the gears and guts of the beadmaking studio
Check it out, new round gears! I am still working on these, shrinking them down so I have at least 2 sizes. I would love tiny earring sized gears, so I am excited to see if they translate. These 5 are already worked up into a partial necklace, I love them so much!
I will continue the Studio Tour today really quickly.
Below, a normal living room, right? A reasonably comfortable couch, some tables, a footstool...by day it looks like a standard leisurely room. But by night....
It transforms!
Underneath the couch, my beadmaking studio! Two large trays...the breakfast in bed type trays with legs...hold all my clay tools and molds. On the very right, a 25 lb box of porcelain. In the center, the main beadmaking tray, with molds and tools, and a small padded tray to rest the more fragile beads upon to dry. On the left, the scraping tray, with a dustminder and blades for sanding beads. These two trays are the ones I use most, making almost all of my beads on them. I either sit on the couch with the tray in my lap, dog at my side, and tv on, or I set the tray on a small table in front of me.
On the left side of the couch, a fancy piece of furniture that Chuck got me. It is a table with several removable trays stacked up. I can remove a tray and use it on the couch. These are my "rolly thing" trays...they contain my rubber stamps and rolling pins and cookie cutters, for beads like the message sticks, the linky things, and buttons.
It might be surprising, given the scope of my business, that I only work on actual beadmaking a few hours a day. Ina ll honestly, that's all I can do. It is hard on the eyes, the back, and the hands, even in the most comfortable positions. So I like to be able to put it away and not be tempted by it all day long. Its my wind down, evening activity, when my mind has gone mushy and I can just squish around int he clay. During the day, all the thinking stuff needs to be done...the web work, the writing, the business stuff. This system works well for me...