Saturday, 1 March 2014

Operation:Clean Up, Fix Up My Workspace.March 1 Blog Challenge

Sharyl McMillian-Nelson over at Sharyl's Jewelry & Reflections is hosting this great blog hop to encourage us all to do  a job which is such a chore for most of us but when done will make jewelry making even more of a pleasure than it already is. I've had great intentions but had company all week and haven't accomplished much yet. Check back at close of play on Saturday when I hope to have some results.
My previous "Studio In The Wall"
If you've been reading my log over the last year you might remember how I organized my studio in a double closet in my apartment. It was great but I was starting to overflow it!
Main Studio Space
Now that I've moved into a large house I have much more room but am much less organized. I even have two areas to work in with part 2 in the basement but i have to organize how to work between the 2 areas since my main studio space is on the second floor.




Studio "Part Deux" for noisy, noxious activities like hammering, adding patina, tumbling, metalwork and also where my polymer clay is stored for now.



Work Table
I know that we all have a work surface like this at times but hopefully I can improve on it with better organization.
Laptop,Books! (and more storage)
I'm hoping to build a set of shelves closer to my worktable so it's easier to access all my supplies. It's Friday the day before the blog hop and nothing is done yet but  I'm planning to make some changes today but not sure how much I'll get done before tomorrow.

Please hop on over to the blogs of all the participants and see what's been accomplished. Thank you, Sharyl ,for creating and hosting this challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing what's been done and maybe pick up some ideas to help with my space.
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/

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/




Tuesday, 18 February 2014

A taste of things to come!!

Enough with winter pictures already. I'm going to ignore this latest dump of snow and dream of warmer weather.
Cherry blossoms in High Park, Toronto.
My super cute flower earrings!

Picked up this set at a local antique store....Molly"s Back Yard.
Such a great deal!
Bunny cupcakes made by Steph last Easter.

Sold this bike before the move.
What was I thinking?
Now I need to buy another!

I hope you enjoy my dreams of nicer weather. Whatever helps us through the winter.

Sunday, 16 February 2014

Great Giveaway!

Came across this great giveaway for us jewelry junkies. Check it out at Beadlove's blog. Fun blog to read and to help get through this tough winter. Of course I'm going to win but you're welcome to try.....LOL.

Saturday, 15 February 2014

Word of the year!

I've been reading a lot of posts where people are talking about their word of the year and have decided to put my oar in the water and talk about mine. FORWARD is the direction I want to go for the rest of  my life. I know it seems obvious since we have no choice but to move forward but when I reflect on my past I see that most of my behaviour has been influenced by what went before. I want to let it all go now and focus on the here and now AND tomorrow! Forward is the only way to go! I'll do my best to not slip backwards but wil forgive myself  if I do and turn my face FORWARD .

Sunday, 9 February 2014

Bead Soup Blog Party!

Yay! I've just signed up for the best party of the year! This will be my second year participating and I'n really looking forward to the challenge. today's the only day to sign up so if you have a blog and you make jewelry this is a fabulous challenge for you. It's the brainchild of Lori Anderson who is a wonderful woman who makes  beautiful jewelry and gives herself to all of us when she hosts this party. You can read all about it here.http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.ca/
It's a great way to be challenged and inspired and it's a lot of fun! Hope to see you there!
The Bead Soup I received from my lovely partner last year.
SOME OF MY CREATIONS.




The more the merrier so head on over to Lori's place and sign up.

Thursday, 6 February 2014

New Blog Title

I'm in the process of re-branding and setting up a shop on Zibbet. http://www.zibbet.com/nanmade  My shop is now called "nanmade"so I've changed my blog to match it. It's a lot of work to set up a shop but then again most of you probably already know that. Zibbet seems like a good fit for me. No fees after the annual setup fee and it's seems a lot less intimidating than Etsy. Still lots of jewelry artists but nowhere near as many so I'm hoping to stand out in the smaller crowd.I've done all the shop setup so now all I have to do is take some great pictures and post them along with descriptions. Hopefully I'll get that done in the next week.
Wish me luck!

Wednesday, 5 February 2014

OH NO, NOT MORE SNOW!!!

I know it's February and this is Canada but  I'm really done with this weather! I'm glad I've got jewelry to keep me occupied or I'd have a serious case of cabin fever. I just made it to the corner store through the latest dump of the white stuff. 24 hours of non-stop snowing and blowing equals 10-12 inches and of course lots of sidewalks haven't been cleared yet. It is so pretty but enough already.

The chairs and table were clear yesterday!