gloop and best of all is easy to apply! Phew...breath a sigh of relief!

I have ideas for other charms as well, and also want to start doing some bead sets as well. I might even be persuaded to do some of my cupcake charms!

My daughter Katie loved these little Toadstool Charms so much than she insisted I make her a pair of earrings with the new earwires that I had just got through the post! Here they are, and here is Katie modelling them!














All these tiny charms are now in my Etsy shop. I do hope you like them!

Let me know what you think - I always love to get some feedback from all of you.














I am painting the skirting and doors tomorrow in the latest phase of my studio room - not my idea of fun! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Studio Room Update - But this time with Pictures!

Seem to have sorted out my camera, so here are some shots of the work so far!

This is the plasterboard waiting to be fixed to the wall for the dry-lining.










This is the view from the sitting room into the studio. As you can see we are working on all areas at once (must be completely mad!)











Here is the dry-lining complete!













First coat of paint on!


















Looking into the room with my new chair!














Lots still to be done - but slowly we are getting there!

Have been working on some new things for my Etsy shop - will be revealing all later today I hope.

Enjoy the photos!

Studio Room Update

The first coat of paint has gone on today - yay!

At last I feel as if the end is in sight. Unfortunately I have no pictures to show you as the camera is having a few technical issues (blurry photos), so you will just have to try to imagine crisply plastered wall where the stone and brick was. Fireplace completely gone. Yellow walls are now "Just Walnut" and the carpet has holes in it where the hearth was! New carpet coming in a few weeks time. I cannot wait!

Have been getting a few beautiful bits and pieces for when it is all ready, like a beautiful ceramic spaghetti jar for my scrap clay (you don't want to know what I was using before!), a wonderful Whale called Noah who is going to sit somewhere in the room and look beautiful and some really lovely curtain material which my friend Rachel is going to make into a Roman Blind for me. *sigh* I wish I could show you!

There is still a long way to go, and lots of hard work before we get there, but it will be so worth it in the end.

Hope you have been having a productive week.

Have a great weekend.

New Studio Room

This is the start of my studio room! (apologies for the blurry second photo).

I can hardly believe that after working for the past 5 years at my tiny Ikea desk to both clay, assemble and photograph my jewellery I am going to have a dedicated work space. The house looks and feels as though a bomb has hit it, but the excitement levels are running high. I will post more pictures as the work gets done so that you can see how the whole thing progresses.

In the meantime I am claying in the kitchen and assembling in my bedroom. Not a lot of fun, but it will all be so worth it!

I am still planning the whole studio/craft station/storage thing as I go along, and have no real idea of what I am doing! If you have any useful tips, brilliant storage ideas, amazing ideas on how a studio works best then I would really love to hear from you.

Most of all thought, this is going to be fun - hope you will enjoy seeing the room develop as much as I will.

ABS Amazing Giveaway

One of my favourite places to get some inspiration is Art Bead Scene. I must visit it at least a couple of times a week and love reading about other designer makers and seeing their work. Through this site I have been introduced to so many wonderful artists and had the chance to see a little of their work processes, had a stroll around their studios (one of my favourite things to do!) and generally enjoy myself and wish that I could meet them in real life!

If that is not enough incentive for you to visit then what if I were to tell you that they are having a huge giveaway this week as well!

Here is the link - enjoy! http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/

I am still here...

...I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. It's just that Easter Half Term came - two weeks of glorious not having to get up, not having to make packed lunches, not having to do anything much but spend time with the children and paint some chairs. Then we went to Cornwall for the Easter Weekend - and what a wonderful time we had with great weather, great food and the best friends in the world. Bodyboarding on Gwithians Towan for hours, had to be the hightlight of the weekend - sheer bliss.

Then a 3 day week before the big event...... My Birthday, Our Wedding Anniversary and of course the Royal Wedding all on the same day!

So - I am still here - just had some other things going on for a while!

See you next week when all should be back to normal again.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.