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!

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.

Why are you UNinspired?

May is a whackadoodle insane schedule in the Cameron household, as it is for so many other people (but my rant about how everything is crammed into the month of May is for a different blog altogether...). So I was feeling rather uninspired to write a blog post for today. Because honestly, I haven't even stepped foot in my studio except to deposit some new beads and frit (small chunks of glass to use in lampworking) that came in the mail.

So I've decided to write about what causes uninspiration (yes, I made that word up). On this blog and many others, there are tips on how to get inspired when in a creative funk. They are overflowing with ways to get inspired for all sorts of different people, because not every person is the same. However, I cannot recall an article that discusses what can cause the loss of inspiration in the first place.

Clutter:

My lampworking space before some tidying up. My jewelry bench is on the far end of this space. 

Ask to see the workspace of just about any creative type and they will probably cringe and make excuses. Why? Because it's a freaking disaster zone. They may worry about legal liability if one of the stacks topples over onto the visitor.

Many jewelry makers show photos of their benches with a 3"x3" clear space for making jewelry surrounded by piles of beads, chain, wire, thread, tools, etc. and claim they prefer it to be like that. I do the same thing. However, it gets to a point where I spend more time trying to find the bead I just set down for a second as it somehow disappears into the mess. Here's the biggie: I find myself avoiding the studio when it gets that bad. 

After the clean-up

When I start avoiding my studio because it's too much disaster, I start cleaning. Do you want to know what happens? I find stuff. And finding that stuff gives me ideas. Ideas which I need to try immediately. Sometimes I give in to it and start making stuff. Sometimes I draw a quick sketch and put the item which caused the idea to form with the sketch in a prominent location on my bench so that when I finish cleaning, I can immediately get back to making a mess again.

Too many choices:

Us creative types are collectors and hoarders by nature. I cannot even count how many different colors of glass or different beads I own. When faced with a wall of glass or a shelving unit filled with beads, it can cause a person to freeze up.

If this happens when I'm making beads, I will select a single color for the main color and maybe one or two other colors as accents and just start playing with them. Often the ideas will start coming fast and furious at this point.

Look at all those pretty colors....which one do I use? 

If it happens when I am making jewelry, I select a single component I want to work with. Then I start trying to figure out how to make it "sing". It's strange that working within certain restraints actually increases creativity and inspiration.

Making ugly stuff:

What about those days when everything you touch seems to turn into some hideous monstrosity and you feel like a total failure? One way to deal is to step away from the bench. Or...start playing. Have you ever wanted to try something you see in your mind but haven't had time to actually try yet? Do that. Or construct something that is totally inappropriate to wear, but looks cool. Spend time playing with your materials. Our brains need that.

Monkey on my back Syndrome:

photo from 401(k) 2013 Flickr photostream 

Is there something that needs to be done that is weighing you down, but you avoid doing it? Like...paperwork or a commission or weeding or whatever that thing is that is stopping you. Do it and get it over with. You will immediately feel lighter and it frees your brain to be inspired and creative again.

Have a Creative Week!

-Jen Cameron
Glass Addictions