Disorderly Conduct

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. A. A. Milne

I've posted a couple of entries about moving and organizing my work space. I received a lot of comments about how neat it is. Well it was, for about 5 minutes! I thought I would show you what it usually looks like, after a day of creating.

Notice my new Wubber tools, the ones with turquoise handles. I am really loving these. I will be writing more about these soon.

Now I admit that I will probably clean it up a bit before I start working again, but this is it's usual state. If I was good I would clean it up as soon as I was done, but generally life is what calls me away in the first place, and life doesn't wait. Plus, it really is much more fun to be a little bad!

Another artist who is finding out first hand that life can sometimes take time away from creative pursuits is Michelle Harvey of Mirabella Creations. After I read her take on life with a 3-year old child, life with teenage boys sounds easy!

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.

New Work Space

I'm finally getting my new work space set up. I have a large L-shaped desk from Ikea that I set up in the family room. The smaller part of the L hold the storage drawers. I think most jewelry artists have a tendency to collect many beads and finding, and I'm no exception. I'm still moving things around and trying to fit everything in, so I'll post more on that later, when I get it all figured out!

Storage Area

The middle section of the desk is where I do most of my work. My beads, findings and tools are within reach, and I have lots of light.

Middle Work Area

The larger L-section is my secondary work area. It contain most of my tools, some magazines and a computer. I'm hoping that there will be room to set up my light cube here, although I haven't tried that yet.

Secondary Work Area

Now that my life has calmed down a bit and I'm on summer vacation, I'm hoping that I can use my new space to create lots of pretties. I'm also planning on trying some new techniques, including wire weaving and wire crochet. Have I mentioned that I love working with wire? LOL


Here is my first attempt at a crocheted bracelet. I used 28 gauge black wire and glass rondelles.

Wire Crochet Bracelet

I think this looks almost like polka dots. Polka dots can be a lot of fun, but they can also be quite sophisticated. To see examples of polka dots used in a sophisticated way check out my fellow Skiggaziner Stacy's blog. Stacy is planning her wedding and the theme is polka dots! How cool is that?

Transition Time

Phew! I finally have a few minutes to get my thoughts together. These past few weeks have been very busy. It seems like everyone and everything close to me is going through some kind of transition.

My oldest son Andrew is graduating from Boston University and moving into his own apartment in Boston. My middle son Ethan graduated from Salem High School and will be going off to college in the fall.

My house is also in transition. We moved everything out of the office/den to install a new hardwood floor (it's beautiful, thanks Tommy!). At the same time I moved the desk to the family room to set up a new work space, which I'm still organizing. I'm also getting ready for the big graduation party next week. Then I hope to get back to business.

My first year of teaching kindergarten came to a successful close with a beautiful graduation at Searles Castle.

Searles
Originally uploaded by mjp3000

The children felt like they were in a fairy tale. During their last few weeks of school we spent lots of time talking about their feelings of excitement and nervousness at moving on to first grade. It was sad to see these 39 children move on, but very gratifying.

Going back to clean up the classroom after the last day I had to strip everything from the ceiling and walls. I was left with a sterile, cold classroom. It is amazing how much energy color can add to our lives. I think this is why the work of Cherished Dreams speaks to me. Her use of color is both vibrant and sophisticated. If you could use a shot of energy for your work or living space check out her work.

Old Work Space

Here is a picture of my old work table. It's former life was as a kitchen table.

My main problem with this space was that when I pulled out materials to work with, there was no place left to work. I usually work on several different pieces at once. Some might be in the design phase where I like to pull different beads together and just let them sit for a bit while I think about it. Then I might have one or two pieces that I'm trying out a new idea or technique on, and I often like to let those sit for a bit too. Then of course, when I finish a new piece I like to leave it in view for a time so I can critique and/or admire it. So you can see how having a few creative days can result in a work table that becomes completely unworkable!

But don't worry, relief is on the horizon. I am in the process of setting up a new work space. I've moved a large L-shaped desk from the office to the family room. This will allow me to store all my supplies on one end of the L where I can also 'audition' stones and materials. This will give me the other end of the desk, about 80" to actually work on my pieces. There will also be room to set up my light box, so I won't have to turn the dining room table into an electrical octopus with tentacles of power cords radiating in every direction.

I'm hoping to have things set up within the week to get back to work. And hopefully I'll have some nice pictures of my new space to share.

Creative Growing Pains

Today I turned my house upside down moving things around. I had been doing all my creating at a small table in my family room. Everytime I took supplies out to work on a project, there was no space left to work. So today I moved an L-shaped desk from the office to the family room. I'm hoping that I'll have room to spread out supplies and still have room to work. I'm still trying to work out the best way to store everything. I'll try to post some pictures later when I get it all set up.