Clean-up, Fix-Up Your Workspace Challenge

Many artists have blogged about the process of cleaning and organizing their studios.  I really appreciate these studio visits because I get new ideas from other artists on ways to corral the tools and supplies necessary to be creative.  We spend many hours in our studios and for me a certain amount of order is necessary to be productive.  So how do you get motivated to start the cleaning process?

Well that motivation came on February 1st, as Sharyl of Sharyl's Jewelry posed a challenge to jewelry designers and bead artists to clean up and fix up our studios.  Now I don't know about you but this is not my favorite activity.  But that is exactly why I took up the challenge.  I can work and be creative with some chaos in my workspace but there is a certain line, that when crossed tends to put a halt to creativity and productivity.  Well look out, 'cause I had reached that point.  Check out my lampwork area where it is easy to pull the glass out of my storage tubes on the right.  But it is not as much fun to sort and put it away.  Even the tools begin to pile up and make it hard to find the one you need.



Glass and torch table BEFORE

This space is doubling as my jeweler's bench and my photography space.  Most of the time I like to do photos outdoors but not in cold or rainy weather. 

 

And the worst space was my jewelry making desk.  Yes, it really is was this cluttered with creativity.

 
So now for the results!  The lampwork table was relatively easy to clean though it did take some time.  All glass and tools are back in their places. 

 
The jeweler's bench was not as messy.  A quick cleanup and removing things that didn't belong on the bench (books, beads). 

For the really big job, the jewelry design area.  Wow!  I can see the desktop again.  Hurrah! 
It seems with all the items like the tool turntable, the desk drawers,  the little drawer cabinets and bead boxes that all would be organized.  Well it might be if I never bought another bead or tool or worked on another item of jewelry.  Nah!

But for now doesn't it look nice.  I am still pondering how to store my lampwork beads.  When I figure that out I will share.  I have a new solution for gemstones so that will also be a future share.  So I hope you will come back for more of this story.

Let's get busy now and go check on all the other fixed up studios.  Thanks Sharyl for hosting this helpful and fun event.

Participant List:

Host: Sharyl McMillian-Nelson … http://sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com

Donna Millard http://fyrebeadz.blogspot.com/

Beda Hendrix ... https://www.facebook.com/SasijuhlsThings 

Ann Schroeder… http://www.beadlove.wordpress.com

Pamela Rachelle… http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com

Kristin L Oppold… http://www.yayjewelry.blogspot.com

Heidi Kingman ... http://heidikingman.blogspot.com

Andi ... http://strungoutjewelry.blogspot.com/

Patricia Buchanan Click “Blog” on the menu bar athttp://www.braceletstoo.artfire.com

Helen Simon… http://helensharvest.com/

Kashmira … http://sadafulee.blogspot.com/

somethingunique ... http://somethinguniquebylana.blogspot.ca/

Renetha ... http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com

Kathy Lindemer ... http://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com

Swapna Dinesh … http://www.swardaa.com

Linda Landig ... http://lindalandig.wordpress.com/

Ann Schroeder ... http://www.beadlove.wordpress.com/

Beti Horvath ... http://stringingfool.blogspot.com/

Sam S ... http://samsbeadshopandjewelry.blogspot.com/ 

Christina Miles ... http://wingsnscales.blogspot.com/

Islandgirl ... http://islandgirlsinsights.blogspot.ca/ 

macmillanmarie ... http://www.macmillanmarie.blogspot.com

Emma Todd … http://www.apolymerpenchant.com

Neena Shilvock … 
http://www.capriliciousjewellery.com/3/post/2014/02/neither-ship-shape-nor-bristol-fashion.html

Dee Clark… http://biz-e-bead.blogspot.com/

motidana ... http://kalaabhushan.blogspot.com/

Here Bead Dragons ... http://beaddragons.blogspot.com/

Carol D. ... http://dillmansdallies.blogspot.com/  You are here!

Pam Sears ... http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Nan Smith ... http://wirednan.blogspot.ca

AliMc ... http://northwoodscreativestudio.blogspot.com

Kari Asbury ... http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com

Shirley Moore ... http://www.beadsandbread.blogspot.com

PyxeeStyx ... http://travelingsideshow.blogspot.com/

Jayne Capps … https://mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com

Louann Elwell 
... https://plus.google.com/117746558861718110652/posts

Rain ... http://honeyandollie.com/

Lori Bergmann ... http://www.LoriBergmann.blogspot.com

Helen Simon… http://helensharvest.blogspot.com/

Arlene Dean ... http://aglassbash.blogspot.com

Sandra... http://city-of-brass-stories.blogspot.de/

Alicia ... http://www.allprettythings.ca

Natalie Pappas ...  http://blog.nkpdesigns.com/


Stay organized and keep creating,
Carol

Winter Surprise

Last Thursday, snow was predicted for our area of SW Virginia.  It was a pretty sure thing and the accumulation guesses varied from 4" to 12".  Well we did indeed get snow and when it stopped around 10 a.m. we had 10 inches.  Okay, that was not too bad.  Then it began to snow again after noon.  And it snowed hard - for hours!  In the end we got 16 inches and were still digging out yesterday (Sunday).  It was getting late in the day so it is a little dark in the pictures.


 

Showing the 16 inches on the yardstick.



Our Blue Spruce that looks so regal covered in snow.

Daughter and my hubby trying to dig us out.

My daughter was visiting and made good use of the snow shovel.  I have pulled a muscle in my back and was glad she was here to help (of course, I got comments about my timing of the bad back).  My husband likes to get his tractor out and clear the drive and even goes a way down the road. 

So even though it is pretty, it is also cold.  I really don't need to see anymore this winter.  But the weather forecast shows that we will add another inch or so of snow on Monday night.  Aren't we lucky?  No.  But then the temperatures are going to climb to 60 on Wednesday.  Isn't this crazy?  Maybe all the snow will melt quickly which would suit me fine. 

Staying inside to create,
Carol

New Studio Challenge

If you are looking for my Grow Your Blog post, please go HERE.  I hope you have been enjoying the blog party as much as I am.  I am still working my way through and it will take me a while longer. 

Another project I am working on is a challenge by Sharyl of Sharyl's Jewelry and Reflections.  Sharyl calls it the "pick up your beads, clean off your worktable, so you can design something beautiful" challenge!

So it is time to get to work on organizing and finding a place for everything.  I had a sunny day and was able to snap some "before" pictures.  It remains to be seen how many of those I will share. 

Here is one picture of my torch area.  There is glass everywhere though it all has a place to be.  Somehow when I am working, I think I may need the exact colors to make more (which is sometimes true), but then I don't seem to get back to put them away when done.  Then the next batch piles on top and so on.....  This may be a good place to start. 

My desk for making jewelry is really another story.  Some things do have a place but I really haven't figured out a way to store my own lampwork beads so that I can still see them.  I like to have them sorted by color and size on mandrels but that ends up taking a lot of the space on the desktop. 

 I am wondering if I can find some plastic cases to set the mandrels in that can be seen through so I can pull by color.  The mandrels are about 9 inches long.  Any ideas?

Luckily, I do have a "new-to-me" jeweler's bench for metal work.  I need a place devoted to taking pictures that doesn't have to be disassembled after each use.  And a packing and mailing section would be nice, and a place for the computer, and ....  Oh my!  Better get to work!

Off to clean and then create,

Carol

 



Grow Your Blog

Welcome to the "Grow Your Blog" Party - 2014.  Vicki, at 2 Bags Full blog, is hosting this event.  Over 500 bloggers have signed up and the fun will begin on January 25th.  She'll have a list of all of the participants and links to all of the wonderful blogs that are participating.  Many of the blogs are also having giveaways.  So come join in.

By taking part in this event, I hope to meet lots of other bloggers from around the world as I visit their blogs and hopefully, they visit mine.  To participate, I need to introduce myself and my blog.

My name is Carol Dillman and I live in the mountains of Virginia, USA.  I am retired and keeping busier than ever.  I am so glad you have come to visit my little space in the blogosphere.  It is so much fun to hear from others and share mutual interests.  

My lampwork beads used in a bracelet

This is where I get to share my adventures in lampwork glass beads, jewelry, sewing and some photography.  I need to be busy all the time with creating something and learning and improving skills.  

Makeup bag made from recycled leather jacket

I have two grown children, one married and one engaged to marry in October.  I also have 4 grown stepchildren. We have 3 fabulous grandchildren that my husband and I love to entertain and spoil.  Occasionally some of our family make it in to the blog.  

WIP quilt

Keep creating,
Carol D.

New Skills in Soldering

As I have said before, I just love to learn new skills.  This time I took a class to learn soldering in jewelry.  Specifically, I learned to create a bezel setting for a cabochon.  We cut a back plate of sterling silver and soldered a bezel and a bail to it.  The best part - we used a butane torch, often called a creme brulee torch.  

This is an inexpensive option that will work for small projects and is less intimidating than an acetylene setup.  Another option is a plumber's torch with a propane tank for a little more power and heat.  For me it was also harder to hold and aim.  There is a larger butane torch that I plan to buy that I think will work for most of my projects. 

After much filing and polishing, I set the stone and smoothed the bezel over the edge.  Here is the result:

 

This class was so much fun and I was very excited to be there.  We had the most patient instructor, Rick Swartzwelder, and he was great at explaining and showing each step.  He was also available later by email to answer questions.  

Rick offered another class just last weekend to make a ring with a bezel setting.  To start this project we put a texture on the silver band before shaping the ring.  I learned that you need to be aggressive in adding texture because most of mine disappeared with all the work that was done on the ring.  Another student had textured her band with two different hammers.  She thought perhaps she had done too much but it was just right when she finished.  I chose a black onyx cabochon and followed Rick's instruction to another great result.  Well, I still have a little polishing to do. 

The tricky part of this project was setting the bezel on a curved base.  Since solder will not fill gaps and the surfaces must touch with no space between, we had to do a lot of filing to create the same curve on the bottom of the bezel without distorting the shape.  Patience was definitely required.  

Of course, learning a new skill usually means acquiring new tools.  Oh gee, I have to buy new tools?  So I have my order ready to go.  I wonder what my practice projects will be.  Stay tuned and I will share them.  

And if you have been thinking about learning to solder, go for it.  A good place to start would be the free class on Craftsy by Kate Richbourg, Micro Torch Basics.

Keep learning and creating,
Carol