NEW STUDIO - HOME AT LAST!

I can finally say that I'm settled into the new Studio - a real labour of love, long planned, and now it finally feels like home and the sanctuary I need it to be. This first picture shows you my working space, with a splendid view of the garage!! However you can't have everything, and anyway I plan to be way too busy for much gazing out of the window .... I've got pictures of my lovely daughters, my box of Truth Cards, and all my essentials close to hand, not to mention the restorative coffee in the pink spotty mug! The furniture is all Ikea - two Vika tables - the longest ones available) and a variety of chests to fit underneath.
If I turn to my right this is the view of the door end of the room, where you can see that I've even managed to fit in a small table and an extra chair (also basic Ikea), just in case I can persuade anyone to come and play (working on that already)! Notice the gas fire (result!!) which sits right behind me - the days of freezing in the winter months may actually be over ... You also get a glimpse of the pink bunting I made, thinking the massive expanse of white ceiling needed one final cheering touch. Almost everything is stored in Really Useful Boxes collected over a number of years. Its on the open shelving I inherited with the room, which wouldn't have been my first choice (it means you can actually see just how much stuff you've accumulated, never a good plan) but you have to work with what you've got don't you? One day I've promised myself that I'll have an American style Studio all fitted out with kitchen units so I can hide it all away and make like I've hardly got anything and really need more stuff .... he he he ... good plan eh?
The pink spotty curtains are another cheerful note in the white room - after all to paint the walls pink would have been overkill, right? Yes, that's what I thought too. The light is pretty good in here, the room having 3 windows (even if the main one faces north) and I'll be able to have my daylight lamp up too, whenever I discover the safe place in which I put the clamp which holds it to the desk. Duh, so safe I haven't found it yet.

Over the fire I've hung my noticeboards, one filled with little gifts and reminders of dear friends, and one soon to have parish rotas, lists of churchwardens, and other necessary stuff on it. Below is a picture of my other desk - with the computer and other business-like essentials, and my trusty sewing machine. The first shelf above the desk is dedicated to sermon writing and other churchy stuff, but all my sewing essentials are above, though unfortunately I need steps to get to the highest ones. Hey ho, nuthen's perfect.
In the corner there's a meter cupboard which I'm stuck with, but since its pretty sturdy I put it to good use and hung Ikea bygel rails on it to hold my collection of punches. I confess to actually needing a couple more rails to house them all, but these are essential tools aren't they, and you can never have too many, right? The pink buckets above my desk are Ikea and since this photo was taken I've actually hung them from the window ledge, which helps to keep the worktop clear. At the moment I have my SU inkpad collection in a CD unit to the left of my desk, but am hoping to invest in a purpose built wall hung unit soon.
The Vika drawers on the right of my workdesk (the wide shallow ones) are where I keep my wood mounted stamps - its perfect as I slide out the drawer and can see exactly what I have. They're arranged by theme - people, nature, words, and shapes. My clear stamps are in the A5 ring binders on the Expedit unit to the right, with my papers in the slim 12 x 12 boxes above. In the A4 ring binders I keep collage sheets and my catalogue of stamps - vital if I'm to find anything! The left hand set of drawers contains (going down from top) 1. Distress inks and small items such as eyelets etc. 2. Other ink pads and my collection of acrylic blocks. 3. Tools such as heat gun, cropodile and stamp wheels. 4. Yet more punches, ribbons and tapes, eg adhesive and foam. 5. The bottom drawer contains all the little mini books and albums I've made, such as the Christmas albums I make each year from the Shimelle class.

So that's the full 360 degree tour for you! As you can see the Studio is stuffed to the gunwales with the embarrassingly large amount of stuff I've collected - although in my defence I should point out that it has been the work of many years to accumulate all this. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!! Please tell me if you like my room - I'm rather proud (oh sinfulness) of how it has all turned out, and just dying to have somebody to admire ... ooops I mean SHARE it with!!

Am editing to answer some questions people have asked ... the floor isn't hardwood but is in fact a rather brilliant vinyl which is doing a seriously good imitation of wide oak boards. Nobody seems able to tell that its not what it is pretending to be, and I love the ease with which I can clean up. I did buy a clear floor mat from Ikea just in case the wheels of my chair damaged it, but it doesn't seem to be a problem so far. The lighting is another Ikea fixture with 4 spotlights, of which three are directed towards my workspace (or creation station as my man calls it) and the other onto my computer/sewing desk. Will have to wait and see if this is adequate in the darker winter months, in which case I may replace it with a fluorescent tube - less attractive but more practical. If you have any other questions I'll try to answer them.

MAKING PROGRESS

Well the new Studio looked like this at one stage in the move - and I thought that wasn't too bad at the time. Unfortunately it got worse before it got better, and I haven't got pictures of the stage when you could hardly get in the room, let alone see the floor - I didn't have the heart to take any! I could have cried to be honest, thinking I'd never get it all sorted out, but that was tiredness.

And it did get worse before it got better (of course) when I had stuff everywhere and couldn't seem to find a home for most of it .... which was the point at which I concluded I might (just possibly) have enough stuff! OK I know that's not actually possible, so let's just say enough to fill my Studio and then some! By the time I took this picture below, the dog could see the rabbit, but I was still struggling to see how it would all fit in. It has of course, but that's a story for another day, when I take the pictures of it all finished and lovely (which it nearly is).
But I did manage to clear enough desk space for a bit more journalling - this is a quote (possibly biblical?) that I came across and it really spoke to me. I'd made a background with offcuts of scrapbook papers, with a patchwork border, and I just got a big brown pen and wrote it in the centre of the page.
It didn't seem to jump off the page quite the way I wanted it to, so I began to outline the letters with a black pen. You can see what a difference that made, although I did get fed up because it took ages to do and I got cramp in my arthrickety hand!!
Anyway, there wasn't much space to add more, which was OK because that seemed like all I wanted to say - its a question I can't answer yet. So this is the finished page and I'm quite pleased with it. I added Bette Davis because the expression on her face reflects exactly how I feel - a bit stunned and confused, but overall doing as well as can be expected .....

EVEN MORE STUDIO PICTURES ...

Along from the shelves I showed you yesterday is the door - and I picked up a tip somewhere online that this was a space you could use! Then when I found a PINK shoe organiser it seemed meant to be .... now I keep my SU punches in it.

Along from the door is the wardrobe I use as a cupboard, and the washstand where my sewing machine lives. I've never quite brought myself to use my super duper machine on paper, but I do a lot of actual sewing with it and am just branching into free form embroidery. Next to that is the filing cabinet trolley which doubles as a "refreshment centre". OK, it's where the kettle and mugs live, so that groups meeting up here can have the necessary caffeine and biscuits!

Turning to the right again is my main Expedit bookcase from Ikea - absolutely ideal for scrappers as 12 x 12 albums fit beautifully into the cubes. My albums, books and files live here, and the basket at the bottom are great for hiding those untidy bits and bobs that everybody seems to have. Ikea strikes again in the wooden magazine files.

You may be wondering what the yellow boxes are and these are from a kit company (Scrapagogo). I really like their kits but as you can see they've mounted up a bit so I decided to give them a rest for a while!!
Just one more set of pictures to follow and then you'll have seen it all ....

MORE STUDIO PICTURES!

On the right hand side of the Studio I have a set of wall shelves - we had these made in 1984 and they're still going strong 3 houses later! I keep my SU stamp sets here (and a few odd bits like metallic paints and alcohol inks).

The space between the bottom of the shelves and the radiator always seemed wasted, so I've begun to put small shelves in there to make use of it. These are from Ikea and hold my buttons (ask anyone - I LOVE buttons and use them all the time) in their cute little bottles. Below them is another Ikea shelf that I haven't got around to putting up yet, and a set of hanging pegs which I bought at the charity shop and painted PINK!! Not quite sure where they're going yet either.

To the left of the shelves is a small Expedit bookcase (Ikea again) which is newly imported and doesn't have much on it yet. The baskets on top hold my needle felting yarns etc. I've started to keep my Big Shot here too as it doesn't get used so often now that we have a Cricut (the "we" is our scrapbook group, but the Cricut lives here between crops). The other shelf is one intended for CDs which was surplus to requirements downstairs so I nabbed it in the belief that it was BOUND to come in for something ....
And there's my scrapbook trolley, one of the first pink items to arrive, a Christmas present 3 years ago from my beloved.

Beyond the Expedit bookcase is my new toy - a shiny trolley I bought from Amazon which is the best thing since sliced bread! It came flat packed and was so easy to put together, and it satisfies my NEED for organisation! I keep all my SU stuff in this so that it's separate from my "other" stash. Pictures of the next bit to follow ....

STUDIO PICTURES

Well as I promised, here is the first instalment of the pictures of the redecorated studio - now white with touches (well quite a few actually) of pink! As you can see I'm lucky enough to have a large room on the top floor of the house, which has a wonderful bay window with a view over the garden and local rooftops. I love it up here and have my workstation built into the window.

Our old dining table occupies the centre so that I can teach and hold groups here (assuming they can puff their way up all the stairs). I had a double fluorescent strip light installed over the table so that we work in a good light. I can take up to five people (six at a pinch) and the blue polka dot PVC tablecloth stands up to some heavy use, although I do find that inkpads can stain it. I'm looking for a pink replacement because the pale blue isn't that practical - or do you think that might be TOO MUCH pink?? As if ....

The next picture shows where I work in the centre of the window, with the storage of all my most used items around me. I have a large cutting mat here and my MM tote which holds all my basic tools. The surface is a kitchen worktop which is perfect to work on and stands a good deal of abuse and still comes up clean! The shelf at the back is an Ikea CD storage shelf which I turned upside to use as cubby holes. On top I keep my catalogues of stamps, my markers, and binders of collage sheets, while the spotty case holds some of my favourite clear stamps.


As you can see below most of my storage is Really Useful Boxes, although I also love the metal buckets from Ikea which just fit in the spaces between the windows! I'm wondering if I should spray them pink too - the wire cake rack on the left already got the treatment!

You may also notice that I have two bins - I'm a passionate recycler so I have one for paper which will recycle (which is most of the rubbish I generate), and I only very reluctantly put stuff in the other bin because that means it will have to go to landfill.

You might be able to see my super lamp - not only is it completely adjustable and on a swivel base (which is built into the worktop), but it includes a lens for very close work. I used to use that a lot when I made miniatures. When the daylight fades I get a lovely cosy pool of light from the lamp - I'm often surprised how people set up beautiful studios and scrap rooms without giving the same attention to the lighting, which is key!

I'm sure there must be lots of things I haven't mentioned (like that plant I'm always trying to kill) so if I've missed anything out and you have questions just ask!! Yes before you ask I did tidy up a bit for the photos, but I am usually pretty tidy anyway!!