Organized Work Space

I talked about moving my work space into the family room in an earlier post. Well I finally finished (for now!) organizing my beads and findings. I know I'm always very curious about how others organize and use their space, so I thought I would share how I organized mine.

Everything is against one wall in plastic storage drawers.

The large set of drawers on the far right contains paperwork, shipping and packaging materials and tools that I use occasionally. The four 3-drawer units in the center contain most of my beads organized by color. I have one or two drawer for each color: red, pink, orange, yellow, green (2), blue, purple, brown, black/grey, white/clear, mixed/multi. Most of the beads are stored in see through acrylic boxes. This system works well for me. The drawers come out easily so I can look through them, or I can pull out individual boxes and put them together until I find my inspiration. Previously I stored my beads in ziploc bags, but the beads are so much easier to see, and prettier to look at too, in the acrylic boxes.

One of the bead drawer units.

Here is the inside of one of the green drawers.

I have seperate 3-drawer units for sterling silver and copper beads and components. They are organized by findings, beads/spacers and chain/bead-caps/misc.
Other drawer units hold other types of metal findings, stringing materials, focal beads, metallic beads etc. I'm sure as time goes by I'll make some changes, but this is working very well for me right now, and it makes it very easy to clean up after a creative session.

Not shown in the pictures is a portable file box that is stored under the desk. Inside are hanging file folders. I have my stash of wire stored there, seperated by type (sterling, copper, brass) and gauge.

Well, that's how my space is organized. If you are curious how another artist organized her space, check out how Lily of Tulip's Treasure Box organized hers.

Rings & Things Trunk Show

Today was a day I have been waiting for. The Rings & Things trunk show was in the Boston area, so off I went. If you are not familiar with this trunk show, they rent out a a hotel ballroom and fill it with pearls, gemstones and jewelry-making supplies. You need to have your business license or an invitation to attend. I often buy supplies online, but it is nice to be able to pick out stones myself. Of course, I wanted about twice as much as I bought! Here are some pictures of my goodies.

From top to bottom: African Turquoise, Honey Jade, Carnelian, African Adventurine

From top to bottom: Rutilated Quartz, Smoky Quartz, Green Tourmilated Quartz, Garnet, Unpolished Crackle Agate, Chinese Charoite, African Adventurine

From top to bottom: Pyrite, Bone, Copper Tradebeads, Black Onyx, Ametrine, Garnet

Crazy for Copper

I originally started working with copper wire as a way to "practice" before working with more expensive sterling silver wire. I now feel confident enough to work in silver, but along the way I developed quite a crush on copper. I love the freedom of being able to experiment and not worry about the cost. Also, being of Irish heritage, I have very pale skin and copper, either in its shiny state or oxidized, looks much better with my skin tone. Much of what I make in copper I do go on to make in silver, but have come to think of copper as a precious metal, at least precious to me. Here is a sampling of some of my copper pieces.

Fluorite and Copper Pendant

Copper Wrapped Unakite Pendant

These bangles are so fun to make. My friend Paul dismantled an old drill and made me a wire wrapping tool which is clamped to my table. It is great for twisting wire as well as wrapping it around a mandrel. It's made from parts we found in my basement, so it sure isn't pretty, but it works, it was free, and I love it. At some point I'll take some pictures of my work table and post them.

Copper Coiled Bangle

Copper Coiled Bangle with Green Porcelain Beads