Dog tutus!

A friend of mine was having a birthday party for her beloved bulldog Daisy. Her other half told her she couldn’t buy a tutu for Daisy, so I made one!

Moving in!

Started moving in this weekend! Jack installed the cabinets from Patrick (they still need countertops) brought in some tables, installed the mantle around the fireplace. Have started bring in things from the house. Lots to organize and go through.

I was invited to participate in the Hollyfest event at Sacred Heart Church in Enumclaw. It’s the first weekend in November, so I really have to turn up the heat and get organized! So for now the non jewelry related stuff is moving.

It looks like a room!

The studio looks wonderful! All the drywall is done, the first coats of primer are up, paint is going on today. Went with basic white, then i can decorate any color i want. I just have to paint and install the cabinets and we are in business! I am so excited about having this project finished. Jack and I spent a good part of Sunday discussing where to put the cabinetry and how to incorporate all of my crafting interests into one space. Because you name a craft, I have probably tried it.

How to incorporate….
Jewelry making; beads, wire, tools, findings, pendants, chain, soldering iron, hammers, letter stamps…
Papercrafts; Paper (lots of it) Cricut, card making, scrapbooking, paper box construction,

Stamping: stamps, ink, ink pads, embossing powder, heat gun…
Mixed Media supplies; pens, ink, paint, glue, glitter, paper, polymer clay, bits, baubles, lace,quilling paper and supplies, glass…
Art supplies: watercolors, brushes, paint, paint trays, canvases and paper, pastels, pencils, charcoal…
Quilting; sewing machine, fabric, thread, notions, ribbon, binding, rulers, cutting mat, patterns, magazines…
Needlecrafts: yarn (lots of it), needles, crochet hooks, notions, patterns, books, half finished projects…

Misc stuff: comfy couch, desk, computer, tv/radio,

The front room will be messy or “wet” crafts – all the paint, glitter, glue, beads, tape, wire, a station for my Cricut and paper etc. The back room (with the fireplace) will be for sewing and needlecrafts like knitting and crochet. Fabric, Yarn, books, patterns and magazines, maybe a little TV. Probably the desk and computer.

Craft Sudio update~

We hit some financial snags that slowed construction way down this spring…but I got a full time job a few months ago – a mixed blessing, we can pay the bills, but that leaves less time to create 😦

But, employment and a mega garage sale kicked things into high gear – I have heating and cooling, a salvaged mantle for my scratch and dent gas fireplace, salvaged cupboards and bookcases, all of the walls are sheet rocked, waiting for my brother in law to come over and mud and tape, then we are ready to paint! I have been careening between color choices for the walls, I think a nice soft butter yellow has prevailed. Soft robin’s egg blue was a contender, but decided that might be too trendy of a pick and to go a little more neutral. But, I haven’t been shopping for paint, so all of those other paint chips haven’t tempted me yet!

The camera died, so I have to go and borrow one to get some great pics. I will update later!

Craft Room transformation

You can really see some progress after this weekend’s work! We are about halfway through the construction of my new office and craft studio. The guys installed the sheetrock on the ceiling this weekend. The insulation and sheet rock on the walls are being installed this week. The heating system gets installed on Friday! (We are excited about that one, it is cold out there!) Then the mudding and taping will begin, my brother in law, Dan does that professionally, so between he and Jack hopefully it should be pretty quick. Then I get to take over!! I am trying to pick out the colors of the walls. Really leaning towards a light robin’s egg blue, but it would probably be better to go more neutral and accent with color. I want to choose a color that I am not going to want to paint over in three years. So, probably a nice creamy white or yellow.

We got about eleven feet of lower cabinets from Jack’s nephew Patrick, he is remodeling the garage. Lots of storage space! It will need a countertop, but that is easy to come by. I want to refinish the front door of the space, it has wonderful old wavy glass, but the finish has seen a better day and one of the panes of glass is missing. So, a crash course in refinishing is in my future. There is also the door that I found during demolition. I think a light sanding and a pane of glass would work really well there, but we’ll see.

I haven’t been very busy making jewelry this month; I’ve been really preoccupied with this project and with spring cleaning. We’ve been having some beautiful, sunny but cold days out here in Enumclaw, the crocuses are blooming and the daffodils are poking out of the ground. Spring is coming, and I really need to gather up the dust bunnies and send them back outside!

 

Before we started demolition

the new archway has been framed in

it’s got a ceiling! Starting to look like a real room!

Craft addiction? no, family tradition

We have been working on renovating a room in the back of our barn for a craft studio for me. I’ve been cleaning and packing up some of my craft supplies and I am astounded at the amount of stuff I have collected. Going through each box made me think of another very cool craft I have learned, and would like to pick up again.  Packed in plastic tote boxes of varying sizes were wonderful treasures – boxes of seed beads, quilling supplies, origami paper, polymer clay, glitter, buttons, vintage binding tape (from my grandmother), seed pearls. A large tote half filled with pens, pencils and paint brushes ( I cannot resist a great colored pen).  Oh, and MILKCRATES of Martha Stewart Living magazines – six of them! I love Martha, she is the original craft diva – but that’s another blog post.  And there is more in the house!  Paper (12 x 12, 8.5 x 11, 6×6, 8×8 and boxes of scraps), stickers,stamps, stamp pads, beads, wire, the Cricut, ribbon, fabric, sewing machine, art supplies, scrapbook supplies. All of this stuff made me start to question if I had an addiction.  But I am starting to believe that I have simply missed my calling. Crafting is what I love to do. I am compelled each day to simply make something.

I come from a very long line of craft artisans and my life has always been filled with art, crafts and beauty.  Some of my earliest memories are of going to Campfire with my big sister (Mom was their leader) and the craft projects we used to do. It was the 70’s –  We made families of  these wonderful pink bunnies made from pipe cleaners and styrofoam balls with hats and bows. Decoupaged images on balls covered them with glitter that was like coarse sugar made Christmas ornaments.  Mom, Dad, and Great Gram went to ceramics classes and to paint greenware, we still have some of the treasures that they made.  My Great Gram lived in an apartment downtown and would collect  jewelry from rummage fairs – she would make wonderful lighted Christmas trees inset with the gems from broken costume jewelry, decorated with strands of vintage beads. Mom taught me how to knit and to sew, my sister has the painting talent. Each holiday, birthday, wedding and celebration was handcrafted by these talented people.

So, when the studio is finished, as I unpack my things, I will remember, I have been collecting supplies and learning new crafts and techniques for nearly 40 years, it’s in my genes, my heart and soul.  I am teaching my nieces the beauty of a handcrafted gift, of making something for yourself.   I am so looking forward to a dedicated space to put everything, to learn new techniques, remember old ones and meld them all together.   I found a small tote with approximately 750 tiny origami cranes in it (the other 250 are in there too, in different stages of completion) – my goal is to complete that by the end of the year and display it in the studio for peace, luck and long life.

Vintaj Challenge – editor’s choice winner!

I am so honored to be chosen as the Vintaj Natural Brass editor’s pick for the “New Beginnings” challenge. I love their products and they have helped to inspire me in my own new beginning following my creative heart. Thank you http://ow.ly/3HWpN

Demolition! (and a great find)

We spent the weekend ripping out the old paneling and reworking the doorway into an archway this weekend. I think I have a good idea of what I want that wall to look like – I made a drawing for Jack to work from.

drawing

Also found a wonderful old wooden door – it was being used as the access door to the barn, covered by nasty old  paneling that was cracked and peeling. Jack was just going to throw it out, but I noticed that it was a “sandwich” and recognized the door. I peeled it all off and viola!

Here is a slideshow of some of the changes – My niece Macayla came over to check on us and really got into using the wonder bar and hammer. We got all of the paneling taken down in just a over an hour. Jack went in and rebuilt the archway later in the day.

 

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The Studio – from (very) humble beginnings…

Well, it looks like we are going to do it – build me a studio and office in the space in the back of the “barn”.  When we first looked at our house six years ago, I claimed this room as mine. I moved all of my craft stuff into it and started to organize….beads, paper, tools, ribbon, more paper, books, wire, pens and even more paper (I am a paper-a-holic, or maybe just a craft-o-holic). One evening, it was pouring rain and I when I walked about three feet into my craft space and a big fat drop hit me square in the forehead and rolled down my face. THE ROOF LEAKS! utter panic, I had hundreds, if not thousands of precious sheets of paper, photos, stickers….all got packed into totes, boxes, and bags and quickly moved into our second bedroom. I purchased plastic totes and boxed up much of the rest of it to keep it dry.  And that is where it has sat since then.  I have been out there to rummage, sort, clean, but mostly it has stayed there, waiting for me.

My husband Jack has been trying to get the barn roof sealed since the summer after that fateful day, I don’t know how many coats of snow coat are on it, but if anything ever fell from the sky onto it, it would probably bounce off like a superball!  But – it has been dry for over a year now, so we have started clearing the space and designing my studio. I am SO excited. I have wanted a dedicated space for all of my accumulated treasures for so long.

It is two rooms which will be separated by an archway, both rooms are approximately 13′ square, all total they measure 26’6″ long  x 13’6″ wide.  Right now they are covered in nasty brown paneling and spider webs.   I found some online design software and I was able to create my dream space, but we are simply going to insulate and put in drywall to start. Eventually, I would like build a proper studio space in the front room, with counters with cupboards on two walls, a huge work table in the center of the room and a exhaust hood in one corner.  The back room would be a combination on storage, an office, and a sitting area.  Jack works at an HVAC supplier, so he finds things and brings them home.  We have a large gas fireplace and mantle that he salvaged and will install in that room.  He also purchased a mini heat pump for me for Christmas. He tells me it is the best thing out there for heating and cooling small spaces, and it will keep the humidity constant, which is important for all that paper!

the front door 1/11/11

right half of the front room

left half of the front room

back room, again (and Clayton)

the back room, looking forward

back room

design for the front of the studio

dream floorplan

New studio space!

Spent the afternoon with my darling husband, cleaning out the space for the new studio! I have been dreaming with online design software…the goal right now is insulation and drywall by the end of the month. Then storage solutions…