My Studio ... Teeny Tiny and in need of an 'upgrade'

I am not a big fan of the business side of my Etsy shop.  Yes, I can do it, yes I can research ways to "get traffic", yes I will even watch many many videos and read on what to do.  But, it's not what I love about it.  It's sort of a necessary evil -- like having to reload the copy machine in an office environment.  It has to be done, but no one wants to do it.

Since I reopened the Etsy shop a couple of years ago -- I have been working diligently to not only focus on the business aspect of the shop -- with attention to innovative marketing and learning the most I can about photography.  But, what I want to do is create. 

It's a bit ironic, actually -- my entire career has focused on different ways to communicate, in a business oriented way.  Which is odd, considering, that's the part I have to force myself to do now.  I much prefer even looking for fun packaging materials that will make the customer really feel like they are getting a special gift from a dear friend -- than I do working what really honestly used to be my actual job.

Enter my studio -- it's tiny right now.  Sure I have a fabulous variety of gemstones and enjoy most of all hammering metals (it's visceral, like a form of anger management) -- but I just don't have the space to use my blow torch, or really hammer things. 

Enter the house my husband is looking at.  It's modest, to be sure, but has a large plot of land for the city area we live, and it has a wonderful little nearly finished "shed" type thing in the back yard.  That one item (even if I do not set up the "extra room" as an office) will set me up with triple the amount of work-space I currently have now.  It's exciting, and excruciating waiting to see if closing will come through (we are working for a VA loan, which is not a lot of fun right now.

The hubby and I find ourselves checking out the house on a nearly daily basis -- just sort of a drive by (It's close to a Lowes, so we look forward to doing a few things ourselves).  We've never bought a house before -- and even though it's modest, we look forward to having space to not have to fight over areas he can do his work and I can do my hammering. 

I also look forward to the implications of hammering, soldering and playing with tarnishing materials outside in the open air 'shed'.  It's so very, very hard to wait -- and I can't wait to show you the process of setting up my new 'studio' areas.  Plus -- there are older fruit trees we are hoping produce fruit so that I can show you some super fun "homesteading" I have learned here in the apartment that also serves as the studio.

~Maggie~

Green Opal Heart Earrings -- For Spring, Mother's Day or Summer

Inspiration...or something like it.

Here's the cold, hard truth:  I can not draw to save my life.    No, I mean it, if I had to draw a picture to literally save my life, the consequences would be grave.

There is only one thing I am worse at than drawing, and that is spelling.  Luckily -- there are all kinds of programs for that, to help a girl out.   But, even with all my schooling (You know, just a few classes until I finally get that master's degree), I still can not spell -- and I have to work rally hard at proper grammar.

But back to the main topic -- okay I have my coffee ready, so I can certainly write this, right?

So when you have inspiration, I see that most of my artsy friends see things in their mind's eye, and often, if they design like me, they draw it out.  Huge hindrance for me, since, again, I can not draw.   Literally, I need help with a circle.

This is not to say things do not inspire me -- they do, and I look for inspiration everywhere, the autumn leaves, the winter snow, the many colors of spring and summer.  But, my favorite place to find inspiration for my designs?

The lyrics to songs.

Seriously, I sit there, or am running around the house picking up after my three kids like a mad woman, with crazy red hair and half bleached pants, blasting my iPhone (which is currently charging so that I can do this inspiration thing while cleaning again today) and a lyric, or line from a song will hit me and I will see colors and stones in my head.

Then, since I can't draw, I have to make it.  Then and there.  At least the design elements.  Maybe it's not the stones I saw in my head, because potentially I do not have those on hand -- but something has to be made so that I capture the essence of what my mind saw. 

Then, I will go back to the song, holding the piece and sort of give a yes or no as to whether it works.  Most of the time, however, it doesn't, and I see something else when it's produced -- or even in the middle of production. 

Currently, one of my daughter's favorite song's is "Firework" by Katy Perry.  Listening to that, I saw a fire work earring design in my head -- it was difficult to make it because I wanted it to be perfect, and colorful -- but I am pre-show right now, so my gemstones are a tad limited.

I ended up with these because of my gemstone limitation right now -- I will still have to work out the full "Firework" design.  More stones, more colors, more wire wrapping, but still a hoop earring -- remember watching fireworks as a kid on New Years or the 4th of July?  Yeah, that's what I am going to Evoke there. 

That set above, while beautiful, became "Fire"  without the "Work."

How are you inspired?

~Maggie~

Mama Says...

My mother says it's like clockwork.  In Spring and Fall I do two things:  Look at houses online, and rearrange my own humble abode, relentlessly.

She's right, too.  I have been looking off an on at houses again, although it can get a bit depressing when you realize it's going to be uber fun to get a loan when you are unemployed -- then again the last time I seriously looked for a place (you know, one with enough rooms so that my bedroom didn't double as my studio?)  I was told by the loan guys that I just had to have a job back in my 'career field' for a year, and bam, they would love to give me that loan.

So, I got all excited about finally buying my own house, I looked, I planned, I knew just how I wanted the kitchen and laundry room and my work-space too look.  I even asked hubby if he had any requests -- just that I would love it he said :)

Then congress started fighting about the federal budget and BAM...my career field job only lasted 13 months.

So now here we go again -- straight into autumn, and I am shutting down the internet for a while in order to completely rearrange my workspace. (Maybe disconnecting from the wall so I can move stuff creates a better picture)

 Don't worry, I've done this before, especially when I have been looking for a J-O-B.  Which I still do, frequently.  Although now I time everything in the house in order to not get behind. It's the OCD, or as my mother puts it "Virgo Moon."

I will be thinking of something super fun for the next post, I promise.   But for now, I have to do the odd little me thing of rearranging everything as fall gets ready to settle in.

~Maggie~