Updates coming...

It sure has been a long time!!

I have updates coming... in the mean time here are a few photos of pieces I've created - including a before, after and NOW picture of my last foster. 

This is Plum... now known as Sage - she came to our home a week after being
pulled off the streets of Memphis where she was living with a pack of dogs.
The pic on the left is her an hour or so after being caught at her first check-up
and the pic on the right is her a month and week or so later after her last
check up before heading north to live a wonderful life with her
canine sister and a great Mom and Dad.
She stayed with us from Halloween until early December.

THIS is Sage a taken 6 months later with her sister.
She is big, beautiful and LOVED.

Pieces currently in my calDESIGN Naturals etsy shop include but not limited to these -
EXCEPT the bracelet on the blue denim - which was a custom order. 

Happy Fall - Studio, Awareness Bracelet & New Kitties

Even though it's definitely not Fall in the Mid-South (it's 88 in the shade) it's September and to this New England Yankee Girl that means FALL! :o) It has been a crazy summer - between work-work fiscal year ending and trying to clean and re-organize the Studio it's been a bit nuts. Some good has come from it... finished fiscal year with all positives on my "goal" list, Studio is 3/4 reorganized, I have a new brand of bronze clay to try out - "Goldie Bronze" from Poland (guess what I'm doing this weekend? ;o)), I have TWO NEW KITTIES in Paradise and completed a really pretty Rally for the Cure Awareness Bracelet for a golf tournament in NH.

Studio Layout

First... Studio - although it's not completely done (and I promise to share pics later this month) I did do a "not exactly to scale but close enough for this" layout of my in-home Studio.

I believe when the house was built it was intended to be a dining room and it would have been beautiful - two windows allowed some natural light to come in and the fact it has vaulted ceiling and that there is a 1/3 wall that opens it up to the living room  it is very airy and open.

When I moved in it started out as a "Library" (now you have to have read that with a snoootty, upper crust voice) which really means I had a couple of credenza's with display hutches on top to hold display items and books as well as a book case, the cat condo (always necessary) and a rocking chair. HOWEVER, when I discovered my new addiction to making jewelry it slowly (OK who am I kidding) QUICKLY became the Studio. First in was the Metal Clay Armoire... it's big, bulky and most importantly CLOSE-ABLE. It was designed for computer use but that just means wonderful use for metal clay work. It has a pull out work space as well as a pull out keyboard area that allows for storage and a wonderful extended work area. PLUS the pull out work space is about 3" below the main work space which means I can leave a project on the pull out, push it back in and not worry that it will be messed with.

Nubbles in the Pent House

My boys discovered that they could use the 1/3 wall and jump diagonally up to reach the top - you know how Kitty's love to be high. So I put a comfy kitty bed up there and refer to it as the Pent House (PH)... and after Nubbles rolled off the back (due to the angled wall behind it) three times while he was sleeping (he gets so comfy up there he sprawls out and rolls over) the trim that should be on the FRONT of the top edge is now across the back acting like a bunk bed bar to keep him from rolling off the back. It works wonderfully and we have had no accidents since it was installed.

Original Studio area table.

Next came the small drafting table on wheels that I originally started with in my "Closet Studio" That tucked in sweetly between one of the square posts and window to become my Wire & Beading area. I have a Scrapbook Storage unit sitting on top of it upside down. This allows the poles that were designed to hold ribbon can hold wire rolls. I have glass filled bottles of semi-precious stone beads in the shelve space below the wire holders and the lowest little cubes hold my bits, pieces, steel block, third-hand, steel wire, etc. Recently I added a bar across the front to hold my pliers, cutters and such within easy access. Also on this work area is my 10-drawer cabochon cabinet. And yes, there's still room to work!

Then of course I needed storage for my bead hoarding... I mean bead SUPPLIES. There is a plastic multi-drawer unit that holds these supplies, wire, seed beads, beading boards, and all kinds of wonderful tools and supplies - right in front of the square post next to the Wire & Beading area.

What Studio wouldn't be complete without an Aruba Cat condo?? I have had this almost indestructible 6' cat condo with many levels for almost 15 years I believe... it's awesome, heavy as anything and a great spot to allow the Studio Kitties to be close at hand (our desire) and out of the way (my desire). This is settled in the corner with both the windows allowing them to see who's coming to the door and who may be walking (OR FLYING) by outside.

A pic of a part of one of the display
Credenzas before Studio take over

The two Credenza and hutch units still hold books and some display items but one has also become a packaging and shipping station and the other a storage and display area.

The last piece added was intended to be a child's desk however it's wonderful as a work station. it's actually very tall, has another pull out work station - supposed to be a LARGE keyboard area - and a drawer in this pull out. It makes a wonderful computer station and because the work space is so large I use it for beading and wiring space also. it's a great find!!

WAIT... what about the kiln?? What about the MAPP Torch?? What about the Photo booth?? What about the polymer clay?? Well those are all out in the garage - right around the corner from the studio making it not only convenient but also a way to keep the odor's out of the house. 

I promise I will have pictures - I love and adore my Studio and am so happy to share it with you!!

Come back tomorrow when I show you the beautiful piece done for the Rally for the Cure Tournament in Concord NH and introduce you to Hannah Mae & Magic Sissy.

Studio Evolution

Studio Evolution...

"Art Closet

My "Studio" started out as a little work-area in my spare guest room closet. I called it the "Art Closet".  I found a drafting table that slid perfectly into the closet and allowed me to close the doors to contain it from my 4-legged helpers.

When I really discovered Precious Metal Clay I realized I needed a bigger area AND an area that would allow me to SAFELY use a small butane creme brulee torch to fire my fine silver pieces... I had yet to purchase a kiln. And let me tell you - firing with a torch - even that small... in a small closet is not wise!! (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!)

Section of the Hutch/Book Shelf

I looked around and thought - hmmmm my "Library" which is approx 12' x 12' and supposed to be the dining room of my house might work. BUT it's wide open. No doors. Half wall between it and the living room. I didn't use it as a dining room because the kitchen breakfast area is perfect for my table. (The people before me used it as a music room - it had a piano in it when I saw the house so to me it was never a "dining room".)

It started out w/ some nice bookcases with hutches on top. A rocking chair and the boys Aruba Cat condo. Paint color - gorgeous shade of Hydrangea Blue and Eddie Bauer color from Lowes.

Metal Clay Work Center

It slowly became my Studio...

First I added a metal clay work area - really it's a self enclosed Computer Armoir - purchased to match the book cases and hutches already in there. ... it was perfect - "tons of room", a slide out work area AND a slide our second area where the keyboard is supposed to go. PERFECT... This is what it looked like when I naively thought it would contain all I was going to do for jewelry. >

The bed was added to the top because he kept getting up there. To the left of the open unit is a 1/3 wall between the living room and the "Library/Studio" he would

Sleeping Babies!

jump up there and then jump up to the top. They both (and Mikito did to) spend a lot of time up there. Directly behind me - while sitting at this desk - is the 6' Aruba Cat Condo that has been in our family for many, many years.

I then moved my home computer into this room - one of the "book cases" became a computer center. I moved the small drafting table from the guest room closet into this room too. THEN I purchased a kids computer desk that is really tall - and approx 36" long. It too has a pull out work area and a drawer inside that area.

Beading Area...

I used it as a work center then decided it would be better to have the computer set up there, have room to work on some wire work also and clean up the bookcase area a bit.

NOW we start... the great Studio Reorganization... 

I didn't remember to take photos of the entire room before moving things around but I do have some. Please be warned - these are not PG13.. they are very messy. ;o) The picture below is a wonky, pieced together photo of what is behind me in the room when I sit at the Metal Clay Work Center. Two corner windows w/ the Aruba Cat Condo, my beading area to the immediate right of those, and the packaging section and old computer center in the book cases.

The Messy Studio. A little wonky based on how
I took the pics and pasted them back together.

The picture below is how full the Metal Clay Work Center is now. As I work on cleaning up the studio I will add to this post.

FULL Metal Clay Center

I can tell you that the section you do not see (where I'm sitting when I rotated around to take the images in the long photo above) is set up with a new slim 20" monitor that allows for plenty of work area in front of it. The Beading area is cleaned up, the bookcases & hutches are cleaned up. I created an "Inspiration Board" of finished pieces I have bought from fellow artisans. It's a wonderful place!!

All that's left now is to clean and reorganize the contents of the Metal Clay Work Center and then clean up the corner of the garage (right around the corner from the Studio) where I have my kilns, enameling set-up and photo booth. Wait til you see it. It is as organized as the pic of the Beading Center above but soooo much better!! It's a great space and I'm so pleased to have it to use.