New Studio Pics - Creative Bliss!

I'm so excited about the new tables for my studio!!  My grandmother's kitchen table was only going to last so long when I was hammering on it every day, so I got my handy brother-in-law to make two new and bigger tables for me, and he did a fantastic job!  So, for reference, here is a picture of the 'old' studio.  Notice the size of the table and the fact that there's just one!  This posed a problem when I hired my assistant last fall.  She had to work at a separate table that faced the window, so I spent six months talking to her pony tail, lol. (Eventually we'll take that abandoned little table and turn it into a shipping station!)

So, I designed a new work space with two tables that face each other and are buffered with a little bit of foam padding.  This way we can face each other while we work, but not transfer motion from one table to the other.  As you can see, the orders are piling up!!

So here's a picture of my side of the table with fonts everywhere and my tell tale masking-tape-recycle project wherein I refuse to throw a piece away until it has lost all of its stickiness, lol.  

 And here's a pic of Blair's side of the table which is noticeably neater than mine!  This arrangement works out so much better because we can pass tools and wisdom back and forth while we work.  Can you tell that we are in love with Handy Tape?

And here's a wider pic of the whole new setup!  We have about 30% more table space now and are very, very happy!  Which is good because we're getting busy. Having two tables also means that we can rearrange our work space if needed, like if we get tired of staring at each other, lol.

Our Mother's Day order deadline (U.S. orders) is May 1st so order now!  Lots of ideas here.

~Lori (& Blair)

New Art for My Studio

One of my biggest thrills in this new house is having my own studio.  And one of my biggest thrills in my own studio is decorating it with inspiring artwork.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to hang right in front of where I work until I found this print at allposters.com.  It's a reprint of of a LIFE magazine photograph from January 1, 1974 and is called Stagehands Pushing a Pair of Gigantic Scissors on a Dollie Next to Two Men Carrying a 21ft. Pencil.  Gee, could they make that name any longer?  I had it blown up to 30 x 40 and put on a stretched canvas and now, I get it to look at it every day as I work.  It makes me so happy!

~Lori

Pictures of my new studio and a new charts to boot!

Well, if you've been following, you know that I moved recently and have been trying to get my new studio in order.  Finally took a picture today, and mind you, this is only about 1/5 of the space I have, but just being able to look around and see something other than hard core clutter really helps my creativity blossom.  Here's a picture of where I do my hammering.  The lights look like they want to attack me, don't they?

I'm a lefty, so all of my tools and findings are on the left side.  Here's a close up:

See my pretty entry way?  That's actual sunshine coming through the front door!  Those 6 stamp sets in the bottom of the picture are about 1/2 of what I actually have.  Here are more with some design stamps.

I've redone my design chart again to add a few more!  I'm up to 108!

And finally created a font chart.  'Bout time, huh?  It isn't perfect, but it'll do for now.

Stay tuned for some new designs.  I've been having a lot of fun in my new space!
~Lori

Spring Cleaning My Studio

One of the things I enjoy most about being a jewelry artist is the few times a year I have time to get my 'OCD on' and reorganize my studio.  It's been a year now since I started making hand-stamped jewelry, and in that year, my studio has been revamped about three times because I'm using different tools and materials and what works for beading does not work for hammering.  LOL.  So, this weekend, I took yet another crack and reorganizing because my studio is basically 40% of my one bedroom apartment.  So, a friend of mine came over on Saturday and we rearranged the furniture yet again (much like deck chairs on the Titanic when you're in a tiny space) and I think this will work.  I bought a new media tower, put it together and then put it to use!

Can you tell I'm having a hard-core love affair with my labeler?

I'm now at the point where I wouldn't be horribly embarrassed if someone came over because I've freed my nightmare sofa from my work space, hence, why you can't see it in these pictures.  And believe me, that's a feat when you see what a gargantuan sofa I have.  (Yes, I have sacrificed my fireplace.  I used it once last winter here in NC.)

Please excuse the crookedness, lol.  I went to sleep early last night after all this organizing and basically slept through the rest of my area getting pummeled by tornadoes.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

~Lori