Paperie By Jennifer: My Creative Space

Thursday, July 11, 2013

My Creative Space

I am excited to share my creative space with the blog hoppers from My Desert Cottage's Where Bloggers Create 2013. I have always enjoyed seeing the work zones belonging to other crafters. Some are spotless and some are fascinatingly busy, but all creative spaces can be inspiring. I love to see how other crafters organize their tiny embellishments. Be sure to visit this blog hop's many participants for tons of inspiration.

My space is home to both paper crafts and jewelry making. My craft room used to be in a bedroom, until about a month ago when I took over the living room. I would rather have a craft room than a place for the TV. Besides, there is another TV in the den. It is great to have a larger space - I feel like I have room to grow (much to my husband's dismay). I store my papers and card making supplies on bookshelves along the back wall of my space. My beads and findings are on the side wall. My work table is just the right size. I love the ceramic tile top because it is a breeze to clean when I smudge distress ink on it. I know I should use my non-stick mat, but sometimes I just don't use it. A long time ago, my favorite sister gave me a Dymo labeler for my birthday. I label every drawer and it is a life saver. I can always find what I am looking for because every drawer is labeled.

The plethora of tiny drawers (115 to be exact) houses all of my beads and findings for jewelry making. My family has a bead and jewelry store in Joplin, Missouri. We would love it if you would check out our blog at www.drygulchbeadsandjewelry.blogspot.com. Our etsy store is the place to go to see our jewelry creations. I really don't make any jewelry at our store because I keep so busy with the business side of things. Home is where I get to be creative and I know I am so lucky to have such a fun stash of supplies.

Each type of bead is sorted and stored by color. I have drawers for glass pearls, chinese crystals, semi-precious stones, Swarovskis, lampwork and more. I also have my findings sorted by color and function. I have drawers for beadcaps, filigree, clasps, chain, charms and beads. It is fantastic to be able to find what I need in the middle of a design. I used to have everything in large drawers that I had to sift through. The small drawers are a vast improvement. My favorite drawer is the current projects drawer. I can start a piece and then tuck it away until next time. This way, I never forget what I had planned to put together since everything stays together.

One of my favorite groups of drawers is the vintage findings and old button drawer section. I have managed to find quite a hoard of vintage parts and pieces like sweater clips, clip earrings and chandelier parts. The button collection contains shell, metal, carved, lucite and lots more. A toothbrush comes in handy for making old buttons shine. It was a bit of a revelation for me when I decided that it was ok to have several drawers with the same label. If it takes 5 drawers to hold your button collection, then so be it!

My absolute favorite organizer has 6 skinny drawers and 3 tall drawers which came from JoAnn's. I was unsure about the skinny ones at first since they don't really hold all that much. I was pleasantly surprised once I filled them because the skinny drawers hold just the right amount so you can easily see your embellishments. There is no need to dig and I love the compartment organizers within each drawer. I will definitely have to have another one of these organizers.

I have lots of paper storage in my creative space. I use these cube shelves from Michaels as well as the bookshelves along the wall. I store my smaller paper pads, like 6x6 in baskets on a shelf. These smaller paper pads are sorted according to size which makes them easy to find. I use clear containers for things like flowers and other embellishments. I kept some of my larger drawers for larger embellishments like chipboard and rubons.

I recently moved all of my ribbons, laces and trims into a very large drawer organizer. I used to have every ribbon hanging from the top of a shelf and, quite frankly, it looked like a jungle. It was easy to find things, but it was out of control. The drawers work nicely and the ribbons are pretty much sorted. The lace is all in one drawer. Now, I need to organize all of my new seam binding ribbons.

In my old craft space, all of my punches were stuffed into a basket on the top of a bookcase. One thing I have learned is that if you can't see it, you won't use it. In the new space, I was able to put all of my Martha Stewart punches out in the open. Surprise, now I use them! I have 2 Martha Stewart tray organizers that hold little jars of embellishments. It is so nice to be able to see what I have.

I truly love my creative space. It is open and spacious and I can work away while still being with my children. I am convinced that I would never make anything if I was tucked away somewhere in a room by myself. I need to add some more lighting - I am thinking of a chandelier. There are always ways to improve any space and I would love to have more shabby chic elements, but I am thankful for my craft room!

Be sure to visit all of the participant's creative spaces.