Category: craft studio

Craft studio update

Way back in my first post of the year, I mentioned that I was moving from my craft room/ spare room into my new craft studio in the attic. My wonderful hubby painted the room for me at the very start of the year and since then I’ve been on a mission to sort and organise. Its by no means finished as I still need a few more pieces of furniture and to get some pictures and art work up on the walls but its a fabulous space and I LOVE it! Come with me on a little tour…

My shabby chic ‘working’ table in front of the window. This table rarely looks this tidy as its the central part of the room where most crafty exploits take place. On the floor is the blanket I’m currently in the process of joining for little Miss to go in her new bedroom.

 

My sewing and fabric table, where my sewing machine will reside once I get around to setting it back up again (it’s currently sitting on the floor in the old craft room, looking a little sorry for itself!).

I like to call this my cosy corner. I just need one more unit to go on the end to put a tv on so I can watch as I crochet when the mood takes me. Its needs a crocheted blanket and some pictures on the wall to finish off the cozy feel too although its obviously fairly cozy as it as, as one of my cats seems to have claimed it as her own!

With the room being in the attic, it’s full of nooks and crannies, so Little Miss even has a crafty corner too. She doesn’t tend to craft in there at the moment as she prefers to sit at the table with me near the window. It is a little bit dark in the corner too, I’m yet to find the perfect light for her little corner but once I do and get a bit of her artwork on the wall it will be fabulous!

Yarn and fabric storage.

Card making and general crafty stuff. This area still needs another unit and a bit more sorting.

My workspace for when I need to do paperwork at home. My work bag fits inside along with the laptop and can easily be closed away when it’s time to get crafty!

 

My bunting is the only decoration in here at the moment and it does look a little lost up there. Im hoping to add to it very soon and adorn the walls with my crafty makes. It will take time to get the room exactly as I want, especially in terms of the decorations, as  it is such a big space but I count myself so so lucky that I have it. I am one very lucky lady!!

 

Karen x x

 

 

A spot of ceramic painting

A few weeks ago my good friend Michelle and I went to our favourite ceramic studio and spent a very relaxing afternoon getting crafty.

Michelle decided to paint a teapot to compliment a cup and saucer she had been given as a present at Christmas and I had decided to do… well to be honest I had no idea what I was going to do as I’m terrible at making decisions and I had sooo many ideas of things I could do as gifts but finally I decided on a vase and small dish…for me! Yes, I know! Maybe I’ll make some gifts next time…maybe!

That moment when they’re finished I always have a bit of a panic that they haven’t quite turned out as I’d hoped or that they look like a childs done them. The lines on these were not meant to be straight as that would have been near impossible on a curved object…for me anyway but I did wonder if they looked a bit sloppy. I’m always a bit disappointed with the colours, as although I’ve done this many times now, they always come out paler than I was expecting before the glazing.

I’m rarely disappointed by the finished article though as once the glaze has been applied and fired, it really does make the colours pop!

I’m still not completely sure I’m happy with the wobbliness of the lines but I enjoyed making them and they serve as a reminder of a well spent afternoon crafting! I do really love the colours though and I’m proud they’re mine, so they now have pride of place on my craft studio table, all I need now is some flowers for the vase and sweets for the bowl!

 

Karen x

 

 

 

Streamlining update and a crafty challenge

As I mentioned in my last post I decided that this was going to be the year of streamlining for me, not a new years resolution as such but more of a long term goal to get things in order to make my life easier. The first thing to be streamlined was my clothes. Now, I’m not one to massively hoard things (except maybe craft stuff but we’ll get to that!) and my drawers and wardrobe weren’t over flowing but things were stuffed into drawers and weren’t as organised as I would have liked. The last few days of the holidays before going back to work were spent sorting and arranging and I am sooo pleased with the result.

This is my new and improved t-shirt drawer and I love it! No more rummaging through a pile of t-shirts to find the one I want. All of my clothes drawers have had the same treatment and all of the shelves in my wardrobe too. It makes life so much simpler choosing clothes in the mornings. Little Miss saw me sorting and arranging my drawers and declared that she wanted hers doing too. She helped me to fold and arrange all of her clothes in her drawers and proudly showed her big brother when he came around to visit. Mr O has since followed suit and rearranged all his drawers too. It really does make me happy seeing things so neat and easy to access.

After the clothes came all of the cupboards and drawers,in the living room, kitchen and hallway. In each of these places we had a sh*t drawer, you know the ones, the ‘open up and shove it in there if you’re not sure where it should belong’ drawers. Well, we no longer have such drawers. All drawers are sorted and organised. I do, however, still have a large carrier bag of bits from said drawers that I still haven’t got round to finding homes for but one things for certain, it will not be going back in those drawers.

Next on the agenda was the craft room. As my stepson moved out a little while ago, Mr O kindly suggested that I could move my craft room from the craft/spare room up into the very spacious loft room upstairs! To say I jumped at the chance was an understatement! Mr O spent a couple of his precious holidays days painting the room and assembling furniture for me and I began the dreaded sorting and moving of craft stuff. Now, I knew I had a lot of craft stuff but pulling it all out of its various hidey holes and moving it all up into the attic room did open up my eyes as to just how much stuff I’ve actually got. I underestimated how much storage furniture I would need and so will need to make another trip to Ikea in the next couple of weeks (much to Mr O’s delight!) before I can completely finish and share pictures of it.

Upon realising just how much stuff I do have and locating wips that I’d almost forgotten about, I decided to set myself a crafty challenge to make no craft purchases for the whole of 2019. That means no wool, no material, no card making supplies. The only things I will allow myself to buy are bias binding for any bunting that I make as I don’t keep any of that in, and sewing machine thread. It really shouldn’t be too difficult as I do have a lot of stuff to keep me going:

3 zenbroidery pictures I was given at Christmas

My huge stash of embroidery threads (I kept finding these in various boxes and really didn’t realise how much I had until I put it all together in my new (for Christmas) sewing box.

This isn’t even half of the material I have, which I’ve been intending to make into bags or bunting for such a long time.

These wool kits had been sat in a trunk for a good few years, patiently waiting to be unearthed and used to create something beautiful.

These photos are just the tip of the iceberg. Once the craft room (or should I say studio!) is finished I will show more photos but already my mind is feeling so much clearer from sorting through it all, seeing exactly what I do have and having it all much more easily accessible.

I’m really excited about seeing what beautiful things I can make out of the resources that I already have, not to mention having a dedicated room in which to do it. This year is going to be very a exciting one for me craft wise, I can feel it!

Karen x x