Running Out of Space

I don't know about you, but I constantly find myself running out of workspace. If I'm working up against a deadline or with limited time, cleaning up is last on my list and I go from one table to the next, until all work surfaces have been covered. Being an organized person goes out the window and if I'm not careful I find myself working on the floor! I think you all know about that little open workspace that eventually closes down to about a 3 inch by 3 inch section—time to clean up!

Or pull out the little old rickety tv tray and keep right on working!

Yes, that's me right now! I'm loving this little table—it has become my little studio away from the (messy) studio. I've done almost everything on it so far, except leather burning, as I don't want to burn the house down if it tips over.

Notice the empty organizers on my jewelry table—at the moment they're serving no purpose other than taking up table space. They're brand new and intended to help me organize those boxes of stuff lying on the floor. Right now I'm thinking it would be so much easier to fill them with new beads that arrive already separated in their own baggies. ;-)

Tea dyed fabrics, molds, paint swatches, leather feathers… and this is actually a tiny bit neater than normal. I know I'm in trouble when I start stacking things on top of my pasta machine (top left)!

This weekend that will end and I'll finally clean up (and maybe possibly vacuum too) and hopefully be ready to start fresh on Monday (or Tuesday). I don't like to be distracted with cleanup when I'm working, but it does eventually get to a point where when I look around all the stuff lying around in various stages of completion really gets on my nerves. Not to mention all the paint dust and polymer crumbs, and little bits of wire that are all over the place.

Always after a good cleaning, I feel ready to take on new things. I feel inspired and invigorated… if that makes any sense. No? I'm not sure it does to me either, but hey, if it works… I say go for it!


So, what about you? Do you like a pristine work area, or are messes a minor issue to you? Do you love reorganizing or is it your worst enemy? Do you have a simple work area that's easy to tidy or does cleanup mean cleaning an entire room or studio for you? Do share!

Work Space + Uninspiration!

Melissa has been so nice to show us her work space, I thought I'd share mine too.  When I get uninspired, I tend to try and figure out why, which doesn't really help all that much does it?  So then I try and clean up my work space.  This is what I'm going to work on this week.  Hopefully it will help!

Here's a little bookshelf that my son helped me put together!  I use it to hold my tumbler, my small crockpot, extra enameling beads, and various "stuff"!

Under my work table - bottles I use to either melt down and make cheese trays, or break them up to use for recycled bottle beads.  The bag is pieces of broken glass leftover from a class I took at the Pittsburgh Glass Center.  Goodness, Sue, do something with it...

This used to be a rack that held kid toys - of course it didn't last that long because toys get more numerous and bigger!  Now it holds all my presses and pressing tools, frit, murrini, lampworking enamel, shorts, and extra containers that I just can't throw away! Oh yeah, and that little respirator mask too.

My bench - don't really need to explain the mess, do I?

This is a makeshift moveable rack for all my glass.  It used to be a bookshelf; there's a handle on the side, there are casters on the bottom and pvc pipe to hold the glass colors.  I outgrew this long ago!  Hence the vases full of glass on the photo above!  On top are my large hole rods, glass, and frit on a lazy susan.

My tv, kiln, and wall where my bead roller tools hang.

Another shelf holding tutorials and books, extra enameling pieces, and more glass and more frit!

More glass on the floor.  What????

 Oh.  More glass on the floor.   WHAAAAAT??????

The window sill - holds old coke bottles and my wonky rods, that I use to make those flowery plant pokes!

The work table, where I have my polymer toaster oven, where I take photos, and various "Junk" that needs to be put away.  And more glass....

So, next time I post, hopefully at least two or three of these places will be neater.  What?

Saturday Share: My Dark Secret, Part 2 (Hey, look what I found!)

Previously on "My Dark Secret", Melissa reveals that not only is she a procrastinator extraordinaire, she also secretly is very, very messy!  She made a vow to change all that and get her act together by today's episode. Will she be able to make good on that vow?  We'll find out after this word from our sponsor...stay tuned!

Riigghht...it is a sure sign that you have a terrible procrastination problem when you give yourself a whole 2 weeks and vow to clean up your act, then wait until 2 nights before your deadline to even think about tackling it!  I kept walking into the room with my main mess, then immediately remembering some terribly important TV show I wanted to watch, or dinner to cook, or bathroom to scrub (not)!

Thursday night I finally just took a deep breath and started....I decided to focus on the area off the master bedroom where the majority of my stash is.  Once I got started, and into it, I actually enjoyed it. Here are some before and after shots.

Before...

After!

Before...

After!

Before...

After!

My new space!

I must admit that there are still lots of little trays that need to be sorted, but instead of being all mixed up cluttering the table, I stacked them nicely and put them in the black rolling file box...my goal is to open that up and pull out ONE tray and not stop until it is empty...either restocking where the items go, or finishing the project that was started.  I like that I was able to bring in my magazines and books and include them in the space...they used to be strewn all over the place!

The big bonus of cleaning-up and reorganizing, aside from everything being all neat and orderly, is that you uncover cool things you forgot you had, or in my case, had been looking for and thought was lost forever!

Buttons from my dear Mother's stash!

Fun flea market finds from my last trip to Lucketts with the girls!

Products of wonderful classes with Stephanie Lee and Richard Salley that I procrastinated on finishing!

Thought these were lost forever...6/20 enamel I bought LAST YEAR! and  images from  an art deco Opera posters calendar I planned to use in some mixed media.

Last, but not least...score!  Thick copper wire I came across at the hardware store, steel wire,  sterling square wire and a piece of thin sterling sheet.  I completely forgot about this buried treasure!

I decided not to do anything with my basement space where my enameling station is for now...my hubby and I have made a pact to take one room at a time and really organize, clean and revamp.  The area in my dining room is ever changing depending on what I am working on, so while I didn't concentrate on it, I was able to put away some of the boxes and tools in the main room, which helped.

Now, the responsibility is mine to keep things this neat and tidy.  So, how about you?  Many of you said in your comments that your spaces also need a cleaning day!  Were you able to accomplish it?  If so, congratulations!  If not, it's okay...I hope I have inspired you to think about it!

Melissa Meman
Melismatic Art Jewelry
Art. Life. Love.

Saturday Share - My Dark Secret

Yesterday, I commented on our private board that I didn't know what I was going to post about, and felt like I had run out of things to "share"!  Our fearless leader, Jennifer, kicked my behind and said, "don't be silly!" She made several great suggestions, but one thing she mentioned made my heart race, and my face flush.  How could I possibly share my deep, dark, terribly haunting secret? I thought long and hard.  I couldn't show the world, could I?  Wait, I thought, maybe if I shared, I can overcome and triumph!  Okay, here goes...

My name is Melissa Meman, and I have a shamefully disorganized and messy studio work space!  Warning...images may not be safe for some individuals with certain obsessive/compulsive tendencies!

All kidding aside, I truly am a bit embarrassed! But I am looking at this as an opportunity to get my act together and organize!

So, here we are in my main "studio" space...unfortunately, it is not a separate room, but a small alcove off the master bedroom, which means I really can't work in here late night or early morning, as my hubs is a really light sleeper.  We planned to swap out and move my stuff into another room, but it involves a huge overhaul, so for now, I will have to make do.  Plus, not shown, my computer is against the other wall.  It is an old desktop and needs replacing.  When I do, I will re-org that space as well.  As you see from the piles of things, I have been trying to make an attempt to organize, but it needs a lot of work.

Counter-clockwise in the room, my main work table.  The filing cabinet has nothing to do with my work, and hubs has agreed that we will move it to make more space for another shelf.  The wooden box was a gift from hubs and I love it...it is filled to the brim, but I need to situate it so that it is more accessible and I need to come up with a labeling system to know what is where!

This is the table where I usually saw, but as you can see, there are a lot of things that need to be put away, finished, de-stashed, etc!

A little further to the right on the table...a tray of favorite art beads.  You will notice lots of little plastic trays...my 11-yo has a Luncheable problem, but the trays come in handy for putting single project ingredients in, and they are stackable!

Here we have a pile of strands I was going through at one point looking for the perfect bead, but now they need to get sorted and put away.

My modus operandi, these days, is to bring projects downstairs. Our kitchen and den morph into one long, open room.  This table is in the informal dining area, in between.  I like working here because I can be with the family and still work on things.

In fact, most of my tools have made it down here and have an almost permanent place here.  An ancient desk organizer is being used for pliers, etc.  It is actually pretty handy. Note the important peanut butter M&Ms.

I found this little shelf on sale at Staples, and I really like it.  It has wheels so I can move it when I need to.  Unfortunately, if  you put heavy things in the drawers they pull out of their little slots, so I have to be careful not to over load it. That second drawer that is partially open is full of fun stuff that I need to sort!

Another pile of plastic boxes of frequently used items.

Last, but not least, my third space. This is in the unfinished portion of our basement.  It is dark and dank, but really, my favorite space.  An old set of plastic drawers, re-purposed from my son's baby stuff holds enamels, metal filigree beads and other "enamel-ables".  My hot-head torch and soldering station is here as well.  Not shown, to the right of this table is a small area with my pickle pot, a smaller crockpot of vermiculite, extra tools.  It was hard to get enough light to get a good shot.

I need to do a lot of work down here to put in a few more safety precautions, don't judge!

Thanks for letting me air my dirty laundry, so to speak!  This has helped me, actually, after looking at photos, to see what I need to do to get better organized.  In fact, I am making a challenge to myself to get these spaces more under control within the next 2 weeks, when it is my turn to post again.  Be sure to stay-tuned for the next episode!

So, what about you?  I know several of you have pristine, pretty studios that you love to work in, because you have shared photos!  I have to admit, I get a bit jealous!  But, I know there are others out there, like me, who are ashamed of their spaces and wish they could get a handle on them.  Stand up! Be counted!  Let me know!  Don't be afraid!  Let's clean up!

Melissa Meman
Melismatic Art Jewelry
Art. Life. Love.

Favourite Creative Spaces...

You might remember a few weeks back that I wrote about the frustrations of outgrowing my creative workspace and that the time had maybe come to think about doing something about it. Well this is one issue I didn't procrastinate over for too long and earlier this week I took a deep breathe and hired a contractor to do the work for me. All being well it will start on April 15th and I'll be in by May 1st.

This is a very rough plan ( not very techy and a bit off scale) I did when I was getting my head around the idea but it's changed a little now, mainly because I tried very hard to focus on the practical aspects and this will lead to a slightly smaller studio design (now in the hands of the builder) which allows for my ridiculously small, dog leg shaped kitchen to be squared off and enlarged a little.

I will lose the area at the back indicated by the freezer but although the studio will be a little smaller I won't have to have appliances in there so that's a bonus and, I have to think of the resale value of the house since it's unlikely that any future buyer will be a bead freak who'll prefer studio space over kitchen space...unless I sold it through here of course!

For me the most exciting thing is the simple prospect of a sink with running water, a workbench long enough to have several activities on the go at once and a design desk with natural light from a big window. And then of course there is the fun of fitting it all out. As it links to the kitchen and both areas need to be functional, the plan is to refit both spaces to match so needless to say I have been pouring over designer kitchen websites looking at cabinets work tops, sinks (I so want a butlers/Belfast sink), flooring etc. The layout will pretty much be determined by the space itself but the style could be anything and I have no idea which way to go yet.

It's inevitable then that I've also been surfing the web for other studio ideas and there are some fantastic spaces out there, all-be-it that many of them are totally beyond anything I could do. It seems some of my AJE team mates are also avid collectors of 'studio porn' ( I hope that doesn't have connotations I'm unaware off...) so I thought for today's post we'd take a leisurely stroll through some favourite creative spaces and ideas...just click on the photos to find out more.

Linda has a Pinterest board dedicate to this subject with some pretty aspirational finds - who wouldn't want to work in surroundings like this and how cool is that light shade...?

This is one of my favourite finds and I just love the utilitarian, urban feel it has with a pinch of shabby chic thrown in for good measure. Great colours too.

Jo's favourites included some great ideas for small spaces. This muffin tin idea is such an ingenious and practical way of storing all those bits and bobs you need close at hand but (in my case) can never find when you need them.

 And how about this for maximising space in a small area...?

Another one from Linda here that's much closer to what most of us are probably used to and the little things that catch my eye here are the fabric swatches wrapped around the table legs and that huge rack for pliers...I NEED one of those!

This next one is from Jenny and I love it for two reasons. I really like storage that keeps your work surface clear of clutter but has everything close at hand and I want to make use of the wall above my new workbench in this way. But also, this really reminds me of my Grandfathers shed where he took pride in keeping all his cabinet making tools in pristine condition and with a place for everything and everything in it's place.

Here's another one for those who are very short on space - a omplete creative nook in a closet!

Some more great utilitarian storage here from Linda's collection...This appeals to me for storing small items because I hate having to move things around to get to the item I want...just far too disruptive to the creative flow!

My final selection comes from Jenny and is my favourite because this is where I see myself in my daydreams - in a proper jewellers workshop surrounded by amazing tools for every conceivable need that are worn and polished from years of dedicated creativity...good lord just look at those bench blocks! Ah well, what would life be without dreams...

Will my new studio have any of these concepts in them? I don't know yet but I will be posting a daily blog throughout the development over at the 'The Gossiping Goddess' and I'll be sure to keep you updated here to.

In the meantime - happy creating.

Lesley