Where This Blogger Creates 2010

Hello and welcome to the "Where Bloggers Create: 2nd Annual Blog Party To Share Your Creative Space" hosted by the talented Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage.  Karen, the ever-gracious hostess, has compiled a list of over 400 bloggers who have posted pictures of their creative spaces for you to tour, so hop on over to her blog and check out the inspiring workspaces of your fellow creative bloggers! 

Before you do, however, scroll down to see pictures of my own creative space, which has undergone a facelift since last year's re-do:

My workroom is right off the kitchen and is the size of a single-car garage.  It has its own entrance and a huge window that looks out over beautiful oleander bushes and a huge emerald acacia tree that provides shade for me - very important in the Arizona summers!  It is the girliest room of my home, and it is my sanctuary.  I relish the moments I get to spend in here, and count myself blessed to have a space to call my own.  (Of course I do share it with the extra fridge, but sacrifices have to be made, right?)

I put up the curtains below the workbench last year, and they have worked brilliantly, hiding my messes and giving me a sense of order, even when it isn't always perfect.  It also makes it a bazillion times easier to clean up when company is coming.  This year, I've added the white cubbies and they are working really well for me.  I can find everything now, and they enhance the overall feel of the room.  I only bought enough bins for 1/2 of the cubby holes, and I've taken the fabric from the curtains and lined the back of the exposed ones.  This has allowed me to display some of my favorite things and to have a place for my magazines and books.

 

As you can see from this picture, the curtains hide more storage.  The metal drawers and cupboard used to be the decor in here, along with a different armoire that matches them.  I love the deep drawers and really wanted to keep them, which further convinced me to put the curtains up to hide them. 

 

This white bedside table has been in my garage for four years now, waiting to be mosaic-ed.  Well, in the four years I've had it, I haven't done anything with it, so I might as well get some use out of it, right?

I've been playing around with new ways to display my jewelry, both here in the workshop and at shows.  I often have people come over to "shop", and I want to make sure they can see all of my inventory at one time.  Something I've learned is that, as long as I am inviting people to shop in my workshop,  it is very important to have it looking professional and accessible, even when I am in the middle of a project.  I'm not saying that it should always look like this - believe me, it doesn't - but I want to make sure that when someone comes to purchase my artwork that they are able to focus on that rather than on a mess.

I found some old frames at a thrift store, painted and distressed them, and put in decorative aluminum sheeting that I got from the hardware store.  I cut the sheeting to size for each frame, added some small s-hooks and - voila! - instant jewelry displays!

 

I can easily pull them down when people come over, and then they go right back up where they were when I'm done.  Just one piece of the aluminum sheet filled all of the frames, and I've got enough left over for one more large frame if I need it.

I have been looking for a vintage dressmaker's form for some time now, but they are expensive and have been way out of my budget.  I decided to look for a large paper mache form instead, which was surprisingly difficult to find.  I finally found a store that had them in stock and ordered one online.  I wanted to decoupage it and to use it for shows and workspace display as well, and had some great vintage dress patterns that my wonderful friend, Jan Thomason at the Polka Dot Barn, sent me in a fantastic goodie package swap we did (the large vintage appliqué flower is from her as well!)   I love how she (the dress from) turned out, and have been trying to figure out what to name her - any suggestions?

I love surrounding myself with interesting things.  They inspire me with the stories they tell and give me a sense of history.  The photograph above is a picture of my grandmother on her wedding day, and it is one of my most favorite things.  I've also got a jar of old, mostly broken and beat up vintage jewelry that I dig through now and again to find fun additions for my jewelry and mosaics.

This white organizer from Michael's is a new purchase as well, and I am really pleased with its functionality.

This white cupboard is one we've had in the garage for a while, and when I added the cubbies, I decided to bring it inside to use for, yes, more storage. 

As I said before, I love to surround myself with antique and vintage inspiration.  I use this suitcase at shows for display, and decided to use it indoors as well rather than store it away between shows.

More display items.  I've got fun artwork from friends along with some old porcelain 'Birthday Dolls' that were my mom's and mine when we were young.

And here is the final wall in the room.  This fantastic armoire was a gift from my mother-in-law last year, and it matched my decor perfectly!  It has very deep shelves and a drawer at the bottom, and is a great storage piece for me.  The bins on the right represent the last of the industrial-looking decor waiting to be disguised.  I keep all of my mosaic and fusing glass in these bins, along with all sorts of bits and pieces for my mosaics.

Well, that's about it!  Thanks for taking the time to tour my creative space.  I hope you found some inspiration and maybe some ideas for your own space.  Now go out and take some time to tour the 400+ other workspaces listed at My Desert Cottage - you are sure to see some amazing workshops!